For the purpose of this chapter, the following apply to the City as a whole. Unless otherwise stated, the following words have the meanings indicated.

1.   “Accessory use” means a use subordinate to the main use of land or a building on a lot and customarily incidental to it.

2.   “Alley” means a minor way that is used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.

3.   “Alterations,” as applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the exit facilities or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height or the moving from one location or position to another.

4.   “Attached building or structure” means any building or structure that is structurally a part of or that has a common wall and/or continuous roof with a main building or structure or that is located less than three feet from the principal structure, which includes the roof overhangs from both buildings. Driveways, sidewalks, and patios will not be considered when determining whether a building is attached.

5.   “Automobile sales room” means a building or portion of a building where automobiles and vehicles are sold by a franchised dealer, either with or without storage parts, sales, and repair facilities, provided that all such activities are enclosed within a structure.

6.   “Boarding house” means a building or dwelling in which no more than four persons are housed or lodged for hire, with or without meals. A rooming house or a furnished room, house, or apartment shall be deemed a boarding house.

7.   “Buildings” means any enclosed space for human use or activities, whether stationary or movable.

   A.   The term “principal building” means a building, including covered porches, carports, and attached garages, in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated. In any residence district the main dwelling shall be deemed to be the principal building on the lot.

   B.   The term “accessory building” means a subordinate building, the use of which is incidental to that of a principal building on the same lot.

8.   “Building line” means an imaginary line parallel to the front lot line over which no portion of any building may extend and which is a distance from the front lot line equal to the depth of the front yard required for the district in which such lot is located.

9.   “Commercial car wash” means a building or portion of a building where vehicles are washed.

10.   “Dwelling” means a building, including one-family dwellings, two-family dwellings, and multiple-family dwellings, but not including an automobile house trailer, designed or used primarily for residential occupancy or hotels or motels.

   A.   The term “single-family dwelling” means a building designed or used exclusively for occupancy by one family.

   B.   The term “two-family dwelling” means a building designed or used exclusively for occupancy by two families.

   C.   The term “multiple-family dwelling” means a building containing three or more dwelling units.

   D.   The term “dwelling unit” means a unit consisting of one or more rooms in a residential building that are arranged, designed, used, or intended for use as living quarters for one family plus not more than three lodgers. Individual bathrooms are not necessarily provided, but complete kitchen facilities, permanently installed, are always included for each “dwelling unit.”

   E.   “Mobile home” means a residential unit built off-site, designed to meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Code standards. This definition shall not be construed as permitting a mobile home to be placed in other than an approved mobile home park, unless such mobile home is classified as a manufactured home or modular home.

   F.   “Manufactured home” means a residential unit built off-site, designed to meet HUD Code standards, and transported to the site of its installation. It is required to display a seal from HUD.

   G.   “Modular home” means a residential unit built off-site and transported to the site of its installation, which is designed to meet Iowa or City building codes rather than the HUD Code. In Iowa, a modular home is required to display a seal issued by the State Building Code Commissioner.

11.   “Entry way or landing, decks and terraces.”

   A.   “Entry ways or landing” is defined as a means of entering the front of a principal residential building, most likely in the form of an uncovered staircase, steps, or a ramp. The entryway or landing will not be included as part of the principal residential building if no part of it is closer to the front lot line than described below

 

   B.   Decks and Terraces.

      (1)   “Deck” means any flat-floored, roofless structure, at or above the finished grade, adjoining or directly adjacent to a building. “Terrace” means a level, landscaped and/or surfaced area directly adjacent to a building at or within three feet of the finished grade and not covered by a permanent roof.

      (2)   Decks and terraces in the front yard may extend from the building a length no greater than 40% of the distance between the front lot line and the closest building facade to the front lot line, up to a maximum of 12 feet, and shall maintain a minimum setback distance of 15 feet from the front lot line. Decks and terraces in the side and rear yard shall maintain a five foot setback from the side and rear lot lines.

12.   “Family” means an immediate or an extended family consisting of one or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption; foster children; and not to exceed two gratuitous guests, who maintain a common household.

13.   “Filling station” means any area of land, including structures, that is used or designed to be used primarily for the supply of gasoline, oil, or other fuel for the propulsion of motor vehicles and that may include facilities used or designed to be used for polishing, greasing, washing, dry cleaning, or other cleaning or servicing of such motor vehicles.

14.   “Floor area of building” means the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building and its accessory buildings on the same lot, except that in residential buildings, the cellar, basement, and attic floor area not devoted to residential use shall be excluded, but the area of roofed porches and roofed terraces shall be included. All dimensions shall be measured between exterior faces of walls.

15.   “Garage, private” means an enclosed space for the storage of one or more motor vehicles, provided that no business, occupation, or service is conducted for profit or space for more than one car rented to a nonresident of the premises.

16.   “Garage, repair” means a garage, other than a private garage, available to the public, operated for gain, and which is used for storage, repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing, parts sales, and adjusting or equipping of automobiles or other motorized equipment.

