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:

100-year flood orrain means a flood or rainfall event that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year.

Accessory use of structure means a use or structure customarily incidental, appropriate, and subordinate to the principal use of a building or to the principal use of land and which is located upon the same lot therewith.

Advertising sign or structure means any cloth, card, paper, metal, painted, glass, wooden, plastic, plaster, stone, sign or other sign, device or structure of any character whatsoever, including statuary, placed for outdoor advertising purposes on the ground or on any tree, wall, bush, rock, post, fence, building or structure. The term "placed" shall include erecting, constructing, posting, painting, printing, tacking, nailing, gluing, sticking, carving or otherwise fastening, affixing or making visible in any manner whatsoever. The area of an advertising structure other than a sign shall be determined as the area of the largest cross section of such structure. Neither directional, warning nor other signs posted by public officials in the course of their public duties nor merchandise or materials being offered for sale shall be construed as advertising signs for the purpose of this definition.

Agriculture means the use of land for agricultural purposes including farming, dairying, pasturage, horticulture, animal and poultry husbandry and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating or storing the product; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities, and provided further that the above uses shall not include the commercial feeding of swine or other animals, stockyards or commercial feed lots for cattle.

Alley means a minor right-of-way dedicated to public use not more than 30 feet wide affording a secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Automobile or trailer sales area means an open area, other than a street, used for the display, sales or rental of new or used motor vehicles or trailers in operable condition and where no repair work is done.

Automobile repair, major means general repair, rebuilding or reconditioning of engines, motor vehicles or trailers; collision services including body, frame or fender straightening or repair; overall painting of paint shop; vehicle steam cleaning.

Automobile repair, minor, means an incidental replacement of parts and motor service to passenger cars and trucks not exceeding 1½ ton capacity.

Automobile service station or filling station means any area used for retail sale of gasoline or oil fuels or automobile accessories, and incidental services including facilities for lubricating, and washing and cleaning, but not including painting, major repair or the sale of butane or propane fuels.

Basement means a story partly underground which, if occupied for living purposes, shall be counted as a story for purposes of height measurement.

Block means, in describing the boundaries of a district, the legal description. In all other cases, the term "block" means the property abutting on one side of the street between two intersecting streets or between an intersecting street and a railroad right-of-way or between an intersecting street and a watercourse.

Board of adjustment means the city board of adjustment; also referred to as the board.

Boardinghouse means a building other than a hotel where meals or lodging and meals are furnished for compensation for three or more persons not members of a family.

Building means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls that is used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or property. The term "building" includes the term "structure."

Building, accessory, means accessory use of structure.

Building height means the vertical distance from the average line of the highest and lowest points of that portion of the lot covered by the building to the highest point of coping of a flat roof, or the deck-line of a mansard roof or the average height of the highest gable of a pitch or hip roof.

Building line means a line established beyond which no part of a building shall project, except as otherwise provided by this chapter.

Building, main, means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated. In any residential district, any dwelling shall be deemed to be a main building on the lot on which it is situated.

Building site means a single parcel of land under one ownership, occupied or intended to be occupied by a building or structure.

Cemetery means land used or intended to be used for the burial of the human dead and dedicated for cemetery purposes.

Child care center means any place, home or institution which receives three or more children under the age of 16 years, and not of common parentage, for care apart from their natural parents, legal guardians or custodians, when received for regular periods of time for compensation, provided, however, this definition shall not include public and private schools organized, operated or approved under the laws of the state, custody of children fixed by a court of competent jurisdiction, children related by blood or marriage within the third degree to the custodial person or to churches or other religious or public institutions caring for children within the institutional building while their parents or legal guardians are attending services or meetings or classes or engaged in church activities.

Clinic means a place used for the care, diagnosis and treatment of sick, ailing, infirm and injured persons and those in need of surgical or medical attention but who are not customarily provided with board and room or kept overnight on the premises.

Club means a non-profit association of persons who are bona fide members, paying regular dues, and organized for some common purpose, but not including a group organized solely or primarily to render a service customarily carried on as a commercial enterprise.

Comprehensive plan means the official plan of the city; the term "comprehensive plan" also refers to the specific document known as the General Development Plan.

Convalescent home means a nursing home, a rest home, a home for the aged, recuperating, chronically ill or incurable persons, in which two or more persons not of the immediate family are received, kept or provided with food and shelter or care for compensation, but not including hospitals, clinics or similar institutions devoted primarily to the diagnosis and treatment of disease or injury.

District means any section of the city for which regulations governing the use of buildings and premises or the height and area of buildings are uniform.

Dwelling means any building, or portion thereof, which is designed or used as living quarters for one or more families, but not including mobile homes or modular homes.

Dwelling, multiple, means a dwelling designed for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other, exclusive of motels, mobile home parks, hotels and resort-type hotels.

Dwelling, single-family, means a dwelling designed to be occupied by one family.

Dwelling, two-family, means a dwelling designed to be occupied by two families living independently of each other.

