The following rules shall apply for construing or interpreting the terms and provisions of this Ordinance.

The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this Ordinance, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section.

ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A noninhabitable structure that detached from a principal structure within the same lot and is incidental and subordinate in use and size to the principal structure.

ACCESSORY USE
A use that is customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of land or a structure within the same lot.

ACCESSWAY
A roadway or driveway (including alleys) that provides a means for vehicular travel between communities, neighborhoods, properties, and origin and destination points within a property (e.g., parking spaces and loading/unloading spaces).

ACI (AGGREGATE CALIPER INCH)
A measure of the total combined number of inches of existing and proposed trees used to meet landscaping requirements within a required landscape area. Caliper inch sizes for individual proposed trees are measured as indicated in the American Standard for Nursery Stock (ANSI 260.1-2004). Caliper inch sizes for existing trees are measured in diameter at breast height (DBH).

ADDITION
Any walled and roofed expansion to the perimeter of a building that is connected by a common load-bearing wall other than a firewall. Any walled and roofed addition that is connected by a firewall or is separated by an independent perimeter load-bearing wall shall be considered "new construction."

ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENT
A permit authorizing limited deviations from certain of this Ordinance's dimensional standards, and that is reviewed and decided by the Director of Community Development or Development Review Committee in accordance with Section 23-2-4(Q), Administrative Adjustment.

ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL
A document maintained by the Director of Community Development that serves as a user's guide to this Ordinance. The Administrative Manual contains copies of application forms, fees, schedule and contact information, as well as detailed standards and specifications, and interpretations of the intent behind standards in this Ordinance.

ADULT DAY CARE
A program operated in a structure other than a single-family dwelling that provides group care and supervision on a less than 24-hour basis, and in a place other than their usual place of abode, to adults 18 years or older who may be physically or mentally disabled. This use must be compliant with relevant Mississippi Statutes.

ADVERSE IMPACT
A significant negative impact to land, water, associated resources or public facilities resulting from development. The negative impact includes increased risk of flooding; degradation of water quality; increased sedimentation; reduced groundwater recharge; negative impacts on aquatic organisms; negative impacts on wildlife and other resources; inadequate capacity for traffic, potable water, wastewater, police, fire, and EMS services and threatened public health.

AFFECTED PARTY
The owner of land adjoining the land subject to a development application, a person or organization who reasonably believes their property interest will be directly and materially affected by a development proposed by a development application, or any officer or agent of the city.

AGGRIEVED PARTY
A person with a legally recognized interest (i.e., fee simple ownership) and standing to appeal that is injuriously affected by a decision from any decision-making body of the city, including any officer or agent of the city.

AGRICULTURE
Any parcel of land two acres or more used for active and on-going agricultural activities, including agronomy, aquaculture, biotechnical agriculture, fisheries, apiculture, and similar uses. Accessory uses may include offices, storage areas, and repair facilities related to agricultural uses.

AIRPORT
Any area of land or water designed and set aside for the landing and take-off of aircraft, including all necessary facilities for the housing and maintenance of aircraft.

ALL OTHER AGRICULTURAL USES
Other agricultural uses include agricultural processing for on-site uses, agri-education, agri-entertainment, farm co-op operations, feedlots, agricultural research facilities, animal care businesses, livestock auction arenas, stables, equestrian facilities, and fairgrounds.

ALL WHOLESALE USES
Establishments or places of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users; or to other wholesalers. Wholesale establishment does not include contractor's materials or office or retail sales of business supplies/office equipment.

ALTERNATIVE PARKING PLAN
A plan or other proposal to utilize one or more of the alternative parking provisions in Section 23-6-2(H), Off-Street Parking Alternatives, as a means of providing more off-street parking spaces than typically allowed or fewer spaces than required.

AMPHITHEATER
See "Arena".

ANIMAL CARE, TRAINING, OR KENNEL
Any place or establishment, public or private, for the purpose of boarding, training, grooming, or selling animals or other similar purpose, for which a fee is charged. Such uses may include outdoor facilities for animal recreation and training, offices, and storage areas for equipment. This does not include Veterinary Clinics that provide medical treatment and services to animals.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
Any parcel of land two acres or more used for the active and ongoing propagation, rearing, exercising, feeding, milking, housing, controlling, handling, or general care of living animals, including the raising and production of cattle (beef and dairy), pigs, mules, ducks, emus, horses, goats, llama, poultry, sheep and similar animal husbandry uses.

APPEAL
An appeal of an administrative decision-maker's interpretation or decision on certain applications and other matters, and that is reviewed and decided by the Board of Zoning Adjustments or City Council in accordance with Section 23-2-4(S), Appeal.

APPLICANT
The owner of land, or the authorized representative of the landowner, applying for a development approval or permit.

APPLICATION
The completed form or forms and all accompanying documents, exhibits, and fees required of an applicant by the appropriate city department, board, or commission as part of the review for a development permit or approval.

ARBORETUM OR BOTANICAL GARDEN
A garden or place where trees, shrubs, or other woody plants are grown, exhibited or labeled for scientific, educational, or passive recreational purposes, not including the harvest of plants or their produce.

ARCHITECTURAL AND HISTORICAL REVIEW COMMISSION
Biloxi's historic preservation commission, established under authority of the historic preservation law of the State of Mississippi.

ARCHITECTURAL LIGHTING
Exterior lighting that is designed to highlight structures, plantings, or significant architectural features in a direct or indirect fashion.

ARENA
A building or structure designed or intended for use for spectator sports, entertainment events, expositions, and other public gatherings. Such uses may or may not include lighting facilities for illuminating the field or stage area, concessions, parking facilities, and maintenance areas.

ART, MUSIC, OR DANCE STUDIO
The workshop or space used for the production of art, music, or dance. This use may include instructional space for delivering lessons to customers.

ASSESSED VALUE
The monetary value that a parcel of land, portion of land, improvement on land, or other commodity is assigned by the Harrison County Tax Assessor's office for the purposes of taxation.

ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY
A building, section or distinct part of a building, private home, boarding home, home for the aged, or other residential facility, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide housing, meals, health care assistance, and one or more personal services for a period exceeding 24 hours to one or more adults who are not relatives of the owner or proprietor. Accessory uses may include dining rooms and infirmary facilities for intermediate or skilled nursing care solely for the use of the occupants residing in the principal facility.

ATHLETIC FIELD AND CLUB HOUSE
Outdoor areas designed for athletic competitions and training for field sports such as soccer, baseball, football, and similar sports requiring outdoor fields. Associated accessory uses may include club houses, shelters, bleachers, restrooms, concessions, parking, equipment storage, irrigation system, and athletic equipment.

AUDITORIUM
A building or structure designed or intended for use for spectator sports, entertainment events, expositions, and other public gatherings, all occurring inside a structure typically limited to a capacity of 500 or fewer seats.

AUDITORIUM
A building or structure designed or intended for use for entertainment and cultural events and other public gatherings, all occurring inside a structure typically limited to a capacity of 500 or fewer seats.

AUTO PAINTING OR BODY SHOP
Repair of automobiles, vehicles, or trailers, including bodywork, framework, welding, and major painting service.

AUTO REPAIR AND SERVICING WITHOUT PAINTING/BODYWORK
General repair, rebuilding, or reconditioning of engines, motor vehicles, or trailers, not including bodywork, framework, welding, and major painting service.

AUTO SALES/RENTALS NEW OR USED
Premises on which new or used passenger automobiles, trailers, or light trucks in operating condition are displayed for sale, lease, or rental.

AUTO WRECKER SERVICE
An establishment operated for the purpose of temporary storage on-site of no more than nine wrecked or inoperable vehicles for a period no longer than 90 days. If an establishment has ten or more inoperable vehicles located on-site, stores inoperable vehicles for more than 90 days, stacks vehicles, or portions of the vehicles are dismantled or removed for sale, it shall be considered a salvage and junkyard.

AWNING
A shelter projecting from and supported by the exterior wall of a building constructed of non-rigid materials on a supporting framework.

BAIL BONDSMAN
An individual or business which specializes in providing bail bonds for people charged with crimes that are awaiting trial and desire to be released from custody.

BANK OR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WITH DRIVE-THROUGH
An establishment that provides retail banking services, mortgage lending, or similar financial services to individuals and businesses. Financial institutions include those establishments engaged in the on-site circulation of cash money and check-cashing facilities, but shall not include bail bond brokers. Financial institutions may also provide automated teller machines (ATM) services, located within a fully enclosed space or building, or along an exterior building wall intended to serve walk-up customers only. These uses include drive-through facilities.

BANK OR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION WITHOUT DRIVE-THROUGH
An establishment that provides retail banking services, mortgage lending, or similar financial services to individuals and businesses. Financial institutions include those establishments engaged in the on-site circulation of cash money and check-cashing facilities, but shall not include bail bond brokers. Financial institutions may also provide automated teller machines (ATM) services, located within a fully enclosed space or building, or along an exterior building wall intended to serve walk-up customers only. These uses do not include drive-through facilities.

BAR OR LOUNGE
An establishment having as its principal or predominant use the serving of beer, wine, or liquor for consumption on the premises, and which sets a minimum age requirement for entrance, consistent with state law. The primary source of revenue for such use is derived from alcohol sales, and the secondary source from the serving of food.

BEACH VENDING
Any portable table, showcase, bench, rack, pushcart, or similar device used for the displaying, storing, or transporting of articles offered for sale by a beach vendor. A beach vendor is any person authorized by the Harrison County Sand Beach Authority to engage, on the Sand Beach, in the selling of food, beverages, merchandise, or goods for immediate delivery from a vendor stand or from his or her person that is not located in, or in association with, a building.

BED AND BREAKFAST
A private single-family residence of historic significance authorized to rent one or more bedrooms on a daily basis to tourists, vacationers, and business people, where provision of meals is limited to breakfast guests only, except that other food may be provided to guests in attendance of certain commercial activities such as guided tours, weddings, receptions, parties, and other large gatherings as may be authorized via issuance of special events permit, as provided by ordinance. *amended by Ordinance 2173, 10/19/2010

BERM
An elongated earthen mound typically designed or constructed on a site to separate, screen, or buffer adjacent uses.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Methods or techniques that are generally accepted as the most effective and practical means in achieving an objective (such as preventing or minimizing pollution) while making the optimum use of generally available resources.

BIKE RACK
A stand used for mounting and securing bikes when not in use.

BILLBOARD
An outdoor sign structure which advertises a business, commodity, good, service, entertainment, or attraction which is not offered or does not exist on the premises where the billboard is located, or which contains a political or ideological or non-commercial message.

BLOCK
An area of land surrounded by any combination of streets, parks, railroads, water bodies, or other similar physical features that form a barrier to the continuity of development.

BLOCK FACE
The lands abutting one side of a block—that is abutting one side of a street and lying between the two nearest intersecting streets, parks, railroads, water bodies, or undivided land.

BLOOD/TISSUE COLLECTION FACILITY
A facility where blood or related materials are either withdrawn or collected from patients or assembled after being withdrawn or collected elsewhere from patients for subsequent delivery to a clinical laboratory for examination. A collection facility is maintained at a separate physical location not on the grounds or premises of the main licensed laboratory or institution which performs the testing.

BOAT MANUFACTURING
A manufacturing facility devoted to the production of boats, marine engines, or marine equipment.

BOAT REPAIR
A business that focuses on the repair or maintenance of boats, marine engines, or marine equipment.

BOAT SALES
Premises on which new or used boats, marine engines, or marine equipment displayed for sale, lease, or rental.

BOAT STORAGE
An enclosed or partially enclosed structure designed for the use and storage of private watercraft and marine equipment.

BOOK OR MEDIA SHOP
A retail store that sells books and other media. This does not include the sale of sexually-oriented media.

BREWPUB
A drinking establishment that produces and serves up to 5,000 barrels of fermented malt beverages annually for consumption on premises in hand-capped or sealed containers in quantities up to one-half barrel or 15½ gallons sold directly to the consumer. Wholesaling shall be permitted only where authorized by state law. This use type is subject to other limitations imposed in relevant state statutes.

BUFFER, PERIMETER
An area of land along the perimeter of a development site that contains any combination of vegetative materials, berms, fences, and walls, and provides separation and screening to minimize potential adverse impacts between the development and dissimilar development on abutting property.

