This chapter shall be known and cited as the "City of Brownwood Zoning Code."

(Code 1995, § 158.01)

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

A-1 agriculture district means the district which is intended to provide a location for land situated on the fringe of an urban area and used for agricultural purposes, but then may become an urban area in the future. Generally, the A-1 agricultural districts will be near development; therefore, the agricultural activities conducted in the district should not be detrimental to urban land uses. The types of uses and the area and intensity of uses permitted in the district shall encourage and protect agricultural uses until urbanization is warranted and the appropriate change in district classification is made.

Accessory structures shall mean any permanent structure, building, carport, screened rooms, or any other type of improvement erected on a recreational vehicle space other than the primary eligible recreational vehicle and approved accompanying vehicles.

Accessory use means a subordinate use or building customarily incidental to and located on the same lot occupied by the main use or building.

Alley means a way which affords only a secondary means of access to property abutting thereon.

Amusement park means any lot, tract or parcel of land, or any improvement thereon, either temporary or permanent, used in whole or in part for the operation and maintenance of any game of skill or chance, circus, carnival, riding devices, stationary or mobile, or any combination thereof, any of which is operated for profit or nonprofit purposes.

Apartment means a room or suite of rooms intended, designed or used as a residence by a single family.

Apartment hotel means a building designed for or containing both apartments and individual guest rooms or suites or rooms and apartments, and in which may be furnished services ordinarily furnished in hotels.

Apartment house. See the definition of "Dwelling, multifamily."

Art gallery means any building or room used for the exhibit and/or commercial sale of works of art.

Basement means a story having part, but not more than one-half, of its height above grade, and used for storage, garages for use of the occupants of the building, janitor or watchman quarters or other utilities common for the rest of the building. A basement used for such purposes shall not be counted as a story.

Boardinghouse and roominghouse mean a dwelling unit or group home where lodging is provided:

(1)

For compensation;

(2)

By prearrangement;

(3)

In rooms with kitchen facilities;

(4)

For five or more roomers or boarders;

(5)

For periods of one week or longer; and

(6)

With or without meals.

Body piercing means the creation of an opening in an individual's body, other than in an individual's earlobe, to insert jewelry or other decoration.

Body piercing studio means a facility in which body piercing is performed.

Building and structure mean a building or structure designed or built for the support, enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind.

Building, height of, means the vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, or to the deckline of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between the eaves and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.

Campus means the grounds and buildings of a university, college or school, and the grassy area in the central part of the grounds.

Clinic means an establishment where patients, who are not lodged overnight, are admitted for examination and treatment by a physician or group of physicians.

Club means a building, or portion thereof, or premises owned or operated by a corporation, association or person for a social, educational or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.

College means an independent institution of higher learning offering a course of general studies leading to a bachelor's degree.

Commercial office (CO) district means a district the regulations of which are intended to encourage office development of high character in a generally noncommercial environment. The selected business and/or professional offices allowed in a CO district have relatively low traffic generation requirements, handle little or no products, and require limited identification by signs or other such devices.

Convenience store means a retail establishment selling meats, fruits, vegetables, bakery and dairy products, and similar items, primarily for off-premises consumption. A convenience store will be considered to contain 2,000 square feet or less of floor area. A convenience store may or may not have self-service gasoline pumps in connection with the operation thereof.

Cosmetic tattoo establishment means an establishment where trained personnel apply microinjections of pigment to the dermal layer of the skin so that facial cosmetics are applied on a permanent basis. This does not include a tattoo parlor.

Detention facility means a facility for the detention or incarceration of people, including, but not limited to, residential facilities for people who are under judicial detainment and under the supervision of sworn officers, i.e., a halfway house.

Disability and disabled person, for the purpose of determining who is eligible for residency in a community home allowed as household living, means a person whose ability to care for himself, perform manual tasks, learn, work, walk, see, hear, speak or breathe is substantially limited because the person has:

(1)

An orthopedic, visual, speech or hearing impairment;

(2)

Alzheimer's disease;

(3)

Presenile dementia;

(4)

Cerebral palsy;

(5)

Epilepsy;

(6)

Muscular dystrophy;

(7)

Multiple sclerosis;

(8)

Cancer;

(9)

Heart disease;

(10)

Diabetes;

(11)

Mental retardation;

(12)

Emotional illness.

