Unless the text of this title states otherwise, the following definitions shall be used in the interpretation and construction of this title. Words and phrases used in this title shall be defined in Section 17.67.030. (Ord. 2025-01 § 2 (Exh. 1), 2025)

The objectives of this chapter are as follows:

A.    Provide coherent and consistent explanation of the terms used in this title.

B.    Avoid misinterpretation of the regulations, procedures, and standards as put forth in this title.

C.    Introduce a common vocabulary to facilitate communication regarding this title. (Ord. 2025-01 § 2 (Exh. 1), 2025)

It is noted that individual chapters within this title may have definitions within the chapter that pertain to that particular subject matter. Individual chapters with definitions include the following:

• Accessory dwelling units.

• Adult entertainment.

• Landscaping and irrigation.

• Recycling/buyback centers.

• Signs and advertising.

• Wireless telecommunication equipment.

“Abandoned” means to cease or suspend from developing or maintaining a building or use for a stated period of time.

“Abutting” means two or more parcels sharing a common boundary of at least one point.

“Access” means safe, adequate, and usable ingress or egress to a property or use.

Accessory Dwelling Unit. See Section 17.45.090 for definitions pertaining to accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units.

“Accessory structure” means a structure containing no kitchen or bathroom and located upon the same lot or parcel as the principal use or structure to which it is an accessory. The structure is customary, incidental, and subordinate to the use of the principal building, or the principal use of the land. All accessory structures shall be constructed with, or subsequent to, the construction of the principal structure or activation of the principal use.

“Adult day program” means any community-based facility or program that provides care to persons 18 years of age or older in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of these individuals on less than a twenty-four-hour basis.

Adult Entertainment. See Section 17.45.100 for definitions pertaining to adult entertainment.

“Agricultural accessory structures” means those uses and structures customarily incidental and subordinate to the agricultural use of the land, including: barns, storage sheds, corrals, pens, fences, windmills, watering and feed troughs; the storage and use of farm implements, irrigation, and crop-protection equipment; the storage and use of fuels for heating buildings and operating farm equipment or appliances; water and waste water treatment facilities and systems for private uses and structures which are determined by the planning director to be necessary, customary, and incidental to the agricultural use of the lot or parcel. Agricultural accessory uses shall not include construction equipment storage yards.

“Agricultural operations” means the cultivation and tillage of soil, dairying, the production, irrigation, frost protection, cultivation, growing, harvesting, and processing of any agricultural commodity, including timber, viticulture, agriculture, horticulture, the raising of livestock, fur-bearing animals, fish, or poultry, and any commercial practices incidental to, or in conjunction with, such agricultural operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market, or to carriers for transportation to market.

“Alley” means a public way permanently reserved as a secondary means of vehicular access to abutting property.

“Amendment” means a change in the wording, context, or substance of this chapter, an addition or deletion or a change in the district boundaries or classifications upon the zoning map.

“Ancillary use” means a use incidental to and customarily associated with a specific principal use, located on the same lot or parcel.

“Animal hospital” means a facility where animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment and are cared for during the time of such treatment; the ancillary use of the premises as a kennel or a place where animals or pets are boarded for remuneration.

“Annexation” means the incorporation of a land area into an existing incorporated community with a resulting change in the boundaries of that community.

“Antenna” means any system of wires, poles, rods, reflecting discs, or similar devices used for the transmission or receiving of electromagnetic radio frequency waves, including antennas or towers used for transmitting or receiving television, radio, citizen’s band or cellular phone communication. An antenna can be affixed to or supported by a roof or exterior wall of a building or other structure or an antenna can be ground mounted, which is supported by a platform, framework, pole, or other structural system that is affixed to or placed directly on or in the ground. This definition also means associated equipment including, but not limited to, cabling, generators, fans, air conditioning units, electrical panels, equipment shelters, equipment cabinets, equipment buildings, pedestals, meters, vaults, splice boxes, and surface location markers.

“Applicant” means a person who is required to file an application for a permit under this section.

“Arcade” means a place of business having four or more amusement machines.

“Area of shallow flooding” means an area designated AO or VO AH zone on the flood insurance rate map (FIRM). The base flood depths range from one foot to three feet; a clearly defined channel does not exist; the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and, velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

“Assessor” means the county assessor of the county of Tulare.

“Automated teller machine” (ATM) means a computerized self-service machine used by banking customers for financial transactions, including deposits, withdrawals and fund transfers, without face-to-face contact with financial institution personnel. These machines may be located at or within banks, or in other locations.

“Awning” means a roof-like cover that is temporary in nature and that projects from the wall of a building for the purpose of shielding a door or window from the elements.

“Bar/tavern” means a business where alcoholic beverages are sold for on-site consumption, which is not part of a larger restaurant. Includes bars, taverns, pubs, and similar establishments where any food service is subordinate to the sale of alcoholic beverages. May also include beer brewing as part of a microbrewery, and other beverage tasting facilities. Does not include adult entertainment businesses.

“Base flood” means a flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also called the “one-hundred-year flood”). Base flood is the term used throughout this title.

“Basement” means any area of the building having its floor subgraded—i.e., below ground level—on all sides.

“Bed and breakfast inn” (B&B) means a single-family dwelling which is predominantly residential in character, containing three to six guest rooms offering overnight accommodations for rent, wherein a breakfast meal is customarily included in the lodging rate.

“Block” means the properties abutting on one side of a street and lying between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, or nearest intersecting or intercepting street and railroad right-of-way, unsubdivided land or watercourse.

“Boarding, rooming, lodging house” means a building where lodging and/or meals are provided for compensation for between seven and fifteen persons (not including residential care homes).

