Cumming City Zoning Code

    For the purpose of this Zoning Ordinance, certain terms and words are hereby defined, and the words “used or occupied” include the words “intended, designed, or arranged to be used or occupied.”

   1.   “Access” means the place, means, or way by which pedestrians or vehicles shall have ingress and egress to a property or parking area.

   2.   “Accessory use or structure” means a use or structure on the same lot with the principal use or structure, and serving a purpose customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or structure. An accessory use shall not encompass more floor area or use a greater part of the lot than the principal permitted uses.

   3.   “Addition” means an extension or increase in floor area or height of a building or structure.

   4.   “Agriculture” or “agricultural use” means the use of land, buildings, structures, or portions thereof, principally for the production of, and as an accessory use for, the treatment and storage of plants, animals, or horticultural products, all for intended profit. Agriculture includes the cultivation of land for the production of crops, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruit, or other horticulture crops, as well as breeding, raising, feeding, pasturing, and housing of horses, sheep, beef and dairy cattle, swine, other livestock, and honey bees, with the intention of selling such animals or products therefrom for a profit in the marketplace. Agriculture does not include any auction sale yards, recreational facilities, commercially operated stockyards or feedlots, and commercial grain storage or drying facilities.

   5.   “Apartment” means a room or suite of rooms used as the dwelling of a family, including bath and culinary accommodations, located in a building in which there are three or more such rooms or suites.

   6.   “Alterations, structural” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.

   7.   “Alley” means a private or public way, other than a street, 20 feet or less in right-of-way width, affording a secondary means of access to abutting property.

   8.   “Amendment” means a change in wording, context or substance of this Zoning Ordinance, or a change in the zoning or district boundaries of the official zoning map, which is a part of this Zoning Ordinance.

   9.   “Antenna” means any system of wires, poles, rods, reflecting discs, or similar devices used for the transmission or reception of electromagnetic waves external to or attached to the exterior of any building.

   10.   “Assisted living residential facility” means a building consisting of individual dwelling units where meals and assistance for daily living activities are provided to the residents, who are primarily elderly persons. Such facility must be licensed as a residential care facility, intermediate care facility or skilled nursing facility under Chapter 135C, Code of Iowa.

   11.   “Automotive sales and storage lot” means an open off-street area where two or more operable motor vehicles are stored or offered or displayed for sale or advertising purposes.

   12.   “Awning” means any structure made of cloth or other non-rigid material with a metal or other rigid material for a frame and attached to a building and projecting outward from the building. (See also “canopy.”)

   13.   “Balcony” means a platform, unenclosed except by a railing, but which could be covered by a roof that cantilevers from the outer wall of a building above ground level without support other than the building.

   14.   “Bar” means any establishment devoted primarily to the selling, serving or dispensing and drinking of malt, vinous, or other alcoholic beverage, or any place where any sign is exhibited or displayed indicating that alcoholic beverages are obtainable within or thereon, and where such beverages are consumed on the premises, and may also be referred to as “cocktail lounge,” “tavern,” or “saloon.”)

   15.   “Bed and breakfast inn” means an owner-occupied dwelling unit that contains no more than five guest rooms where lodging, with or without meals, is provided for compensation.

   16.   “Block” is deemed to be all that property frontage along one public thoroughfare lying between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, railroad right- of-way, waterway, golf course, campus, park or other similar space.

   17.   “Buffer” means a landscaped area, wall, or other structure intended to separate or partially obstruct the view between two adjacent zoning districts, land uses or properties from one another. (Also see “screening.”)

   18.   “Board” means the Board of Adjustment of the City.

   19.   “Boarding house” means a building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by arrangement, meals or lodging and meals are provided for three or more persons.

   20.   “Building” (structure) means anything constructed, erected or built, the use of which requires location on the ground and designed for the support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind, including (but without limiting the generality of the foregoing) installations such as signs, billboards, radio towers, and other facilities not designed for storage of property or occupancy by persons.

   21.   “Building, height of” means 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 to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

   22.   “Campground” means an area or tract of land on which accommodations for temporary occupancy are located or may be placed, including cabins, tents, and major recreational equipment, and which is primarily used for recreational purposes and retains an open air or natural character.

   23.   “Canopy” means a permanent roofed structure, including marquees and awnings, attached to and supported by a building and projecting over private property, or over public property.