District means any section of the city for which the zoning regulations governing the use of buildings and premises, the height of buildings, the size of yards and the intensity of use are uniform.

Dormitory means a space in a unit where group sleeping accommodations are provided, with or without meals, for persons not members of the same family group, in one room or in a series of closely associated rooms under joint occupancy and single management, such as in college dormitories, military barracks and ski lodges.

Dwelling means any building, or portion thereof, which is designed or used for residential purposes.

Dwelling, multifamily, means a building designed for, or occupied exclusively by, three or more families. Such term includes cooperative apartments, condominiums, etc. For the purpose of this chapter, regardless of how rental units are equipped, any multifamily dwelling in which units are available for rental periods of less than one week shall be considered a hotel.

Dwelling, patio home, means a single-family dwelling unit constructed with either minimum five-foot side yards on both sides of the dwelling unit as a detached unit on an individual lot or as a zero lot line dwelling within one foot of one side lot line with open yards required on all remaining sides, and constructed as a detached unit on an individual lot.

Dwelling, single-family, means a building designed for, or occupied exclusively by, one family.

Dwelling, twinhome means a single-family dwelling unit constructed as a two-unit structure, with each unit located on a separate lot and separated by a vertical lot line wall.

Dwelling, two-family, means a building designed for, or occupied exclusively by, two families.

Family means one or more persons occupying a dwelling and living as a single-family housekeeping unit and doing their own cooking on the premises, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse, lodginghouse or hotel, as defined in this section.

Filling station means any building, structure or land used for the dispensing, sale or offering for sale at retail of any automobile fuel, oil or accessory, including lubrication of automobiles and replacement or installation of minor parts and accessories, but not including major repair work, such as motor replacement, body and fender repair or spray painting.

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

Garage, private, means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of not more than four motor-driven vehicles which are owned and used by the occupants of the building to which such building is an accessory. Not more than one of the vehicles may be a commercial vehicle of not more than two tons' capacity.

Garage, public, means a building, 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 or parking means a building, or portion thereof, designed or used exclusively for term storage, by prearrangement, of motor-driven vehicles, as distinguished from daily storage furnished to transients, and within which motor fuels and oils may be sold, but no motor-driven vehicles are equipped, repaired, hired or sold.

Grade means:

(1)

For buildings having walls adjoining one street only, the elevation of the sidewalk at the center of the wall adjoining the street.

(2)

For buildings having walls adjoining more than one street, the average of the elevation of the sidewalk at the centers of all walls adjoining the streets.

(3)

For buildings having no wall adjoining the street, the average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building.

Any wall approximately parallel to and not more than five feet from a street line is to be considered as adjoining the street. Where no sidewalk exists, the grade shall be established by the city engineer.

Group home and group living facility mean a facility or dwelling unit housing more than four persons who are unrelated by blood, marriage or adoption, and that operates under a housekeeping management plan based on an intentionally structured relationship providing organization and stability. Also, see the definition of "Boardinghouse" and "roominghouse."

Group living means residential occupancy that does not meet the definition of "Household living."

Home occupation. See the definition of "Conditional uses."

Hotel means a building in which lodging, or boarding and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge, at all hours. As a hotel, such establishment is open to the public in contradistinction to a "boardinghouse," "lodginghouse" or "apartment," which terms are separately defined in this section.

Household and housekeeping unit mean:

(1)

One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, living together in a dwelling unit;

(2)

A group of not more than four persons not related by blood, marriage, adoption or legal guardianship, living together in a dwelling unit; or

(3)

Two unrelated persons and their children, living together in a dwelling unit.

Household living means residential occupancy of a dwelling by a household.

HUD-code manufactured home means a structure constructed on or after June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on the site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems. The term "HUD-code manufactured home" does not include a "recreational vehicle," as that term is defined by 24 CFR 3282.8(g).

State Law reference— Similar definition, V.T.C.A., Occupations Code § 1201.003.

Institution means a building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or establishment for public use.

Junkyard means a place where waste or discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including auto wrecking yards, used lumberyards and places or yards for storage of salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment.

Kennel means any place where more than four cats or dogs, or any combination of cats and dogs when the total exceeds four animals, over the age of ten weeks are raised, trained, boarded, harbored or kept.

Laundromat means an establishment providing home type washing, drying or ironing machines for hire, to be used by customers on the premises.

