A structure, building, or portion of a main building or structure on the same lot or parcel of land as the main building or structure, the use of which is of a nature customarily and clearly incidental and subordinate to the use of the main building or structure. Where an accessory building is attached to a main building in a substantial manner by a roof, such accessory building shall be considered part of the main building, including a carport, covered porch, or other roofed structure.

A detached dwelling unit that is permitted only on properties with a single detached principal dwelling unit. ADUs are a lesser size than the principal dwelling unit and include a kitchen, a sleeping area, and full bathroom facilities.

A use of a nature customarily and clearly incidental and subordinate to the main or principal use of the land, lot, building, or structure.

As defined by state law (1979 PA 218) [MCL 400.703(4)], an establishment, including a home or facility, that provides foster care to adults. It includes facilities and foster care family homes for adults who are aged, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, or physically disabled who require supervision on an ongoing basis but who do not require continuous nursing care. An adult foster care facility does not include any of the following:

A retail, event, indoor recreation, or personal service business where 25% of the floor area is dedicated to, 25% or more of the inventory is composed of, or 25% of the gross revenues derive from items or activities predominantly characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to specified anatomical areas or sexual activities. (See definitions of "specified anatomical areas" and "specified sexual activities.")

A publicly or privately controlled right-of-way not more than 30 feet wide affording only secondary means of vehicular access to abutting lots and lands and which is not intended for general traffic circulation.

Any change, addition, or modification in the construction of any building or structure, including but not limited to any change in the supporting members, bearing walls, columns, posts, beams, girders or roof structure, any architectural change of the interior or exterior of a building or structure that may affect its structural integrity, or any addition to or diminution of a structure or building.

Animal shall mean dog, cat, bird, reptile, mammal, fish, or any other non-human creature.

A gasoline filling station is a space, structure, building or part of a building, used for the retail sale, service or supply of motor vehicle fuels, lubricants, air, water, batteries, tires, other accessories, motor vehicle washing or lubricating; or customary facilities for the installation of such commodities in or on such motor vehicles, including special facilities for minor repair or similar servicing thereof.

An area used for the display, sale or rental of new and used motor vehicles, boats, trailers or recreation vehicles (including manufactured homes) in operable condition and where no repair work is done.

Any activity involving the repair, rebuilding or reconditioning of motor vehicles, engines or trailers, collision services, such as body, frame or fender straightening and repair, overall painting and vehicle rust proofing. Either gasoline or any other fuel or lubricating oil or grease for operating motor vehicles may be offered for sale to the public and applied directly into motor vehicles, and the sale of accessories, greasing, oiling, or minor automotive repair may occur on the premises.

That portion of a building which is partly or wholly below grade but so located that the vertical distance from the average grade to the floor is greater than the vertical distance from the average grade to the ceiling.

A bed-and-breakfast facility is a private residence, other than a hotel, where lodgings and light breakfasts for persons, other than family, are regularly served for compensation, and is licensed by the State of Michigan as a bed-and-breakfast inn.

The term bedroom means a room or area within a dwelling unit designed and intended to provide sleeping accommodations for one or more human beings.

A large sign erected, maintained, and used for the purpose of displaying messages that can be seen from a long distance or read from a vehicle traveling at high speeds. A billboard sign differs from a freestanding sign based on its size. A billboard sign is 200 square feet or greater in size.

The property abutting one side of a street and lying between the two nearest intersecting streets (crossing or terminating) or between the nearest such street or railroad right-of-way, unsubdivided acreage, lake, river or live stream; or between any of the foregoing and other barrier to the continuity of development, or incorporated boundary lines of the City of Fennville.

A building is a structure, framed or constructed and designed to stand more or less permanently and covering a space of land, for use as a dwelling, store, storehouse, factory, sign, shelter or for some other useful purpose. "Building" in this sense includes a trailer, tent, or vehicle used as a dwelling.

Bungalow courts are clusters of detached single-family dwelling units gathered around a communal green space.

A building, or portion thereof, the primary purpose of which is that of washing motor vehicles.

A building or group of buildings where human patients are admitted, but not lodged overnight, for examination and treatment by one or more professionals, such as a physician, dentist or the like.

A building or group of buildings where animals are admitted, treated and may be kept overnight for examination and treatment by one or more professionals or paraprofessionals.