   24.   “Car wash” means an area of land and/or a structure with machine- or hand- operated facilities used principally for the cleaning, washing, polishing, or waxing of motor vehicles.

   25.   “Carport” means a roofed structure providing space for the parking of motor vehicles and enclosed on not more than two sides. For the purpose of this chapter, a carport attached to a principal building shall be considered as part of the principal building and subject to all yard requirements herein.

   26.   “Cellar” means a story having more than one-half of its height below grade. A cellar is not included in computing the number of stories for the purpose of height measurement.

   27.   “Centerline, public thoroughfare” means the line running parallel with the thoroughfare right-of-way boundaries and which is half the distance between the extreme edges of the official right-of-way width.

   28.   “Certificate of occupancy” means a document issued by the City to permit the use of a building which has been determined to have fulfilled City Zoning and building code requirements to permit occupancy.

   29.   “Channel” means a natural or artificial watercourse of perceptible extent, with a definite bed and definite banks to confine and to conduct continuously or periodically flowing water.

   30.   “Child” means a person under 18 years of age.

   31.   “Child care center” means a facility providing child day care for seven or more children at one time, except when the facility is registered as a group care facility. (Also see “day care home.”)

   32.   “Child day care” includes the care, supervision, or guidance of a child by a person other than the parent, guardian, relative, or custodian for periods of two hours or more, and less than 24 hours per day per child, on a regular basis, in a place other than the child’s home, but does not have:

      A.   An institutional program administered by a public or non-public school system approved by the Iowa State Department of Public Instruction or the Iowa State Board of Regents.

      B.   A religious-related instructional program of not more than one day per week.

      C.   Short-term classes held between school terms.

      D.   A program administered by a political subdivision of the State which is primarily for recreational or social purposes, and is limited to children who are five years of age or older and attending school.

(See Chapter 237A of the Code of Iowa.)

   33.   “Church or place of religious worship” means an institution that people regularly attend to participate in or hold religious services, meetings, and other activities. The term church shall not carry a secular connotation and shall include buildings in which the religious services of any denomination are held.

   34.   “Clinic, medical or dental” means a building or buildings in which physicians, dentists, or allied professional assistants are associated for the purpose of carrying on their professions.

   35.   “Club” means an organization of persons for special purposes or for the promulgation of sports, arts, literature, politics, fitness, or the like but not operated for profit, excluding churches, or other houses of worship.

   36.   “Commercial use” means the barter, exchange, sale, service or trade of goods, materials, or services, either tangible or intangible for financial, material or monetary gain.

   37.   “Commercial feedlot” means the feeding or raising of livestock, poultry, or other animals in confined feedlots, dry lots, pens, cages, or buildings as a commercial enterprise.

   38.   “Commission” means the Planning and Zoning Commission of Cumming.

   39.   “Complex” means a planned, coordinated development of a tract of land with two or more separate buildings. Such development is planned, designed, and constructed on an integrated and coordinated basis with special attention given to the master planning of on- site vehicular circulation, parking, utility needs, building design and orientation, and open space.

   40.   “Comprehensive Plan” means the Comprehensive Plan for the City, which sets forth the City’s long range plans for land use, transportation, municipal utilities, City expansion, management and development policies to guide the City’s growth and from which the City’s zoning regulations shall be based.

   41.   “Condominium” means an estate in real property as regulated by Chapter 499B of the Code of Iowa, consisting of an undivided interest in common with other purchasers in a portion of a parcel of real property, together with a separate interest in space in a building, such as an apartment. A condominium may include, in addition, a separate interest in other portions of such real property.

   42.   “Conversion” means any change of one principal use to another principal use.

   43.   “Cul-de-sac” means a local street, one end of which is closed and consists of a circular turnaround.

   44.   “Day care home” means a private residence where care, protection, and supervision are provided, for a fee, at least twice a week to fewer than seven children at one time.

   45.   “Dead-end street” means a street with one end closed, and which has only one location for entry and exit.

   46.   “Development” means any subdivision of land or man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including (but not limited to) the construction of buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, or drilling operations.

   47.   “Driveway” means a privately owned roadway giving access from a public street to a building plat or abutting property.

   48.   “Duplex” (see “dwelling, two-family.”)

   49.    “Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof which is designed for and used exclusively for residential purposes.

   50.   “Dwelling, single-family” means a building designed for or occupied by one family.

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

   52.   “Dwelling, multiple” means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by more than two families.

