For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms and words are hereby defined. Words in the present tense shall include the future, the singular number shall include the plural and the plural the singular; the word "structure" shall include the word "building" and the word "shall" is mandatory and or directory.

Accessary building. A subordinate building or a portion of the main building on a lot, the use of which is customarily incidental to that of the main or principal building.

Accessory use. A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of a building and located on the same lot with such principal use or building.

Alley. Any public way set aside for public travel, which provides a secondary means of access to the property abutting thereon.

Apartment. A room or suite of rooms with culinary facilities designed for or used as living quarters for a single family.

Apartment hotel. A building designed for or containing both apartments and individual guest rooms or suites of rooms and apartments, wherein is maintained an inner lobby through which all tenants must pass to gain access to the apartments and catering to permanent and non-transient tenants and which may furnish services ordinarily furnished by hotels, such as drugstore, barbershop, cigar and newsstands, dining rooms, when such uses are located entirely within the building with no entrance from the street visible from any side walk and having no sign display visible from the outside of the building, indicating the existence of such use.

Apartment house. See dwelling, multiple.

Boarding house. Any dwelling in which more than three persons and less than 15 persons are provided with sleeping facilities and where meals, or lodging and meals, are provided for compensation by previous arrangement.

Building. Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels. Mobile homes, house trailers or trailers as defined herein under "trailers" are not encompassed in the foregoing definitions of "building".

Building area. The total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces and steps.

Buildable area. The area of that part of the lot included within the yards or open spaces herein required.

Building, height of. The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gabled, hip and gambrel roofs.

Building line. A line between which line and any street line of a lot, tract, or parcel of land, no building or part of a building may be erected or altered.

Cafeteria. A restaurant at which patrons serve themselves at a counter and then take the food to tables to eat.

Carport. A canopy or shed open on two or more sides and attached to the main building, for the purpose of providing shelter for one or more motor vehicles.

Clinic. A building or portion thereof designed for, constructed or under construction or alteration for, or used by two or more physicians, surgeons, dentists, psychiatrists, physiotherapist chiropractors, or practitioners in related specialties or a combination of persons in these professions where patients who are not lodged overnight or admitted for examination and treatment.

Clubs. Private recreational building and areas operated by membership organizations for the benefit of their membership and not for gain. The term shall include country clubs and lodges. In conjunction with such a club a dining room cay be operated provided it is incidental to the activities of said club and is conducted for the benefit of the members thereof only, and further provided no sign is displayed advertising such activity.

Comprehensive plan. Any legally adopted part or element of the overall plan for development of the area as provided by the legislature of the State of Louisiana.

District. Any section of the City of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana in which the zoning regulations of this chapter are uniform.

Dwelling. Any building which is designed for or used exclusively for residential purposes. For the purpose of this chapter, such buildings shall have a minimum area of 400 square feet. Mobile homes, trailer houses or trailers, as defined herein under "Trailers" are not encompassed in the foregoing definition of "dwelling".

Dwelling, single family. A detached building designed for, constructed for altered for occupied exclusively by not more than one family.

Dwelling, townhouse. A structure consisting of no less than three dwelling units, with no other dwelling or portion of other dwelling located directly above or below, where each unit has a separate entrance and direct ground level access to the outdoors. These units are connected to other dwelling units by a single party wall with no opening. A townhouse dwelling does not include a multi-family dwelling. A townhouse dwelling refers to the design of a structure and does not reflect the type of ownership of the individual units. No permit for any dwelling, townhouse shall be approved unless part of townhouse dwelling development that is part of a concept review plan approved by the planning commission and board of aldermen.

Dwelling, two family. A building designed for, constructed for altered for or occupied by not more than two families.

Dwelling, multiple family. A building designed for, constructed for, altered for or occupied by three or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking therein, including apartment houses, apartment hotels, flats and group houses.

Easement. A grant by the property owner to the public, a corporation or persons, for the use of a strip of land for specific purposes.

Extraction. The removal from the premises of sand, gravel, shells, topsoil, minerals or other natural resources from a lot or a part thereof.

Family. One or more persons who are related by blood or marriage, living together and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities, or a group of not more than four persons living together by joint agreement and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities on a non-profit, cost sharing basis. Any domestic servants residing on the premises shall not be considered as a separate family for purposes of this chapter.

Farm. Any parcel of land which is used for gain in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry and dairy products. It includes necessary farm structures within the prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used. It excludes the raising of fur bearing animals, riding academies, livery or boarding stables and dog kennels.

Floor area. The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of the main building but not including the area of roofed porches, terraces, or breezeways. All of the mentioned shall be measured between exterior faces of the walls.

Frontage. All the property on one side of the street between two intersecting streets (crossing or terminating) or if the street is dead-end, then all the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.

Gas station. Any building or portion of a building, or lot or portion of said lot used principally or secondarily for the dispensing, sale or offering for sale at retail of any automobile fuels, lubricants or tires, except that indoor car washing, minor motor adjustment and flat tire repair may be performed when incidental to the conduct of a gas station business.