BUFFER, RIPARIAN
An area of trees and other vegetation adjacent to a stream, river, or shoreline that is managed to maintain the integrity of the water body, to reduce pollution, and to provide food, habitat, and thermal protection for fish and wildlife.

BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals, good, or materials of any kind or nature.

BUILDING BASE
The structural elements, design features, and materials associated with the first floor elevation of a building façade.

BUILDING CAP
The structural elements, design features, and materials associated with the top floor elevation of a building façade.

BUILDING CODE
The International Building Code, as adopted and modified pursuant to Chapter 5, Buildings, of the Biloxi Code of Ordinances.

BUILDING ELEVATION
The front, side, or rear of a building or structure.

BUILDING FAÇADE
See "Façade"

BUILDING FOOTPRINT
The exterior outline of a building where it meets the earth.

BUILDING FRONTAGE
The linear distance along the exterior building wall that faces a public right-of-way abutting the parcel on which the building is located.

BUILDING OFFICIAL
The Building Official of the City of Biloxi.

BUILDING PERMIT
An official document or certification that is issued by the Building Official pursuant to the Building Code and authorizes the construction, alteration, enlargement, conversion, reconstruction, remodeling, rehabilitation, erection, demolition, moving or repair of a building or structure as being in compliance with Building Code standards.

BUILDING, PRINCIPAL
A building in which is conducted the primary use of the lot on which the building is located.

BUSINESS SERVICES OFFICES
A room, or group of rooms used for conducting the affairs of a general business establishment, other than financial services and professional services. Examples of business services office uses include offices for retail and wholesale establishments.

CALIPER
A horticultural method of measuring the diameter of a tree trunk for the purposes of determining the tree's size. The caliper of the trunk is measured six inches above the ground for trees with a diameter of four inches or less, 12 inches above the ground for trees with a diameter more than four and less than ten inches, and at breast height (4½ feet) for trees with a diameter of ten inches or greater.

CANNABIS
All parts of the plant of the genus cannabis, the flower, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of the plant and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its seeds or its resin, including whole plant extracts. Such term shall not mean cannabis-derived drug products approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration under Section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

CANNABIS CULTIVATION FACILITY
A business entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that acquires, grows, cultivates and harvests medical cannabis in an indoor, enclosed, locked and secure area.

CANNABIS DISPOSAL ENTITY
A business licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that is involved in the commercial disposal or destruction of medical cannabis.

CANNABIS PROCESSING FACILITY
A business entity that is licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that:

1.

Acquires or intends to acquire cannabis from a cannabis cultivation facility;

2.

Possesses cannabis with the intent to manufacture a cannabis product;

3.

Manufactures or intends to manufacture a cannabis product from unprocessed cannabis or a cannabis extract; and

4.

Sells or intends to sell a cannabis product to a medical cannabis dispensary, cannabis testing facility or cannabis research facility.

CANNABIS RESEARCH FACILITY
A research facility at any university or college in this state or an independent entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health pursuant to this chapter that acquires cannabis from cannabis cultivation facilities and cannabis-processing facilities in order to research cannabis, develop best practices for specific medical conditions, develop medicines and provide commercial access for medical use.

CANNABIS TESTING FACILITY
An independent entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that analyzes the safety and potency of cannabis.

CANNABIS TRANSPORTATION ENTITY
An independent entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that is involved in the commercial transportation of medical cannabis.

CAR WASH OR AUTO DETAILING
An establishment providing the exterior washing of vehicles where vehicles are manually driven or pulled by a conveyor through a system of rollers and/or brushes. Interior cleaning and/or drying may be conducted manually by vehicle operator or on-site attendants. Automatic car wash establishments are further defined under the two following categories:

1.

Full service: An establishment featuring a conveyor system to move vehicles through the wash cycle. This type of car wash may include sales of gasoline, oil and other vehicle related merchandise. On-site attendants are required. Building size is limited by lot size, parking requirements, building and landscape setbacks or other site characteristics.

2.

Self service: An establishment featuring a car wash system where vehicles are manually driven through a wash cycle, or washed manually using a wand or other hose. Incidental interior cleaning and exterior drying are performed by vehicle operator. This type of car wash does not have an on-site attendant and there is no gasoline, oil or other merchandise for sale.

CARPORT
An open-sided shelter for an automotive vehicle, usually formed by a roof projecting from the side of a building.

CEMETERY OR MAUSOLEUM
Uses intended for the burial of the dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes. This use type may include a funeral home or mortuary or a mausoleum or columbarium (a structure or vault lined with recesses for cinerary urns), but does not include a crematory.

CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A permit authorizing development within a historic district or to a historic landmark or historic landmark site to which the Architectural/Historic Overlay zoning classification is applied, and that is reviewed and decided by the Architectural and Historical Review Commission or the Director of Community Development in accordance with Section 23-2-4(G), Certificate of Appropriateness.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
A document issued by the Building Official pursuant to the Building Code that allows the occupancy and use of building(s) and structure(s) and certifying that said building(s) and structure(s) and use(s) have been constructed and will be used in compliance with all applicable municipal codes.

CERTIFICATE OF ZONING COMPLIANCE
A permit that serves as one of the city's final approvals of the compliance of detailed development plans with this Ordinance and authorizes changes in use and construction, and that is reviewed and decided by the Director of Community Development in accordance with Section 23-2-4(L), Certificate of Zoning Compliance.

CHANCERY CLERK
The Chancery Clerk of Harrison County, Mississippi.

CHANGE IN USE
The change in the use of a structure or land from one use to another use listed in the table of uses as a permitted use, and that requires a Certificate of Zoning Compliance.

CHECK CASHING
An individual, partnership, association, joint stock association, trust or corporation, or other establishment, excluding the U.S. Government and the government of Mississippi, who provides the for-fee service of exchanging cash or other value for any check, draft, money order, personal money order, or other instrument for the transmission or payment of money. Traveler's checks and foreign drawn payment instruments are not considered part of check cashing services. This definition does not include any federally or state chartered bank, savings institution or credit union.

CHILD DAY CARE FACILITY
A facility that provides shelter and personal care for no more than 12½ hours during any part of a 24-hour day to six or more children under 13 years of age who are not related to the operator(s) of the facility. This includes day nurseries, day care centers, and other facilities that fall within the scope of this definition. Exempt from this use are child care facilities that operate for no more than two days a week and whose primary purpose is to provide respite for the primary caregiver of the child or to provide temporary care during other scheduled or related activities and organized programs that operate for three or fewer weeks per year such as, but not limited to, vacation bible schools and scout day camps. Also exempt are membership organizations affiliated with a national organization that charge an annual membership fee, do not receive monthly, weekly, or daily payments for services, and are certified and in compliance with the national association's minimum standards for operation. Examples of such uses include, but are not limited to, the Boys and Girls Club of America and the YMCA. Child Day Care Facilities must be compliant with relevant Mississippi Statutes and Building Codes, including licensure requirements.

CINEMA
A building or part of a building devoted to showing motion pictures, or for dramatic, musical or live performances. This can also include an open lot or part of an open lot and auxiliary facilities devoted primarily to the showing of moving pictures or theatrical productions on a paid admission basis to patrons seated in automobiles or on outdoor seats.

CITY
The City of Biloxi, Mississippi.

CITY CLERK
The City Clerk of the City of Biloxi.

CITY COUNCIL
The elected legislative governing body of the City of Biloxi.

CITY ENGINEER
The City Engineer of the City of Biloxi.

CLUB OR LODGE
A building or facilities where a corporation, association or group of individuals whose primary purpose is social, educational, cultural or recreational in nature meets and hold events. This use does not include for profit services that are normally carried on as a business.

COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY
A public or private, non-profit institution for post-secondary education offering courses in general or technical education which operates within buildings or premises on land owned or leased by the institution for administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, laboratories, chapels, auditoriums, lecture halls, libraries, student and faculty centers, athletic facilities, dormitories, fraternities and sororities, and other facilities which further the educational mission of the institution. In no event shall this definition prohibit a college or university from engaging in an activity historically conducted by such institutions. Trade or vocational schools are a different use type.

COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
A motor vehicle or trailer that (a) displays letters, numbers, logos, and/or symbols identifying a trade or business or advertising a business product or service (excluding bumper stickers and registration/license numbers or other such information required to be posted by law), (b) has permanently mounted outside brackets or holders for ladders, tools, pipes, or similar equipment, or (c) is licensed as a "for-hire" vehicle (e.g., a taxicab or limousine).

COMMON AREA OR COMMON OPEN SPACE
An open space area within or related to a development site that is designed and intended for the shared use or enjoyment of residents, occupants, and owners of the development.

COMMUNITY CENTER
A building used for recreational, social, educational and cultural activities, open to the public or a designated part of the public, usually owned and operated by a public or nonprofit group or agency.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
The director of the Biloxi Community Development Department and the person with primary responsible for administering this Ordinance, or a designee.

COMMUNITY GARDEN
A private or public facility for cultivation of fruits, flowers, vegetables, or ornamental plants by more than one person, household, or family.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
A statement of public policy for the physical development of the entire municipality or county adopted by resolution of the governing body. As used in this Chapter, the term refers to the most recently adopted Comprehensive Plan of the City of Biloxi, as amended and supplemented from time to time by ordinance of the City Council.

CONDITIONAL USE
A use that may be appropriate in a particular zoning district, but because of its nature, extent, and external effects, requires special use-specific standards and special consideration of its location, design, and methods of operation before it is allowed in the district.

CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT
A permit for development of a conditional use that is reviewed and decided by the City Council in accordance with Section 23-2-4(D), Conditional Use Permit.

CONDOMINIUM
A building or group of buildings in which units are owned individually and the structure, common areas, and facilities are owned by all the unit owners on a proportional basis. A condominium is considered a multifamily dwelling that is owner-occupied or rented for a minimum of 30 days or more.

CONDOTEL
A condominium hotel that includes rental and reservation desks, may be used for short-term occupancy of less than 30 days, and may provide food, telephone, and daily cleaning services. Condotels are operated as a commercial hotel even though the units are individually owned.

CONFERENCE OR TRAINING CENTER
A facility designed to accommodate less than 500 persons and used for conferences, seminars, product displays, recreation activities, and entertainment functions, along with accessory functions including temporary outdoor displays, and food and beverage preparation and service for on-premise consumption.

CONFORMING USE
Any lawful use of a building or a lot that complies with the provisions of this Ordinance.

CONNECTIVITY
The relative degree of connection between streets, sidewalks, or other means of travel.

CONTRACTOR'S OFFICES
A building or portion of a building used by a development contractor both as an office and for the storage of a limited quantity of materials inside the building.

CONVENIENCE STORE
A retail establishment which offers for sale, primarily, the following types of articles: bread, milk, cheese, canned and bottled foods and drinks, tobacco products, beer, wine, candy, papers and magazines, and general hardware articles. Gasoline is not offered for sale. Fast food may be offered, but only as a secondary activity of a convenience store. If vehicular maintenance and service are provided, the establishment is not classified as a convenience store.

CONVENIENCE STORE WITH GAS SALES
Building and premises where the sale of gasoline dispensed by the customer is the primary use, and where vehicle oil and convenience goods may be sold, where appropriate. Other uses may include:

1.

Sales of cold drinks, packaged foods, tobacco, and similar convenience goods for filling station customers, as accessory and incidental to principal operation;

2.

Provision of road maps and other informational material to customers; and

3.

Provision of restroom facilities.

CONVENT/MONASTERY
The building or buildings occupied by a society or association of monks, friars, or nuns, or other similar religious groups.

CONVENTION CENTER
A facility designed to accommodate 500 or more persons and used for conventions, conferences, seminars, product displays, recreation activities, and entertainment functions, along with accessory functions including temporary outdoor displays, and food and beverage preparation and service for on-premise consumption. Similar structures with a capacity of less than 500 people are conference center uses.

CORNICE
Any horizontal member, structural or nonstructural, of any building, projecting outward from the exterior walls at the roof line, including eaves and other roof overhang.

COUNTY
Harrison County, Mississippi.

COUNTY TAX APPRAISER
The Tax Appraiser of Harrison County, Mississippi.

CROSS ACCESS
Vehicular access provided between the vehicular use areas of two or more adjacent development sites or parcels that is intended to allow travel between the sites without the use of a street.

CUL-DE-SAC
A short, local street having one end open to traffic and being permanently terminated at the other end by a circular bulb that allows vehicles to turn around without having to stop and back up.

