A chapter to incorporate the county planning and zoning district for the community of Ramsay within the zoning regulations and zoning area adopted by the city and county of Butte-Silver Bow and providing for the administration, enforcement and amendment thereof in accordance with the Montana Code Annotated, as amended.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, and general welfare. Where this chapter imposes a greater restriction upon the use of buildings or land, or upon the height of buildings, or requires larger open spaces than are imposed or required by other ordinances, rules, regulations, or easements, covenants or agreements, the provisions of this chapter shall control.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

For the purpose of this chapter, the area lying within the county planning and zoning district of Ramsay, which planning and zoning district was created by the board of county commissioners of the former government of Silver Bow County, Montana, one of the predecessors of the local government of the city and county of Butte-Silver Bow, is divided into the following zoning districts:

1.

RR rural zone;

2.

RR-1 single-family residence zone;

3.

RR-2 mobile home zone;

4.

RC-1 general commercial zone;

5.

RC-2 commercial zone.

B.

Boundaries of these districts are established as shown on the official Ramsay planning and zoning district map attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter and on file in the office of the clerk. The map is made a part of this chapter by this reference.

C.

Unless otherwise indicated on the zoning map, the zoning district boundaries are lot lines, the centerlines or right-of-way lines of the streets or alleys or specified distance therefrom, railroad right-of-way lines as they existed at the time of enactment of this chapter.

D.

Where uncertainty exists as to the boundaries of the zoning districts or when the street or property existing on the ground is at variance with that shown on the official Ramsay planning and zoning district map, the board of adjustment, upon written application or its own motion, shall determine the location of such boundaries.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

No land, building, structure or premises shall hereafter be used, and no building, structure or part thereof, shall be located, erected, moved, reconstructed, extended, enlarged or altered except in conformity with the regulations in this chapter specified for the district in which it is located.

B.

Every part of a required yard shall be open from its lowest point to the sky unobstructed.

C.

On any corner lot in which a front yard is required by this chapter, no wall, fence, or other structures shall be erected and no hedge or shrub exceeding three feet above the street grade shall be maintained within the triangular area formed by the intersecting property lines nearest the streets and a straight line joining said property lines at points which are twenty-five feet distance from the point of intersection, along the property lines.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Any use, building, or structure existing at the time of enactment of this chapter may be continued even though such use, building, or structure may not conform with provisions of this chapter for the district in which it is located.

B.

No nonconforming use of a building, structure or land shall be changed, extended, reconstructed, enlarged, intensified or structurally altered unless:

1.

The use thereof is changed to a use permitted in the district in which such building or land is located; or

2.

Authority is granted by the board of adjustment.

C.

When a nonconforming use has been discontinued for a period of six months such use shall not thereafter be reestablished.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

This chapter shall be enforced by the Butte-Silver Bow zoning enforcement officer or his designated representative.

B.

Before any land, building, or premises, or part thereof, may hereafter be constructed, erected, changed, relocated or converted, wholly or in part, in its use or structure, a location permit shall be submitted to the zoning enforcement officer to the effect that such building, and the use proposed therefor, conforms to the provisions of this chapter.

C.

No fee shall be required for obtaining a location permit.

D.

Any person, firm or corporation owning, controlling or managing any building or premises wherein or whereupon there shall be placed or there exists anything in violation of the provisions of this chapter; or any person, firm, or corporation who shall assist in the commission of any violation of these provisions, or who shall build contrary to the plans and specifications submitted to and approved by the zoning enforcement officer; or any firm or corporation who shall omit, neglect or refuse to do any act required in these provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than three hundred dollars for each offense. Each day during which a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense punishable hereunder.

E.

Dwelling units shall not be relocated into any neighborhood in an RR, RR-1 or RR-2 district where the assessed value of the existing dwelling units, located in the same zoning district and within a one block radius of the proposed site, or four hundred feet whichever is greater, is predominately in excess of one hundred fifty percent of the current assessed value of the dwelling unit proposed for relocation.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

The board of adjustment shall consist of the seven member Butte-Silver Bow zoning board of adjustment.

B.