Garage, parking. A building, land or portion thereof designed or used for the temporary storage of motor driven vehicles, with or without the retail dispensing, sale, or offering for sale of motor adjustment and flat tire repair when such operations are incidental to the storage of motor driven vehicles.

Garage, private. An enclosed space for the storage of not more than three motor vehicles provided that no business, occupation or service is conducted for profit therein, nor space therein for more than one car is leased to a non-resident of the premises provided further that not more than one of the vehicles stored shall be a commercial vehicle of not more than two ton capacity.

Garage, public. A building, land or portion thereof other than a private or storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, hiring, selling or storing motor driven vehicles.

Garage, storage. An enclosed space for the storage of three or more motor vehicles pursuant to previous arrangement and not to transients and at which automobile fuels, and oils are not sold and motor vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired or sold.

Grade, finished. The completed surfaces of lawns, walks and roads brought to grades as shown on official plan or designs relating thereto.

Home, occupation. A business, profession, occupation, or trade conducted for gain or support entirely within a dwelling or an accessory building which is incidental and secondary to the residential use of the dwelling and which does not change the essential residential character of the dwelling or its surroundings.

Hospital. A building or portion thereof designed, constructed, altered, or used for the diagnosis, therapeutic treatment or other care of ailments or patients who are physically or mentally ill.

Hotel. A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used or which or used, rented or hired out to be occupied or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and transients and where only a general kitchen and dining room are provided within the building or in an accessory building.

Institution. A building or group of buildings designed or used for the non-profit, charitable, or public service purposes of providing board, lodging and health care for persons aged, indigent or infirm or a building or group of buildings for the purpose of performing educational or religious services and offering board and lodging to persons enrolled for training.

Junkyard. The use of more than 200 square feet of the area of any lot, whether inside or outside of a building or the use of any portion of that half of any lot that joins any street, for the storage, keeping or abandonment of junk, including scrap metals or other scrap materials or the dismantling, demolition or abandonment of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery or parts thereof.

Kennel. The keeping of more than three dogs that are more than six months old.

Laundromat. A business premise equipped with individual clothes washing machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an apartment house or an apartment hotel.

Light manufacturing. The manufacturing or processing of materials including the processing of all agricultural products, either in raw form or in processed form, to food items fit for human consumption, employing electricity or other un-objectionable motive power utilizing hand labor or un-objectionable machinery or processes and free from any objectionable odors, fumes, dirt, vibration or noise.

Line, street. The dividing line between the street and a lot.

Loading space. A space within the main building or on the same lot, providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks or automobiles.

Lot. A parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by one (1) building and its accessory building or uses customarily incident to it, including such open spaces as are required by this chapter.

Lot, corner. A lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.

Lot, depth of. A mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines, measured in the general direction of its side lot lines.

Lot, interior. A lot other than a corner lot.

Lot, through. An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.

Lot, width of. The average horizontal distance between side lot lines, measured in the general direction of its rear and front lot line.

Lot lines. The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

Lot of record. A lot which is part of a subdivision, the map of which has been recorded in the office of the Parish Clerk of Court of a parcel of land which became legally established and defined by deed or act of sale on or before the adoption of this chapter.

Non-conforming use. A structure or land lawfully occupied by a use that does not conform to the regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Nursing or convalescent home. A building used in whole or in part or to provide for compensation, for the care of the ill, senile or otherwise infirm persons resident on the premises.

Outdoor advertising signs. An attached or free-standing structure constructed and maintained for the purpose of conveying information to the public.

Parking lot. An open area which is used for the temporary parking of motor vehicles but is not a required off-street parking facility.

Parking space. An all weather surfaced area enclosed in the main building or in an accessory building or un-enclosed building having a rectangular area of not less than 160 square feet, with a minimum width of eight feet when unenclosed, or 180 square feet with a minimum width of nine feet when individually enclosed on two or more sides, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the storage of one automobile and connected with a street or alley by an impervious hard surface driveway at least eight feet in width or providing un-obstructed ingress and egress for motor vehicles.

Personal service shops. Business establishments such as barbershops, beauty parlors, massage or similar personal service shops.

Restaurant. A retail establishment offering food or beverages, or both, for consumption on the premises. Restaurants do not include bar rooms, night clubs, or lounges.

Retail manufacturing. Baking, confectionery, dressmaking, dyeing, laundry, dry cleaning, printing, tailoring, upholstering and similar establishments and businesses of a similar and no more objectionable character subject to the provisions: (a) All goods or products manufactured or produced shall be sold at retail on the premises; or (b) All such manufacturing or processing shall be done on the premises and not more than five persons shall be so employed in such manufacturing or processing at any one time.

Right-of-way. See easement.