A commercial use relates to the use of property in connection with the purchase, sale, barter, display, or exchange of goods, wares, merchandise, or personal services or the maintenance of offices or recreational or amusement enterprises. Garage, rummage, basement, porch, lawn sales, and similar sales conducted on residential premises are hereby deemed a commercial use, if such sales are conducted on more than two occasions during any consecutive twelve-month period or if either of said two sales lasts for more than six days.

Any self-propelled or towed vehicle designed to be used on a public street with a gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds.

A portion of a condominium project other than the condominium units.

That portion of the condominium project designed and intended for separate ownership and use, as described in the master deed, regardless of whether it is intended for residential, office, industrial, business, recreational, or any other type of use.

The building, erection, alteration, repair, renovation (or demolition or removal) of any building, structure or structural foundation; or the physical excavation, filling, and grading of any lot other than normal maintenance shall constitute construction.

Storage yards operated by, or on behalf of, a contractor for storage of large equipment, vehicles, or other materials commonly used in the individual contractor's type of business; storage of scrap materials used for repair and maintenance of contractor's own equipment; and buildings or structures for uses such as offices and repair facilities.

A convalescent home or nursing home is a home for the care of children or the aged or infirm, or a place of rest for those suffering bodily disorders wherein seven or more persons are cared for. Said home shall conform and qualify for license under state law.

Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.

Any sign erected adjacent to a street which identifies, points toward and gives the distance to any public or semi-public building, off-street parking area, recreation space, club, lodge, church, institution, business, service, entertainment, activity, or event, or any sign erected on a building identifying an entrance or exit to the building.

A house or building, or portion thereof, which is occupied wholly as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one or more human beings, either permanently or transiently, but in no case shall a trailer coach, automobile chassis, or tent be considered as a dwelling, also referred to as a unit or dwelling unit.

A dwelling unit is any building or portion thereof having cooking facilities, which is occupied wholly as the home, residence, or sleeping place of one family, either permanently or transiently. In no case shall a travel trailer, motor home, automobile chassis, tent or other portable building be considered a dwelling in single-family, two-family or multiple-family residential areas. In cases of mixed occupancy where a building is occupied in part as a dwelling unit, the part so occupied shall be deemed a dwelling unit for the purpose of this chapter and shall comply with the provisions thereof relative to dwellings.

A dwelling unit conversion is defined as the process in which the owner of a single-family dwelling may apply for conversion of said dwelling into a greater number of dwelling units than existed in the dwelling prior to conversion. Consideration of the application shall be in accordance with the procedures set forth herein.

Erected includes built, constructed, reconstructed, moved upon; and erecting includes any physical operations required for the building on the premises where the building is being constructed, reconstructed or moved. Excavating, filling, draining, and the like, shall be considered a part of erecting.

The erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or municipal departments of underground, surface or overhead gas, electrical, fuel, or water transmission or disposal systems, including towers, poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith, which are reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate services by such utilities or municipal departments for the general health, safety, or welfare of its citizens. This definition shall not include buildings, sanitary landfills, land application of sewage sludge, recycling centers, refuse transfer stations or similar transfer stations. This definition shall also not include antennas which are exterior transmitting or receiving devices mounted on a tower, building or structure and used in communications which radiate or capture electromagnetic waves, digital signals, analog signals, radio frequencies, wireless telecommunication signals or other communication signals. This definition shall further not include towers which are designed and constructed primarily for the purpose of supporting one or more antennas for telephone, radio and similar communication purposes; radio and television transmission towers; microwave towers; common-carrier towers; or cellular telephone towers.

Any breaking of ground, except common household gardening and ground care.

A collective number of individuals domiciled together in one dwelling whose relationship is of a permanent and distinct domestic character, with a demonstrable and recognizable bond characteristic of a cohesive unit, and who are in fact cooking and living as a single nonprofit housekeeping unit.

The land, plants, animals, buildings, structures, including ponds used for agricultural or aquacultural activities, machinery, equipment, and other appurtenances used in the commercial production of farm products. (Michigan PA 93 of 1981, Am. 1995[2])

A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

That portion of a building, other than a basement or mezzanine as defined in this chapter, included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor or roof next above it.

The total length along which a parcel of land fronts on a street, measured along the line where the property abuts the street right-of-way.