“Body piercing shop” means an establishment providing body piercing services, which means any method of puncturing the skin of a person by an aid of needles or other instrument designed or used to puncture the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry or other objects in or through the human body. Body piercing services shall not include:

1.    Ear piercing services where said services are not the primary source of business; and/or

2.    The use of needles for legally authorized medical procedures by a licensed acupuncturist, a certified doctor, and/or a registered nurse.

“Breezeway” means a roofed passageway, open on at least two sides, where the roof is structurally integrated with the main building. A fence or wall not exceeding six feet in height may be permitted on one side of said breezeway.

“Buildable area” means the area of a lot remaining after the minimum yard and open space requirements of the zone district have been met.

“Building” means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, for the housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels or property of any kind.

“Building face” means the exterior surface of any building, regardless of frontage.

“Building, height of” means the vertical distance measured from the adjoining curb level to the highest point of the structure, exclusive of chimneys and ventilators; provided, however, that where buildings are set back from the street line, the height shall be measured from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building.

“Building permit” means the written permission from the city of Dinuba for the construction, repair, alteration, or addition to a structure.

“Bulletin board” means a permanently constructed sign containing a surface area that may have interchangeable letters, words, or numerals displaying the name of the institution, events conducted upon and/or services offered upon such premises.

“Caretaker’s residence” means a single-family residence on the same property with, or on abutting property owned by the owner of, an open space, commercial or manufacturing use, which residence is occupied by one or more persons charged with the care or protection of facilities used in such open space, commercial or manufacturing use, and which residence is provided to the occupant as compensation for such services and for which he does not pay money or other things of value other than his services.

“Carport” means a permanent roofed structure with not more than two enclosed sides used or intended to be used for automobile shelter and storage. See also “Carport, portable.”

“Carport, portable” means a portable attached or detached accessory structure used as a roof covering to protect vehicles or shelter goods and which may or may not be fixed to the ground and which is not designed or intended to be permanently affixed on a lot. Such accessory structures may be erected by the use of poles, ropes, stakes, or a combination of these items. Roof coverings may be constructed of various materials such as canvas, vinyl, metal sheeting or similar materials.

Cell Tower. See Section 17.45.190 for terms related to cell towers and wireless communication.

“Cemetery” means land used or intended to be used for the burial of the dead and dedicated for such purposes, including columbariums, crematoriums, mausoleums and mortuaries when operated in conjunction with and within the boundaries of such premises.

“Child care facility” means a facility, other than a home, which provides regular care, protection and supervision to children for a period of less than twenty-four hours a day, while the parents or guardians are away.

“Child care home” means a home in which the occupant provides regular care, protection and supervision to twelve or fewer children, inclusive, including children who reside at the home, if any, for a period of less than twenty-four hours a day, while the parents or guardians are away.

“Church” means a building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where persons regularly assemble for worship and which building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship.

“City” means the city of Dinuba.

“City manager” means the city manager of the city of Dinuba.

“Club, lodge, or private meeting hall” means a permanent, headquarters-type and meeting facilities for organizations operating on a membership basis for the promotion of the interests of the members, including facilities for business associations; civic, social and fraternal organizations; labor unions and similar organizations; political organizations; professional membership organizations; and other membership organizations.

“Combining districts” (overlay districts) means zones or geographical areas in Dinuba that may require special regulations or treatment due to unique features, resources or hazards. These districts may be combined with any district identified in this title.

“Commercial accessory structures” means uses and structures incidental and subordinate to the commercial use of the land including: equipment storage areas, trash storage areas and bins; vending machines; required loading and unloading facilities; outdoor tables, benches, umbrellas, fountains, ponds, statues, sculptures, paintings, and other works of art; radio and television antennas, private satellite dish antennas; the storage and use of fuels for fleet vehicles, heating buildings or for the operation of appliances or equipment used within a building; sales offices, showrooms and administrative offices; permitted signs; the storage and use of commercial fleet vehicles as part of the principal use; and other accessory uses and structures which are determined by the planning and building director to be necessary, customary and incidental to the commercial use of the land.

“Commercial recreation facility, outdoor” means facilities for various outdoor recreational activities, where a fee is charged for use. Examples include: amusement and theme parks; fairgrounds; go-cart tracks; golf driving ranges; miniature golf courses; roller skating, hockey, skateboarding; and water slides. May also include commercial facilities customarily associated with the above outdoor commercial recreational uses, including bars and restaurants, video game arcades, etc.

“Commission” and “planning commission” means the planning commission of the city of Dinuba.

“Communications equipment building” means a building housing electrical and mechanical equipment necessary for the conduct of a public communication business with or without personnel.

“Conditional use” means a use permitted in a particular zoning district only upon showing that such use in a specified location will comply with all the conditions and standards for the location or operation of such use as specified in this title and authorized by the planning commission.

“Convalescent hospital or nursing home” means any place, structure, or institution providing for skilled nursing and allied professional health care, or for chronic or convalescent care for one or more persons, exclusive of relatives, in which nursing, dietary or other personal services are rendered to convalescents, invalids, or aged persons, who, by reason of advanced age, chronic illness, or physical infirmity are unable to properly care for themselves, but not including persons suffering from contagious or mental diseases, alcoholism, or drug addiction, and in which surgery is not performed and primary treatment, such as customarily is given in hospitals or sanitariums, is not provided.

“Convenience store” means a retail establishment with not more than four thousand five hundred square feet of gross floor area, offering for sale prepackaged food products, household items, newspapers and magazines, and sandwiches and other freshly prepared foods, such as salads, usually for off-site consumption.