The board of adjustment shall adopt rules to govern its proceedings which rules may not be inconsistent with this title or the laws of the state of Montana. All requests for variances or other rulings by the board of adjustment shall appear in a newspaper of general circulation within the city and county of Butte-Silver Bow, Montana, seven days prior to the hearing. The board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the board and shall be a public record.

C.

Appeals to the board of adjustment may be taken by any person, officer, department, board or bureau of the municipality affected by any decision of the zoning enforcement officer.

D.

All applications for variances or rulings from the board of adjustment shall be given a public hearing within one month of the receipt of the application or ruling request.

E.

The board of adjustment shall have the following powers:

1.

To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is an error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by the zoning enforcement officer in the enforcement of this chapter or this title;

2.

To authorize such variances from the terms of this title as will not be contrary to the public interest, where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of the title will result in an unnecessary hardship.

F.

The concurring vote of four members of the board of adjustment shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of any such administration official, or to decide in favor of the applicant on any matter upon which it is required to pass under any such ordinance, or to affect any variance or variation from this title.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

The zoning district boundaries, and other regulations and restrictions in this title may be amended, supplemented, changed, modified, or repealed by the passage of an appropriate title by the Butte-Silver Bow council of commissioners according to the procedures outlines in this section.

B.

Amendments may be initiated by the Butte-Silver Bow zoning commission or by an application of one or more owners of property affected by the proposed amendment. The application shall be filed with the zoning enforcement officer on a form provided therefor:

1.

Each application by a property owner shall be accompanied by the appropriate filing fee, no part of which is refundable to the applicant;

2.

The application for an amendment shall be accompanied by drawings and any data necessary to fully determine the effect such an amendment would have on adjacent property and the community;

3.

The zoning enforcement officer shall be required to obtain the names and mailing addresses of all property owners within two hundred feet of the exterior boundaries of the area proposed to be altered and a written notice of the request for a change shall be sent by certified letter to each property owner;

4.

A public hearing shall be held within one month of the receipt of an application for an amendment of this title. The zoning enforcement officer shall cause a notice of such public hearing to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation within Butte-Silver Bow County at least fifteen days prior to the date of the public hearing and shall post a notice of the hearing in at least three public places within the affected area. Such notice shall fix the time and place for such hearing and shall describe each application for amendment of this title in general terms;

5.

At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Butte-Silver Bow council of commissioners may approve amendments to this title.

A.

Permitted uses:

1.

Single-family dwellings;

2.

Agriculture;

3.

Ranching;

4.

Forestry;

5.

Essential public utility buildings and facilities;

6.

Churches and schools and hospitals;

7.

Public and private recreational parks, playgrounds, and golf courses;

8.

Water, land and wildlife preserve and conservation areas, appurtenances and structures;

9.

Cemeteries, mausoleum and crematories; provided that any mausoleum and crematory shall be distant at least two hundred feet from adjacent property and street lines;

10.

Commercial swimming pools, golf courses, and similar uses when authorized by the board of adjustment.

B.

Accessory uses:

1.

Any use customarily accessory and incidental to a permitted use.

C.

District regulations:

1.

Zoning district regulations for the RR rural zone are provided in Table Number 1.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Permitted uses:

1.

One family dwelling;

2.

Churches and accessory buildings;

3.

Museums, libraries, parks, playgrounds or community centers;

4.

Golf courses, country clubs, private swimming pools, tennis courts, and similar noncommercial uses;

5.

Hospitals and nursing homes;

6.

Public and parochial schools and colleges for academic instruction.

B.

Accessory uses:

1.

Any use customarily accessory and incidental to a permitted use;

2.

Private garage which may include living quarters of domestic servants employed on the premises.

C.

District regulations:

1.

Zoning district regulations for the RR-1 zone are provided in Table Number One.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Permitted uses:

1.

Uses permitted in RR-1 district;

2.

Mobile homes;

3.

Single-family dwellings.

B.

Accessory uses:

1.

Any use customarily and incidental to a permitted use.

C.

District regulations:

1.

Zoning district regulations for the RR-2 district are provided in Table Number One.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Permitted uses:

1.