Livestock means domestic animals, other than dogs, cats or other household pets, typically raised for human consumption, fiber and/or labor and shall include, but not be limited to, horses, cows, mules, burros, cows, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, any hybrid of these or any other four-legged animal.

Loading space means a space within the main building, or on the same lot with the main building, providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks and having a minimum dimension of 12 feet by 35 feet and a vertical clearance of at least 14 feet.

Lot means a parcel of land occupied, or intended for occupancy, by a use permitted in this chapter, including one main building, together with its accessory buildings, the open spaces and parking spaces required by this chapter, and having its principal frontage upon a street or an officially approved place.

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

Lot, double frontage, means a lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

Lot of record means a lot which is a part of a subdivision, the map of which has been recorded in the office of the county clerk, or a parcel of land, the deed of which has been recorded in the office of the county clerk.

Major thoroughfare means a principal traffic artery, more or less continuous across the city, which is intended to connect remote parts of the city, or areas adjacent thereto, and to act as a principal connecting street with state and federal highways. The term shall include each street designated as a thoroughfare on the thoroughfare plan, including all existing and proposed major streets shown on the major street plan adopted by the planning and zoning commission.

Manufactured house and manufactured home means a HUD-code manufactured home or mobile home, and collectively mean and refer to both such homes.

Mobile home means a structure that was constructed before June 15, 1976, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or, when erected on the site, is 320 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems. The term "mobile home" shall not include the following:

(1)

Travel trailers, pickup coaches, motorhomes, camping trailers or other recreational vehicles.

(2)

Modular homes.

Mobile home park means a unified development of no less than ten mobile home spaces arranged on a tract of land under single-person ownership, meeting all requirements of chapter 86.

Mobile home subdivision means a subdivision named as such by the city council for the development of mobile home residences, regardless of ownership.

Motor court and motel mean a building, or group of buildings, used for the temporary residence of motorists or travelers.

Nonconforming use means the use of land or a building, or portion thereof, which use does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Nursing or convalescent home means any premises where more than three persons are lodged and furnished meals and nursing care.

Park shall mean a recreational vehicle park.

Parking area means an open, unoccupied space used or required for use for parking of automobiles exclusively, and in which no gasoline or automobile accessories are sold or no other business is conducted and no fees are charged.

Parking space means a surfaced area, enclosed in the main building or accessory building, or unenclosed, having an area of not less than 180 square feet, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one automobile and connected with a street or alley by a surfaced driveway which affords satisfactory ingress and egress for automobiles.

Parkway means the portion of a street right-of-way between the property line and the curbline.

Place means an open, unoccupied space or a public or private thoroughfare, other than a street or alley, permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.

Private club means any corporation, association, club or organization, incorporated or unincorporated, required to be licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. (See chapter 6 of this Code.)

Offsite receptor means offsite residences, institutions (e.g., schools, hospitals), industrial, commercial and office buildings, parks, or recreational areas inhabited or occupied by the public at any time without restriction.

Recovery facility, alcohol and drug, means residential programs, including third stage recovery programs and other programs dedicated to the assistance of persons with psychiatric, alcohol and/or drug problems, that may provide care, training, treatment for psychiatric, alcohol or drug problems, or that may simply provide a residential setting, with or without counseling services, for persons with psychiatric, alcohol and/or drug problems, including, but not limited to, any boardinghouse or group home used and established for residential purposes for persons with psychiatric, alcohol and/or drug problems.

RR Residential rural district. This district and its regulations are intended to provide for compatible land, building and structures oriented primarily towards low-density residential and select agricultural uses. The RR district serves as a transitional element between agricultural activities, including the keeping of livestock, and those of higher density development. Agricultural uses in the RR district should not be detrimental to urban land uses.

Recreational vehicle shall mean any licensed camp trailer, travel trailer, motor home or fifth wheel designed to provide temporary living quarters for travel and recreational and vacation uses. Such vehicles shall not exceed eight and one-half feet in width and 46 feet in length and shall be constructed with integral wheels to make it mobile and/or towable by motor vehicle; and shall also include pick-up campers, converted buses and pop-up tent trailers.

Recreational vehicle park shall mean any contiguous lot, tract or parcel of land upon which accommodation is provided for two or more recreational vehicles for the parking of recreational vehicles occupied or intended to be occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes for any length of time and is permitted pursuant to the provisions of this section.

Riding academy. See the definition of "Stable."