   53.   “Dwelling unit” means one room, or rooms connected together, constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment for owner occupancy or rental or lease on a weekly, monthly or longer basis, and physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure, and containing independent cooking and sleeping facilities.

   54.   “Family” means one or more persons occupying a premises and living as a single housekeeping unit, whether or not related to each other by birth, marriage, or adoption, as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house, lodging house, or hotel, as herein defined.

   55.   “Farm” means the land area and associated buildings maintained and operated by one owner or renter and used for agriculture. The term farming includes the use of such areas for one or more agricultural uses with the necessary accessory uses for treating or storing of produce, provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal farming activities and such accessory uses do not include commercial feeding of animals or poultry in confined lots or buildings.

   56.   “Farmstead” means a grouping of buildings within a farm utilized for the storage and housing of equipment, agricultural products and livestock, and associated residence of the farm operator.

   57.   “Flood” means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas resulting from the overflow of streams or rivers or from the unusual and rapid runoff of surface waters from any source.

   58.   “Floor” means the lower horizontal surface of a hollow structure, story or room, or the horizontal structure which separates stories in a building.

   59.   “Floor area” means the total area of all floors of a building or portion thereof measured to the outside surface of exterior walls or the centerline of walls to attached buildings or uses. It does not include garages, porches, balconies and other appurtenances. Space in the basement or cellar and all other space shall be included as floor area if habitable and used for a principal or accessory use permitted in the zone in which the building is located.

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

   61.   “Funeral home” means a building or part thereof used for human funeral services. Such building may contain space and facilities for: (i) embalming and the performance of other services used in preparation of the dead for burial; (ii) the performance of autopsies and other surgical procedures; (iii) the storage of caskets, urns, and other related funeral supplies; (iv) the storage of funeral vehicles; and (v) facilities for cremation. Where a funeral home is permitted, a funeral chapel shall also be permitted.

   62.   “Garage, private” means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of motor vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory. For single-family dwellings, a private garage may be used for the storage of not more than three motor vehicles, one of which may be a commercial vehicle of not more than two-ton capacity. For two- and multi-family dwellings, the accessory garage shall contain no more than two and one-half parking spaces per dwelling unit.

   63.   “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.

   64.   “Gas or service station” means any building or premises used for the retail sale of liquefied petroleum products for the propulsion of motor vehicles, and including such products as kerosene, fuel oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, packaged naphtha, lubricants, tires, batteries, antifreeze, motor vehicle accessories, and other items customarily associated with the sale of such products. The rendering of accessory services is permitted including automatic car wash for one vehicle at a time, and making of repairs to motor vehicles except those of a major type. Repairs of a major type are defined to be spray painting; body, fender, differential, axle, spring, and frame repairs; major overhauling of engines requiring the removal of engine cylinder head or crankcase pan; repairs to radiators requiring the removal thereof; or complete recapping or retreading of tires.

   65.   “Grade” means the average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building, except when any wall approximately parallels and is not more than five feet from a street line, then the elevation of the street at the center of the wall adjoining the street is the grade.

   66.   “Greenhouse” means a building or accessory structure constructed chiefly of glass or other translucent material, which is devoted to the protection or cultivation of flowers or other tender plants.

   67.   “Health club” means an establishment providing physical fitness facilities and services to the public for a fee, including (but not limited to) game courts, exercise equipment, exercise areas, running tracks, swimming pools, physical fitness maintenance and weight control services and instructors, locker rooms, saunas, and associated retail shop intended for members of club only.

   68.   “Home occupation” means an accessory use of a dwelling unit for gainful employment involving the manufacture, provision or sale of goods and/or services. Home occupations may be permitted provided they are normally and commonly incidental and secondary to the use of a dwelling as a residence.

   69.   “Homeowners or property owners association” means a formally constituted nonprofit association or corporation made up of the property owners and/or residents of a definitive area; who collectively may take permanent responsibility for costs and upkeep of commonly owned or designated community property.

   70.   “Hospital” means an institution licensed by State law providing health services primarily for human in-patient medical or surgical care for the sick or injured and including related facilities such as laboratories, out-patient departments, training facilities, central services facilities, and staff offices that are an integral part of the facilities.

   71.   “Hotel or motel” means a building containing guest rooms in which lodging is provided and offered to the public on a temporary basis for compensation, and which is open to transient guests, in contrast to a bed and breakfast inn, boarding house, or rooming house.