CUPOLA
A domelike structure on top of a roof or dome, often used as a lookout or to admit light and air.

DAY LABOR EMPLOYMENT SERVICE
A business or an establishment that provides, or markets itself as providing, the temporary employment of persons where persons wait at the establishment on a daily basis for work assignments or transportation to work assignments. This definition specifically excludes those services placing employees primarily through telephone contacts that do not involve the waiting of prospective employees on the premises whether for employment, transportation, or assignment.

DBH (DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT)
The measurement of the diameter of a tree trunk taken at a height of four and one-half feet (54 inches) above the ground. Trees with multiple tree trunks should be treated as multiple trees and the DBH of each trunk added to the aggregate diameter measurement.

DEMOLITION
The intentional removal of a structure.

DEMOLITION BY NEGLECT
Conditions of neglect in the maintenance of a building that constitute or substantially contribute to deterioration threatening the structural integrity of structures or architectural details important to the property's historic, prehistoric, architectural, or cultural character, as determined by the Community Development Department and as further defined in Section 23-3-5(B), AHO: Architectural/Historic Overlay District.

DESIGN REVIEW GUIDELINES
A document prepared by the Architectural and Historic Review Commission that sets out guidelines the Commission uses to assess the conformity of proposed development associated with historic districts, historic landmarks, and historic landmark sites to the city's historic preservation policies and standards.

DEVELOPER
Any person dividing or proposing to divide land so as to constitute a subdivision, and may also mean any person engaged in the development or redevelopment of land, buildings or structures.

DEVELOPMENT
The initiation, construction, change, or enlargement of any use or structure, the disturbance of land through the removal of trees or ground cover, or the division of land into two or more parcels. "Development" shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

1.

Construction or enlargement of a building or structure;

2.

Change in the type of use of a building, structure, or land;

3.

Material increase in the intensity of use of land, such as an increase in the number of businesses, offices, manufacturing establishments, or dwelling units located in a building or structure or on the land;

4.

Commencement or expansion of resource extraction, agricultural, horticultural, or forestry activities on a parcel of land;

5.

Demolition of a structure or the removal of trees from a parcel of land;

6.

Deposition of refuse, solid or liquid waste, or fill on a parcel of land;

7.

Alteration, either physically or chemically, of the shore, bank, or channel of any stream, lake, or other body of water or alteration of any wetland; and

8.

Any land disturbing activity that adds to or changes the amount of impervious or partially impervious cover on a land area or which otherwise decreases the infiltration of precipitation into the soil.

DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE
A committee of city staff made of representatives from city department commonly involved with various elements of development, and that is responsible for review and making recommendations or decisions on certain development applications.

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The Director of Community Development of the City of Biloxi or a designee.

DISTRICT, OVERLAY
A zoning district that encompasses one or more underlying zoning districts and that imposes additional requirements above that required by the underlying zoning district.

DISTRICT, ZONING
An area delineated on the Official Zoning Map which sets forth standards and guidelines for all development within the prescribed district.

DOCKING FACILITY
A fixed or floating structure, including moorings, used for the purpose of berthing buoyant vessels on a commercial basis.

DORMITORY
A building used principally to provide rooms for sleeping accommodations at an educational, public, or religious institution. Common kitchen, sanitary, and social gathering rooms may also be provided.

DRIVEWAY
A private roadway providing access between a street and origin and destinations points within an adjacent property.

DRUG OR ALCOHOL TREATMENT FACILITY
Inpatient facility which provides care for persons with drug and/or alcohol dependency problems and which may include outpatient follow-up care to the facility's patients.

DRUG STORE OR PHARMACY WITH DRIVE-THROUGH SERVICE
A freestanding establishment including one or more drive through lanes for customer service that is engaged in the retail sale of prescription drugs, nonprescription medicines, cosmetics, and related supplies.

DRUG STORE OR PHARMACY WITHOUT DRIVE-THROUGH SERVICE
A freestanding establishment engaged in the retail sale of prescription drugs, nonprescription medicines, cosmetics, and related supplies. This use does not include drive through services.

DRY CLEANING AND LAUNDRY DROP-OFF ESTABLISHMENT
A commercial establishment maintained for the drop off and pick up of clothes for off-site laundering or dry cleaning, without the operation of any laundry or dry cleaning equipment on the premises.

DRY CLEANING PLANT
A facility where retail customers drop off or pick up laundry or dry cleaning and where the cleaning processes may take place on site as long as all cleaning materials and chemicals and waste water is disposed of in compliance with all applicable permits and regulations.

DWELLING UNIT
One room or rooms connected together and comprising a minimum of 390 square feet, constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment with independent cooking and sleeping facilities for owner occupancy, or rental, or lease on a weekly, monthly, or longer basis.

DWELLING, LIVE/WORK
A structure or portion of a structure combining a residential living space for one or more persons with an integrated work space principally used by one or more of the residents.

DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
A dwelling or group of dwellings on one lot, containing separate living units for three or more families, having separate or joint entrances, and including but not limited to apartments, group homes, tiny homes, and condominiums.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED
Two or more single-family dwelling units, each with its own outside entrance and individual lot, which are joined together by a common or party wall which is shared by two or more individual dwelling units along the lot line.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED
A detached residential building, other than a mobile home or manufactured home, designed for and constructed to be occupied exclusively by not more than one family or household.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED-ZERO LOT LINE
A single-family detached dwelling unit located on a lot in such a manner that one of the building's sides rests directly on a lot line.

DWELLING, THREE- TO FOUR-FAMILY
A residential building containing three or four individual dwelling units located on a single lot. Such units may be part of a single structure, or may be attached by one or more common walls.

DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A residential building containing two individual dwelling units located on a single lot. Such units may be part of a single structure, or may be attached by one or more common walls.

DWELLING, UPPER STORY
A dwelling unit located on the second floor or higher of a building with nonresidential uses located on the ground or street level.

EASEMENT
A grant by a landowner to another landowner or to the public, for the right to occupy or use designated land for specific purposes, such as access, drainage, conservation, the location of public improvements, or other specified purpose. An easement does not constitute fee simple ownership of the land.

EAVE
The projecting lower edges of a roof that overhangs the wall of a building.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
A public or private school offering general, technical, or alternative instruction at the elementary school level that operates in buildings or structures or on premises on land leased or owned by the educational institution for administrative purposes and meets the state requirements for an elementary school. Such uses include classrooms, laboratories, auditoriums, libraries, cafeterias, after school care, athletic facilities, dormitories, and other facilities that further the educational mission of the institution.

ENTABLATURE
A horizontal part in classical architecture that rests on the columns, between the capital and the roof, and consisting of architrave, frieze, and cornice.

EQUESTRIAN FACILITY
A use associated with the keeping of horses or ponies as domesticated animals or pets. Such uses include stalls, feeding areas, paddocks, haylofts, corrals, and other similar outdoor exercise/instruction/performance areas.

ESCORT BUREAU OR SERVICE
A service that furnishes, refers, or offers to introduce patrons to escorts for a fee, commission, profit, payment, or other monetary consideration.

EXPANSION
An increase in the size of an existing structure or use, including the physical size of the land, building, parking, and other improvements or structures.

EXTERIOR FEATURES
The color, kind, texture of the building material and the type and style of all windows, doors and appurtenances.

EXTRACTION INDUSTRIES
A use involving on-site extraction of surface or subsurface mineral products or natural resources. Typical uses are quarries, borrow pits, sand and gravel operations, mining, and soil mining. Specifically excluded from this use is grading and removal of dirt associated with an approved Site Plan or subdivision or excavations associated with, and for the improvement of, a bona fide agricultural use.

FAÇADE
The entire exterior wall of a building facing a lot line measured from the grade to the eave or highest point of a flat or mansard roof. Façades may be on the front, side, or rear elevation of the building.

FACILITY FREQUENTED BY 6—18 YEAR OLDS
A public school serving any combination of grade levels from kindergarten through 12th grade, youth center, public park, permanent location of an organization that primarily serves youths (e.g., YMCA, YWCA, Boys' Club, Girls' Club, 4-H).

FAIR MARKET VALUE
The monetary price that a parcel of land, portion of land, improvement on land, or other commodity will bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions of a fair sale, the buyer and seller each prudently knowledgeable, and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus.

FAMILY
Two or more persons related by blood, marriage, state-approved foster home placement, court-approved adoption, or up to five unrelated persons, constituting a single housekeeping unit.

FAMILY CHILD DAY CARE HOME
A residential facility occupied by the operator where five or fewer children under the age of 13 and not related to the operator are provided care for no more than 12½ hours during any part of a 24-hour day. Such uses are encouraged to be compliant with relevant Mississippi Statutes.

FARMERS MARKET
An occasional or periodic public market held in a structure or open area where farmers sell produce and other farm products they have grown, gathered, or raised directly to consumers.

FINANCIAL SERVICES OFFICES
A room or group of rooms used for conducting the affairs of a business offering financial services, such as banking services, investment banking, stock brokerage, investment services, credit card services, and the like.

FIRE CODE
The International Fire Code, as adopted and modified pursuant to Chapter 7, Fire Prevention, of the Biloxi Code of Ordinances.

FISH CAMP
A camp adjacent to a body of water providing fishing facilities, but which does not include overnight accommodations or permanent residential dwellings other than that of the owner or operator.

FLOOR AREA RATIO
The ratio of gross floor area of all buildings on a lot to total lot area.

FLOOR AREA, GROSS
The sum of the gross horizontal areas of each floor of the principal building and any accessory buildings or structures, measured from the exterior walls or from the centerline of party walls. The term does not include any area used exclusively for the surface parking of motor vehicles or for building or equipment access, such as stairs, elevator shafts, and maintenance crawl space.

FOOT-CANDLE
A unit of illuminance on a surface one foot from a uniform point source of light of one candle and equal to one lumen per square foot.

FRATERNITY/SORORITY HOUSE
A building used as group living quarters for students of a college, university, or seminary, who are members of a fraternity or sorority that has been officially recognized by the college, university, or seminary. Such use may or may not be located within the campus it is associated with. The fraternity or sorority house may include sleeping areas, cooking facilities, and areas for meeting and socializing.

FREEWAY
A special type of arterial street designed as divided, limited-access highways and intended solely to channel moderate to high volumes of vehicular traffic at high speeds between and around communities, with limited interchanges with arterial streets and other freeways.

FULL CUT-OFF LENS
An artificial outdoor lighting fixture designed to ensure that no light is directly emitted above a horizontal line parallel to the ground.

FUNERAL HOME OR MORTUARY
An establishment that provides human funeral services, including embalming and memorial services. Crematories are accessory uses to a funeral home.

GAMING ESTABLISHMENT
Any establishment defined by the Mississippi Gaming Control Act of 1990, including, but not limited to any building or structure used to conduct gaming, gambling, or gaming related activities.

GENERAL RETAIL
Commercial enterprises that provide goods and/or services directly to the consumer, where such goods are available for immediate purchase and removal from the premises by the purchaser. Examples include stores selling, leasing, or renting consumer, home, and business goods such as art, art supplies, bicycles, cameras, clothing, dry goods, electronic equipment, fabric, furniture, garden supplies, gifts, groceries and food sales, hardware, home improvements, household products, jewelry, pets, pet food, pharmaceuticals, plants, printed material, stationary, and videos.

GLARE
The reflection or harsh, bright light and the physical effect resulting from high luminances or insufficiently shielded light sources to cause annoyance, discomfort, or loss in visual performance and visibility.

GOLF COURSE (PUBLIC OR PRIVATE)
A tract of land laid out with at least nine holes for playing the game of golf and improved with tees, greens, fairways, and hazards. A golf course, public or private, may include a clubhouse (with or without eating facilities), shelters, a driving range, putting green, maintenance facilities, an irrigation system, and outdoor storage of materials and equipment.

GOLF DRIVING RANGE
A limited area on which golf players do not walk, but onto which they drive golf balls from a common driving tee. Such uses may include a concessions stand, netting, exterior lighting fixtures, putting greens, as well as maintenance and outdoor storage areas. Such uses do not include golf courses.

GOVERNMENT MAINTENANCE, STORAGE, OR DISTRIBUTION FACILITY
A facility housing government shops, maintenance and repair centers, equipment, and outdoor storage yards.