“Corner cut-off” means the provision for and maintenance of adequate and safe visibility for vehicular and pedestrian traffic at all intersections of streets, alleys, or private driveways.

“Council” and “city council” mean the city council of the city of Dinuba.

“County” means the county of Tulare.

“County recorder” means the county recorder of the county of Tulare.

“Day” means calendar day.

“Day care” means facilities that provide nonmedical care and supervision of adults or minor children for periods of less than twenty-four hours. These facilities include the following, all of which are required to be licensed by the California State Department of Social Services:

1.    “Child day care center” means a commercial or nonprofit child day care facility designed and approved to accommodate fifteen or more children. Includes infant centers, preschools, sick-child centers, and school-age day care facilities. These may be operated in conjunction with a school or church facility, or as an independent land use.

2.    “Large family day care home” means as provided by California Health and Safety Code Section 1596.78, a home that regularly provides care, protection, and supervision for seven to fourteen children, inclusive, including children under the age of ten years who reside in the home, for periods of less than twenty-four hours per day, while the parents or guardians are away.

3.    “Small family day care home” means as provided by California Health and Safety Code Section 1596.78, a home that provides family day care for eight or fewer children, including children under the age of ten years who reside in the home.

4.    “Adult day care facility” means a day care facility providing care and supervision for adult clients.

“Dedication” means the setting aside of land for a particular purpose, including roadway, park, or bikepath improvements; utility easements; or access routes for the public.

“Density” means the number of families, individuals, dwelling units, or housing structures per unit of land.

“Density bonus” means an increase in units of up to thirty-five percent over the otherwise maximum allowable residential density under this title or Dinuba’s land use element of the general plan (see California Government Code Section 65915).

“Developer incentives” means:

1.    Reduce or eliminate standards contained in Title 16, Subdivisions, or the city of Dinuba standards and specifications manual.

2.    Reduce or eliminate requirements of this title, including open space, lot size, setback, or parking standards.

3.    Reduce or eliminate any design requirements exceeding California Building Code specifications.

“Development” means any manmade changes to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.

“Development agreement” means a contract duly executed and legally binding between the city of Dinuba and a developer that delineates the terms and conditions agreed upon by the two parties.

“Disability” means an individual with a disability is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities; anyone who is regarded as having such impairment; or anyone with a record of such impairment.

“Disabled person” means a person who has a medical, physical, or mental condition that limits a major life activity, as those terms are defined in California Government Code Section 12926, anyone who is regarded as having such a condition or anyone who has a record of having such a condition. It includes a person or persons, or an authorized representative of a disabled person. The term disabled person does not include a person who is currently using illegal substances, unless he or she has a separate disability.

“Drive-in restaurant” means any building or structure in which food and drink are prepared for service to customers within such structure or occupying vehicles outside of such structures and including self-service restaurants for take-out food.

“Drive-through facility” means a commercial facility where vehicles line up for service at definite spots and where customers are served from a window or similar feature without leaving their vehicles.

“Driveway” means any vehicular access to an off-street parking or loading facility.

“Duplex” means a structure on a single lot containing two dwelling units, each of which is totally separated from the other by a common wall that extends from ground to roof.

“Dwelling” means a structure or portion thereof designed for or occupied for residential purposes whether for one family, several families, roomers or boarders, but for purposes of this definition specifically not to include automobile trailers, hotels, motels, labor camps, tents, railroad cars, converted, transit vehicles, mobile homes or any type of temporary structure.

“Dwelling, multifamily” means a structure containing more than one dwelling unit, designed for occupancy or occupied by more than one family.

“Dwelling, single-family” means a building containing one dwelling unit. “Single-family dwelling” shall not include trailers, mobile homes or residential manufactured housing.

“Easement” means a space on a lot or parcel of land reserved for or used for public uses.

“Electric distribution substation” means an assembly of equipment which is part of a system for the distribution of electric power where electric energy is received at a subtransmission voltage and transformed to a lower voltage for distribution for general consumer use.

“Electric transmission substation” means an assembly of equipment which is part of a system for the transmission of electric power where electric energy is received at very high voltage from its source of generation by means of a network of high voltage lines, and where, by a means of transformers, said high voltage is transformed to a lower subtransmission voltage for purposes of supplying electric power to large individual consumers, interchanging connections with other power producing agencies or electric distribution substations for transformation to still lower voltages for distribution to smaller individual users.

“Emergency shelter” means housing with minimal supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of one hundred eighty days or less by a homeless person. No individual or household may be denied emergency shelter because of an inability to pay. Emergency shelter may include various related uses including, but not limited to, navigation centers, bridge housing, and respite or recuperative care.

“Employee housing” means housing as described, defined, and regulated by the Employee Housing Act, Section 17021.5. of the California Health and Safety Code. Employee housing for up to six unrelated persons per dwelling is permitted in the R-1 (single-family residential) zone, and in the RM (multiple-family residential) zones, subject to density standards of the particular zone. In the UR (urban reserve) zone, employee housing is permitted for up to twelve units or thirty-six beds.

Employee housing is permitted subject to the issuance of a permit by the state of California Department of Housing and Community Development as provided in California Health and Safety Code Sections 17021.5 and 17030. The permit shall be prominently displayed in the housing unit and shall be provided to any peace officer, city inspector or state inspector, upon demand. Employee housing provided by an employer for up to six employees is considered a residential use, subject to the same standards as single-family residences.

“Essential service” means the erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance by public utilities or municipal departments or commissions of underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution systems, collection, communication, supplying, or disposal systems including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith, but not including buildings reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal departments or commissions, or for the public health or safety or general welfare.