Secondary recovery center/halfway house. Any dwelling in which more than three persons are provided with sleeping facilities and where meals, or lodging and meals, are provided for compensation by previous arrangement, for persons who have already had primary treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction.

School, business. Privately owned schools offering instruction in accounting, secretarial work, business administration, defined or illustrative arts, trades, dancing, music and similar subjects.

School, private. Privately owned schools have a curriculum essentially the same as ordinarily given in a public elementary or secondary school. The term includes day nurseries and kindergartens.

School, trade or industrial. An establishment, public or private, offering training to students in skills required for the practice of trades in industry.

Set back. The minimum distance away from a property line where buildings may be constructed; a building line, usually a line parallel to the front property line.

Sign. A name, identification, description, display, illustration or device which is affixed to or represented directly or indirectly upon a building, structure or land and which directs attention to a product, place, activity, person, institution or business.

Sign, advertising. A sign or structure which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, activity or entertainment not necessarily conducted, sold or offered upon the premises upon which the sign is located.

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

Sign, flashing. A sign upon which the illumination is intermittent or not maintained in intensity and color.

Sign, name plate. A sign which states the name or address, or both, of the profession or business on the lot where the sign is located.

Sign, surface area of. The entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of the actual sign surface. It does not include any structural elements outside the limits of such sign and not forming an integral part of the display. Only one side of a double-face or v-type sign structure shall be used in computing total surface area.

Story. That portion of a building, other than a cellar, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there be no floor above it, than the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

Street. A public way set aside for public travel which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. The word "street" shall include the words avenue, road, highway and thoroughfares and any other similar terms.

Structural alterations. Any change or re-arrangement in the bearing walls, partitions, columns, beams, girders, exit facilities, exterior wall or roof of a building accepting such repair as may be required for the safety of the building, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or movement of the building from one location or position to another.

Structure. A combination materials other than a building to form a construction that is safe and stable and includes among other things stadiums, platforms, radio towers, sheds, storage bins, fences and display signs.

Temporary model home. A furnished, single-family dwelling that is occupied, on a temporary basis for the period permitted under this section 23-4.29, as a marketing tool to show prospective homebuyers a particular plan, type of construction, accoutrements or floor plan, and, additionally, as a residential sales office, for homes within the qualified subdivision, or phase thereof, for which it serves, and that is not occupied as a residence during the same time.

Tenant dwelling. A residential structure located on a bonfire farm and occupied by a non-transient farm worker employed by the farm owner for work on the farm.

Theater, drive-in. An open lot or part thereof, with its appertaining 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.

Tourist court. A group of attached or detached buildings designed, constructed or under construction or alteration for guest rooms or dwelling units intended primarily for automobile transients, each unit having a separate entrance opening our-of-doors or into a foyer, with parking space appropriately located on the lot for the use by guests of the court, operation of such court to be supervised by a person in charge at all hours. Tourist courts include auto courts, motels, motor courts, motor hotels and motor inns.

Tourist home. A dwelling in which overnight accommodations are provided or offered for transient guests for compensation.

Trailer park. Any area where two or more trailer coaches, mobile homes, house trailers, or trailers are parked for living and sleeping purposes. Trailers in such a park must be equipped with flush toilet, bathing facilities and culinary facilities. In addition, facilities must be provided on the sight for the collection of sewerage and waste water and garbage and running water and electricity or natural gas or both electricity and natural gas must be provided. Also included in the trailer park are any structures, vehicles, or enclosures used or intended for use as part of the equipment of such trailer parks.

Trailer park, camping. An area providing spaces where one or more trailers can be or are intended to be parked, with flush toilets and bathing facilities being provided on the site.

Trailer. Any vehicle covered or un-covered used for living, sleeping, business or storage purposes, have no foundation other than wheels, blocks, skids, jacks, horses or skirting's, and which is, has been, or reasonably may be equipped with wheels and axles or other devices for transporting the vehicle from place to place, whether by motive power or other means. The term "trailer" shall include camp car, camper, and house car.

Utility. A commodity or service which is of public consequence and need such as electricity, gas, sewerage, water, transportation or telephone or telegraph service.

Variance. A modification from the provisions of these regulations by the board of adjustment in cases when enforcement of its provisions would result in un-necessary hardship.

Yard. An open space on the same lot with a principal building, open, un-occupied and unobstructed by a portion of a structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein.

Yard, front. An open space extending across the front of the lot between the side lot lines and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the street and the nearest part of the principal building, including covered porches. On corner lots the front yard shall be provided facing the street upon which the lot has its lesser dimension.

Yard, rear. An open space extending across the rear of a lot between the side lot lines, and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the nearest part of the principal building, including covered porches. On both corner lots and interior lots, the rear yard shall in all cases be at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard.

Yard, side. An open space between the building and the side lot lines and being the required minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the nearest part of the principal building including covered porches.

(Ord. No. 2232, 8-8-2017; Ord. No. 2280, 9-13-2022)