   72.   “Impervious surface” means a surface that has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by water. It includes surfaces such as compacted sand, lots, and other similar structures.

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

   74.   “Junk yard means any area where waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled or packed, disassembled, stored, abandoned or handled, including the dismantling or wrecking of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery, the maintenance of unlicensed automobiles or other vehicles or machinery, 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 areas where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building.

   75.   “Kennel” means an establishment where dogs are boarded for compensation or where dogs are bred or raised for commercial purposes or sale.

   76.   “Livestock” means animals kept or raised for use or pleasure, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine, and similar hoofed animals.

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

   78.   “Lot” means, for the purpose of this chapter, a parcel of land of at least sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage, and area and to provide such yards and other open space as are herein required. Such lot shall have a frontage on a public street unless it is part of a townhouse complex or mobile home park, and may consist of: (i) a single lot of record; (ii) a portion of a lot of record; (iii) a combination of complete lots of record; of complete lots of record and portions of lots of record; or of portions of lots of record; and (iv) a parcel of land described by metes and bounds; provided that in no case of division or combination shall any residual lot or parcel be created which does not meet the requirements of this chapter.

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

   80.   “Lot, depth of” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

   81.   “Lot, double frontage” means a lot having a frontage on two non-intersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

   82.   “Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot.

   83.   “Lot line” means a line dividing one lot from another lot or from a street or alley.

      A.   Front Lot Line - the lot line which adjoins a public street right-of-way.

      B.   Rear Lot Line - that boundary which is opposite and most distant from the front lot line. In the case of a corner lot, either of the lot lines opposite the front lot line may be selected as the rear lot line. In case of an interior triangular or gore-shaped lot, it means a straight line 10 feet in length which:

         (1)   Is parallel to the front lot line or its cord.

         (2)   Intersects the two other lot lines at points most distant from the front lot line.

      C.   Side Lot Line - any lot line not a front lot line or a rear lot line.

   84.   “Lot, reverse corner” means a corner lot, the side street line of which is substantially a continuation of the front line of the first lot to its rear.

   85.   “Lot of record” means a lot which is part of a subdivision recorded in the Office of the County Recorder or a lot or parcel described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been so recorded. For purposes of this chapter, an existing contract of purchase at the time of the effective date of this Zoning Ordinance also constitutes a lot of record.

   86.   “Lot width” means the width of a lot measured at the building line and at right angles to its depth.

   87.   “Manufactured home” means a factory built home which is used as a single- family dwelling and is manufactured or constructed under the authority of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5403, Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, and is to be used as a place for human habitation, but which is not constructed with a permanent hitch or other device allowing it to be moved other than for the purpose of moving it to a permanent site, and which does not have permanently attached to its body or frame, any wheels or axles. A mobile home is not a manufactured home unless it has been converted to real property as provided by the Code of Iowa, and is taxed as a site-built dwelling. For the purposes of these regulations, a manufactured home shall be considered the same as any site-built single-family detached dwelling.

   88.   “Master plan” means a schematic plan for a unified, coordinated development of a tract of contiguous land which is designed in an integrated and coordinated basis showing streets, water lines and appurtenances, sanitary sewers and appurtenances, storm water management facilities and appurtenances, lot boundaries, building locations, parking and loading areas, access drives, landscaping, existing and proposed grades, buffers, and other information as required to properly depict and communicate the proposed utilization and improvement of the property.

   89.   “Mini-warehouse” means a building or group of buildings, no more than 25 feet in height and not having any dimension greater than 250 feet per building, containing varying sizes of individualized, compartmentalized, and controlled stalls or lockers for the dead storage of customers’ goods or wares, excluding junk, explosive, or flammable materials, and other noxious or dangerous materials. No business activities other than rental of storage units shall be conducted on the premises.

   90.   “Mobile home” means a factory built home without motive power and built on a chassis for conveyance upon highways or public streets, or waterways; so designed and so constructed as to permit occupancy thereof as a place of human habitation for one or more persons. A mobile home shall not be construed to be a travel trailer or other form of recreational vehicle. A mobile home shall remain a mobile home, subject to all regulations applying thereto, whether or not wheels, axles, hitch, or other appurtenances of mobility are removed and regardless of the nature of the foundation provided, if such mobile home has not been converted to property tax assessable real estate in accordance with Chapter 135D.26 of the Code of Iowa. Nothing in this Zoning Ordinance shall be construed as permitting a mobile home in other than an approved mobile home park.