“Exceptional structure” means any structure or building having preeminent historical/cultural, architectural, archaeological, or aesthetic significance. Exceptional structures should be considered for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

“Extremely low income household” means those units targeted for this category of household that shall be affordable at a rent that does not exceed thirty percent of sixty percent of the Tulare County median income.

“Facade” means the exterior wall of a building exposed to public view or that wall viewed by persons not within the building.

“Fair housing laws” means:

1.    The federal Fair Housing Act (42 USC Section 3601 and following); and

2.    The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (California Government Code Section 12955 and following); including amendments to them.

“Family” means 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.

“Farmworker housing” (Employee Housing Act, Section 17021.6) means housing consisting of no more than thirty-six beds in a group quarters or twelve units or spaces designed for use by a single family or household shall be deemed an agricultural land use for the purposes of this title. Farmworker housing shall not be deemed a use that implies that the farmworker housing is an activity that differs in any other way from an agricultural use. No conditional use permit, zoning variance, or other zoning clearance shall be required of farmworker housing that is not required of any other agricultural activity in the same zone. The permitted occupancy in farmworker housing in a zone allowing agricultural uses shall include agricultural employees who do not work on the property where the farmworker housing is located.

Farming. See “Agricultural operations.”

“Federal” means the government of the United States of America.

“Fence” means any structural device forming a physical barrier which is so constructed that not less than fifty percent of the vertical surface is open to permit the transmission of light, air, and vision through said surface in a horizontal plane. (For board or other solid barriers, see “Wall.”)

“Flood hazard boundary map” means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or Federal Insurance Administration has delineated the areas of flood hazards.

“Flood insurance rates map” means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or Federal Insurance Administration has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk of premium zones applicable to the community.

“Flooding” means a general and temporary condition or partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland or tidal waters; the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

“Floodplain” or “flood-prone area” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.

“Floodway” means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.

“Floor area, gross” means a sum of the gross horizontal areas, in square feet, of the floors of a building, including interior balconies and mezzanines, but not including the horizontal area occupied by any wall, inner court or shaft enclosure.

“Foster family home” means any residential facility providing twenty-four-hour care for six or fewer foster children that is owned, leased, or rented and is the residence of the foster parent or parents, including their family, in whose care the foster children have been placed. The placement may be by a public or private child placement agency or by a court order, or by voluntary placement by a parent, parents, or guardian.

“Garage, private” means an accessory structure or a portion of a main structure used only for the storage of self-propelled passenger vehicles or trailers by families residing upon the premises.

“Garage, repair” means a commercial structure or part thereof other than a private garage where motor vehicles are repaired or painted.

“Garage sale” is defined as a sale, offer to sell, or holding for the purpose of selling, conducted by any person or persons, of household furnishings, goods or other tangible personal property, conducted in a noncommercial garage, yard, patio, driveway or on any portion of the premises in a residential property.

“Garage, storage” means a structure or part thereof used for the storage, parking or servicing of motor vehicles, but not for the repair thereof.

“Grade” means the gradient, the rate of incline or decline expressed as a percent. For example, a rise of twenty-five feet in a horizontal distance of one hundred feet would be expressed as a grade of twenty-five percent. (See also “Slope.”)

“Grading” means any stripping, cutting, filling or stockpiling of soil.

“Hazardous waste” means waste, or a combination of wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may either:

1.    Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness.

2.    Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise managed.

“Hedge” means a plant or series of plants, shrubs, or other landscaped material, so arranged as to form a physical barrier or enclosure.

“Historic preservation” means the protection, rehabilitation, and restoration of districts, sites, structures, buildings and artifacts significant in American history, architecture, archaeology or culture.

“Historical structure” means any structure or building having pre-eminent historical/cultural, architectural, archaeological, or aesthetic significance.

“Hookah bar” means any facility or location whose business operation, whether as its primary use or as an accessory use, is denoted by smoking specially made tobacco through one or more pipes (commonly known as hookah, shisha, or narghile) designed with a tube passing through an urn of water that cools the smoke.

“Home occupation” means any use conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and does not change the character thereof or adversely affect the uses permitted in the residential district of which it is a part; which creates no additional vehicular or pedestrian traffic, requires no additional parking space, generates no noises audible beyond the site, causes no radio or television interference; where no persons are employed other than domestic help, and no mechanical equipment is used other than that necessary for domestic purposes; no materials, equipment and/or supplies are stored outdoors other than such storage normally associated with the residential use of the property. For purposes of this definition, the storage of a vehicle of not more than one ton capacity shall be deemed as normally associated with residential use of the property.

“Homemade foods business” means a business conducted out of a residence where the occupants of the dwelling prepare and package certain types of food, operated in compliance with California Homemade Foods Act (as codified in California Government Code Section 51035), and the following city standards:

1.    There shall be no employment of help outside the residents of the dwelling, except for one full-time employee.

2.    All food preparation in conjunction with a homemade food business must take place in the residence’s existing kitchen.

3.    Prior to granting of a city business license the applicant shall obtain a permit from the Tulare County environmental health department. The city business license shall not be effective until that permit or approval is obtained, and shall automatically expire if the other required permit or approval expires, is disapproved or is revoked.

4.    A copy of the Tulare County environmental health department permit to operate shall be provided to the city planning department within ten working days of the issuance of that permit or approval.

“Homeless shelter” means a church, public building, or quasi-public facility that provides emergency or temporary shelter to homeless individuals and/or groups. These accommodations may include temporary lodging, meals, laundry facilities, bathing, counseling, and other basic support services. Also referred to as emergency housing.

“Hospital” means any building or portion thereof used for the accommodation and medical care of sick, injured, or infirm persons and including sanitariums, alcoholic sanitariums, institutions for the cure of chronic drug addicts and mental patients.

