For the purpose of this title, 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 number includes the singular; the word "shall" is mandatory, and the word "may" is permissive; the word "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partner-ship, trust, estate, company or corporation as well as an individual; the words "used" or "occupied" include the words intended, designed or arranged to be used or occupied.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Accessory use or structure" means a use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building or land on the same lot or parcel of ground and serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or use of land.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

The following definitions shall apply to adult entertainment businesses:

A.

"Adult bookstore" means an establishment having as a significant portion of its stock in trade books, films, magazines and other periodicals which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting or describing "sex act(s)" or "specified anatomical areas."

B.

"Adult motel" means a motel wherein material is presented which is distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting or describing "sex act(s)" or "specified anatomical areas."

C.

"Adult motion picture arcade" means any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-operated or slug-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting or describing "sex act(s)" or "specified anatomical areas."

D.

"Adult motion picture theater" means an enclosed building used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting or describing "sex act(s)" or "specified anatomical areas" for observation by patrons therein.

E.

"Sexual encounter center" means any business, agency or persons who, for any form of consideration or gratuity, provides a place where three or more persons, not all members of the same family, may congregate, assemble or associate for the purpose of engaging in "sex act(s)" or exposing "specified anatomical areas."

F.

For purposes of the foregoing, the terms "sex act(s)" and "specified anatomical areas" mean as follows:

1.

"Sex act(s)" means any sexual contact, actual or simulated, either natural or deviate, between two or more persons, or between a person and an animal, by penetration of the penis into the vagina or anus, or by contact between the mouth or tongue and genitalia or anus, or by contact between a finger of one person and the genitalia of another person, or by use of artificial sexual organs or substitute therefor in contact with the genitalia or anus.

2.

"Specified anatomical areas" means and includes the following: human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, and female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areola.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Agriculture" means the use of land for agricultural purposes, including farming, dairying, pasturage, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry, and the necessary accessory uses for treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that any such accessory uses shall be secondary to normal agricultural activities. Agriculture shall not include commercial feedlots as defined in this section.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

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

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Structural alterations" means any replacement or change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, beyond ordinary repairs and maintenance.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Automobile wrecking" means the dismantling or wrecking of motor vehicles or trailers, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled or wrecked vehicles or their parts. The presence on any lot, parcel or tract of land, of three or more vehicles which for a period exceeding thirty days have not been capable of operating under their own power, and from which parts have been removed or are to be removed for reuse, salvage or sale, shall constitute prima facie evidence of an automobile wrecking yard.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Basement" means a story having part but not more than one-half its height below grade. A basement is counted as a story for the purpose of height regulation. (See Attachment A at the end of this title.)

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Boardinghouse" means a building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by arrangement, lodging and meals are provided for residents only.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Bed and breakfast home" means a private residence which provides lodging and meals for guests, in which the host and/or hostess resides, and in which no more than five guest families are lodged at the same time, and which, while it may advertise and accept reservations, does not present itself to the public as a boarding house, rooming house, domiciliary hostel, group home, restaurant, hotel or motel, does not require reservations, and serves food only to overnight guests. Bed and breakfast homes are limited to no more than five guest rooms.

(Ord. 1089 § 1, 2006)

"Bed and breakfast inn" means a building having nine or fewer guest rooms, equipped, used, advertised or presented to the public as an inn, hotel, motel, motor inn or place where sleeping accommodations are furnished and food service for the general public is allowed.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

As used in this title, "billboard" means any sign that advertises or displays goods, products, services, or facilities which are located elsewhere than on the premises upon which such sign is displayed.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

(Ord. No. 1151, § 1, 2-4-2013; Ord. No. 1175, § 1, 8-17-2015)

"Building" means anything constructed, erected or built on the ground and designed for the support, enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind, but not including signs, billboards, radio towers and other facilities not designed for storage of property or occupancy by persons.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Building height" means the vertical distance from the average finished grade at the building line 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. (See Attachment A at the end of this title.)

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"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 title, a carport attached to a principal building shall be considered as part of the principal building and subject to all yard requirements herein.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"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. (See Attachment A at the end of this title.)

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Clinic" means a building or a part of a building used solely for the purpose of outpatient consultation, diagnosis and office treatment of human patients by one or more legally qualified physicians, dentists, optometrists, chiropodists, chiropractors or drugless practitioners, together with their qualified assistants, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the building may include administrative offices, waiting rooms, treatment rooms, laboratories, pharmacies and dispensaries directly associated with the clinic.