   91.   “Mobile home park” means any lot or portion of lot upon which one or more mobile homes, modular homes, or trailers occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes are located regardless of whether or not a charge is made for such accommodations.

   92.   “Modular home” means a factory-built home which is manufactured or constructed to be used as a place for human habitation, but which is not constructed or equipped with a permanent hitch or other device allowing it to be attached or towed behind a motor vehicle, and which does not have permanently attached to its body or frame any wheels or axles.

   93.   “Multiple use” or “mixed use” means the occupancy of a defined area of land or a building by more than one type of use, i.e., single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, office, or industrial.

   94.   “Night club” means any place of business located within any building or establishment, established and operated for the purpose of supplying entertainment or music and a dance floor and providing meals and/or refreshments prepared for consumption on the premises.

   95.   “Nonconforming lot” means a lot which lawfully existed prior to the adoption, revision, or amendment of this Zoning Ordinance, but which fails by reason of such adoption, revision, or amendment to conform to the new district regulation in which it is located.

   96.   “Nonconforming structures” means a building or structure that exists at the effective date of adoption or amendment of this Zoning Ordinance which is allowed to lawfully exist, but does not comply with the terms of this Zoning Ordinance by reason of restrictions on area, lot coverage, height, setbacks, architecture, or other characteristics of the structure or its location on the lot.

   97.   “Nonconforming use” means a lawful use of land that does not comply with the use regulations for its zoning district but which complied with applicable regulations at the time the use was established.

   98.   “Nonprofit institution” means a nonprofit establishment maintained and operated by a society, corporation, individual, foundation, or public agency for the purpose of providing charitable, social, educational, or similar services to the public, groups, or individuals. Cooperative nonprofit associations, performing a service normally associated with retail sales or trade such as cooperative groceries, granaries, equipment sales, etc., shall not be considered nonprofit institutions under this chapter.

   99.   “Nursing or convalescent home” means a building or structure having accommodations and where care is provided for invalid, infirm, aged, convalescent, or physically disabled, or injured persons, not including mental insanity, mental deficiency or deterioration, inebriation, or contagious cases.

   100.   “Open space” means an area that is intended to provide light and air, and is designed for either environmental, scenic, or recreational purposes. Open space may include, but is not limited to, lawns, decorative planting, walkways, active and passive recreation areas, playgrounds, fountains, swimming pools, wooded areas, and water courses. Open space shall not be deemed to include buildings, driveways, parking lots, display areas for retail sales of merchandise, loading areas, outdoor storage areas, or other surfaces designed or intended for vehicular travel.

   101.   “Parking space”: means 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 temporary storage of one automobile and connected with a street or alley by a surfaced driveway which affords satisfactory ingress for automobiles.

   102.   “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.

   103.   “Place of business” means any vehicle, building, structure, yard, area, lot, premises, or part thereof, or any other place in which or on which one or more persons engage in a gainful occupation.

   104.   “Planned Unit Development” (PUD) means any development in which the proposed land use, transportation elements, population densities, building arrangement and types are set out in a unified, contiguous plan.

   105.   “Plant nursery” means any land used to raise trees, shrubs, flowers, and other plants for transplanting.

   106.   “Plat of survey” means the graphical representation of a survey of one or more parcels of land, including a complete and accurate description of each parcel within the plat, prepared by a registered land surveyor.

   107.   “Porch, unenclosed” means a roofed projection which has no more than 50 percent of each outside wall area enclosed by a building or siding material other than meshed screens.

   108.   “Post-secondary schools” means a public or non-public educational institution such as colleges, universities, professional business training schools, and technical training schools, established to provide curriculum, academic instruction, or training to persons who have completed their high school education.

   109.   “Premises” means any lot, plot, parcel or tract of land, building or buildings, structure or structures, used publicly or privately as a place of business, dwelling or meeting place.

   110.   “Principal building” means a building in which the principal use of the lot on which the building is located is conducted.

   111.   “Principal use” means the primary use of land or structures as distinguished from an accessory use.

   112.   “Public thoroughfare” means any right-of-way under the jurisdiction and maintenance of the governmental agencies of the federal, State or municipal government; which may be used by the public in general, and which may or may not serve as a frontage street to the abutting property. (See “street.”)