“Hotel” means a structure or portion thereof in which there are individual guest rooms or suites, usually occupied on a transient basis, where lodging with or without meals is provided for compensation.

“Household pets” means animals, birds, or fowl ordinarily permitted in a dwelling and kept only for the company or pleasure provided to the occupants. Household pets shall not include horses, cows, goats, sheep, other equine, bovine, ovine, or ruminant animals, pigs, predatory wild animals, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, game birds and fowl which normally constitute an agricultural use (except pigeons, which shall be deemed household pets). The keeping of household pets or other animals is lawful only in those districts where the use is listed as a permitted use or when any household pets are kept as an accessory use to lawfully maintained residences in other districts. The keeping of any animal not herein described as a household pet shall not be deemed an accessory residential use.

“Immediate family” shall include spouse, parent or step-parent, brother or step-brother or half-brother, sister or step-sister or half-sister, child or step-child, or grandparents.

“Industrial accessory structures” means those uses and structures incidental and subordinate to the industrial use of the land including: loading and unloading facilities and equipment, parking areas and shipping terminals; water and waste water treatment facilities and systems; incidental services including cafeterias; storage facilities and garages, sales office, showrooms, and administrative offices; radio and television antennas, private satellite dish antennas; the storage and use of fuels for fleet vehicles, heating buildings or for the operation of appliances or equipment used within a building; the storage of fully operative fleet vehicles, heavy equipment or trucks as part of the principal use; permitted signs; and other accessory uses and structures which are determined by the planning and building director to be necessary, customary and incidental to the industrial use of the land.

“Institution” means all governmental, religious, and charitable organizations.

“Junk yard” means a site or portion of a site which waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, cleaned, packed, disassembled or handled, including used furniture and household equipment yards, house wrecking yards, used lumber yards and the like; excepting a site where such uses are conducted within a completely enclosed structure and excepting a motor vehicle wrecking yard as defined in this section. An establishment for the sale, purchase or storage of used cars or salvaged machinery in operable condition and the processing of used or salvage materials as part of a manufacturing operation shall not be deemed a junk yard.

Labor Camp. See “Farm labor housing.”

Landscaping. See Chapter 17.47 for terms related to landscaping and irrigation.

“Liquor store” means a retail establishment designed and operated for the primary purpose of selling alcohol. Food stores and convenience markets for which sales of food comprise the majority of gross sales, but also sell alcohol, shall not be considered as a liquor store.

“Loading space” means an off-street space or berth on the temporary parking of commercial vehicles while loading or unloading, and which abuts a street, alley or other appropriate means of ingress and egress.

“Lodge or club” means an association of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, for some common purpose, but not including groups organized to render a service carried on as a business.

“Lot, corner” (see Exhibit 67-1 for illustration of lot types) means a site bounded by two or more adjacent street lines which have an angle of intersection of not more than one hundred thirty-five degrees.

“Lot coverage” means the portion of the lot covered by buildings and structures.

“Lot, flag” means a lot that typically does not front onto a public street but whose access to a public street is provided by a narrow strip of land upon which an easement for vehicular movement is provided.

“Lot, interior” (see Exhibit 67-1 for illustration of lot types) means a lot other than a corner lot.

“Lot, key” (see Exhibit 67-1 for illustration of lot types) means the first lot to the rear of a reversed corner lot whether or not separated by an alley.

Exhibit 67-1: Typical Lot Types

“Lot line, front” means the property line dividing a lot from a street. On a corner lot the shorter street frontage shall be considered the front lot line.

“Lot line, rear” means the property line opposite the front lot line.

“Lot line, side” means any lot lines other than front lot lines or rear lot lines.

“Lot, reversed corner” (see Exhibit 67-1 for illustration of lot types) means a corner lot whose side street line is substantially a continuation of the front lot line of the first lot to its rear.

“Lot, through” (see Exhibit 67-1 for illustration of lot types) means a lot that fronts onto two parallel streets.

“Low barrier navigation centers (LBNC)” means a Housing First, low barrier, temporary, service-enriched shelter focused on helping homeless individuals and families to quickly obtain permanent housing.

“Manufactured home” means:

1.    A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is eight body feet or more in width, and is at least forty body feet or more in length, in traveling mode, or, when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, and is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling when connected to the required utilities;

2.    A living unit built to the specifications of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, constructed after June 15, 1976.

“Manufacturing” means a process that involves and/or produces basic metals, building materials, chemicals, fabricated metals, paper products, machinery, textiles, and/or transportation equipment, where the intensity and/or scale of operations may cause impacts on surrounding land uses or the community. Also manufacturing processes involving and/or producing: apparel; food and beverage products; electronic, optical, and instrumentation products; ice; jewelry; and musical instruments. Light manufacturing also includes other establishments engaged in the assembly, fabrication, and conversion of already processed raw materials into products, where the operational characteristics of the manufacturing processes and the materials used are unlikely to cause significant impacts on surrounding land uses or the community.

“Massage establishments” means any establishments wherein massage is given, engaged in or carried on, or permitted to be given, where the body is rubbed or there is any manipulation of the body or similar procedure given by a certified massage therapist.

“Mean sea level” means, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a community’s flood insurance rate map are referenced.

“Medical buildings” means clinics or offices for doctors, dentists, oculists, chiropractors, osteopaths, chiropodists, or similar practitioners of the healing arts; including accessory laboratories and a prescription pharmacy but not including offices for veterinarians.

“Minor deviation” means a reduction of a zoning standard by up to twenty percent that can be processed administratively.