GOVERNMENT OFFICE OR BUILDING
An office of a governmental agency that provides administrative and/or direct services to the public, such as, but not limited to, employment offices, public assistance offices, or motor vehicle licensing and registration services.

GRADE, FINISHED
The completed surfaces of lawns, walks and roads brought to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.

GREENWAY
A linear greenbelt linking various types of development by such facilities as bicycle paths, footpaths, and bridle paths. Greenways are usually kept in their natural state except for the pathway and area immediately adjacent to the pathway.

GROCERY STORE
An establishment engaged in retail and/or wholesale sale of food, foodstuffs, sundries, or other common household items to members of the public.

GROUND COVER
Low-growing plants that grow in a spreading fashion to form a more or less solid mat of vegetation, generally planted to provide decorative landscaping or permeable cover for bare earth that prevents soil erosion.

GROUP HOME
A home with support and supervisory personnel that provides room and board, personal care, and habilitation services in a family environment to resident persons with disabilities—i.e., persons with a temporary or permanent physical, emotional, or mental disability, including but not limited to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, hearing and sight impairments, emotional disturbances, and orthopedic impairments, but not including mentally ill persons who are dangerous to others. The definition does not include hospitals, rest homes, nursing homes, boarding homes, homes for orphans or aged, or sub-acute-care detoxification centers or halfway houses. Uses that require state licensure, such as adult foster care facilities, are required to comply with state statutes.

GUEST COTTAGE
A subordinate, accessory single-family dwelling located on a lot of record upon which a principal single-family dwelling has been constructed or is under construction, which subordinate dwelling, with or without culinary facilities, may be used as a place of non-permanent housing for guests of the occupants of the principal dwelling situated on said property.

HALFWAY HOUSE
A licensed home for juveniles or adult persons on release from more restrictive custodial confinement or initially placed in lieu of such more restrictive custodial confinement, wherein supervision, rehabilitation, and counseling is provided to assist residents back into society, enabling them to live independently.

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PROCESSING
A facility dedicated to the processing of materials and substances that are now or hereafter designated or defined as hazardous by any state or federal law or by regulation of any state or federal agency. Hazardous Materials include, but are not limited to, inorganic mineral acids of sulfur, fluorine, chlorine, nitrogen, chromium, phosphorous, selenium, and arsenic and their common salts; lead, nickel and mercury and their inorganic salts or metallo-organic derivatives; coal, tar acids such as phenol and cresols and their salts and all radioactive materials.

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY OVERLAY DISTRICT ZONE
An overlay district zone which will encourage health care related businesses to locate or expand within a qualified Health Care Industry Zone situated in the City of Biloxi, as authorized by the Mississippi Health Care Industry Zone Act of 2012 (re: House Bill 1537).

HEAVY EQUIPMENT SALES, RENTAL, STORAGE, OR REPAIR
An establishment engaged in the display, sale, leasing, rental, or repair of heavy equipment of 12,000 or more pounds gross vehicular weight (GVW).

HEDGE
A group of shrubs planted in line or in groups that forms a compact, dense, living barrier that demarcates an area from on-site or off-site views.

HEIGHT
The vertical distance between the average finished grade of a structure to the highest point of the structure.

HELICOPTER LANDING FACILITY
An area, either on ground level or elevated on a structure, licensed or approved for the landing and takeoff of helicopters and which may include auxiliary facilities such as parking, waiting room, fueling, and maintenance equipment.

HIGH SCHOOL
A public or private school offering general, technical, or alternative instruction at the high school level that operates in buildings or structures or on premises on land leased or owned by the educational institution for administrative purposes and meets the state requirements for a high school. Such uses include classrooms, vocational training (including that of an industrial nature for instructional purposes only), laboratories, auditoriums, libraries, cafeterias, after school care, athletic facilities, dormitories, and other facilities that further the educational mission of the institution.

HISTORIC DISTRICT
A group of parcels and their buildings, structures, and objects that are linked by historical association or historical development, and that is designated by the city through application of the Architectural/Historic Overlay zoning classification.

HISTORIC LANDMARK
A structure of exceptional individual significance significant, typically outside an historic district, and that is designated by the city through application of the Architectural/Historic Overlay zoning classification.

HISTORIC LANDMARK SITE
A location where a primary architectural or historical resource formerly stood or a significant historic event took place, or an important archaeological resource remains, and that is designated by the city through application of the Architectural/Historic Overlay zoning classification.

HOME OCCUPATION
An activity carried out for gain by a resident and conducted as a customary, incidental, and accessory use in the resident's dwelling unit.

HOSPITAL
An institution specializing in giving clinical, temporary, and emergency services of a medical or surgical nature to human patients and injured persons, that is licensed by state law to provide facilities and services in surgery, obstetrics, or general medical practice. Such institutions may include in-patient medical or surgical care for the sick or injured and related facilities such as laboratories, out-patient departments, training facilities, central services facilities, and staff offices that are an integral part of the facilities.

HOTEL, MOTEL, OR CONDOTEL
Hotel, motel, and condotels are to be considered synonymous uses. They are a building or a group of buildings in which sleeping accommodations are offered to the public and intended primarily for rental for temporary occupancy by persons on an overnight basis, not including bed and breakfast establishments or a boarding/rooming house. Such uses may include kitchenettes, microwaves and refrigerators for each guest unit.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE AREA
Any hard-surfaced, man-made area that is more impervious than the natural surface, including, but not limited to, buildings, decks and porches, other structures, parking and driveway areas, sidewalks, and paved recreation areas.

IMPROVEMENT
Any permanent building or structure that becomes part of, is placed upon, or is affixed to, real estate.

INTERPRETATION
A written interpretation of this Ordinance made in writing by the Director of Code Enforcement in accordance with Section 23-2-4(R), Interpretation.

JUNIOR HIGH OR MIDDLE SCHOOL
A public or private school offering general, technical, or alternative instruction at the middle school level that operates in buildings or structures or on premises on land leased or owned by the educational institution for administrative purposes and meets the state requirements for a junior high or middle school. Such uses include classrooms, vocational training (including that of an industrial nature for instructional purposes only), laboratories, auditoriums, libraries, cafeterias, after school care, athletic facilities, dormitories, and other facilities that further the educational mission of the institution.

JUNKYARD
See "Salvage yard."

KITCHEN, FULL
An area within an approved dwelling unit or visitor accommodation structure, specifically utilized for the preparation of food. The kitchen is situated within a separate room designated for that purpose within each dwelling unit. A full kitchen located within a commercial/residential dwelling unit shall include a full range of appliances, of standard or greater size, including but not limited to refrigerators, stoves and ovens, dishwashers, sinks, and cabinetry.

KITCHENETTE
An area within an approved two- to four-family residential, multi-family residential or visitor accommodation structure, specifically utilized for the preparation of food. The kitchenette may be open to an adjacent common living area within each dwelling unit. A kitchenette located within a commercial/residential dwelling unit may contain a smaller range and size of appliances and amenities such as "mini-fridges", cook-tops, under-sized sinks and dishwashers.

LAND
The earth, water, and air, above, below, or on the surface, and includes any improvements or structures on land.

LANDOWNER
Any owner of a legal or equitable interest in land, including the heirs, devisees, successors, assigns, and agent or personal representative of the owner.

LANDSCAPE STRIP, PERIMETER
Vegetative material associated with the perimeter landscaping required for a vehicular use area.

LAUNDROMAT
A facility where patrons wash, dry, or dry clean clothing or other fabrics in machines operated by the patron.

LIBRARY
A public facility for the use, but not sale, of literary, historical, scientific, musical, artistic, or other reference materials.

LIMITED FUEL/BOTTLED GAS DISTRIBUTOR
An establishment that distributes fuel oil or bottled gases, such as propone or liquid petroleum, in cans of not over five gallons' capacity for compensation.

LINGERIE MODELING STUDIO
An establishment or business that provides the services of live models modeling lingerie, bathing suits or similar wear to individuals, couples or small groups in a room smaller than 600 square feet.

LIQUOR STORE
An establishment licensed by the state exclusively for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages in original packages for consumption off the premises where sold.

LOADING SPACE, OFF-STREET
Space logically and conveniently located for bulk pickups and deliveries, scaled to delivery vehicles, and not considered as part of the minimum required off-street surface parking.

LOT
A parcel of land that may be occupied by a building and Accessory Buildings, together with such open spaces and parking spaces or areas as are required under this Ordinance, and having principal frontage upon a public street or right-of-way.

LOT AREA
The amount of horizontal land area contained within the lot lines of a lot, excluding public street rights-of-way and private street easements.

LOT DEPTH
The average horizontal distance between the front lot line and rear lot line of a lot, or if the lot has no rear lot line, the horizontal distance between the front lot line and the most distant point on any other lot line.

LOT LINE
A line forming a boundary of a lot.

LOT LINE, CORNER SIDE
A lot line separating the lot from an abutting public street right-of-way or private street easement from which the lot has no access or only secondary access. Generally, the corner side lot line is the longer of the lot lines abutting a street.

LOT LINE, FRONT
A lot line separating the lot from an abutting public street right-of-way or private street easement providing or intended to provide principal access to the lot. On a corner lot, the front lot line is generally the shorter of the lot lines abutting a street.

LOT LINE, REAR
A lot line connecting the lot's side lot lines, or a side lot line and a corner side lot line, along the edge of the lot opposite its front lot line.

LOT LINE, SIDE
A lot line not abutting a street and connecting the lot's front and rear lot lines.

LOT OF RECORD
A part of a recorded subdivision or a parcel of land that exists as shown or described on a plat or deed in the land records of the Chancery Clerk of Harrison County.

LOT WIDTH
The horizontal distance between the side line lots of a lot, or for corner lots, between a corner side lot line and the opposite side lot line, as measured along the minimum required front setback line.

LOT, CORNER
A lot that abuts two or more streets at their intersection.

LOT, FLAG
A flag lot means a lot consisting of a narrow "flagpole" strip extending from an abutting street to a much wider "flag" section lying immediately behind an adjacent lot or lots, or a lot that does not abut a public street and where access to the lot is by a narrow ("flagpole") private access easement.

LOT, INTERIOR
A lot that abuts only one street.

LOT, THROUGH
A lot that abuts two parallel or nearly parallel streets.

LUMEN
A unit of luminous flux. One foot-candle is one lumen per square foot. Lumen output values shall be the initial lumen output ratings of a lamp.

MAINTENANCE GUARANTEE
Cash or other surety provided by an applicant to ensure the maintenance of constructed or installed public infrastructure or required private site features pending their acceptance or for a specified time period.

MAJESTIC TREES
Trees having or showing impressive beauty and dignity, whether cultural, historical, or as a natural resource, making them worthy enough to warrant additional scrutiny in the permitting process in order to protect the asset for the future.

MANSARD
A sloped roof or roof-like façade architecturally comparable to a building wall.

MANUFACTURED HOME PARK, CLASS A OR B
A parcel of land under single ownership or management which is operated as a business engaged in providing a place where manufactured homes or mobile homes permitted as of July 29, 2003 are installed for non-transient living or sleeping purposes and where sites or lots are set aside or offered for lease for use by manufactured or mobile homes for living or sleeping purposes. Accessory uses to manufactured home parks include caretaker quarters, laundry facilities, and facilities for parks and recreation.

MANUFACTURED HOME, CLASS A
A structure built on an integral chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit when connected to the required utilities, fabricated in an offsite manufacturing facility after June 15, 1976 in one or more sections, which includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein, with each section bearing the HUD Code Seal certifying compliance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, designed to be transported for installation or assembly at the building site—and that meets the standards for Class A Manufactured Homes in Section 23.4-3(B), Manufactured Homes, Class A. This definition does not include recreational vehicle or Class B manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or modular home.

MANUFACTURED HOME, CLASS B
A structure built on an integral chassis designed to be used as a dwelling unit when connected to the required utilities, fabricated in an offsite manufacturing facility after June 15, 1976 in one or more sections, which includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein, with each section bearing the HUD Code Seal certifying compliance with the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, designed to be transported for installation or assembly at the building site—but does not meet the standards for Class A Manufactured Homes in Section 23-4-3(B). This definition does not include recreational vehicle or Class A manufactured home, mobile home, travel trailer, or modular home.

MAP AMENDMENT (REZONING)
A change in the zoning classification applied to land, and that is reviewed and decided by the City Council in accordance with Section 23-2-4(B), Map Amendment (Rezoning).

