For the purpose of this title, certain terms are defined as follows: words used in the present shall mean the future; words used in the singular shall include the plural; the word "shall" is mandatory and the word "may" is directory:

"Alley" means any public thoroughfare which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.

"Ancillary sale" shall mean where a grocery store, supermarket, convenience store or similar market uses no more than two percent of its gross floor area, or two hundred square feet, whichever is less, for the display, sale, distribution, delivery, offering, furnishing, or marketing of conventional cigars, cigarettes or tobacco. For any grocery store, convenience market, retail kiosk or similar use consisting of two hundred fifty square feet or less, "ancillary sale" shall mean where no more than five square feet are used for the display, sale, distribution, delivery, offering, furnishing, or marketing of conventional cigars, cigarettes or tobacco. The display, sale, distribution, delivery, offering, furnishing, or marketing of e-cigarettes or any other tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia, regardless of square footage used, is subject to the restrictions of this chapter and shall not constitute ancillary sale" under any circumstances.

"Apartment" means a room or suite of rooms occupied or designed to be occupied by one family for living and sleeping purposes. See "dwelling unit."

"Boardinghouse" means a dwelling other than a hotel where lodging and meals for three or more persons are provided for compensation.

"Building" means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls and designated for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind.

"Building, accessory" means a detached subordinate building, the use of which is incidental to that of an existing principal building on the same lot or to the use of the land.

"Building height." The minimum height of any new structure in the C-MU district shall be three stories or thirty feet. Any new buildings abutting lots zoned R-1 (single-family residential district) or R-1/A (single-family/duplex residential district) and over three stories or thirty feet high (whichever is lesser), shall adhere to the transitional height requirements in the C-MU objective design standards. Fifteen additional feet may be permitted for elevator shafts and rooftop mechanical equipment.

Building height is measured from the curb at the centerline of the building to the building's highest point. See Section 17.40.040 of the Daly City Zoning Ordinance for building height exceptions. For building structures with a flat roof, the height of the building shall be measured to the roof, not the parapet. Stair and elevator towers at the building roof may exceed the maximum building height by up to ten feet.

"Building, principle" means a building in which the principle use of the property is conducted.

"Business office" means any office for the conduct of any one of the following uses: Advertising agency, collection agency, insurance, photographer, private detective, real estate, social worker. Similar uses may be added to this list by resolution of the planning commission.

"Business, retail" means the retail sale of any article, substance or commodity for profit or livelihood conducted within a building, but not including the sale of lumber or other building materials or the sale of used or secondhand goods or materials of any kind.

"Business, wholesale" means the wholesale handling of any article, substance or commodity for profit or livelihood, but not including the handling of lumber or other building materials or the open storage or sale of any material or commodity or the processing or manufacturing of any product or substance.

"Cemetery" means land used or intended to be used for the burial or interment of dead persons and dedicated or otherwise legally designated for cemetery purposes. Cemetery includes columbaria, crematories, chapels, mausoleums and garden crypts and may include administrative offices when operated in conjunction with and within the boundary of such cemetery.

"Child day care facility" means a facility which provides nonmedical care to children under eighteen years of age in need of personal services, supervision or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of the individual on less than a twenty-four-hour-a-day basis. Child day care facilities include day care centers and family day care homes.

Convalescent home. See "Rest home."

"Day care center" means a child day care facility other than a family day care home and includes infant centers, preschools, nurseries and extended day care facilities.

"Day care home, family" means a home which regularly provides care, protection and supervision of twelve or fewer children in the provider's own home for period of less than twenty-four hours per day while the parents or guardians are away.

"Day care home, large family" means a family day care home which provides care to seven to twelve children including children who reside at home.

"Day care home, small family" means a family day care home which provides care to six or fewer children including children who reside at home.

"District" means a portion of the city within which certain uses of land and buildings are permitted and within which certain yards and other open spaces are required and certain height limits are established as set forth and specified in this title.

"Drive-in establishment" means an establishment where the occupants of motor vehicles may watch, purchase or receive goods or services.

"Dwelling" means a building or portion thereof, but not including a house trailer or mobile home, used exclusively for residential occupancy including one-family, two-family, multiple-family dwelling units and dwelling groups. See "dwelling unit."

"Dwelling, multiple-family" means a building designated to house three or more families living independently of each other.