“Mixed-use project” means a project that combines both commercial and residential uses, where the residential component is typically located above or behind the commercial.

“Mobile home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections that is built on a permanent chassis and is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling unit with or without a foundation. “Mobile home” does not include a recreational vehicle, travel trailer, commercial coach, or factory-built home.

“Mobile home park” means an area or parcel of land where three or more mobile homes or mobile home sites are rented or leased or held out for rent or lease for human habitation. Mobile home parks may contain accessory facilities, including recreation facilities; meeting rooms; parking lots for boats, recreational vehicles, and other vehicles; administrative offices and other accessory structures associated with mobile home parks.

“Motel” means a structure or portion thereof or a group of attached or detached structures containing individual guest rooms, suites or dwelling units, usually occupied on a transient basis and usually with garage attached or parking space located in proximity to each unit, where lodging is provided for compensation.

“Motor vehicle wrecking yard” means a site or portion of a site on which the dismantling or wrecking of vehicles, whether self-propelled or not, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled or wrecked vehicles or their parts is conducted. The presence on a site of two or more motor vehicles which have not been capable of operating under their own power for thirty days or more or, in the case of vehicles not self-propelled, which have not been towable or from which parts have been removed for reuse or sale, shall constitute prima facie evidence of a motor vehicle wrecking yard.

“Noise” means any undesired audible sound.

“Nonconforming structure” means a structure that was lawfully erected prior to the adoption of the Dinuba zoning ordinance but which does not conform with the standards of coverage, setbacks, height or distance between structures prescribed in the regulations for the district in which the structure is located.

“Nonconforming use” means a use of a structure or land that was lawfully established and maintained prior to the adoption of the Dinuba zoning ordinance but which does not conform with the current use regulations for the district in which it is located.

“Nuisance” means an interference with the enjoyment and use of property.

“Nursery school” means the use of a site or portion of a site for an organized program devoted to the education or day care of five or more pre-elementary school age children other than those residing of the site.

“Nursing home” means a structure operated as a lodging house in which nursing, dietary and other personal services are rendered to convalescent, invalids, or aged persons not including persons suffering from contagious or mental diseases, alcoholism or drug addiction and in which surgery is not performed and primary treatment, such as customarily is given in hospitals and sanitariums, is not provided. A convalescent home or a rest home shall be deemed a nursing home.

“Occupancy use permit” means a permit issued to verify the proposed use complies with the provisions of the zoning ordinance.

“Off-sale liquor establishment” means any establishment which has obtained or is required to obtain an alcoholic beverage control board license Type 20 (off-sale beer and wine) or Type 21 (off-sale general) and/or is selling alcoholic beverages in an open or a closed container for consumption off the premises. Typical off-sale liquor establishments may include but are not limited to the following: food markets, supermarkets, drugstores, liquor stores, bars and convenience markets.

“Open space” means any parcel or area of land or water essentially unimproved and set aside, dedicated, designed or reserved for public or private use or enjoyment, or for the use and enjoyment of owners and occupants of land adjoining or neighboring such open space.

“Overlay zone” means a zone applied in combination with other zone districts in order to impose additional restrictions or to allow greater variety than is possible with the underlying zone.

“Parcel map” means the division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into four or fewer lots or parcels of land for sale, lease or financing. Commercial and industrial parcel maps may contain more than four lots.

“Permitted use” means any use or activity allowed in a zoning district and subject to the development standards applicable to that zoning district.

“Pitch” (or peak) means the highest point as in the highest point of a roof.

“Planned unit development” means a residential, commercial, or industrial development which is designed and built as a planned unit pursuant to the provisions of the “PD,” planned development zone, Chapter 17.41 (Planned Development overlay zone).

“Plat” means a map representing a tract of land, showing the boundaries and location of individual properties and streets; a map of a subdivision or site plan.

“Police chief” means the police chief of the city of Dinuba or his or her designee.

“Porch” means a roofed open area, which may be glazed.

“Pre-zoning” means to delineate the zoning of an unincorporated territory prior to annexation by the city.

“Public hearing” means a meeting announced and advertised in advance and open to the public, with the public given an opportunity to testify and participate.

“Railroad right-of-way” means a strip of land for the accommodation of main line or branch line railroad tracks, switching equipment and signals, but not including lands on which stations, offices, storage buildings, spur tracks, sidings, section gang and other employee housing, yards or other uses are located.

“Reasonable accommodation” means providing disabled persons flexibility in the application of land use and zoning regulations and procedures, or even waiving certain requirements, when necessary to eliminate barriers to housing opportunities. It may include such things as yard area modifications for ramps, handrails or other such accessibility improvements; hardscape additions, such as widened driveways, parking area or walkways; building additions for accessibility; tree removal; or reduced off-street parking where the disability clearly limits the number of people operating vehicles. “Reasonable accommodation” does not include an accommodation which would:

1.    Impose an undue financial or administrative burden on the city; or

2.    Require a fundamental alteration in the nature of the city’s land use and zoning program.

“Recreational area” means an active play area, including sport fields, school yards, picnic grounds or other areas where sport, outdoor or recreational activities take place.

“Recreational vehicle” means a motor home, travel trailer, truck camper or camping trailer, with or without motor power, designed for human habitation for recreational purposes with a living area less than two hundred twenty square feet.

Recycling. See Section 17.45.080 for terms related to recycling and recycling facilities.

“Residential care facility” means a state-licensed community care facility, or similar facility determined by the director, for twenty-four-hour nonmedical care, meals, support, and maintenance services to children, the elderly, and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. This includes facilities for the elderly, adult residential care facilities, and group homes, including small family homes.

“Restaurant” means any building or structure in which food and drinks are prepared for service to customers within such structure.