Secondhand merchandise store means a store which specializes in the sale of used merchandise, including surplus stores and rummage shops.

Space shall mean a plot of ground within the park designed for the accommodation of one recreational vehicle together with such open space as required by this section. This term shall also include the terms lot, stand and site.

Special education—rehabilitation center means any facility in which persons live while receiving therapy, training and/or counseling, on-premises or off-premises, for the following purposes:

(1)

To assist such persons in recuperating from the affects of drugs or alcohol.

(2)

Housing under supervision as an alternative to institutionalization, including, but not limited to, prerelease, work release and probationary programs.

Spot zoning means zoning changes involving only small parcels. Such term amends the basic zoning ordinance, reclassifying one or more tracts or lots for a use prohibited by the original zoning ordinance and out of harmony with such ordinance. (Note: Spot zoning is criticized as being discriminatory, and is considered an illegal practice. Spot zoning can do much to defeat the purpose and objectives of a good land use plan; however, it should be emphasized that determining the exact size of a spot zone is difficult. Not all amendments to this chapter constitute spot zoning. Validity depends on the particular circumstances of each individual case.)

Stable means a private facility, confined area or structure with a capacity for more than four horses or mules.

Stockyard and commercial feedlot mean confined areas for the feeding or holding of certain animals, such as cattle, swine, sheep and goats.

Story means the 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 is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

Story, half, means a partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which, on at least two opposite exterior walls, are not more than four feet above the floor of the story, except that any partial story used for residence purposes, other than for a janitor, caretaker or his family, or by a family occupying the floor immediately below it, shall be deemed to be a full story.

Street means a public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

Street line means a dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.

Structural alteration means any change which would modify a supporting member of a structure, such as a bearing wall, column, beam or girder.

Structure means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground, including, but not limiting the generality thereof, advertising signs, billboards, backstops for tennis courts, and arbors.

Tattoo parlor means an establishment where trained personnel apply microinjections of pigment to the dermal layer of the skin, not including establishments that provide cosmetic makeup application.

Tourist, automobile trailer or house car means any vehicle used as sleeping or living quarters, mounted on wheels, or intended to be mounted on wheels, for transportation.

Tourist, automobile trailer or house car park or camp means any plot of ground where accommodation is provided for one or more automobile trailers or house cars used as living or sleeping quarters.

Tourist home means a building, other than a hotel, where lodging is provided and offered to the public for compensation for not more than 20 individuals and open to transient guests, with which there is used only one sign not more than two square feet in area, the lighting of which shall be regulated by the building official.

Townhouse means a single-family dwelling unit constructed in a series or group of not less than three, nor more than six, contiguous units.

University means an institution of higher learning, providing facilities for teaching and research, and authorized to grant academic degrees, and specifically made up of an undergraduate division which confers bachelors' degrees and a graduate division which comprises a graduate school and professional schools each of which may confer masters' degrees and doctorate degrees.

Yard means an open space, at grade, between a building and the adjoining lot lines, unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard or the depth of the rear yard, the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.

Yard, front, means a yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines, and being the minimum horizontal distance between the street or place line and the main building, or any projections thereof, other than the projections of the usual uncovered steps, uncovered balconies or uncovered porches. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension.

Yard, rear, means a yard extending across the rear of a lot and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building, or any projections thereof, other than the projections of uncovered steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches. On all lots, the rear yard shall be in the rear of the front yard.

Yard, side, means a yard between the main building and the side line of the lot, and extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard, and being the minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the side of the main building, or any projections thereof.

(Code 1995, § 158.02; Ord. No. 00-07, § I, 2-22-2000; Ord. No. 00-45, § I, 12-19-2000; Ord. No. 01-32, § I, 10-23-2001; Ord. No. 01-38, § I, 11-27-2001; Ord. No. 03-45, § I, 11-11-2003; Ord. No. 04-12, § I, 4-13-2004; Ord. No. 12-19, § 1, 10-9-2012; Ord. No. 12-27, § I, 10-23-2012; Ord. No. 14-05, § 1.0, 3-10-2014; Ord. No. 19-08, § 1, 8-27-2019)

Cross reference— Definitions generally, § 1-2.

Wherever the requirements of this chapter are at variance with the requirements of any other lawfully adopted rules, regulations or ordinances, the more restrictive or that imposing the higher standards shall govern.