Dwelling unit means a room or group of rooms arranged, intended or designed as a habitable unit, containing kitchen, bath and sleeping facilities for not more than one family living independently of any other family.

Family means a person living alone or two or more persons related by blood or marriage, living together as a single housekeeping unit, using a single-facility in a dwelling unit, for culinary purposes, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse, lodginghouse, hotel, motel, fraternity house or sorority house.

Flood means a temporary rise in stream flow or stage that results in water overtopping its banks and inundating areas adjacent to the channel.

Flood fringe means that portion of the flood hazard district located outside the floodway.

Flood fringe displacement, alternative improvements, means the channel improvements in the floodway which are required to prevent increased flooding resulting from the reduced floodwater storage capacity in the flood fringe area due to filling or other floodproofing or development of the flood fringe area.

Flood hazard district or area means all of the land within the jurisdiction which is subject to inundation by a flood event which has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year. The flood hazard district includes both the floodway and the flood fringe.

Floodway means the stream channel and adjacent area which provides for the downstream movement of the 100-year maximum flood at a rate of one-tenth of a foot per second or greater.

Garage apartment means a dwelling unit for one family erected above a private garage.

Garage, parking, means any building or portion thereof used for the storage of four or more automobiles in which any servicing which may be provided is incidental to the primary use for storage purposes, and where repair facilities are not provided.

Garage, private, means a detached accessory building or a portion of the principal building used or intended for the use by the occupants of the premises for storage of passenger vehicles or trailers.

Garage, public, means the structure or portion thereof, other than a private garage, used for the storage, sale, hire, care, repairing or refinishing of any vehicles.

Height means the vertical measurement of any structure on any parcel of land measured from the average elevation of the lot or parcel to the uppermost point of the structure.

Home occupation means any occupation carried on solely by the inhabitants of a dwelling which is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes, which does not change the character thereof, and which is conducted entirely within the main or accessory building; provided that no trading and merchandising is carried on and in connection with which there is no display of merchandise or advertising sign other than one nonilluminated name plate, not more than two square feet in area, attached to the main or accessory building, and no mechanical equipment is used except such as is customarily used in purely domestic or household purposes. A tea room, restaurant, rest home, clinic, barbershop, beauty parlor, doctor's or dentist's office, child care center, tourist home or cabinet shop, metal shop, lawn mower repair or auto repair garage shall not be deemed a home occupation.

Hospital means medical facilities.

Hotel means a building or group of buildings under one ownership containing six or more sleeping rooms occupied or intended or designed to be occupied as the more or less temporary abiding place of a person who is lodged with or without meals for compensation, but not including trailer parks or camps, hospitals, asylums, orphanages or buildings where a person is housed under restraint.

Industry means the storage, repair, manufacture, preparation or treatment of any article, substance or any commodity for commercial use.

Inoperable vehicle means any a vehicle which, by reason of dismantling, disrepair or other cause, is incapable of being propelled under its own power.

Institutional uses means those uses organized, established, used or intended to be used for the promotion of a public, religious, educational, charitable, cultural, social or philanthropic activity and normally operated on a non-profit basis.

Junk or salvage yard means a place where waste, discarded or salvage materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including all wrecking yards, house wrecking yards, used lumber yards and places or yards for storage of salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment, but not including such places where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building, and not including pawnshops and establishments for the sale, purchase or storage of used furniture and household equipment, used cars in operable condition, or salvage material incidental to manufacturing operations.

Kennel means any lot or premises on which three or more dogs more than six months of age are kept.

Loading space means a space on the same lot as the principal use of at least ten feet in width and 30 feet in length and having a vertical clearance of at least 14 feet, designated for the temporary parking of commercial vehicles while loading or unloading merchandise or materials.

Lot means any plot of land occupied or intended to be occupied by one building, or a group of buildings, and its accessory buildings and uses, including such open spaces as required by this chapter and other laws or ordinances, and having its principal frontage on a street. The term "lot" includes the terms "plot" and "parcel."

Lot, corner, means a lot which has at least two adjacent sides abutting a street, provided that the interior angle at the intersection of such two sides is less than 135 degrees.

Lot depth means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

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

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

Lot line means any boundary of a lot.

Lot line, front, means the boundary of a lot which abuts a public street. Where the lot abuts more than one street, the owner may select the front lot line.

Lot line, rear, means the boundary of a lot which is more distant from and most nearly parallel to the front lot line.

Lot line, side, means any boundary of a lot which is not a front lot line or a rear lot line.

Lot, wedge-shaped, means a lot situated so that the front is either wider or narrower than the rear of the lot.

Lots of record means a separate and distinct parcel designated on a legally recorded subdivision plat or a legally recorded deed filed in the records of the county.

Medical facilities means:

(1)

Nursing home, rest or convalescent homes (see Convalescent home).

(2)

Dental or medical clinic, a building used for the examination and treatment of the physically ill, provided that no facilities are provided for patients remaining overnight.