Uses permitted in RR-1 districts. No temporary buildings or mobile homes shall be used for dwelling purposes;

2.

Local retail businesses such as the following:

a.

Antique shop,

b.

Amusement enterprises such as skating rinks, theaters, etc.,

c.

Bakery whose products are sold only at retail,

d.

Barber shop or beauty parlor,

e.

Bowling alleys,

f.

Candy shop,

g.

Clothes cleaning and laundry pickup,

h.

Dairy store-retail,

i.

Drugstore,

j.

Greenhouses,

k.

Hardware store,

l.

Paint store,

m.

Radio and television—sales and repair,

n.

Truck depot and repair shop facilities.

B.

Accessory uses:

1.

Any use customarily accessory and incidental to a permitted use.

C.

Building height limit:

1.

Thirty-five feet or three and one-half stories.

D.

Minimum lot area:

1.

No requirement.

E.

Minimum lot width:

1.

One hundred-foot frontage required.

F.

Minimum front yard depth:

1.

Twenty-five feet required.

G.

Minimum side yard:

1.

No side yard required except when abutting a residential district;

2.

When abutting a residential district a twenty-five-foot side yard shall be required.

H.

Minimum rear yard:

1.

Twenty-five feet required.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Permitted uses:

1.

Uses permitted in RC-1 districts;

2.

Storage warehouse;

3.

Office building;

4.

Mobile home.

B.

Building height limit:

1.

Thirty-five feet or three and one-half stories.

C.

Minimum lot width:

1.

Minimum lot width of sixty feet is required.

D.

Minimum lot area:

1.

Minimum lot area of one half acre is required.

E.

Minimum front yard depth:

1.

Twenty-five-foot frontage required.

F.

Minimum side yard:

1.

Ten-foot minimum required.

G.

Minimum rear yard:

1.

Twenty-five-foot minimum required.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

In all districts, in connection with every business, commercial, industrial, recreational, institutional and residential use, space for parking and storage of vehicles shall be provided in accordance with the following schedule:

A.

Churches—one space for each five seats;

B.

Dwellings—one space for each family or living unit;

C.

Commercial stores—one space for every four hundred square feet of floor area;

D.

Industrial—one space for every two employees.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Purpose. The intent of this section shall be to coordinate type, placement and physical dimensions of signs within the different land use zones. The use of signs is regulated according to zone. The placement and physical dimension of signs are regulated primarily by length of street frontage and zoning district. No sign shall be permitted as a main or accessory use except in accordance with the provisions of this title.

1.

Signs in residential districts pertaining to home occupations or a home office are permitted provided:

a.

The sign does not exceed eight square feet in area, and

b.

The sign does not emit any flickering, flashing or glaring light, and

c.

The sign shall conform to all setbacks lines required of the principal building.

2.

Signs in general commercial and industrial districts are permitted provided:

a.

The sign does not exceed two square feet in area for each lineal foot of the property, and

b.

The sign shall conform to all setbacks lines required of the principal building.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Front Yards. In any residential district where front yards are required, whenever the average depth of at least two existing front yards on lots within one hundred feet of the lot in question and within the same block is less or greater than the least front yard depth prescribed elsewhere in this title, the required depth of the front yard on such lot shall be modified. In such cases, this shall not be less than the average depth of the existing front yards on the two lots immediately adjoining; provided, however, that the depth of a front yard on any lot shall be at least ten feet; and provided further that in no event shall the depth of a front yard of a corner lot be less than twenty-five feet.

B.

Fences, Walls and Hedges.

1.

Barbed-wire fences or fences or walls having wire or metal prongs or spies or cutting points or edges of any kind whatsoever, shall be prohibited.

2.

Fences not exceeding at any point six feet in height above the elevation of the surface of the ground at such point may be located in any yard with the exception of corner lots which are regulated by Section 17.35.040(C).

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)

A.

Interpretation of Language. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall be used in the interpretation and construction of the title. Words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular number shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; the word "building" shall include the word "structure"; the word "used" shall include arranged, designed, constructed, altered, converted, rented, leased or "intended to be used" and the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory:

"Accessory or auxiliary use or structure" means a use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building or to the principal use of land and which is located on the same lot serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or land use.