Any building or premises, other than a gasoline filling station, used principally or incidentally for the housing or storage of automobiles or motor-driven vehicles.

The ground elevation established for the purpose of regulating the number of stories or height of a building. The building grade shall be the level of the ground adjacent to the walls of the building if the finished grade is level. If the ground is not entirely level, the grade shall be determined by averaging the highest point adjacent to the building and the lowest point within six feet of the building.

The elevation(s) of the ground surface in its natural state; before man-made alterations.

Any materials that have been declared to be hazardous by any agency of the State of Michigan or of the United States, including but not limited to toxic materials and metal hydroxides.

An activity carried out for compensation by a resident and conducted as a secondary, incidental and accessory use of the resident's principal dwelling premises.

A facility offering transient lodging accommodations at a daily or weekly rate to the general public with services such as restaurants, meeting rooms, and recreational facilities.

Any repair, reconstruction or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either (1) before the improvement or repair is started, or (2) if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes of this definition, "substantial improvement" is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor or other structural part of the building commences, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. The term does not, however, include either (1) any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions, or (2) any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a State Inventory of Historic Places.

Churches, schools, hospitals, and other similar public or semi-public uses. This excludes nursing homes, convalescent homes, and adult foster care facilities.

Any land area including buildings thereon used primarily for the outdoor collecting, storage and abandonment of waste, paper, rags, scrap metal or discarded materials which are for sale; or which is used for the outdoor collecting, dismantling, storage or salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition for the sale of parts thereof.

The plan so designated by the Planning Commission.

A unique parcel identifier, a number that identifies the legal records, such as surveys and assigned plan numbers, that describe the specific parcel land.

A portion of the common elements reserved in the master deed for the exclusive use of less than all of the co-owners.

A tract of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, or utilized by principal and accessory buildings, yards and/or open space.

A structure transportable in one or more sections which is built on a chassis and designed to be used with or without permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure. Manufactured home does not include a recreational vehicle (Act 96, Michigan PA of 1987[3]). All manufactured homes must conform to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Code for manufactured homes.

A parcel or tract of land, under the control of a person upon which three or more manufactured homes are located on a continual nonrecreational basis, and which is offered to the public for that purpose regardless of whether a charge is made for the parcel or tract of land, together with any building, structure, enclosure, street, equipment or facility used or intended for use incidental to the occupancy of a manufactured home, and which is not intended for use as recreation vehicle trailer park (Act 96, Michigan PA of 1987).

An intermediate floor in any story which does not exceed 1/3 of the floor area of such story.

Mini-warehouse buildings are groups of buildings in a controlled access and fenced compound that contain varying sizes of individual compartmentalized and controlled access stalls or lockers for a dead storage of customer goods or wares.

A structure which meets the requirements of the State Building and Construction Code, which is transported in one or more sections on a removable chassis and is designed to be used on a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, such as plumbing, heating, and electrical systems.

A building or a series of attached, semi-detached, or detached rental units providing long-term or transient lodging with motor vehicle parking in an area contiguous to the building. No kitchen or cooking facilities are to be provided without the approval of the City Commission with the exception of units for use of the manager and/or caretaker.

A lot lawfully existing at the effective date of this chapter or affecting amendment, and which fails to meet the minimum area requirements of the zoning district in which it is located.

A structure, or portion thereof, lawfully existing at the effective date of this chapter or affecting amendment, and which fails to meet the minimum yard setback, height and/or area requirements of the zoning district in which it is located.

A use lawfully existing in a building or on land at the effective date of this chapter or affecting amendment, and which fails to conform to the use regulations of the zoning district in which it is located.

The word "nuisance" shall be held to embrace public nuisance as known at common law or in equity jurisprudence; and whatever is dangerous to human life or detrimental to health; and any dwelling or building which is overcrowded with occupants or is not provided with adequate ingress or egress to or from the same, or is not sufficiently supported, ventilated, seweraged, drained, cleaned, or lighted in reference to its intended or actual use; and whatever renders the air or human food or drink unwholesome, are also severally, in contemplation of this chapter, nuisances; and all such nuisances are hereby declared illegal.

A facility providing vehicular parking spaces along with adequate drives and aisles for maneuvering, so as to provide access for entrance and exit for the parking of more than three vehicles.

