1-1.

For the purpose of this ordinance, certain terms and words are hereby defined. 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"; and the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory.

1-2.

Accessory use. An accessory use or building is a subordinate use or building customarily incident to and located on the same lot occupied by the main use building.

1-3.

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

1-4.

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

1-5.

Apartment hotel. A building designed for or containing both apartments and individual guest rooms or suites of rooms and apartments in which may be furnished services ordinarily furnished by hotels.

1-6.

Apartment house. See Dwelling, multiple.

1-7.

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

1-8.

Boardinghouse. A building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by arrangement, meals or lodging and meals are provided for three or more but not exceeding 20 persons.

1-9.

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

1-10.

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

1-11.

Clinic. An establishment where patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination and treatment by a group of physicians practicing medicine together.

1-12.

Club. A building or portion thereof or premises owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons 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.

1-12a.

Common area. An area held, designed and designated principally for the common use of the occupants of a town house project.

1-13.

District. Any section of the City of Carthage 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.

1-14.

Dwelling. Any building or portion thereof which is designed for or used for residential purposes except a "mobile home" as herein defined.

1-14a.

HUD-code manufactured home.

(A)

A structure:

(i)

Constructed on or after June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(ii)

Built on a permanent chassis;

(iii)

Designed for use as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when the structure is connected to the required utilities;

(iv)

Transportable in one or more sections; and

(v)

In the traveling mode, at least eight body feet in width or at least 40 body feet in length or, when erected on site, at least 320 square feet;

(B)

Includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems of the home; and

(C)

Does not include a recreational vehicle as defined by 24 C.F.R. Section 3282.8(g).

1-14b.

Manufactured home or manufactured housing. A HUD-code manufactured home or mobile home.

1-14c.

Mobile home.

(A)

A structure:

(i)

Constructed before June 15, 1976;

(ii)

Built on a permanent chassis;

(iii)

Designed for use as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when the structure is connected to the required utilities;

(iv)

Transportable in one or more sections; and

(v)

In the traveling mode, at least eight body feet in width or at least 40 body feet in length or, when erected on site, at least 320 square feet; and

(B)

Includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems of the home.

1-14d.

Mobil home park or manufactured home park. A defined area where such structures can be or are intended to be parked, designed or intended to be used as living facilities.

1-15.

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

1-16.

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

1-17.

Dwelling, multiple. A building designed for or occupied exclusively by three or more families.

1-18.

Family. One or more persons occupying a dwelling and living as a single housekeeping unit and doing their own cooking on the premises, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse, lodging house, or hotel, as herein defined.

1-19.

Filling station. Any building, structure, or land used for the dispensing, sale or offering for sale at retail of any automobile fuels, oils or accessories, 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.

1-20.

Frontage. All 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 dead ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead end of the street.

1-21.

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

1-22.

Garage, storage or parking. 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.

Editor's note— The original copy had no section numbered 1-23.

1-24.

Grade.

A.

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

B.

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.

C.

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.

1-25.

Height. The height of a building or portion of a building shall be measured from the established grade to the highest point of the roof's surface if a flat surface, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for hip and gable roofs. In measuring the height of a building the following structures shall be excluded: chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, penthouses, tanks, water towers, radio towers, ornamental cupolas, domes, signs, spires and parapet walls not exceeding four feet in height.

1-26.

Home occupation. Any occupation or activity carried on by a member of the immediate family residing on the premises, in connection with which there is used no sign other than a name plate not more than one square foot in area, or no display that will indicate from the exterior that the building is being utilized in part for any purpose other than that of a dwelling; there is no commodity sold upon the premises; and no mechanical equipment is used except that of a type that is similar in character to that normally used for purely domestic or household purposes. Home occupation shall include the use of premises by a physician, surgeon, dentist, lawyer, clergyman or other professional person for consultation or emergency treatment, but not for the general practice of his profession.

1-27.

Hotel. 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 and as such is open to the public.

1-28.

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

1-29.

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

1-30.

Lodging house. A building other than a hotel where lodging for three or more persons is provided for compensation pursuant to previous arrangement and not to anyone who may apply.

1-31.

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

1-32.

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

1-33.

Lot, double frontage. A lot having a frontage on two non-intersecting streets as distinguished from a corner lot.

1-34.

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

1-35.

Motor court or motel. Building or group of buildings used for the temporary residence of motorists or travelers.

1-36.

Nonconforming use. 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.

1-37.

Parking area. 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.

1-38.

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

1-39.

Place. 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.

1-39a.

Private yard. An area of open space within a town house, but which is unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure.

1-40.

Rooming house. See Lodging house.

1-41.

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

1-42.

Story, half. 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 such story, except that any partial story used for residence purposes, other than for a janitor or caretaker or his family, or by a family occupying the floor immediately below it, shall be deemed a full story.

1-43.

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

1-44.

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

1-45.

Structure. 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 without limiting the generality of the foregoing, advertising, signs, billboards, back stops for tennis courts, and arbors.

1-46.

Structural alterations. Any change which would tend to prolong the life of a supporting member of a structure such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

1-47.

Tourist home. 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.

1-48.

Tourist or trailer camp. An area where one or more tents or auto trailers can be or are intended to be parked, designed or intended to be used as temporary living facilities of one or more families, and intended privately for automobile transients.

1-48a.

Town house. A dwelling unit constructed having a common wall with one or more adjoining dwelling unit structures.

1-48b.

Town house group. Two or more contiguous town houses connected by common walls.

1-48c.

Town house project. A town house development or plan which is submitted and approved by a single special permit and which is laid out on contiguous land, all uninterrupted by intervening public streets. Town house projects shall be classified as Type A, which shall be limited to one story construction and Type B, which may have multistory construction.

1-49.

Yard. 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 herein. 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.

1-50.

Yard, front. 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 porch. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension.

1-51.

Yard, rear. 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.

1-52.

Yard, side. 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 and the side of the main buildings or any projections thereto.

(Ord. No. 1972-5, § 1, 3-27-1972; Ord. No. 1974-2, § 2, 2-25-1974; Ord. No. 1987-7A, 4-16-1987)