(Code 1995, § 158.77)

(a)

Existing permits and private agreements. This chapter is not intended to abrogate or annul any:

(1)

Permits issued before the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived; or

(2)

More restrictive covenant, condition or agreement evidenced by a private agreement.

(b)

Preserving rights in pending litigation and violations under existing ordinances. By the passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, no presently illegal use shall be deemed to have been legalized unless, specifically, the use falls within a use district where the actual use is a conforming use; otherwise, the use shall remain a nonconforming use where recognized, or an illegal use, as the case may be. It is further the intent and declared purpose of this chapter that no offense committed, and no liability, penalty or forfeiture, either civil or criminal, shall be discharged or affected by the adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, but that prosecutions and suits for offenses, liabilities, penalties or forfeitures may be instituted, or causes presently pending be proceeded with, in all respects, as if such prior ordinance had not been repealed.

(c)

Completion of existing buildings.

(1)

Nothing in this chapter, nor any amendments to this chapter, which change district boundaries shall require any change in the plans, construction or designated use of a building which shall be completed in its entirety within two years from the date of the passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, provided that the building either was actually under construction at the time of the passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived or was authorized by a building permit before the passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, and further, provided that construction shall have been started within 90 days from passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived.

(2)

Commitments, with reference to the construction of public utility buildings necessary for proposed expansion of the city, made prior to the passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived shall be observed.

(Code 1995, § 158.74(A)—(C))

Except as specifically provided in this chapter:

(1)

No land shall be used except for a purpose permitted in the district in which the land is located.

(2)

No building shall be erected, converted, enlarged, reconstructed or structurally altered to exceed the height and area limits established in this chapter for the district in which the building is located, nor be used except for a use permitted in the district in which the building is located.

(3)

No building shall be erected or structurally altered to the extent specifically provided in this chapter, except in conformity with the off-street parking and loading regulations of the district in which the building is located.

(4)

The minimum yards, parking spaces and open spaces, including lot area per family, required by this chapter for each and every building existing at the time of passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, or for any building erected, shall not be encroached upon or considered as part of the yard or parking space or open space required for any other building, nor shall any lot area be reduced below the requirements of this chapter for the district in which the lot is located.

(5)

Every building erected or structurally altered shall be located on a lot, and except as provided in this chapter, there shall not be more than one main building on one lot.

(6)

Temporary campus buildings will be subject to all regulations enforced in the building code of the city, per approval of compliance of such code and other city ordinances from the building official/electrical inspector, plumbing/mechanical inspector and fire marshal. Final decisions rest with the city council.

(7)

Manufactured housing must be properly tied down in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and procedures. If no such specifications and procedures are available, reference shall be made to the building code of the city.

(8)

The use of manufactured housing, as defined in section 98-1 and V.T.C.A., Occupations Code ch. 1201 as a temporary office/commercial building, is allowed, provided that all commercial building criteria is met, including accessibility standards. The use of manufactured housing for a temporary office/commercial building shall be limited to construction sites when site development for permanent buildings has been approved.

(Code 1995, § 158.03)

In case any building or structure is erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired, converted or maintained, or any building, structure or land is used in violation of the general law or terms of this chapter, the city, in addition to imposing the penalties provided for in section 98-8, may institute any appropriate action or proceedings in court to prevent the unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance or use; to restrain, correct or abate the violation; to prevent the occupancy of the building, structure or land; or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about the land. The definition of any violation of the terms of this chapter as a misdemeanor shall not preclude the city from invoking civil remedies given to the city by law in such cases, but such remedies shall be cumulative of, and in addition to, the penalties prescribed for such violation.

(Code 1995, § 158.78)

(a)

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter, or who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this chapter, or any requirements thereof, or who shall erect or alter any building, or who shall commence to erect or alter any building in violation of any detailed statement or plan submitted or approved under this chapter, shall, for each and every violation or noncompliance, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined as set forth in section 98-8.

(b)

The owner or tenant of any building, structure or premises, or part thereof, where anything in violation of this chapter shall be placed or exist, and any architect, builder, contractor, agent, person or corporation employed in connection with the building, structure or premises, or part thereof, who may have assisted in the commission of any such violation shall each be guilty of a separate offense and, upon conviction, shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 98-8.

(Code 1995, § 158.98)

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined as set forth in section 1-14, and each day such violation shall be permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.

(Code 1995, § 158.99)