(3)

Dental or doctor's office, the same as dental medical clinic, including the various dental and medical specialties.

(4)

Hospital, an institution providing physical and mental health services primarily for human inpatient medical or surgical care for the sick or injured, and including related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient departments, training facilities, central service facilities, and staff offices which are an integral part of the facilities.

Mobile home means a structure transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is 14 body feet or more in width and 36 body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 504 or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling on a permanent foundation. Said structure shall conform to the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Act of 1974 as amended, and applicable codes of the city.

Modularhome means a transportable, nonvehicular, prefabricated structure, requiring an independent permanent foundation, which is designed and constructed for the movement from a point of fabrication to a permanent foundation or location site, said home being required to meet all applicable codes of the city.

Nonconforming use means a structure or land lawfully occupied by a use that does not conform to the regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Occupied or used shall include the terms "arranged," "designed," "constructed," "altered," "converted," "rented," "leased" or "intended to be used."

Open space means area included in any side, rear or front yard or any other unoccupied space on a lot that is open and unobstructed to the sky except for the ordinary projection of cornices and eaves of porches.

Parcel means a lot as defined herein.

Parking space means a permanently surfaced area of not less than 200 square feet, either within a structure or in the open, exclusive of driveways or access drives, for the parking of motor vehicles.

Planningand zoning commission means the city planning and zoning commission, as established by sections 2-112 and 2-119.

Roominghouse means a boardinghouse.

Sign means any word, lettering, part of letters, figures, numerals, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, pictures, trade names or trademarks by which anything is made known, such as are used to designate an individual, a firm, an association, a corporation, a profession, a business, a service, a commodity or product, which are visible from any public street or right-of-way and designed to attract attention. "For Sale" and "For Rent" shall be deemed signs within the meaning of this definition, but the term "sign" shall not include the flag, pennant or insignia of any nation, state, city or other political, educational, charitable, philanthropic civic, professional, religious or like campaign, drive, movement or event used for a public purpose in the public interest.

Sign, display surface area, means the net geometric area of the surface of the sign upon, against or through which the message is displayed or illustrated, including the outward extremities of all letters, figures, characters and delineations, provided that only one face of a double-faced sign shall be included in the computation of display surface area.

Sign, illuminated, means a sign designed to give forth any artificial light, or designed to reflect light from one or more sources, natural or artificial.

Sign, projecting, means a sign erected on the face or outside wall of a building which projects out at any angle therefrom.

Sign, temporary, mean a sign of temporary nature used to advertise the premises for sale, rent or lease.

Story means that portion of a building 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.

Street means a public right-of-way more than 30 feet in width which provides the primary public means of access to abutting property and used primarily for vehicular circulation.

Street,arterial, means any street designated on the street plan as primary arterial, secondary arterial or collector.

Street, minor, means any street not designated on the street plan as an arterial or collector.

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, not including sidewalks, driveways and similar improvement areas.

Trailer means a portable or mobile unit, other than a mobile home, used or designed to carry or transport material or animals.

Transportation plan means the part of the comprehensive plan referring to transportation development goals, principles and standards; also includes use of the words "major street and highway plan."

Yard means a required space on a lot unobstructed except as expressly permitted.

Yard, front, means a yard extending across the full width of a lot from side lot line to side lot line abutting on a street, into which a building may not protrude.

Yard, rear, means a yard extending across the rear of a lot measured from side lot line to side lot line.

Yard, side, means a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard abutting the side lot line, into which no building may protrude.

Substantial damage means any damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to the condition it was in before damage occurred would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

Substantial improvement means any construction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before start of construction of the improvement. This includes structures that have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term "substantial improvement" does not, however, include:

(1)

Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which have been identified by the code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary conditions.

(2)

Any alteration of a historic structure provided the alteration would not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure.

Variance means a limited exception to the usual requirements of enacted zoning ordinances when confronted with development on an unusual piece of property; the variance procedure can lend some flexibility to the usual standards of the zoning ordinance. Approval of a variance allows the property owner to use his property in a manner basically consistent with the established regulations with such minor variations as will place him in parity with other property owners in the same zone. Approval of a variance is an administrative act. Unlike a rezoning or an amendment to a general plan, consideration of a variance does not involve the establishment of new codes, regulations, policies or ordinances but rather applies the provisions of the zoning ordinance to a specific circumstance.

(Zoning Ord., § 103; Zoning Ord., § 301, Ord. No. 07-02, § 1, 4-10-2007; Ord. No. 07-04, § 1, 4-10-2007)

The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be minimum requirements. Where this chapter imposes a greater restriction than is imposed or required by other provisions of law or by other rules or regulations or ordinances, the provisions of this chapter shall control.

(Zoning Ord., § 103)

This chapter shall be in full force and effect in the corporate limits of the city. Territory annexed to the corporate limits of the city subsequent to the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived shall be deemed to be designated as an A-1 General Agricultural District until altered or reclassified in the manner provided by law.

(Zoning Ord., § 104)