“Rest home” means a residential facility for six or more elderly or infirm persons, all of whom are independently mobile and do not require confinement or regular nursing or medical care on the premises. Rest home differs from a “convalescent hospital” in that it is expected to provide comfort, safety, social participation, and the maintenance of health and activity, but does not provide skilled nursing care for the ill.

“Retail store” means a business selling goods, wares, or merchandise directly to the ultimate consumer.

“Revocation” means to rescind a planning decision made by the planning director, planning commission or city council, based on findings that supported noncompliance with certain conditions of approval.

“Rezone” means to change the zoning classification on a parcel of land from one zone district to another.

“Right-of-way” means a strip of land acquired by reservation, dedication, forced dedication, prescription or condemnation and intended to be occupied or occupied by a road, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission lines, oil or gas pipeline, water line, sanitary storm sewer and other similar uses.

“Roof line” means the highest point of a parapet wall or the main roof structure or a highest point of a parapet wall other than such architectural features as cupolas, pylons, projections or minor raised portions of the roof.

“Room” means an unsubdivided portion of the interior of a dwelling unit, excluding bathroom, kitchen, closets, hallways, and service porches.

“Satellite dish antenna” means a satellite earth station consisting of a receiving component of a disc or similar configuration whose purpose is to receive television signals from orbiting satellites or other sources and a low-noise amplifier whose purpose is to magnify television signals.

“School” means any public or private educational facility, including but not limited to nursery schools, preschools, kindergartens, elementary schools, primary schools, intermediate schools, junior high schools, middle schools, high schools, vocational schools, secondary schools, continuation schools, special education schools, junior colleges, and universities. School includes the school grounds, but does not include the facilities used primarily for another purpose and only incidentally as a school.

“Secondhand store” means a retail business which sells used merchandise.

“Senior citizens’ housing development” means a development containing dwellings specifically designed for and occupied by persons sixty-two years of age or older and limited to such occupancy for the actual lifetime of the building, either by the requirements of state or federal programs for housing for the elderly or in accordance with standards established by resolution of the planning commission and/or the city council.

“Senior household” means those units that have at least one person occupying the residential unit who is at least fifty-five years of age or older.

“Service station” means a facility which supplies gasoline and diesel fuel to motor vehicles, and includes grease racks or elevators, wash racks or pits, tire repairs, battery servicing and repairing, ignition service, sales of motor vehicle accessories and other customary services for automobiles, but excluding painting and body work.

“Setback line” means that line that is the required minimum distance from the street right-of-way line or any other lot line that establishes the area within which the principal structure must be erected or placed.

Setback. See “Yard, front,” “Yard, rear,” or “Yard, side.”

“Sewer” means any pipe or conduit used to collect and carry away sewage from the generating source to the waste water treatment facility.

“Shall” is mandatory; and “may” is permissive.

“Shooting ranges, indoor” means a facility specifically designed for firearms practice within an enclosed building. Each shooting range facility is typically overseen by one or more range masters to ensure gun safety rules are being followed.

“Shooting ranges, outdoor” means an outdoor facility specifically designed for firearms practice with a required backstop and other safety features to catch bullets. Each shooting range facility is typically overseen by one or more range masters to ensure gun safety rules are being followed.

“Shopping center” means a group of two or more commercial uses planned and designed to function as an integral unit on a single parcel of contiguous parcels and which utilize common off-street parking and access, landscaping, loading facilities and points of ingress and egress.

Sign. See Chapter 17.51 (Signs and Advertising) for definitions related to signs and advertising.

“Single-room occupancy unit” means a facility providing dwelling units where each unit has a minimum floor area of one hundred fifty square feet and a maximum floor area of four hundred square feet. These dwelling units may have kitchen or bathroom facilities and shall be offered on a monthly basis or longer.

“Site” means a parcel of land, subdivided or unsubdivided, occupied or to be occupied by a use or structure.

“Site area” means the total horizontal area included within the property lines of a site.

“Site depth” (see Exhibit 67-2 for illustration of site width and depth) means the horizontal distance between the front and rear property lines of a site measured along a line midway between the side property lines.

“Site plan” means a plan, prepared to scale, showing accurately and with complete dimensioning, all of the uses proposed for a specific parcel of land. See Chapter 17.55 (Site Plan Review) for requirements.

“Site plan review” means the review by the commission or its authorized agent of a site plan and other studies to assist the commission or agent to determine the manner in which the applicant intends to make use of his property.

“Site width” (see Exhibit 67-2 for illustration of site width and depth) means the horizontal distance between the side property lines of a site measured at right angles to the depth at a point midway between the front and rear property lines.

Exhibit 67-2: Site Width and Depth

“Slope” means a natural or artificial incline, as a hillside or terrace. Slope is usually expressed as a ratio. For example, a horizontal distance of one hundred feet with a rise of fifty feet would be expressed as a 2:1 slope. (See also “grade” and “top and toe of slope.”)

“Social rehabilitation facility” means any residential facility that provides social rehabilitation services for no longer than eighteen months in a group setting to adults recovering from mental illness who temporarily need assistance, guidance, or counseling.

“Solar electricity generating plant” means a facility that generates electricity from the sun, primarily for commercial purposes.

“Solar energy system” means a solar collector, solar energy device, or structural design feature of a building whose primary purpose is to provide for the collection, storage and distribution of solar energy for space heating or cooling, for water heating, or for generation of electricity that will be used primarily by the persons and structures on the site.

“Specific plan” means a plan for a designated area within the city, based on the general plan, but containing more detailed regulations and programs as provided in California Government Code Section 65450 and following.