A tract or continuous area or acreage of land which is occupied or intended to be occupied by a building, series of buildings, accessory building(s), condominium units, or by any other use or activity permitted thereon and including open spaces and setbacks required under this chapter, and having its frontage on a public or private street.

An area of definite length and width, said area shall be exclusive of drives, aisles or entrances giving access thereto, and shall be fully accessible for the parking of permitted vehicles.

A public utility is any person, firm, corporation, municipal department, or board duly authorized to furnish or furnishing under regulation, to the public, electricity, gas, steam, communication, transportation, sewage, drainage, or water.

A vehicle primarily designed and used as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel purposes, including a vehicle having its own motor power or a vehicle mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. (Act 96, Michigan PA of 1987[4])

Repairs are the rebuilding or renewal of an existing building for the purpose of maintaining its original type and classification.

A research and development facility is any facility that is involved in the inquiry, examination, investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and/or interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories.

Also known as a lounge or tavern, a restaurant, bar is a structure or part of a structure designed, maintained, and operated primarily for the dispensing of alcoholic beverages. The selling of food and snacks may also be permitted. If the bar/lounge/tavern is part of a larger dining facility, it shall be defined as that part of the structure so designated and/or operated.

A drive-in restaurant is any establishment whose principal business is the sale of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages to the customer in a ready-to-consume state, and whose design, method of operation, or any portion of whose business includes one or both of the following characteristics:

A restaurant is any establishment whose principal business is the sale of foods, frozen desserts, or beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) to the customer in a ready-to-consume state, and whose design or principal method of operation includes one or both of the following characteristics:

A private right-of-way reserved for the use of the occupants of the abutting structures.

A public right-of-way which has been dedicated for the purpose of providing access to abutting private lots of land including the space for pavement and sidewalks.

A parabolic or spherical type of antenna which is used for communications with a satellite-based system located in planetary orbit.

A large satellite dish antenna is defined as any satellite dish antenna which is not a small satellite dish antenna.

Small satellite dish antennas are not subject to regulation by the City. A small satellite dish antenna is defined as:

A retail commercial establishment or a group of retail establishments which is planned, developed, owned and managed as a unit, with off-street parking provided on the property and related in its location, size and type of shops to the trade area.

The rental of any part of any residential home or accessory dwelling unit for a period of 28 days or less for a fee.

A device, structure, fixture, or placard using graphics, symbols and/or written copy, designed specifically for the purpose of identifying an establishment, product, service or activity.

A plan or project consisting of not less than two condominium units established in conformance with the Michigan Condominium Act, PA 59 of 1978, as amended.[5]

Specified anatomical areas include less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic regions, buttocks and breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areola, or human genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.

Specified sexual activities include acts of human masturbation or sexual intercourse, fondling or other erotic touching, or human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.

Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders, or any substantial change in the roof.

See "building", and in addition any man-made surface feature or designed earth feature (other than normal finished grading for drainage purposes), including carports, garden houses, pole barns, sheds, pergolas, decks, porches, playhouses, game courts, gas or liquid storage facility as well as a manufactured home.

Any structure or container, either above or below grade, located either in part or wholly outside a permanently enclosed and roofed building, designed to hold water to a depth of greater than 12 inches when filled to capacity, intended for immersion of the human body, whether for swimming or wading or both, with the exception of small, portable pools that do not exceed 24 inches in height.

A structure or use permitted by the Building Inspector to exist during periods of construction of the main use or for special events.

A row of three or more attached single-family dwellings, not more than 2.5 stories in height and for which there is an entrance to each dwelling. Townhouse shall not be used as a synonym for the term "condominium" which refers to how property or space is owned rather than for a particular housing style.

Every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole-trailer, designed for carrying property or persons and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle. Does not include any implement of husbandry. (MCL 257.73 of 1949, Amended 2012)

Every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole-trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by another vehicle. Does not include any implement of husbandry. (MCL 257.59 of 1949, Amended 2012)

A facility for freight pick-up and/or distribution; may include intermodal distribution facilities for truck, rail, and shipping transport.

The principal purpose for which land or a building is arranged, designed or intended, or for which land or a building is or may be occupied.

A yard is an open space, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upwards, except as otherwise provided herein, and on the same lot with a building. The measurement of a yard shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the building or structure.