(Ord. 1073 § 1, 2004)

"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 not in conjunction with a farming operation.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Commission" means the planning and zoning commission of the city.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Condominium" means a residential or commercial building consisting of multiple units, with individual ownership of each unit and co-ownership of the remaining real property by the individual owners as tenants in common, subject to certain joint agreements and regulations.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Dwelling" means any building or portion thereof which is designed for and used exclusively for residential purposes, but not including a tent, cabin, trailer or mobile home.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Farmstead dwelling" means a dwelling located on a farm and occupied by a person or family employed fully or partially in the agricultural pursuits of the farm on which it is located.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Single-family dwelling" means a building designed for or occupied by one family.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Two-family dwelling" means a building designed or intended for occupancy by two families. Each dwelling unit to be totally separated and inaccessible from the other by a wall extending from ground to roof or a ceiling and floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall. Each dwelling unit is also to have an independent entrance either directly or through a common vestibule.

(Ord. 1067 § 3 (part), 2004)

"Multiple-family dwelling" means a building designed or intended for occupancy by more than two families. Each dwelling unit to be totally separated and inaccessible from the other by a wall extending from ground to roof or a ceiling and floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall. Each dwelling unit is also to have an independent entrance either directly or through a common vestibule.

(Ord. 1067 § 3 (part), 2004)

"Row dwelling" means any one of three or more attached dwellings in a continuous row, each such dwelling designed and erected as a unit on a separate lot and separated from one another by an approved wall or walls. Also referred to as a "town house."

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Dwelling unit" means one room, or rooms connected together, constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment, physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units in the same structure, and containing independent cooking and sleeping facilities.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Family" means two or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit. Unless all members are related by blood, marriage or adoption, no such family shall contain over four persons.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Farm" means a tract of land which is used for the growing of vegetables, fruits and grains, or for the raising of domestic poultry and animals. The term "farming" includes the operating of such area for one or more of the above uses and for such necessary accessory uses as treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that any such accessory uses shall be secondary to the normal farming activities and that such accessory uses do not include the commercial feeding of animals or poultry in confined lots or buildings.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Fence" means any permanent partition, structure, or gate erected as a dividing marker, barrier, or enclosure encircling either wholly or any portion of any area.

(Ord. No. 1175, § 1, 8-17-2015)

"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.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Private garage" means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of no more than four motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory. No more than one of the vehicles may be a commercial vehicle of no more than two-ton capacity.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Public garage" 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.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

A solar energy system mounted on a rack or pole that rests or is attached to the ground. Ground-mount systems can be either accessory or principal uses.

(Ord. No. 1237, § 1, 10-21-2019)

"Gas station" means a structure designed or used for the retail sale and/or wholesale or supply of fuels, lubricants, air, water, washing and polishing services, and other commodities or accessories for motor vehicles and including the customary space and facilities for the installation of such commodities or accessories on or in such vehicles, but not including space or facilities for the storage, painting, major repair, refinishing, body work, or other major servicing of motor vehicles.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Hotel/motel" means a building or buildings in which lodging is provided and offered to the public for compensation, and which is open to transient guests, in contradistinction to a boardinghouse or roominghouse.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Junkyard" 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, 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.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Kennel" means an establishment where dogs are boarded for compensation or where dogs are bred or raised for commercial purposes.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

For the purpose of this title, a "lot" is 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 spaces as are herein required. Such lot shall have frontage on an improved public street, or on an approved private street, and may consist of any of the following forms; 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 title: (See Attachment B, at the end of this title, for illustrations of lot types.)

A.

A single lot of record;

B.

A portion of a lot of record;

C.

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;

D.

A parcel of land described by metes and bounds.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Corner lot" means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

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

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Double-frontage lot" means a lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Interior lot" means a lot other than a corner lot.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Lot lines" means the lines bounding a lot, including the right-of-way line of any public road, highway or alley acquired by easement.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Lot of record" means a lot which is part of a subdivision or official plat recorded in the office of the county recorder of Winneshiek County, or a lot or parcel described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been so recorded.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

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

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Reversed-frontage lot" means a corner lot, the side street line of which is substantially a continuation of the front lot line of the first platted lot to its rear.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Manufactured home" means a factory-built single-family structure, which is manufactured or constructed under the authority of 42 U.S.C. 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 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. For the purpose of these regulations, manufactured home shall be considered the same as any site-built single-family detached dwelling.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Mobile home" means a vehicle used, or so originally constructed as to permit being used, as conveyance upon the public streets or highways and duly licensed as such, and constructed in such a manner as will permit occupancy thereof for human habitation, dwellings or sleeping places for one or more persons; provided further, that this definition shall refer to and include all portable contrivances used or intended to be used generally for living and sleeping quarters and which are capable of being moved by their own power, towed or transported by another vehicle. This definition shall also include and apply to such vehicles or structures that are located on a permanent or temporary foundation but shall not include mobile homes converted to real estate as defined herein.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Mobile home converted to real estate" means an unencumbered mobile home which has been attached to a permanent foundation on real estate owned by the mobile home owner, which has had the vehicular frame modified or destroyed rendering it impossible to reconvert to a mobile home, and which has been inspected by the assessor, and the mobile home title, registration, and license plates collected from the owner and the property entered on the tax rolls of Winneshiek County.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Mobile home park" means any site, lot, field, or tract of land upon which two or more occupied mobile homes are harbored either free of charge or for revenue purposes, including any building, structure, vehicle, or enclosure intended for use as part of the equipment of such mobile home park.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Modular home" means factory-built housing certified as meeting the State Building Code and federal requirements as applicable to modular housing. Once certified, modular homes shall be subject to the same standards as site-built homes.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"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 title.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Nursing or convalescent home" means a building or structure having accommodations to provide care for three or more invalid, infirm, aged, convalescent or physically or mentally disabled or injured persons.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Off-street parking space" means a permanently surfaced area for the parking of a motor vehicle. Refer to SUDAS for required off-street parking space dimensions. Space for maneuvering, incidental to parking or unparking, shall not encroach upon any public right-of-way.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