“Stable” means a detached accessory structure, including but not limited to a corral or paddock for the keeping of one or more horses owned by the occupants of the premises, and which are not kept for remuneration, hire or sale.

“State” means the state of California.

“Stock yard” means an enclosed area where animals are temporarily held for concentrated feeding or display preliminary to slaughtering, shipping or resale.

“Storm water runoff” means water flowing from impervious surfaces and entering Dinuba’s storm water drainage system, which is a series of curbs and gutters, drop inlets, storm drainage pipes, basins and waterways.

“Story” means a space in a building between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above, or if there be no floor above, then the space between such floor and the ceiling or roof above.

“Street” means a thoroughfare, dedicated as such or acquired for public use as such, other than an alley, which affords the principal means of access to abutting land.

“Street, arterial” means a street with signals at important intersections and stop signs on side streets, and which collects and distributes traffic to and from collector streets.

“Street, collector” means a street that collects traffic from local streets and connects with minor and major arterials.

“Street, cul-de-sac” means a street with a single common ingress and egress and with a turnaround at the end; non-through streets that serve local neighborhoods.

“Street, dead end” means a street with a single common ingress and egress.

“Street, local” means a street designed to provide vehicular access to abutting property and to discourage through traffic; narrow streets that serve local neighborhoods.

“Street property line” means that property line common to the street right-of-way or access easement.

“Structural alteration” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as in a bearing wall, column, beam or girder, floor or ceiling joists, roof rafters, roof diaphragms, foundations, piles, or retaining walls, or similar components.

“Structure” means any object constructed, installed, or placed on real property by man, including but not limited to buildings, towers, smokestacks, and overhead lines.

“Structure, accessory” means a detached subordinate structure located on the same site with the main structure or main use, the use of which is customarily incidental to that of the main structure or the main use of the land.

“Structure, main” means a structure housing the principal use of site or functioning as the principal use.

“Structure, temporary” means a structure which is readily movable and used or intended to be used for a period not to exceed ninety consecutive days.

“Subdivision” means the division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into five or more lots or parcels of land for sale, lease or financing.

“Substantial damage” means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:

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

2.    Any alteration of a “historic structure”; provided, that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a “historic structure.”

“Supportive housing” means housing with no limit on length of stay, that is occupied by the target population as defined in subdivision (d) of California Health and Safety Code Section 53260 and that is linked to on-site or off-site services that assist the supportive housing resident 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. This housing may include apartments, single-room occupancy residences or single-family homes.

“Swimming pool” means any permanent structure containing a body of water intended for recreational uses, and shall include wading pools.

“Target households” means very low income, low income, or senior citizen households.

“Tent revival” means a religious meeting or series of meetings which are often evangelistic in nature and are conducted within a non-permanent structure such as, but not limited to, a collapsible shelter of canvas or other material stretched and sustained by poles.

“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 unit to another eligible program recipient at some predetermined future point in time, which shall be no less than six months.

“Travel trailer” means a vehicle other than a motor vehicle, which is designed or used for human habitation and which may be moved upon a public highway without a permit or chauffeur’s license or both, without violating any provision of the California Vehicle Code.

“Truck service station” means an occupancy which provides especially for the servicing of trucks, with incidental operations similar to those permitted for automobile service station.

“Use” means the purpose for which land or structures thereon is designed, arranged or intended to be occupied or used or for which it is occupied, maintained, rented or leased.

“Utility pole” means any pole or tower owned by any utility company that is primarily used to support wires or cables necessary to the provision of electrical or other utility services regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

“Vacancy rate” means the number of uninhabited dwelling units that are available and suitable for occupancy expressed as a ratio to the total number of housing units.

“Variance” means permission to deviate from the literal requirements of the development standards of a zone district.

“Very low-income household” means those units targeted for this category of household that shall be affordable at a rent that does not exceed thirty percent of fifty percent of the Tulare County median income.

“Veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, and kennels” means office and indoor medical treatment facilities used by veterinarians, including large and small animal veterinary clinics, and animal hospitals. Kennels and boarding operations are commercial facilities for the keeping, boarding or maintaining of four or more dogs four months of age or older, or four or more cats, except for dogs or cats in pet shops.

“Warehousing” means a building or buildings used for the storage of goods, of any type, when such building or buildings contain more than five hundred square feet of storage space, and where no retail operation is conducted. Also see “wholesaling.”

“Watercourse” means a lake, river, creek, stream, wash, arroyo, channel, or other topographic feature on or over which waters flow at least periodically. “Watercourse” includes specifically designated areas in which substantial flood damage may occur.

Wireless Communication. See Section 17.45.190 for terms related to cell towers and wireless communication.

“Yard” means an open space on the same site as a structure other than a court unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

“Yard, front” (see Exhibit 67-3 for illustration of yard types) means a yard extending across the full width of the site or lot between the front lot line and the nearest line or point of the main structure.

“Yard, rear” (see Exhibit 67-3 for illustration of yard types) means a yard extending across the full width of the side of a lot between the rear lot line and the nearest line or point of the main structure.

“Yard, side” (see Exhibit 67-3 for illustration of yard types) means a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard between the side lot line and the nearest line or point of the main structure.

“Zoning” means the division of a municipality into districts, and the regulation within those districts of the height, appearance, and bulk of buildings and structures; the area of a lot which may be occupied and the size of required open spaces; the density of population; and the use or buildings and land for commercial, agricultural, industrial, residential or other purposes. The term “zoning” shall be synonymous with the term “classification” and the term “zone” shall be synonymous with the term “district.”

Exhibit 67-3: Yard Types

(Ord. 2025-01 § 2 (Exh. 1), 2025)