"Alley or lane" means a public or private way not more than thirty feet wide affording generally secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

"Board" means the Butte-Silver Bow zoning board of adjustment.

"Building" means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or property. When such a structure is divided into separate parts by one or more unpierced walls extending from the ground up, each part is deemed a separate building, except as regards minimum side yard requirements as hereinafter provided.

"Building, height of" means the vertical distance from the average ground level at the front wall or the building to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, or gambrel roofs.

"Building or setback line" means the line outside the right-of-way of a street beyond which no building or part thereof shall project, except as otherwise provided by this title.

"Clinic" means a place used for the care, diagnosis and treatment of sick, ailing, infirm and injured persons and those who are in need of medical or surgical attention, but who are not provided with board or room nor kept overnight on the premises.

"Court" means an open unoccupied and unobstructed space, other than a yard on the same lot with a building or group of buildings, which is enclosed on three or more sides.

"Dwelling" means any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence or sleeping place of one or more persons, but not including a tent, cabin, trailer, motor home, mobile home, boarding or rooming house, hotel or motel.

"Dwelling, single-family" means a building designed for or used exclusively for residence purposes by one family or housekeeping unit.

"Family" means one or more individuals related by blood, or marriage or adoption, or not more than five individuals who are not so related, living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling, and maintaining and using the same and certain other housekeeping facilities in common, and having such meals as they may prepare and eat together at home.

"Frontage" means that boundary of a lot which is along an existing or dedicated public street, or where no public street exists, is along a public way.

"Garage" means a detached accessory building or a portion of a principal building used or intended for use by the occupants of the premises for the storage of self-propelled passenger vehicles or trailers.

"Home occupation" means an occupation or a profession which is customarily carried on in a dwelling unit or in a building or other structure accessory to a dwelling unit, and is carried on by a member of the family residing in the dwelling unit, and is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes.

"Lot" means a piece or parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal building or a group of such buildings and accessory buildings, or utilized for a principal use and uses accessory thereto, together with such open spaces as required by this title and having frontage on a public street.

"Mobile home" means a detached single-family dwelling unit with all of the following characteristics:

A.

Designed for long-term occupancy and containing sleeping accommodations, a flush toilet, a tub or shower bath, and kitchen facilities, with plumbing and electrical connections provided for attachment to outside systems.

B.

Designed to be transported after fabrication on its own wheels, or on a flatbed truck or other trailer or on detachable wheels.

C.

Designed as a complete dwelling suitable for occupancy upon arrival on the site except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, located on foundation supports, connected to utilities, and the like.

"Nonconforming use" means a building, structure or premises legally existing and/or used at the time of adoption of this title, or any amendment thereto, and which does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which located. Any such building, structure or premises conforming in respect to use but not in respect to height, area, yards or courts, floor area or distance requirements from more restricted districts or uses, shall not be considered a nonconforming use.

"Parking spaces" means a permanently surfaced area of not less than two hundred square feet, either within a structure or in the open exclusive of driveways or access drives, for the parking of motor vehicles.

"Structural alteration" means any change in the structural members of a building, such as walls, columns, beams or girders.

"Structure" means anything constructed, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground, or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground.

"Yard" means an open space other than a court, on a lot, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this title.

"Yard, front" means the yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the front lot line and the building or any projection thereof, other than the projection of the usual steps or unenclosed porches. The narrow frontage on a corner lot.

"Yard, rear" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot between the most rear main building and the rear lot line, the depth of the required rear yard shall be measured horizontally from the nearest point of the rear lot line toward the nearest part of the main building.

"Yard, side" means a yard between a main building and the side lot line, extending from the front yard, or front lot line where no front yard is required, to the rear yard. The width of the required side yard shall be measured horizontally from the nearest point of the side lot line toward the nearest part of a main building.

"Zoning commission" means the Butte-Silver Bow zoning commission.

"Zoning enforcement officer" means the Butte-Silver Bow zoning enforcement officer or his designated representative.

(Ord. 457 § 1 (part), 1993)