17.   “Home occupation” means an occupation or a profession which:

   A.   Is customarily carried on in a dwelling unit or in a building or other structure accessory to a dwelling unit; and

   B.   Is carried on by a member of the family residing in the dwelling unit for residential purposes; and

   C.   Is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes; and

   D.   Which conforms to the following additional conditions:

      (1)   The occupation or profession shall be carried on wholly within the principal building or within an accessory structure.

      (2)   Not more than one person outside the family shall be employed in the home occupation.

      (3)   There shall be no exterior display, no exterior storage of materials, and no other exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the principal building, and the occupation or profession must not depreciate property values in the immediate areas.

      (4)   No noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat, or glare shall be produced which is detrimental to the residential character of the zoning district in which it is located.

      (5)   Not more than one-half of the floor area of any one floor or basement shall be used for the occupation or profession.

      (6)   The occupation shall not include the breeding, raising, keeping of dogs or other animals for profit, or boarding dogs or other animals for profit.

18.   “Hotel” and “motel” mean a building, which contains living and sleeping accommodations for hire by five or more persons.

19.   “Junkyard” means an area of land with or without buildings used for or occupied by a deposit, collection, or the storage, outside of a completely enclosed building, of used and discarded materials such as waste paper, rags, scrap metal, used building materials, house furnishings, machinery, vehicles, or parts of vehicles, with or without the dismantling, processing, salvage, sale, other use or disposition of the same.

20.   “Lot” means one or more contiguous parcels of land united by a common interest or use considered as a unit occupied by a principal building or use and its accessory buildings and uses, if any, including the open spaces of such unit of land. It may or may not coincide with the deed description or boundaries as shown on the Tax Assessment Map of the City or a plat filed for record or otherwise.

   A.   The term “lot area” means the area of land enclosed within the boundaries of the lot.

   B.   The term “lot line” means a boundary line of a lot. In most cases the lot line is located on the inside of the sidewalk.

   C.   The term “front lot line” is that boundary of a lot that is along an existing or dedicated public street or, where no public street exists, is along a public way.

   D.   The term “rear lot line” means that boundary of a lot that is most distant from and is, or is most nearly, parallel to the front lot line.

   E.   The term “side lot line” means any boundary of a lot that is not a front lot line or a rear lot line.

   F.   The term “lot width” means the straight-line distance between points on opposite side lot lines at the building line.

21.   “Mobile home park” means any premises where three or more mobile, modular, manufactured homes, or any combination of the three, operated as a for-profit enterprise, with water, sewer or septic, and electrical services available, are parked for living or sleeping purposes, or any premises used or set apart for public parking space for three or more of such homes for living or sleeping purposes.

22.   “Nonconforming use” means any use of land, buildings, or other structure which does not comply with all of the regulations of this chapter governing use for the zoning district in which the use is located.

23.   “Parking space” means an off-street space accessible and available for the parking of one motor vehicle and having an area of not less than 300 square feet inclusive of appurtenant passageways and aisles, but exclusive of access driveways exceeding 20 feet in length.

24.   “Sign” means any structure that displays any letter, word, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device, or representation used as, or which is in the nature of, an announcement, direction, or advertisement. The word “sign” includes the word “billboard,” but does not include the flag, pennant, or insignia, either original or authentic reproduction, of any nation, state, city, or other political unit, or of any political, educational, charitable, philanthropic, civic, professional, religious, or like campaign, drive, movement, or event.

25.   “Street” means an existing State, County, or municipal road, or a street shown upon a plat approved by the City, or a street or a plat duly filed and recorded in the office of the County Clerk.

26.   “Structure” means anything constructed or erected, which requires location on the ground or attached to something having a location on or in the ground. A “structure” does not include fences (or walls used as fences) less than 30 inches in height; poles; lines; cables; or other transmission or distribution facilities of public utilities. The word “structure” includes all buildings, whether or not attached to the ground, and all concrete and concrete block construction, such as sidewalks and patios.

27.   “Tree berm” means that land owned by the City, abutting both sides of every street. The tree berm is principally used for the installation and maintenance of public utilities. In most cases, sidewalks that parallel streets are located on tree berms.

28.   “Use, principal” means the specific purpose for which land or a building is designed, arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.

29.   “Yard” means the space on a lot extending along a lot line between such “lot line” and a principal building, buildings, or structures, occupying such lot. Yard measurement shall be taken from the building wall to the lot line. (See subsection 20.)

   A.   The term “front yard” means a yard extending the full width of the lot and situated between the front lot line and the building line. The depth of front yard shall be measured between the building line and the front lot line. Covered porches and garages, whether enclosed or unenclosed, are considered as part of the main building and shall not project into a required front yard.

   B.   The term “rear yard” means a yard extending a full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the principal building and the rear lot line.

   C.   The term “side yard” means a yard situated between the principal building and the other structures and the side lot line and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.