"Dwelling, one-family" means a building designed exclusively for the use and occupancy by one family and necessary employees of such family and containing but one kitchen.

"Dwelling, two-family" means a building designed for the use and occupancy by not more than two families living independently of each other and necessary employees of such families and containing not more than two kitchens.

"Dwelling unit accessory" means an attached or a detached residential dwelling unit which provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons. It shall include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation on the same parcel as the single-family dwelling is situated. An accessory dwelling unit also includes the following: 1) An efficiency unit, as defined in Section 17958.1 of the Health and Safety Code; and 2) a manufactured home, as defined in Section 18007 of the California Health and Safety Code.

"Dwelling group" means a group of two or more detached or semi-detached one-family or two-family dwellings occupying a lot under one ownership and having any yard or court area in common, but not including motels. The dwelling group is distinguished from an accessory dwelling unit in that owner occupancy of neither dwelling group unit allowed, nor are dwelling groups subject to any of the other regulations of accessory dwelling units (parking, maximum size, etc.)

"Dwelling, secondary" means a room or suite of rooms constructed or adapted within or onto a one-family (i.e., principal) dwelling being an integral part thereof, and designed for the use and occupancy by a person or persons living independently from the one-family dwelling occupants. A secondary dwelling shall be subordinate to the principal dwelling.

"Dwelling unit" means any building, structure or portion thereof which is occupied as, or designed or intended for occupancy as, a residence by one or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit, and any vacant land which is offered for sale or lease for the construction or location thereon of any such building, structure, or portion thereof.

"E-cigarette" shall mean any electronically actuated device or inhaler meant to simulate cigarette smoking that uses a heating element to vaporize a liquid solution, popularly referred to as "juice," and that causes the user to exhale any smoke, vapor, or substance other than that produced by unenhanced human exhalation. The juice used in e-cigarettes typically contains nicotine, and for this reason e-cigarettes and their juice can be classified as both tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia.

"Emergency homeless shelter" means housing with minimal supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of six months or less by a homeless person. No individual or household may be denied emergency shelter because of an inability to pay.

"Family" means one or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit.

"Fence" means any structural device forming a physical barrier by means of wood, mesh, chain, brick, stake or other similar materials.

"Floor area ratio (F.A.R.)" means the ratio of the maximum permissible floor area to the property of land area in square feet.

"Fortunetelling" means the telling of fortunes, forecasting of futures, or furnishing of any information not otherwise obtainable by the ordinary process of knowledge, by means of any occult, psychic power, faculty, force, clairvoyance, clairaudience, cartomancy, psychology, psychometry, phrenology, spirits, tea leaves or other such reading, mediumship, seership, prophecy, augury, astrology, palmistry, necromancy, mind reading, telepathy, or other craft art, science, cards, talisman, charm, potion, magnetism, magnetized article or substance, gypsy cunning or foresight, crystal gazing, oriental mysteries or magic of any kind or nature.

"Garage, private" means a building or portion of a building in which only motor vehicles intended to be used by the tenants of a building or buildings on the premises are stored or kept.

"Gasoline service station" means a business where the principal use involves the retail sale of gasoline or other automotive engine fuel, motor oil and other lubricants. It may also include the sale of minor accessories or parts, (e.g., windshield wiper blades, tires, fan belts, replacement bulbs or similar accessories) and services (e.g., engine tune-up, smog certificate testing, repairing tires or similar services).

"Gasoline service station, accessory use" means a gasoline service station accompanied by uses not expressly authorized as a part of the use, including: food markets, snack shops, flower stores, washing or polishing with automatic equipment, auto or truck rentals, auto towing or uses of similar character. The following uses are not allowed as accessory uses: automobile body repairs and paint and the storage of inoperative autos.

"Gasoline service station, full-service" means a gasoline service station where gasoline dispensing at one or more pumps on the premises is performed by an attendant.

"Gasoline service station, self-service" means a gasoline service station where customers must dispense gasoline themselves.

"Habitable space" means a space in a building for living, sleeping, eating, or cooking, including, but not limited to exercise, entertainment, computer, music, sewing, and rumpus, and social rooms; studies; breezeways; finished attic space; hallways, full- and half-bathrooms; and closets. The area occupied by an interior stairwell or any other open area, visible between floors, shall be excluded.

"Hotel, motel, motor hotel or inn" means an establishment consisting of one building or group of buildings containing lodging accommodations designed for use by transients, travelers or temporary guests.

"Home occupation" means the conduct of a business, art or profession, the offering of a service, or the handcraft manufacture of products in a dwelling in accordance with the regulations prescribed in Chapter 17.36 Home Occupations.

"Junkyard" means the use of more than two hundred square feet of the area of any lot for a period of more than three months for any scrap materials or for the dismantling or wrecking of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery, whether for sale or storage.

"Lot" means a distinct portion of land, as in the smallest division of a block, that is used or capable of being used under the provisions of this title.

"Lot coverage" means the area of the property occupied above grade by the principal building or buildings and accessory buildings. For purposes of determining the lot coverage, any lot area used as a private street shall be excluded from the lot area for purposes of computing the lot coverage.

"Lot frontage" means the boundary of a lot along a public street. For corner lots, the owner may designate either street boundary as the front lot line. Where conflict exists, the direction in which the front of the building faces shall be considered the front yard and shall be subject to applicable requirements.

"Lot, through" means a lot having frontage on two streets, but not including corner lots. Both street lines shall be considered front lot lines.

"Massage parlor" means any establishment having a fixed place of business where, for consideration, an individual, firm, association, partnership, corporation, joint venture or combination of individuals engages in, conducts, carries on or permits to be engaged in, conducted or carried on, massages, baths or health treatments involving massages or baths as regular functions, including any business where a function of such business is to engage in or carry on massage not on a fixed location, but at a location designated by the customer, massage technician or other person.

"Nonconforming use" means the lawful use of land or a use within a building existing at the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section or amendments thereto which does not conform to the provisions of the district in which such use is located.

Nursing Home. See "Rest home."

"Open space, required" means the required open space is the arithmetical difference between the total lot area and the required lot coverage. It shall include any front, side or rear yard, court, driveway or open off-street parking area at grade level provided about a building which meet the requirements of the ordinance codified in this section. See lot coverage.

"Open space, usable" means a common or private outdoor area designated for outdoor living, recreation, domestic use or landscaping. Such area may be on the ground or on a roof, porch, deck, court, balcony or may include an open off-street parking area or driveway providing the driveway is not a means of vehicular access to an adjacent lot or building site.

"Pawnshop" means any establishment in which goods and materials pledged as security for loans on personal property are retail marketed. Establishments which trade only clothing and accessories are excluded from this definition and are categorized with other retail commercial uses.

"Payday lending establishment" means any person or entity that offers, originates, or makes a deferred deposit transaction, whereby a person or entity defers depositing a customer's personal check until a specific date, pursuant to a written agreement. Payday lending establishment is equivalent to a "deferred deposit originator" as defined in the California Financial Code Section 23001(f), as may be amended. Payday loan establishment does not include a state or federally chartered bank, thrift, savings association, industrial loan company, or credit union.

"Person" means an individual, city, county, federal government, partnership, corporation, cooperative, association, trust or other legal entity.

"Professional office" means the office of persons qualified to practice dentistry, medicine, law, architecture, engineering, accounting and similar professions.

"Rest home" means a building in which nursing, dietary and other personal services are furnished to convalescents, invalids and aged persons.

Roominghouse. See "Boardinghouse."

"Single housekeeping unit" shall mean one person or two or more individuals living together sharing household responsibilities and activities, which may include, sharing expenses, chores, eating evening meals together and participating in recreational activities and having close social, economic and psychological commitments to each other.

"Smoke shop and tobacco store" shall mean any premises dedicated to the display, sale, distribution, delivery, offering, furnishing, or marketing of tobacco, tobacco products, or tobacco paraphernalia; provided, however, that any grocery store, supermarket, convenience store or similar retail use that only sells conventional cigars, cigarettes or tobacco as an ancillary sale shall not be defined as a "smoke shop and tobacco store" and shall not be subject to the restrictions in this chapter.

"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 ceiling or roof above. If the finished floor level directly above a basement or cellar is more than six feet above grade such basement or cellar shall be considered a story.

"Street" means a vehicular thoroughfare which affords principal means of access to abutting property, including avenue, place, way, circle, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, road and any other thoroughfare except an alley as defined in this section.

"Structure" means anything which is built or constructed, such as an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner.

"Structural alteration" means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, foundations, lateral supports, columns, beams or other building elements which add to the structural stability of the buildings.

"Supportive housing" means housing with no limit on length of stay, that is occupied by the target population as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 53260, and that is linked to on- or off-site services that assist the supportive housing residents in retaining the housing, improving his or her health status, and maximizing his or her ability to live and, when possible, work in the community.

"Tanning salon" means an establishment having a fixed place of business where, for consideration, customers are provided access to any tanning device as defined in Section 22702 of the California Business and Professions Code.

"Target population" means adults with low-income having one or more disabilities, including mental illness, HIV or AIDS, substance abuse, or other chronic health conditions, or individuals eligible for services provided under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 4500 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) and may, among other populations, include families with children, elderly persons, young adults aging out of the foster care system, individuals exiting from institutional settings, veterans, or homeless people.

"Tattoo establishment" means any establishment in which a tattoo is inscribed upon the human body, a tattoo being an indelible mark or figure fixed upon the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by the production of scars.

"Tobacco" shall mean any preparation of the nicotine-rich leaves of the tobacco plant, which are cured by a process of drying and fermentation for use in smoking, chewing, absorbing, dissolving, inhaling, snorting, sniffing, or ingesting by any other means into the body.

"Tobacco paraphernalia" shall mean any paraphernalia, equipment, device, or instrument that is primarily designed or manufactured for the smoking, chewing, absorbing, dissolving, inhaling, snorting, sniffing, or ingesting by any other means into the body of tobacco, tobacco products, or other controlled substances as defined in California Health and Safety Code section 11054 et seq. Items or devices classified as tobacco paraphernalia include but are not limited to the following: pipes, punctured metal bowls, bongs, water bongs, electric pipes, e-cigarettes, e-cigarette juice, buzz bombs, vaporizers, hookahs, and devices for holding burning material. Lighters and matches shall be excluded from the definition of tobacco paraphernalia.

"Tobacco product" shall mean any product in leaf, flake, plug, liquid, or any other form, containing nicotine derived from the tobacco plant, or otherwise derived, which is intended to enable human consumption of the tobacco or nicotine in the product, whether smoked, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "tobacco product" excludes any product that has been specifically approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for sale as a tobacco/smoking cessation product or for other medical purposes, where such product is marketed and sold solely for such an approved purpose.

"Trailer court" means land used or intended to be used, let or rented for occupancy by one or more occupied trailers or by two or more unoccupied trailers or moveable dwellings, rooms or sleeping quarters of any kind.

"Transitional housing" means buildings configured as rental housing developments, but operated under program requirements that call for the termination of assistance and recirculation of the assisted units to another eligible program recipient at some predetermined future point in time, which shall be no less than six months.

"Use" means the purpose for which land or a building thereon is designed, arranged, intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.

"Use, principal" means the main use of land or buildings as distinguished from a subordinate or accessory use.

"Yard" means any open space which is unoccupied or unobstructed, except as may be permitted by this title, which surrounds a building site.

"Yard, front" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot lying between the street line and the nearest vertical support or wall of a building or an enclosed or covered porch. Where conflict exists, the direction in which the front of the building faces shall be considered the front yard and shall be subject to applicable requirements.

"Yard, rear" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot lying between the rear line of the lot and nearest vertical support or wall of a building or an enclosed or covered porch.

"Yard, side" means a yard extending from the side lot line to the nearest vertical support or wall of a building and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.

(Ord. 1247 §§ 1, 2, 1997; Ord. 1195 §§ 1—5, 1994; Ord. 1158 § 1, 1992; Ord. 1141 §§ 1, 2, 1991; Ord. 1093 § 1, 1988; Ord. 1027 § 1, 1985; Ord. 991 § 1, 1983; Ord. 802 § 15 (part), 1975: Ord. 709 § 4; Ord. 669 § 3; Ord. 664 § 4; Ord. 635 § 7, 1975)

(Ord. No. 1378, § 1, 5-27-2014; Ord. No. 1382, § 1, 8-11-2014; Ord. No. 1412, § 1, 2-13-2017; Ord. No. 1457, § 1, 4-25-2022; Ord. No. 1476, § 3, 11-12-2024)