   113.   “Public view” means visible to the general populace from public streets, alleys, parks or other public property, adjoining privately-owned properties, and on-premises parking lots and other facilities accessible to the general populace, including patrons and visitors.

   114.   “Recreation vehicle” (RV) means a vehicle which is: (i) built on a single chassis; (ii) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection; (iii) designed to be self- propelled or permanently towable by a light duty vehicle; and (iv) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.

   115.   “Recreational vehicle park” (RV park) means any parcel of land upon which two or more recreational vehicle sites are located, established, or maintained for occupancy by recreational vehicles of the general public as temporary living quarters for recreation or vacation purposes.

   116.   “Residential” (residence) means any lot, plot, parcel, tract, area, or place of land or any building used exclusively for family dwelling purposes or intended to be used, including accessory uses specified herein.

   117.   “Re-subdivision” means any change in the shape or size of any lot, tract or parcel of land previously platted for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, rent, lease, building development, or other use, or any change in the shape or size of any lot, tract or parcel of land previously approved for building purpose whether immediate or future and regardless whether or not the same is vacant or improved in whole or in part, for sale, rent, lease, building development or other use.

   118.   “Right-of-way” means a strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, highway, walkway, drainage way, railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main, sanitary or storm sewer, trail, or other public use.

   119.   “Road, private” means a right-of-way open to vehicular ingress and egress established as a separate tract for the common use and benefit of certain, adjacent properties. This definition shall not apply to individual driveways.

   120.   “Rooming house” means a residential structure that provides lodging with or without meals, is available for permanent occupancy only, and which makes no provision for cooking in any of the rooms occupied by paying guests.

   121.   “School” means a facility that provides a curriculum of elementary and secondary academic instruction, including kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, middle schools and high schools.

   122.   “School, business training” means a school which specializes in business, commercial and industrial training courses and is operated for commercial gain.

   123.   “Screening” (also see “buffer”) means the method by which a view of one site from another adjacent site is shielded, concealed, or hidden. Screening techniques include fences, walls, hedges, berms, or other features.

   124.   “Setback” means the required minimum horizontal distance permitted between the building line and the related front, side, or rear property line.

   125.   “Shopping center” means a grouping of retail business and service uses within a single master planned complex of one or more buildings with common parking facilities, access and open space.

   126.   “Sign” - see Section 165.27.

   127.   “Site improvements” includes all improvements to a site plan in addition to proposed buildings, and including (but not limited to) utilities, storm water management, parking, loading areas, landscaping, buffers, and free standing signs.

   128.   “Site plan” means a plan, prepared to scale, showing accurately and with complete dimensions, the boundaries of a site and the location of all buildings, structures, uses, and principal site development features proposed for a specific parcel of land. (See Section 165.48 for regulations.)

   129.   “Slope” means the change in ground elevation between two points.

   130.   “Special exception” means a use of land, water or building which is allowable only after the issuance of a special exception permit by the Board of Adjustment under conditions specified in this chapter.

   131.   “Stable, private” means an accessory building in which horses are kept for private use and not for remuneration, hire or sale.

   132.   “Stable, public” means an accessory building in which horses are kept for commercial use, including boarding, hire, instructions, and sale.

   133.   “Stable, riding club” means a building or structure used or intended to be used, for the housing only of horses by a group of persons for non-commercial purposes.

   134.   “Story” means that portion of a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above, except that the topmost story shall be that portion of a building included between the upper surface of the topmost floor and the ceiling or roof above. If the finished floor level directly above a walkout basement is more than five feet above grade such basement shall be considered a story.

   135.   “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 three 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.

   136.   “Street” means a public or private thoroughfare with a right-of-way not less than 20 feet and which is used, or intended to be used, for passage or travel by motor vehicles.

   137.   “Street line” means a dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street. (See “lot line, front.”)

   138.   “Structural alterations” means any replacement or changes in the type of construction or in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, beyond ordinary repairs and maintenance.

   139.   “Structure” means anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on the ground, or attached to something having a fixed location on the ground. Among other things, structures include buildings, antenna, smoke stacks, mobile homes, billboards, signs, poster panels, factories, sheds, cabins, factory-built homes, overhead transmission lines, poles, satellite dish antenna, storage tanks, towers, and other similar uses.