(Ord. No. 1300, § 1, 9-19-2022)

"Unenclosed porch" means a roofed projection which has no more than fifty percent of each outside wall area permanently enclosed by a building or siding material other than meshed screens.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Principal use" means the main use of land or structures as distinguished from an accessory use.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

A solar energy system mounted on a rack that is fastened to or ballasted on a building roof. Roof-mount systems are accessory to the principal use.

(Ord. No. 1237, § 1, 10-21-2019)

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.540, which pertained to signs, and derived from Ord. 952, 1993; and Ord. No. 1175, adopted August 17, 2015.

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.550, which pertained to sign area, and derived from Ord. 952, 1993.

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.555, which pertained to signs, electronic or digital, and derived from Ord. No. 1175, adopted August 17, 2015.

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.560, which pertained to sign, exterior, and derived from Ord. 952, 1993; and Ord. No. 1175, adopted August 17, 2015.

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.570, which pertained to sign, illuminated, and derived from Ord. No. 1175, August 17, 2015.

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.580, which pertained to sign, institutional, and derived from Ord. 952, 1993; and Ord. No. 1215, adopted March 19, 2018.

Editor's note— Sec. 1 of Ord. No. 1332, adopted July 1, 2024, deleted § 17.08.590, which pertained to sign, temporary, and derived from Ord. 952, 1993; and Ord. No. 1215, adopted March 19, 2018.

A device, structure or a part of a device or structure for which the primary purpose is to transform solar radiant energy into thermal, mechanical, chemical, or electrical energy.

(Ord. No. 1237, § 1, 10-21-2019)

A commercial facility that converts sunlight into electricity, whether by photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar thermal devices (CST), or other conversion technology, for the primary purpose of wholesale sales of generated electricity. A solar farm is the principal land use for the parcel on which it is located.

(Ord. No. 1237, § 1, 10-21-2019)

"Story" means that portion of a building, other than a cellar, 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. (See Attachment A at the end of this title.)

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Half story" 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 four feet above the floor of such story.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Street" means a public or private thoroughfare, not less than twenty-four feet in width, which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. An alley is not a street.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Structure" means anything constructed, erected or built, which requires location on the ground and is 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.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"SUDAS" means the Iowa Statewide Urban Design Standards for Public Improvements and the Iowa Statewide Urban Standard Specifications for Public Improvements adopted by reference through City Ordinance No. 1221, July 2018.

(Ord. No. 1300, § 2, 9-19-2022)

"Trailer camp or tourist campground" 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.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Travel trailer or camping trailer" means a vehicle without motive power used or so manufactured or constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets and highways and so designed as to permit the vehicles to be used as a place of habitation by one or more persons. Said vehicle may be up to eight feet in width and any length, provided its gross weight does not exceed four thousand five hundred pounds which shall be the manufacturer's shipping or the actual weight provided its overall length does not exceed twenty-eight feet. Such vehicle shall be customarily or ordinarily used for vacation or recreation purposes; if used as a place of human habitation for more than ninety days in any twelve-month period, it shall be classed as a mobile home, regardless of the size and weight limitation provided herein. This definition shall also include house cars and camp cars having motive power and designed for temporary occupancy as defined herein.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Yard" means an open space between a building and the adjoining lot lines unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from thirty inches above the ground upward except as otherwise provided in this title. 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 lines and the main building shall be used. (See Attachment B, at the end of this title, for yard illustrations.)

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Front yard" means a yard extending across the front of a lot 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 uncovered steps, uncovered balconies, or uncovered porches. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension, except where the owner shall elect to front the building on the street parallel to the lot line having the greater dimension.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Rear yard" means a yard extending across the rear of a lot and being the 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.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)

"Side yard" means 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 line and the side of the main building or any projection thereto.

(Ord. 952 (part), 1993)