MARINA
A harbor, boat basin, or other facility that provides storage and/or docking facilities, supplies, or other services for watercraft, including facilities for storing watercraft in or out of the water, but excluding storage of watercraft at a private dock associated with a residential unit or on private property where no fee is charged.

MARQUEE
Any permanent roof-like structure projecting beyond a building or extending along and projecting beyond the wall of a building, generally designed and constructed to provide protection from the weather and/or provide business identification.

MASSAGE THERAPY
An office, studio or other facility where a massage therapist qualified to practice massage therapy under state law practices massage therapy.

MAXIMUM EXTENT PRACTICABLE
No feasible or practical alternative exists, as determined by the Director of Community Development, and all possible efforts to comply with the standards or regulation or minimize potential harmful or adverse impacts have been undertaken by an applicant. Economic considerations may be taken into account but shall not be the overriding factor determining "maximum extent practicable."

MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY
An entity licensed and registered with the MDOR (Mississippi Department of Revenue) that acquires, possesses, stores, transfers, sells, supplies or dispenses medical cannabis, equipment used for medical cannabis, or related supplies and educational materials to cardholders.

MEDICAL OR DENTAL CLINIC
An establishment where patients are admitted for examination and treatment by one or more physicians, dentists or psychologists and where patients are not usually lodged overnight.

MEDICAL OR DENTAL LAB
Facilities and offices for performing diagnostic or therapeutic medical procedures of a non-surgical nature.

MISSISSIPPI COTTAGE
A manufactured or modular home, specifically developed by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for distribution by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) for the express purpose of providing single-family housing units in new or established neighborhoods. Because of the construction standards utilized in their creation, for all purposes in this Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 23 or the Code of Ordinances of the City of Biloxi), Mississippi Cottages shall be considered and treated as Manufactured Homes, and their specific classification as either a Manufactured Home Class A or a Manufactured Home Class B, if necessary, shall be determined on a case by case basis.

MITIGATION
The process or restoring/replacing of a destroyed natural resource.

MITIGATION TRUST
An account that holds mitigation funds for use in planting protected tree species on city-owned properties.

MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT
A tract of land or structure developed for two or more different uses, such as, but not limited to, residential, office, retail, institutional, public, or entertainment. Such uses are functionally integrated and share vehicular use areas, ingress/egress, and pedestrian access.

MOBILE HOME
A structure built on an integral chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit when connected to the required utilities, fabricated in an offsite manufacturing facility before June 15, 1976, in one or more sections, designed to be transported for installation or assembly at the building site. Sections do not carry the HUD Code Seal. This definition does not include recreational vehicle, Class A or B manufactured home, or modular home.

MODULAR HOME
A structure that is: (i) transportable in one or more sections; (ii) designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required utilities, and includes plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems with the home; (iii) certified by its manufacturers as being constructed in accordance with a nationally recognized building code; and (iv) designed to be permanently installed at its final destination on an approved foundation constructed in compliance with a nationally recognized building code. The term "modular home" does not include manufactured housing as defined by the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 or mobile homes. Because they are built to the same building code as site built homes, modular homes are treated under this Ordinance in the same manner as a single-family detached dwellings.

MUSEUM
A building serving as a repository for a collection of natural, scientific, historical, or literary curiosities or works of art, and arranged, intended, and designed to be used by members of the public for viewing, with or without an admission charge, and which may include as an accessory use the limited retail sale of goods, services, or products such as prepared food to the public.

NIGHTCLUB
A place of entertainment offering alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises that may also provide on-site entertainment in the form of live performances, dancing, comedic performances, or other entertainment activities. Performances related to the display of specified anatomical areas are classified as regulated business uses and prohibited within nightclubs.

NON-AUTOMOBILE VEHICLE SALES
Premises on which new or used personal watercraft, motorcycles, scooters, or other non-automobile vehicles are displayed for sale, lease, or rental.

NONCONFORMING LOT OF RECORD
Any lot of record that lawfully existed before adoption of this Ordinance, or subsequent amendment thereto, but does not comply with the lot standards applied by this Ordinance, or the subsequent amendment.

NONCONFORMING SIGN
Any sign that lawfully existed before adoption of this Ordinance, or subsequent amendment thereto, but does not comply with the signage standards applied by this Ordinance, or the subsequent amendment.

NONCONFORMING SITE FEATURE
Any off-street parking, landscaping, perimeter buffer, or screening, that lawfully existed before adoption of this Ordinance, or subsequent amendment thereto, but does not comply with the off-street parking, landscaping, perimeter buffer, or screening standards applied by this Ordinance, or the subsequent amendment.

NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE
Any building or other structure that lawfully existed before adoption of this Ordinance, or subsequent amendment thereto, but does not comply with the standards applied by this Ordinance, or the subsequent amendment, that govern its size, height, coverage, setbacks, and other locational aspects.

NONCONFORMING USE
Any use of land or a building, sign, or other structure that lawfully existed before adoption of this Ordinance, or subsequent amendment thereto, but does not comply with the use standards applied by this Ordinance, or the subsequent amendment. If the land or structure is vacant or unused before adoption of this Ordinance, or a subsequent amendment, it shall be conclusively presumed that any use of the land or structure is subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, or the subsequent amendment.

NONCONFORMITY
A nonconforming use, structure, lot of record, sign, or site feature.

NOTICE OF VIOLATION
An initial notice indicating an infraction of this Ordinance.

NURSING HOME
Any facility or any identifiable component of any facility in which the primary function is the provision, on a continuing basis, of nursing services and health-related services for the treatment and inpatient care of two or more non-related individuals, including facilities known by varying designations such as rest homes, convalescent homes, skilled care facilities, intermediate care facilities, extended care facilities and infirmaries. This does not include the home or residence of any individual who cares for or maintains only persons related to him or her by blood or marriage. This use must comply with state statutes regarding licensure for institutions of the aged or infirm.

OPACITY
A measurement indicating the degree of obscuration of light or visibility.

OPEN SPACE SET-ASIDE
Portion of a proposed development required for reservation as permanent open space by Section 23-6-6, Open Space Set-Asides.

ORDER OF ABATEMENT
A notice indicating an infraction of this Ordinance issued by a court of competent jurisdiction directing a violator to abate the violation as well as take action to correct the violation.

ORDINANCE
Regulations enforceable as municipal law.

ORDINARY MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS
Work done on a building or structure to correct any deterioration or decay of, or damage to, the building or structure, or any part thereof, and restore the building or structure as nearly as practical to its condition before the deterioration, decay, or damage.

OTHER INDUSTRY AND MANUFACTURING
A business that engages in on-site manufacturing activities and is not designated as boat manufacturing, dry cleaning, extraction industry, hazardous materials processing, research and development, or retail manufacturing.

OTHER RECREATIONAL/ENTERTAINMENT, INDOOR
A private indoor (entirely within an enclosed structure) use providing for sport and recreation activities that are operated or carried on primarily for financial gain. Examples of indoor commercial recreation uses include, but are not limited to, health and fitness centers, spas, bowling alleys, dancehalls, skating rinks, indoor commercial swimming pools, and racquet and tennis club facilities (indoor).

OTHER RECREATIONAL/ENTERTAINMENT, OUTDOOR
A private outdoor use providing facilities for recreational and entertainment use such as privately-owned miniature golf facilities, go-cart racing, race-track, or dirt-track facilities, drive-in movie theaters, privately-owned outdoor commercial tourist attractions, water parks, and amusement parks, campgrounds, and privately-owned active sports facilities such as ball fields, tennis courts, and archery ranges.

OUTDOOR DISPLAY/SALES
The placement of products or materials for sale outside the entrance of a retail or wholesale sales establishment.

OUTDOOR STORAGE
The keeping, in an unroofed area, of any goods, junk, material, merchandise, or vehicles in the same place for more than 24 hours. This shall not include the display of vehicles for sale in a new or used sales lot. Such activities may be the principal use of the land where located or as an accessory use to a principal use.

OUTPARCEL
A portion of land in a subdivision, shopping center, or other development that does not contain the primary building associated with the development, that is intended for development of one or more smaller independent buildings, and that is usually located adjacent to a development's street frontage. Outparcels are typically smaller than the parent parcel and may not be contiguous to the parcel containing the primary building or buildings.

OUTPATIENT FACILITY
A facility where patients, who are not lodged overnight, are admitted for examination and treatment by one person or a group of persons practicing any form of the healing arts, whether such persons be medical doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths, chiropodists, naturopaths, optometrists, or any such profession, the practice of which is regulated by the state. A public clinic is one operated by any governmental organization for the benefit of the general public.

OWNER OF RECORD
The owner of a lot of record reflected on the current Harrison County tax roll.

OWNER(S)
The individual owner of an establishment, or, if the legal owner is a partnership or corporation, all general partners, any limited partner with a financial interest of ten percent or more, all corporate officers and directors, and any shareholder with a financial interest of ten percent or more.

PARAPET
A building façade that rises above the roof level, typically obscuring a gable or flat roof as well as any roof-mounted equipment.

PARAPET WALL
A low protective or decorative wall or railing along the edge of a raised structure such as a roof or balcony.

PARCEL
Any quantity of land and/or water capable of being described in definitive terms with respect to its location and boundaries. It may be established as distinct from other parcel that is designated by its owner or developer as land to be used or developed as a unit, or that has been used or developed as a unit.

PARK (PRIVATE OR PUBLIC)
Land used for recreation, exercise, sports, education, rehabilitation, or similar activities, or a land area intended to enhance the enjoyment of natural features or natural beauty, specifically excluding commercially operated amusement parks.

PARKING BAY
The parking module consisting of one or two rows of parking spaces or stalls and the aisle from which motor vehicles enter and leave the spaces.

PARKING DEMAND STUDY
An analysis of the total number of parking spaces required in order to accommodate the maximum number of vehicles for parking purposes by a particular use or site at any given time, including the parking requirements for all employees, occupants, clients, and visitors.

PARKING GARAGE OR DECK
A structure designed to accommodate vehicular parking spaces that are fully or partially enclosed or located on the deck surface of a building. This definition includes parking garages and deck parking.

PARKING LOT
The portion of a site or development dedicated to vehicular ingress and egress, off-street parking, parking aisles, internal travel ways, fire lanes, and other areas dedicated to vehicular use, but not necessarily including vehicular storage areas.

PARKING LOT DRIVE AISLE
A vehicular accessway located within an off-street parking or vehicular use area which serves individual parking stalls and driveways.

PARKING SPACE, ACCESSIBLE
A space designated for the parking or temporary storage of one motor vehicle in addition to the space necessary for the ingress and egress from the vehicle by a disabled person and any equipment needed for that purpose.

PARKING SPACE, OFF-STREET
A space that is designated for the parking or temporary storage of one motor vehicle located outside of a dedicated street right-of-way, vehicular travel way, or parking aisle.

PARKING STRUCTURE
A structure designed to accommodate vehicular parking spaces that are fully or partially enclosed or located on the deck surface of a building. This definition includes parking garages and deck parking.

PARKING, OFF-SITE
An off-street parking area provided on a different parcel than the use it is intended to serve.

PARKING, ON STREET
A location or area within the right-of-way of a public or private street that is reserved for the parking of vehicles. Such areas may or may not be formally designated with signage, striping, or parking meters.

PARKING, SHARED
Off-street parking facilities shared by two or more uses that are in close proximity to one another and the parking area, and that have different operational characteristics such that use of the parking facilities by one use will not generally overlap with the use of the parking area by the other use(s).

PARKING, TANDEM
A parking space within a group of two or more parking spaces arranged one behind the other.

PASSENGER TERMINAL/SURFACE TRANSPORTATION
A facility that receives and discharges passengers and at which facilities and equipment required for their operation are provided. Examples include terminals for bus, trolley, taxi, railroad, shuttle van, or other similar vehicular services.

PAWN OR BUY-SELL SHOP
A business that loans money on deposit of personal property or deals in the purchase or possession of personal property on condition of selling the same back again to the pledgor or depositor. This includes the service of providing loans or advanced payment for personal property by taking a chattel mortgage security and taking possession of stated personal property.

PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE
Cash or other surety provided by an applicant in lieu of completing the construction or installation of public infrastructure or required private site features before application for Final Plat approval for a subdivision or issuance of a Building Permit or other development approval.

PERSON
For the purposes of enforcing this Ordinance in accordance with Article 23-8: Enforcement, "person" includes any individual, corporation, government agency, government official, business trust, partnership, two or more persons having a joint interest, or any other legal entity. Persons subject to the remedies and penalties established in Article 23-8: Enforcement, for violating this Ordinance shall include: an architect, engineer, builder, contractor, developer, agency, or any other person who participates in, assists, directs, creates, causes, or maintains a condition that results in or constitutes a violation of this Ordinance; or an owner, any tenant or occupant, or any other person who has control over, or responsibility for, the use or development of the land on which the violation occurs. For all other purposes, "person" means any individual, corporation, government agency, business trust, partnership, two or more persons having a joint interest, or any other legal entity.

PERSONAL SERVICES ESTABLISHMENT
A business establishment such a barbershop, beauty parlor, tanning salon, nail care store or similar personal service shop, but not including a massage therapy establishment, tattoo or body piercing parlor.

PIER
A general term including docks and similar structures consisting of a fixed or floating platform extending from the shore over the water.

PILASTER
A rectangular column with a capital and base that is attached or affixed to a wall as an ornamental design feature.

PLACE OF WORSHIP
A building or structure, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where people regularly assemble for religious worship. The building or structure and its accessory buildings and uses are maintained and controlled by a religious body. Places of worship include chapels, churches, mosques, shrines, synagogues, tabernacles, temples, and the like. Accessory uses may include administrative offices, classrooms, meeting rooms, and cooking and eating facilities. A place of worship may include other uses that generally exist as principal uses—e.g., adult or child day care facility, school, cemetery, playground or other recreational facility. Such uses are treated as principal uses and subject to the standards and limitations applicable to such uses.

PLANNED DEVELOPMENT
A tract of land that is planned and developed as an integral unit in accordance with a PD Plan and flexible development standards that illustrate and address land uses, circulation, utilities, parking, setbacks, housing densities, land coverage, landscaping and buffers, open space, and similar features of the project. (See Section 23-2-4(C), Planned Development, and Section 23-3-4, Planned Development Zoning Districts.)

PLANNING COMMISSION
The Planning Commission of the City of Biloxi.

PLANT NURSERY
The growing, storage, and sale of garden plants, shrubs, trees, vines, groundcovers, and other related landscaping materials for resale, typically occurring as wholesale or retail sales directly to landscaping professionals. Such uses may include limited incidental retail sales to members of the general public. Such uses may include greenhouses; outdoor storage of goods, materials, and equipment; irrigation systems; and caretaker's dwelling.

PLANT NURSERY
The growing, storage, and sale of garden plants, shrubs, trees, vines, groundcovers, and other related landscaping materials for resale, typically occurring as wholesale or retail sales directly to landscaping professionals or the general public. Such uses may include greenhouses; outdoor storage of goods, materials, and equipment; irrigation systems; and a caretaker's dwelling.

PLANTING STRIP
Areas intended for the placement of vegetation within the interior of vehicular use areas or along street right-of-way edges, typically between the back of the curb and the inside edge of the sidewalk.

PLAT, FINAL
The final map of all or a portion of a subdivision that shows all boundaries of lots, rights-of-way, easements, and open space parcels, and that is reviewed and decided by the City Council in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(8), Final Plat, and on approval, recorded in the Office of the Chancery Clerk of Harrison County.

PLAT, PRELIMINARY
A map of a Major Subdivision that shows the general layout and design of lots, streets, stormwater management, utilities, open space, and other subdivision elements, and that is reviewed and decided by city staff in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(6), Major Subdivision Preliminary Plat, and on approval, authorizes application for Public Works Permit, Final Plats, and other approvals of final or detailed plans for the subdivision.

PORCH
A roofed structure not more than 75 percent enclosed by walls, attached to the main building, and not heated or cooled.

POST OFFICE
A facility designated or licensed by the federal government to sell U.S. postage stamps and U.S. postal products and accept mail and packages for delivery.

PREMISES
A lot of record together with all improvements occupying the lot.

PRIMARY DRIVE AISLE
The main vehicular accessway that extends from the street right-of-way, or from the driveway entrance(s) serving a development, along the front of the building it serves, to the parking area(s).

PRIMARY ENTRANCE
The place of pedestrian ingress and egress to a building, parcel, or development used most frequently by the public.

PRODUCE STAND
A building or structure used for the retail sales of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs or plants grown on the same parcel of land where the stand is located. Such use may also involve the accessory sales of other unprocessed foodstuffs, home processed food products such as jams, jellies, pickles, sauces or baked goods, and homemade handicrafts. No commercially packaged handicrafts or commercially processed or packaged foodstuffs shall be sold. Such uses also include "pick your own" establishments where customers gather their own produce from the fields for purchase and off-site consumption.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
A room or group of rooms used for conducting the affairs of a business, profession, or service industry. Examples of professional services offices include offices for lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects, doctors, dentists, and similar professions.

PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT FACILITY
Inpatient facility which provides care for persons with psychiatric problems and which may include outpatient follow-up care to the facility's patients. This use must comply with state statutes regarding licensure for institutions of the aged or infirm.

PUBLIC HEALTH CENTER
A nonprofit, public facility engaged in providing services for health maintenance and the treatment of mental or physical conditions.

PUBLIC HEARING, QUASI-JUDICIAL
A formal public hearing advertised to the public that focuses on the legal rights of specific parties to present and question evidence and sworn testimony related to certain types of application, with the record of the public hearing required to serve as the basis for subsequent findings of fact, conclusions, and a decision.

PUBLIC HEARING, STANDARD
A public hearing advertised to the public that focuses on providing members of the public the opportunity to present information and comments related to certain types of application, with such information and comments available for consideration as subsequent recommendations and decisions are made.

PUBLIC LAUNCH RAMP
Public facility to launch and retrieve recreational boats from a trailer, either motor driven or hand launched boats, such as canoes. Ramps may include breakwater protection from waves, parking lots, a courtesy dock to assist in launching, toilets, refuse containers, lighting, and telephones.

PUBLIC SAFETY
Public facilities devoted to the public safety of the community, including fire stations, police stations, emergency medical and ambulance stations, and other related facilities.

PUBLIC SQUARE OR PLAZA
A community space generally open and readily accessible to the public and used by pedestrians for passive recreation and as an outdoor meeting or gathering place. Such uses may be provided with amenities such as shelters, seating, fountains, art, and landscaping.

QUORUM
The minimum number of board members that must be present for the board to conduct official business or take official action.

RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION
A facility for the staging and recording of audio or television productions.

RAINWATER CISTERN
A catchment device to capture rain water from a roof or other surface before it reaches the ground.

RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARK
A parcel of land upon which sites are rented or leased for the temporary or periodic placement of recreational vehicles as temporary living quarters for recreational or vacation purposes.

RECYCLING DROP-OFF STATION
A small collection facility where recyclable materials are purchased or accepted from the public. Typical uses include neighborhood recycling stations and thrift store collection trucks.

REDEVELOPMENT
Any proposed expansion, addition, reduction, or other alteration to an existing building, structure, or other constructed feature on a lot or site. Redevelopment also includes changes in use to existing buildings, as well as modifications to site features such as parking, signage, landscaping, grading, stormwater management devices, or changes to outdoor storage.

RELOCATION
The moving of a structure to a new location on its tax parcel or the relocation of a structure to a new tax parcel.

RENOVATION
The removal and replacement or covering of existing interior or exterior finch, trim, doors, windows, or other materials with new materials that serve the same purpose and do not change the configuration of space. Renovation includes the replacement of equipment or fixtures.

REPAIR
The restoration to a good or sound condition of materials, systems, or components of a structure that are worn, deteriorated, or broken, using materials or components identical to or closely similar to existing materials or components.

REPAIR ESTABLISHMENT
An establishment primarily engaged in the provision of repair services for TV's, bicycles, clocks, watches, shoes, guns, canvas products, appliances, and office equipment; including tailor; locksmith; and upholsterer services.

REPLACEMENT/MITIGATION
Trees planted as replacement for a mitigated loss of a protected tree.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
A business that engages in research, or research and development, of innovative ideas in technology-intensive fields. Examples include research and development of computer software, information systems, communication systems, transportation, geographic information systems, multi-media and video technology. Development and construction of prototypes may be associated with this use.

RESTAURANT WITH DRIVE-THROUGH SERVICE
An establishment where provision is made on the premises for the ordering, selling, dispensing, or serving of food, refreshments, or beverages to persons driving by the structure in their motor vehicles or at counters within the establishment. Sale of alcoholic beverages is prohibited within restaurants with drive-through service. Accessory uses may include customer and employee parking areas and drive-through windows.

RESTAURANT WITH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR SEATING
An establishment where meals or prepared food, including beverages and confections, are served to customers for consumption on the premises. Such a facility may include indoor or outdoor seating, but no drive-through service. These restaurants may, in some cases, feature live entertainment. These uses often include accessory bars, and where permitted, live entertainment. The restaurant kitchen, that must meet local health department regulations, shall be open, staffed, and offering full meal service for at least one-half the hours that the establishment is open, or otherwise shall be classified as a bar (if no amplified entertainment) or nightclub (if it includes amplified live entertainment). Accessory uses may include customer and employee parking areas, bars, live entertainment, banquet and catering services, and nightclubs, when permitted in the base zoning district.

RETAIL MANUFACTURING
A business that engages in baking, dressmaking, dyeing, printing, tailoring, upholstering and similar types of establishments and businesses of a similar and no more objectionable character, including associated retail transactions tied to on-site manufacturing activities.

RIGHT-OF-WAY
A portion of land acquired by express or implied dedication or condemnation and intended to be occupied by a street, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission lines, water line and other similar public uses.

ROOFLINE
The highest point of a flat roof and mansard roof and the lowest point of a pitched roof excluding any cupolas, chimneys, or other minor projection.

ROOMING HOUSE OR BOARDING HOUSE
Any building or portion thereof for providing lodging, either with meals (boarding house) or without meals (rooming house), that provides a maximum of ten rooms with sleeping facilities, where rent is paid to the owner or proprietor.

SALES OFFICE
A room or group of rooms used for conducting the affairs of a business engaged in the buying and/or selling of real or personal property, services, or other products, such as real estate sales, artwork, artifacts, or other specialized services.

SALVAGE YARD
A facility or area for storing, keeping, selling, dismantling, shredding, compressing, or salvaging scrap or discarded material or equipment. Scrap or discarded material includes, but is not limited to, metal, paper, rags, tires, bottles, motor vehicle parts, machinery, structural steel, equipment, and appliances. The term includes facilities for separating trash and debris from recoverable resources, such as paper products, glass, metal cans, and other products, which can be returned to a condition in which they may again be used for production.

SATELLITE DISH
A round or parabolic antenna and its supporting structure for the purposes of sending and/or receiving radio or electromagnetic signals.

SEAFOOD PROCESSING
A manufacturing establishment producing seafood for human consumption through canning, curing, or byproduct processing.

SELF-STORAGE FACILITY
A building or group of buildings divided into separate compartments offered for rent and used to meet off-site storage needs.

SELF-STORAGE FACILITY
A building divided into sections for use for storage of items, either temporary or long-term, and not to be used for any other purpose (such as small offices, garages, etc.). Also called "mini-warehouse."

SETBACK
The shortest horizontal distance from a lot line of a lot or abutting right-of-way to the nearest point of a structure on the lot.

SETBACK AREA
The area between a lot line and the associated setback line, within which the location of buildings, other structures, and certain uses may be prohibited or otherwise restricted.

SETBACK AREA, CORNER SIDE
All land area between the corner side lot line and the corner side setback line that lies between the lot's front setback area and its rear lot line.

SETBACK AREA, FRONT
All land area between the front lot line and the front setback line that lies between the lot's side lot lines, or in the case of a corner lot, between a side lot line and the opposite corner side lot line.

SETBACK AREA, REAR
All land area between the rear lot line and the rear setback line that lies between the lot's side lot lines, or in the case of a corner lot, between a side lot line and the opposite corner side lot line.

SETBACK AREA, SIDE
All land area between a side lot line and the side setback line that lies between the lot's front setback area and its rear setback area.

SETBACK LINE
A line delineating the minimum front, corner side, side, or rear setback applicable to a lot—as measured from, and running parallel to, the associated front, corner side, side, or rear lot line.

SETBACK, CORNER SIDE
The shortest horizontal distance from the corner side lot line of a lot or an abutting right-of-way to the nearest point of a structure on the lot.

SETBACK, FRONT
The shortest horizontal distance from the front lot line of a lot or an abutting right-of-way to the nearest point of a structure on the lot.

SETBACK, REAR
The shortest horizontal distance from the rear lot line of a lot to the nearest point of a structure on the lot.

SETBACK, SIDE
The shortest horizontal distance from the side lot line of a lot to the nearest point of a structure on the lot.

SEX SHOP
An establishment offering goods for sale or rent and that meets any of the following tests:

1.

It offers for sale items from any two of the following categories: sexually oriented media; lingerie; leather goods marketed or presented in a context to suggest their use for sadomasochistic practices; and the combination of such items make up more than ten percent of its stock in trade or occupies more than ten percent of its floor area;

2.

More than five percent of its stock in trade consists of sexually-oriented toys or novelties; or

3.

More than five percent of its gross public floor area is devoted to the display of sexually-oriented toys or novelties.

SEXUALLY-ORIENTED CABARET
A building or portion of a building regularly featuring dancing or other live entertainment in which the dancing or entertainment which constitutes the primary live entertainment is distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on the exhibiting of specific sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by customers therein.

SEXUALLY-ORIENTED CINEMA
A cinema or motion picture theater which shows hard-core features on more than half the days that it is open, or which is marketed as or offers features described as adult, XXX, or sexually-oriented.

SEXUALLY-ORIENTED MEDIA STORE
An establishment that rents and/or sells media, and that meets any of the following three tests:

1.

More than 40 percent of the gross public floor area is devoted to sexually- oriented media; or

2.

More than 40 percent of the stock in trade consists of sexually-oriented media; or

3.

It is advertised, marketed, or holds itself out in any forum as XXX, adult, sex or otherwise as a sexually-oriented business other than a sexually-oriented motion picture theater or sexually-oriented cabaret.

SEXUALLY-ORIENTED VIDEO ARCADE
A video arcade providing or displaying sexually-oriented media.

SHIP TERMINAL
A facility comprising one or more berths, slips, piers, wharves, loading and unloading areas, warehouses, or storage yards used for the transfer of people or cargo between waterborne carriers and land.

SHOOTING RANGE
A structure or portion of land used for archery and/or the discharge of firearms for recreational or training purposes.

SHORT-TERM RENTAL
A dwelling unit that may or may not be a contained in a building with rooms or suites of rooms and may or may not contain kitchen facilities. Short term rentals are subject to a transient vacation rental agreement of less then 30 days.

SHRUB
A woody plant, smaller than a tree, consisting of several small stems emerging from the ground, or small branches near the ground. Shrubs may be deciduous or evergreen.

SIDEWALK
A hard-surfaced, all-weather pedestrian way, usually within a right-of-way line.

SIGHT TRIANGLE
A triangular area at each corner of intersecting roadways, or at the intersection of a roadway and driveway, within which the structures and vegetation are regulated to ensure safe sight distance for drivers of vehicles approaching the intersection. A sight triangle is measured from the point where the extended curb or edge-of-pavement line of a roadway meets the extended curb or edge-of-pavement line of the intersecting roadway or the edge of the driveway, to a point a certain distance along the initial roadway curb or edge-of-pavement line, and then diagonally to a point a certain distance along the along the curb or edge-of-pavement line of the other roadway or the edge of the driveway.

SIGN
Any object, device, display or structure, or part thereof, situated outdoors or indoors, which is used to advertise, identify, display, direct or attract attention to an object, person, institution, organization, business, product, service, event or location by any means, including words, letters, figures, numbers, designs, symbols, fixtures, colors, illumination or projected images.

SIGN PERMIT
A permit for a signage that is reviewed and decided by the Building Official in accordance with Section 23-2-4(K), Sign Permit.

SIGN, BUSINESS
A sign that directs attention to a business or profession or to a commodity, service or entertainment sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located.

SIGN, COORDINATED DEVELOPMENT
A sign identifying a shopping center, office park, industrial park or other similar commercial or industrial development with multiple business occupants and under unified control.

SIGN, DIRECTIONAL
A sign limited to directional messages, principally for pedestrian or vehicular traffic, such as "one-way," "entrance," and "exit."

SIGN, FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
A sign identifying that the lot or parcel on which it is located is to be occupied in the near future by a proposed business or use and/or identifying the engineer, architect, and/or contractor engaged in the design and construction of a building or development on the lot or parcel.

SIGN, IDENTIFICATION
A sign that by means of a name, address, logo, or other identifying symbol, identifies a building, business, occupant, activity, development, or establishment on the premises where the sign its located.

SIGN, INCIDENTAL
A sign, generally informational, that has a purpose secondary to the use of the site on which it is located, such as "no parking," "loading only," "telephone," and similar information. No sign with a commercial message legible from a position off the site on which the sign is located shall be considered incidental.

SIGN, MONUMENT
Any sign, other than a pole sign, in which the entire bottom is in contact with or is close to the ground and is independent of any other structure.

SIGN, NOTICE
A sign that is subordinate in significance, but bearing a reasonable relationship with the primary sign, the size of which will be factored into the total allowed signage for the parcel.

SIGN, PORTABLE
Any sign not permanently attached to the ground or other permanent structure or a sign designed to be transported—including, but not limited to: signs designed to be transported by means of wheels; signs made as A-frames or T-frames; menu and sandwich board signs; balloons used as signs; umbrellas used for commercial messages; and signs attached to, painted on, or placed on vehicles parked and visible from the public right-of-way, unless said vehicle is used in the normal day-to-day operations of the business.

SIGN, SURFACE AREA OF
The entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of the actual sign surface.

SIGN, TEMPORARY
A sign or advertising display constructed of cloth, canvas, fabric, plywood or other light material and designed or intended to be displayed for a short period of time.

SIGN, WALL
A sign or advertising display fastened to or painted on the wall of a building or structure in such a manner that the wall becomes the supporting structure for, or forms the background surface of, the sign and that does not project more than 12 inches from such building or structure.

SILVICULTURE (FORESTRY)
The growing or harvesting of forest tree species trees used for commercial or related purposes.

SITE
Any lot or lots of record, or contiguous combination thereof, under the same ownership.

SITE PLAN
A plan (to scale) showing uses and structures proposed for a legal lot or lots of record as required by Section 23-2-4(E), Site Plan Approval.

SMALL-SCALE WIND TURBINE
A rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. These smaller turbines are used to generate power for homes and businesses.

SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY
A facility operated by a nonprofit organization, which provides services such as training, counseling, health, or the distribution of food or clothing. This term includes but is not limited to a facility offering life skills training, substance abuse counseling, housing services, food banks, crisis center, community health centers, welfare agencies, job centers, or a neighborhood recovery center. This term does not include an emergency residential shelter, or soup kitchens.

SOLAR ENERGY EQUIPMENT
A system designed to convert solar radiation into usable energy for space, water heating, or other uses.

SOUP KITCHEN
Any building or structure or portion thereof that contains a fully equipped kitchen in operating condition. This facility must be used to prepare and serve food on a regular basis either without cost or at a low cost insufficient to generate a profit. Soup kitchens shall not be considered to be restaurants.

SPECIALTY EATING ESTABLISHMENT
Establishments selling specialty food items that normally do not constitute a full meal, including, but not limited to: ice cream parlors, dessert cafes, snack shops, juice and coffee houses, and bakeries.

STACKING/STANDING AREA
A portion of the vehicular use area on a site that is dedicated to the temporary storage or "standing" of vehicles engaged in drive-through use of the site or development. Parking or storage of vehicles is not permitted within the stacking/standing area.

STADIUM
See "Arena."

STAFF
Employees of the City of Biloxi.

STATE
The State of Mississippi.

STOP WORK ORDER
An order issued by the Director of Community Development or other authorized city staff that directs the person responsible for a development activity in violation of this Ordinance to cease and desist such activity or act.

STORMWATER RUNOFF
The flow of water resulting from precipitation that flows over the surface or as concentrated flow in ditches, channels, storm sewers, or watercourses.

STREET
A public thoroughfare that affords the principal means of access to abutting property. The term includes all facilities that normally occur within the right-of-way. The following may also be considered streets: highways, parkways, throughways, roads, avenues, boulevards, lanes, places and courts.

STREET JOG
An offset of two or more streets at their intersection where the centerlines of at least two of the street segments are not in alignment with one another on opposing sides of the intersection.

STREET STUBOUT
A nonpermanent dead end street intended to be extended in conjunction with future development of adjacent parcels.

STREET TREE
A canopy tree planted or existing within or along either side of a street right-of-way.

STREET, ARTERIAL
A street, designated in the city's Major Thoroughfare Plan, designed and intended primarily to channel moderate to high volumes of vehicular traffic at moderate to high speeds between collector streets and other arterial streets and freeways, and provide limited direct vehicular access to and from adjacent developments and properties. Arterial streets may also provide bicycle and pedestrian access and circulation where potential conflicts with vehicular traffic can be minimized.

STREET, COLLECTOR
A street, designated in the city's Major Thoroughfare Plan, designed and intended to provide both travel mobility by connecting local streets and other collector streets with arterial streets and limited direct vehicular access to adjacent developments and properties. Collector streets also provide bicycle and pedestrian access and circulation.

STREET, LOCAL
A street designed and intended primarily to provide direct access to and from adjacent developments and properties through intersecting driveways, as well as to provide travel mobility by connecting driveway and other local streets to collector streets and arterial streets. Local streets generally handle low to medium vehicular travel speeds and traffic volumes, but may handle high traffic volumes within large commercial and mixed-use developments and in urbanized areas such as the downtown. Local streets serve as primary providers of bicycle and pedestrian access and circulation.

STRUCTURE
Anything constructed, installed, or portable, the use of which requires a location on a parcel of land. This includes a fixed or movable building which can be used for residential, business, commercial, agricultural, or office purposes, either temporarily or permanently. "Structure" also includes, but is not limited to, swimming pools, tennis courts, signs, cisterns, sewage treatment plants, sheds, docks, mooring areas, and similar accessory construction.

SUBDIVIDER
Any person who subdivides land deemed to be a subdivision as defined by this Ordinance.

SUBDIVISION
The division of a tract of land into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions (such as condominium units through a vertical subdivision) for the purpose, whether immediate or future, for sale or building development, excluding Exempt Subdivisions.

SUBDIVISION, EXEMPT
A division of land that is reviewed and decided by the Director of Community Development in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(3), Exempt Subdivision, to be exempt or not exempt from this Ordinance's subdivision procedures and standards in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(2)a., Exempt Subdivision.

SUBDIVISION, MAJOR
A division of land other than an Exempt Subdivision or Minor Subdivision, and that is established through approvals of a Preliminary Plat in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(6), Major Subdivision Preliminary Plat, and a Final Plat in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(8), Final Plat.

SUBDIVISION, MINOR
A division of land other than an Exempt Subdivision where:

1.

No more than four residential lots or two nonresidential lots are created;

2.

Each resulting lot fronts on an existing publicly maintained street;

3.

Each resulting lot either has access to public water and sewer facilities (including taps for water and sewer service), if the city provides water or sewer service to the area, or has potential (by means of size and geological characteristics, or by access to existing facilities) for resolving all water access and sewage disposal issues;

4.

No construction, expansion, or improvement of any public infrastructure other than sidewalks is required or involved; and

5.

No dedication to the city of any public infrastructure or right-of-way is required or involved.

Minor Subdivisions are established through approvals of a Minor Subdivision plat in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(4), Minor Subdivision Plat, and a Final Plat in accordance with Section 23-2-4(F)(8), Final Plat.

SUBDIVISION, VERTICAL
A subdivision that includes the division of a building into condominium units. (See definition of condominium.)

SUBSTANTIAL ALTERATION
Any work on a structure that reduces the loadbearing capacity of, or imposes additional loads on, a primary structural component, and which may include the rearrangement of spaces through the construction of walls or partitions or a change in ceiling height, the addition or elimination of doors or windows, the extension or rearrangement of systems, or the installation of additional equipment or fixtures.

SWIMMING POOL
An above- or below-ground structure that is filled with water and used for swimming.

TATTOO AND BODY PIERCING ESTABLISHMENT
An establishment whose principle business activity, either in terms of operation or as held out to the public, is the practice of one or more of the following: (1) making indelible marks or designs on or visible through the skin of a human by puncturing or pricking the skin with a needle or other instrument and inserting ink or other pigments; or (2) creating an opening in any part of the human body, other than the outer perimeter or lobe of the ear, for the purpose of inserting jewelry or other decorative object for a non-medical purpose.

TAXICAB SERVICE
A service that offers transportation in passenger automobiles and vans to persons including those who are handicapped in return for remuneration. The business may include facilities for servicing, repairing, and fueling the taxicabs or vans.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANTENNA, COLLOCATION ON EXISTING TOWER
Collocation is a situation in which two or more different wireless communication service providers place wireless communication antenna(s) and/or other wireless communications equipment on a common antenna-supporting structure (building, tower, or other stationary device).

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANTENNA, PLACEMENT ON EXISTING BUILDING
The placement of a wireless telecommunications antenna on an existing business use or multifamily building with eight or more dwelling units.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER, FREESTANDING
A structure erected on the ground and used primarily for the support of antennas for wireless telephone, and similar communication purposes and utilized by commercial, governmental, or other public or quasi-public users. The term includes microwave towers, common-carrier towers, cellular telephone towers, alternative tower structures, and the like. The term does not include private home use of satellite dishes and television antennas, or amateur radio operators as licensed by the FCC.

TEMPORARY
Lasting, or intending to last, for a short period of time, not to exceed days.

TEMPORARY USE
A use established for a temporary period of time with the intent to discontinue such use upon the expiration of the time period.

TEMPORARY USE PERMIT
A permit authorizing the operation of a temporary use or special event that is reviewed and decided by the Director of Community Development in accordance with Section 23-2-4(J), Temporary Use Permit.

TEXT AMENDMENT
An amendment to the language of this Ordinance that is reviewed and decided by the City Council in accordance with Section 23-2-4(A), Text Amendment.

THEATER
See "Auditorium."

TIMESHARE
A building containing condominium units with rooms or suites of rooms that may or may not contain kitchen facilities and are subject to a timeshare plan or transient vacation rental agreement of less than 30 days.

TIRE DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING
A facility that disposes of or recycles waste tires or waste tire residuals.

TIRE/MUFFLER SALES AND MOUNTING
This use includes the on-site sale and subsequent installation of automobile parts and accessories limited to tires and mufflers. Such uses do not include the sale of gasoline or other fuels.

TITLE LOAN
Any business that regularly makes either loans to individuals secured by the title to a vehicle or title pledge agreements with pledgors, unless the business or individual is exempt from the definition of "title pledge lender" within the state statutes, or unless more than 90 percent of the loans that the business makes which are secured by vehicle titles are made in the context of the purchase of the vehicle.

TOWNHOUSE
A one-family dwelling, in a row of at least three such units, in which each unit has its own front and rear access to the outside, no unit is located over another and each unit is attached, but separated from any other unit by one or more vertical, common fire-resistant walls that extend through the roof line so as to create separate roofs for each townhouse.

TRADE, VOCATIONAL, OR INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
A public or private school offering vocational or trade instruction to students and that operates in buildings or structures or on premises on land leased or owned by the educational institution for administrative purposes and meets the state requirements for a vocational training facility. Such uses include classrooms, laboratories, auditoriums, libraries, cafeterias, after school care, athletic facilities, dormitories, and other facilities that further the educational mission of the institution.

TREE
An evergreen or deciduous upright woody perennial plant that has a single main stem or several main stems and attains a height of at least 15 feet, generally with few or no branches on its lower part.

TREE PERMIT
The term Tree Permit, when not otherwise modified, shall be a general reference to both a Major Tree Permit and a Minor Tree Permit unless the context indicates it is applicable only to one.

TREE PERMIT, MAJOR
A permit involving the proposed removal of one or more protected trees from a property site that is reviewed under the provisions of Section 2-6-4 of this Code of Ordinances.

TREE PERMIT, MINOR
A permit involving the proposed removal of unprotected trees from a property site that is reviewed under the provisions of Section 23-6-4 of this Code of Ordinances.

TREE, PROTECTED
A tree—other than a Pecan (Carya illinoinensis), Chinese tallow or Popcorn (Sapium sebiferum), Water Oak (Quercus Nigra), or member of the Pine genus (Pinus spp.)—that falls in any of the following categories:

1.

Protected species include: Live Oak, Bald Cypress, and Southern Magnolia that are at least eight inches diameter at DBH (diameter at breast height — 54 inches above the ground).

2.

All non-protected species of trees at least 16 inches DBH.

3.

All trees planted as mitigation for a Tree Permit.

TREE REMOVAL
The actual removal of a tree by digging up or cutting down, or the effective removal through damage.

TREE, CANOPY
A tree that has an expected height at maturity greater than 30 feet and produces significant shade because it has a crown that is oval, round, vase-shaped, or umbrella-shaped.

TREE, SPECIMEN
A tree—other than a pecan (Carya illinoinensis), Chinese tallow or popcorn (Sapium sebiferum), or member of the pine genus (Pinus)—that falls in any of the following categories:

1.

Any tree located within a tree protection zone (See Section 23-6-4(F)(5), Establishment of Tree Protection Zone.) with a DBH (diameter at breast height) of eight or more inches;

2.

Any oak, magnolia, or bald cypress with a DBH (diameter at breast height) of five or more inches;

3.

Any tree within a street right-of-way or on city-owned property; or

4.

Any tree with a DBH (diameter at breast height) of 36 or more inches.

TREE, UNDERSTORY
A tree that has an expected height at maturity of not greater than 30 feet.

TRUCK STOP
A facility providing services to the trucking industry, including but not limited to the dispensing of fuel, repair shops, sale of accessories or equipment for trucks and similar commercial vehicles, automated and self-serve automotive wash facilities, restaurants, gift shops, sale of convenience goods, business service centers, restrooms and shower facilities, scales, and overnight parking facilities.

UTILITY, MAJOR
Infrastructure services providing regional or community-wide service that normally entail the construction of new buildings or structures such as water towers, waste treatment plants, potable water treatment plants, solid waste facilities, and electrical substations.

UTILITY, MINOR
Infrastructure services that need to be located in or near the neighborhood or use type where the service is provided. Examples of minor utilities include water and sewage pump stations, storm water retention and detention facilities, telephone exchanges, and surface transportation stops such as bus stops and park-and-ride facilities.

VALID PROTEST PETITION
As authorized by Section 17-1-17 of the Mississippi Code, a petition protesting an application for Zoning Map Amendment (Rezoning) and triggering a supermajority vote to approve the application, where the petition:

A.

Is on a form prescribed by the city for protest petitions and contain all information necessary to determine the sufficiency and accuracy of the petition;

B.

States that the signers do protest the proposed Map Amendment;

C.

Is signed by the owners of:

1.

Twenty percent or more of the area of the lots subject to the amendment application; or

2.

Twenty percent or more of the area of the lots immediately adjacent to the rear of the land subject to the amendment application, extending 160 feet from the subject land; or

3.

Twenty percent of the area of the lots directly opposite the land subject to the amendment application, extending 160 feet from the street frontage of the opposite lots; and

D.

Is filed in the office of the City Clerk for validation no fewer than two business days before the date fixed for the public hearing on the application.

VARIANCE
A permit authoring a deviation from this Ordinance's dimensional standards and certain development standards where strict application of the standard creates a hardship due to circumstances particular to a parcel, and that is reviewed and decided by the Board of Zoning Adjustments in accordance with Section 23-2-4(P), Variance.

VEHICULAR USE AREA
That portion of a development dedicated to vehicular ingress and egress, off-street parking, parking aisles, internal vehicular accessways, fire lanes, loading areas, and other areas dedicated to vehicular use, but not necessarily including vehicular storage and display areas.

VETERINARY CLINIC
A facility for the medical care and treatment of animals, including household pets and larger domesticated animals. Such facilities may be entirely indoors or may have both indoor and outdoor components.

WALL PACK
An exterior lighting device that is flush-mounted on a vertical wall surface.

WAREHOUSE
A facility characterized by extensive warehousing, frequent heavy trucking activity, open storage of material, or nuisances such as dust, noise, and others, but not involved in manufacturing or production.

WHOLESALE OR RETAIL SEAFOOD SALES
The display, storage, and sale of seafood to other firms for resale or directly to the general public. An establishment engaged in the display, storage, and sale of seafood to the general public as well as to retailers or businesses, and rendering services incidental to the sale of such goods.

XERISCAPE LANDSCAPING
A landscaping method that employs planning and design, limiting turf areas, selecting and zoning plants appropriately, improving the soil, using mulches, irrigating efficiently, and performing appropriate maintenance in an effort to conserve water.

YACHT CLUB
An institutional use that consists of structures and related grounds and/or moorage used for social and recreational purposes related to pleasure boating and/or swimming, the use of which is primarily restricted to members and their guests.

YARD
An open space that lies between a building and the nearest property line.

YARD, CORNER SIDE
The yard between a building and the corner side lot line, extending from the front yard to the rear lot line.

YARD, FRONT
The yard between a building and the front lot line, extending across the entire width of a lot, between side lot lines.

YARD, REAR
The yard between a building and the rear lot line, extending from between side lot lines or from a corner side yard and opposite side lot line.

YARD, SIDE
The yard between a building and the side lot line, extending between the front yard and the rear yard.

YOUTH CENTER
A facility that is not a school that provides youth-oriented activities and recreation for minors, including but not limited to Boys' and Girls' Clubs and other non-profit groups.

ZONING MAP
The Official Zoning Map upon which the boundaries of various zoning districts are drawn and which is an integral part of this Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 2173, § 1, 10-19-2010; Ord. No. 2180, § 1, 2-22-2010; Ord. No. 2220, § 1(Exh. E), 12-11-2012; Ord. No. 2293, § 4, 1-26-2016; Ord. No. 2314, § 1, 9-27-2016; Ord. No. 2461, 9-28-2021; Ord. No. 2475, 2-1-2022; Ord. No. 2484, 6-7-2022; Ord. No. 2523, 9-5-2023)

All provisions, terms, phrases, and expressions contained in this Ordinance shall be interpreted in accordance with the general purposes set forth in Section 23-1-3, General Purpose and Intent, and the specific purpose statements set forth throughout this Ordinance. When a specific section of these regulations gives a different meaning than the general definition provided in this Article 23-10: Definitions and Interpretation, the specific section's meaning and application of the term shall control.

In the event of a conflict or inconsistency between the text of this Ordinance and any heading, caption, figure, illustration, table, or map, the text shall control. Graphics and other illustrations are provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a complete and accurate description of all applicable regulations or requirements.

Unless otherwise specifically indicated, lists of items or examples that use terms like "for example," "including," and "such as," or similar language are intended to provide examples and are not exhaustive lists of all possibilities.

The time in which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last day. If a deadline or required date of action falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday observed by the city, the deadline or required date of action shall be the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday observed by the city. References to days are calendar days unless otherwise stated.

Whenever reference is made to a resolution, ordinance, statute, regulation, or document, it shall be construed as a reference to the most recent edition of such regulation, resolution, ordinance, statute, regulation, or document, unless otherwise specifically stated.

Any act authorized by this Ordinance to be carried out by a specific official of the city may be carried out by a professional-level designee of such official.

Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language, but technical words and phrases that may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law shall be construed and understood according to such meaning.

All public officials, bodies, and agencies to which references are made are those of the City of Biloxi, unless otherwise indicated.

The words "shall," "must," and "will" are mandatory in nature, establishing an obligation or duty to comply with the particular provision. The words "may" and "should" are permissive in nature.

Unless the context clearly suggests the contrary, conjunctions shall be interpreted as follows:

(1)

"And" indicates that all connected items, conditions, provisions or events apply or are required; and

(2)

"Or" indicates that one or more of the connected items, conditions, provisions or events apply or are required.

Words used in the present tense include the future tense. Words used in the singular number include the plural number and the plural number includes the singular number, unless the context of the particular usage clearly indicates otherwise. Words used in the masculine gender include the feminine gender, and vice versa.

If a term used in this Ordinance is not defined in this article, the Director of Community Development shall have the authority to provide a definition based upon the definitions used in accepted sources, including but not limited to the most recent editions of A Planners Dictionary, A Glossary of Zoning, Development, and Planning Terms, and A Survey of Zoning Definitions, published by the American Planning Association.