   140.   “Subdivision” means a division of a lot, tract, or parcel of land into two or more lots, building plots or sites, or other subdivisions of land for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, transfer for building development, right-of-way dedication, or other use; provided, however, this definition of a subdivision does not include divisions of land into aliquot parts or more for agricultural purposes.

   141.   “Subdivision plat” means the graphical representation of the subdivision of land, prepared by a registered land surveyor, having a number or letter designation for each lot within the plat and a succinct name or title that is unique for the county and city where the land is located.

   142.   “Swimming pool” means all outdoor artificial or semi-artificial receptacles, of either temporary or permanent construction, whether above or below ground, capable of containing water of a depth of 18 inches or more, whether used for swimming or aesthetic purposes, but excludes manmade lakes or ponds created through the collection of storm water or drainage runoff.

   143.   “Temporary use” means a use intended for a limited duration which may or may not be permitted in the zoning district in which it is proposed to be located, and which is permitted subject to the approval of a temporary use permit by the City Council.

   144.   “Tent” means any structure or enclosure, the roof or one-half or more of the sides of which are of silk, cotton, canvas, or any light material, either attached to a building or structure, or unattached.

   145.   “Townhouse” means a dwelling unit which is attached horizontally, and not vertically to one or more other dwelling units, wherein the land or lot beneath each dwelling is individually owned by the owner of the dwelling. A townhouse subdivision shall have common elements which are specified in or determined under the rules and regulations set forth by recorded covenants. Covenants for a townhouse subdivision shall establish the guidelines for maintenance of common elements and permit free movement through common areas by members of the homeowners association (council of co-owners) to assure access to the structural exterior of each townhouse unit by the individual unit owner.

   146.   “Tract” means an aliquot part of a section, a lot within an official plat, or a government lot.

   147.   “Trail” means a pedestrian walk way or bikeway designated with a paved surfaced pathway for travel by means other than by motorized vehicles.

   148.   “Transfer of development rights” means the conveyance of development rights to another parcel of land by legal instrument authorized by local law.

   149.   “Travel trailer” means a recreational vehicle, with or without motive power; designed as a temporary habitation, not exceeding eight feet in width and 40 feet in length, exclusive of separate towing unit. Such vehicles are used for travel or recreational purposes and not used for permanent habitation.

   150.   “Trailer camp” or “tourist camp” means an area providing spaces for two or more travel trailers, camping trailers, or tent sites for temporary occupancy, with necessary incidental services, sanitation, and recreation facilities to serve the traveling public.

   151.   “Truck stop” means a service station which is designed principally for the servicing and temporary parking of trucks.

   152.   “Truck terminal” means land and buildings used as a relay station for the transfer of a load from one vehicle to another or one party to another. The terminal cannot be used for permanent or long-term storage. The terminal facility may include storage areas for trucks, and buildings or areas for the repair of trucks associated with the terminal.

   153.   “Variance” means a modification of the specific regulations of this Zoning Ordinance granted by resolution of the Board of Adjustment in accordance with the terms of this Zoning Ordinance for the purpose of assuring that no property, because of special circumstances and hardships applicable to it, shall be deprived of privileges commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same vicinity and zoning district.

   154.   “Warehouse” means a building used primarily for the storage of goods and materials.

   155.   “Yard” means an open space on the same lot with a building or structure unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from 30 inches above the general ground level of the graded lot upward, provided however that fences, walls, signs, poles, post, and other customary yard accessories, ornaments, and furniture more than 30 inches in height may be permitted in any yard subject to requirements limiting obstruction of visibility and other provisions of this ordinance. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the depth of a yard, the minimum setbacks shall be used.

   156.   “Yard, front” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the front lot line and the building line or any projection thereof, other than the projection of the usual uncovered steps, patios or decks.

   157.   “Yard, rear” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the rear lot line and the building or any projections other than steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches.

   158.   “Yard, side” means a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard and measured between the side lot lines and the building line.

   159.   “Zero lot line” means the location of a building on a lot in such a manner that one or more of the building’s sides rest directly on a lot line.

   160.   “Zone” means any one of the classes of districts established by this Zoning Ordinance which is designated by area upon the official zoning map of the City.

   161.   “Zoning Administrator” means the administrative officer designated or appointed by the City to administer and enforce the regulations contained in this chapter.

   162.   “Zoning certificate” means written statement issued by the Zoning Administrator authorizing buildings, structures, or uses consistent with the terms of this Zoning Ordinance and for the purpose of carrying out and enforcing the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance.