For the purpose of this title certain terms and words are defined in this chapter. When not inconsistent with the content, words used in the present tense shall include the future, and the future the present; the singular number shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; "day" shall mean "calendar day" unless stated otherwise. The word "shall" is always mandatory and the word "may" denotes use of discretion in making a decision. The words "used" or "occupied," unless the context otherwise requires, shall be considered as though followed by the words "or intended, arranged or designed to be used or occupied." When not inconsistent with the content, words used in this title but not defined in this section shall be given the meaning defined elsewhere in this code, or in the related Revised Code of Washington or Washington Administrative Code or Building Code, or in the current edition of Webster's Third New International Dictionary.

"Administrator" means the director of the county planning and building division, or the director's designee.

"Agriculture" means the tilling of the soil, raising of crops, horticulture, viticulture, floriculture, small livestock farming, dairying, animal husbandry, including all uses customarily incidental thereto, but not including slaughter house, fertilizer works, bone yard or plant for the reduction of animal matter.

"Amendment" means a change in the wording, context or substance of this title or a change in the zone boundaries upon the zoning maps adopted hereunder.

"Apartment" means a room, or suite of two or more rooms, occupied or suitable for occupancy as a dwelling unit for one family.

"Automobile wrecking" means any dismantling or wrecking of used motor vehicles or trailers, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled or wrecked vehicles or their parts.

"Bed and breakfast inn" means a dwelling unit occupied by the owner, in which not more than five guest rooms are devoted to accommodating and where meals are provided for compensation for not more than ten persons other than the family of the owner and used for the accommodation of short-term occupancy rentals of less than thirty consecutive days.

"Bedroom" means a room or space designed to be used for sleeping purposes with means of egress and emergency escape and rescue openings meeting the requirements of the currently adopted International Residential Code (IRC) or its successor. Spaces such as dining rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, toilet rooms, closets, hallways, storage or utility rooms and similar uses are not considered a bedroom.

"Block" means all property abutting upon one side of a street between intersecting and intercepting streets, or between a street and railroad right-of-way, waterway, terminus of dead-end street, or city boundary line. An intercepting street shall determine only the boundary of the block on the side of the street, which it intercepts.

"Boarding house" means a dwelling unit in which not more than five guest rooms are devoted to accommodating not more than ten persons. The facility is designed or primarily used for the accommodation of long-term occupancy rentals of at least thirty consecutive days. Boarding house shall not include rest home or convalescent home.

"Building" means a structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of any person, animal or chattel. When any portion thereof is completely separated from every other portion thereof as required by the International Building Code (IBC) or its successor, then each such portion shall be deemed to be a separate building.

"Building height" means the vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the average height of the highest gable of a pitch or hip roof. See the term "grade."

"Building, main" or "main building" means the principal building or other structure on a lot or site used to accommodate the primary use to which the premises are devoted.

"Cannabis processing" means converting harvested cannabis into useable cannabis and cannabis-infused products by any person or entity that holds a valid cannabis processor license issued by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board under WAC 314-55-077 or its successor. This definition is the same for marijuana processing.

"Cannabis production" means the indoor and outdoor growing and wholesaling of cannabis by any person or entity that holds a valid cannabis producer license issued by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board under WAC 314-55-075 or its successor. This definition is the same for marijuana production.

"Cannabis retailer" means a retail outlet that sells useable cannabis, cannabis-infused products, and cannabis paraphernalia and is owned by any person or entity that holds a valid cannabis retailer license issued by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board under WAC 314-55-079 or its successor. This definition is the same for marijuana retailer.

"Child day care center" means a facility providing regularly scheduled care for a group of children from one month through twelve years of age for periods of less than twenty-four hours, but not including a "home day care" as defined in this section.

"Church" means an establishment for the principal purpose of religious worship and for which the main building or other structure contains the sanctuary or principal place of worship, and including accessory uses in the main building or in separate buildings or structures, including Sunday School rooms and religious education class rooms, assembly rooms, kitchen, library or reading room, recreation hall, a one-family dwelling unit and residences on-site for nuns and clergy, but excluding day care nurseries and facilities for training of religious orders.

"Clinic" means a building or portion thereof containing offices for the provision of services for the practice of the healing arts, for out-patients only.

"Classification" means a use category in the broad list of land uses in which certain uses, either individually or as to type, are identified as possessing similar characteristics or performance standards and are permitted as compatible uses in the same zone or classifications. A classification, as the term is employed in this title, includes provisions, conditions and requirements related to the location of permitted uses.

"Clustering" means a development design technique that concentrates buildings in specific areas on the site to allow the remaining land to be used for recreation, common open space, and protection of natural features. This is accomplished through the reduction of area, height, and bulk requirements while maintaining the density within the development required by the zoning district. Clustering, unless authorized by a planned unit development, shall only be allowed within zoning districts in which it is specifically authorized as a permitted or conditional use. The term clustering does not apply to the construction of more than one permitted building on one lot where the area, height, bulk and other district requirements are fully met and the lot and building remain in a single ownership.

"Commercial" means the purchase, sale, offering for sale, or other transaction involving the handling or disposition of any article, service, substance or commodity for livelihood or profit, or the management or occupancy of an office building, offices, recreational or amusement enterprises; or the maintenance and the use of building, offices, structures or premises by professions or trades offering services.

"Commission" means the Grays Harbor County planning commission.

"Conditional use" means a use listed among those classified in any given zone but permitted to locate only after review by the board of adjustment and the granting of a conditional use permit imposing such performance standards as are contained in this title to make the conditional use compatible with other permitted uses in the same vicinity and zone.

"Conditional use permit" means the documented evidence of authority granted by the board of adjustment to locate a conditional use at a particular location.

"Density" means the number of dwelling units per acre including all land within the boundaries of the designated site.

"Dwelling" means a building designed exclusively for residential purposes, including single-family, two-family, and multiple families.

Dwelling, types of:

1.

"Dwelling, single-family." "Single-family dwelling" means a detached building designed exclusively for occupancy by one family and containing one dwelling unit.

2.

"Dwelling, two-family." "Two-family dwelling" means a building designed exclusively for occupancy by two families, living separate from each other, and containing two dwelling units.

3.

"Dwelling, multiple-family." "Multiple-family dwelling" means a building designed exclusively for occupancy by three or more families living separately from each other, and containing three or more dwelling units.

"Dwelling unit" means any building or portion thereof that contains living facilities, including provisions for sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, as required by this code, for not more than one family, or a congregate residence for ten or fewer persons.

"Enlargement."

1.

As applied to uses, "enlargement" means the expansion of or addition to the use by increasing the amount of equipment or land area which is devoted to the use.

2.

As applied to structures, "enlargement" means any action which increases the exterior dimensions of the structure and results in an increase in the floor area of the structure.

"Family" means an individual, or two or more persons related by blood or marriage, or a group of not more than five persons who are not related by blood or marriage, living together in a dwelling unit.

"Floor area" means the total area included within the surrounding walls of a building on a lot or building site exclusive of that area devoted to vents, shafts and courts.

"Grade" means the average of the finished ground level at the center of all walls of a building. Where walls are parallel to and within five feet of a sidewalk, the above ground level shall be measured at the sidewalks.

"Health department" means the Grays Harbor County environmental health division of the department of public services or its successor.

"Home day care" means a facility in the family dwelling of the childcare licensee providing regularly scheduled care for twelve or fewer children, with ages ranging from birth through eleven years of age, for periods of less than twenty-four hours. The licensed capacity of a home day care shall include the children with ages ranging from birth through eleven years of age who reside at the dwelling.

"Home occupation" means a commercial use conducted within a home environment and which is conducted entirely within the dwelling and which is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes.

"Industrial" means those intensive commercial and industrial activities, such as shipping terminals, contractor's yards, warehousing, utility facilities, outdoor material and equipment storage, manufacturing, processing, assembly, fabrication, commercial and industrial equipment rental and repair, retail and wholesale sales.

"Intensification" means any action which results in an increase in the level of use or activity within a defined area of land or within a structure or portion of a structure.

"Kennel" means a building or structure or premises where four or more dogs or cats or combination thereof, at least four months of age, are kept by owners of the dogs and cats or by persons providing facilities and care, and whether or not compensation is paid.

"Light-duty truck" means a truck with an empty-scale weight of six thousand pounds or less. It includes vehicles such as pickup trucks, vans and utility vehicles.

"Light industrial" means those commercial and industrial activities, such as warehousing, transportation-related services, industrial sales, processing, assembly, fabrication, equipment rental and servicing, retail and wholesale sales, entirely conducted and contained within a building.

"Loading space" means an on-site space for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading materials or merchandise.

"Lot," "parcel" or "tract" means an area of land, the boundaries of which have been established by some legal instrument such as a recorded deed, description, document or map.

"Lot depth" means the shortest horizontal distance between the front lot line and a line drawn perpendicular to the front lot line through the midpoint of the rear lot line. For lots with front lot lines containing curves or angles, the measurement shall be taken from a line drawn parallel to a base line joining the front corners of the lot and lying midway between the base line and a line drawn parallel to the base line tangent to the curve or through the angle point.

"Lot width" means the distance between side lot lines measured at right angles to the lot depth at its midpoint.

"Non-conforming" means a use, structure or lot which does not conform to any one or more of the requirements applicable to it under the terms of this title and was legally established.

"Outdoor advertising display" means any card, paper, cloth, metal, glass, wooden or other display or device of any kind or characteristic whatsoever placed or painted for outdoor advertising purposes on the ground or on any tree, wall, fence, rock, structure or thing whatsoever.

"Outdoor advertising structure" means a structure of any kind or character erected or maintained for outdoor advertising purposes upon which any outdoor display is, or can be placed.

"Permitted use" means a use by right which is specifically authorized in a particular zoning district.

"Planned unit development (PUD)" means one or a group of specified uses, such as residential, resort, commercial, or industrial, to be planned and constructed as a unit. Zoning or subdivision regulations with respect to lot size, building bulk, etc., may be varied to allow design innovations and special features in exchange for additional and/or superior site amenities or community benefits.

"Prohibited use" means a use which is specifically prohibited in a particular zoning district or a use which is not specifically authorized as a permitted or conditional use.

"Public and semi-public uses and structures" means uses and structures associated with schools, churches, government, community meeting halls, charitable organizations, and cemeteries.

"Reclamation" means the reasonable long-term protection of all resources subject to disruption from surface excavation and rehabilitation.

"Reclassification of property" means a change in zone boundaries upon a zoning map, which map is a part of this title when adopted in the manner prescribed by law.

"Recorded" unless otherwise expressly defined in this title, means filed for purpose of record with the county auditor.

"Recreational vehicle" means a vehicle designed for short-term occupancy during travel, recreation, and/or vacation purposes, including the following types:

1.

"Travel trailer" means a portable structure built on a chassis, having a body width not exceeding eight feet and a body length not exceeding thirty-two feet.

2.

"Truck camper (pick-up coach)" means a portable structure designed to be loaded onto, or mounted on, the bed or chassis of a truck, having a body width not exceeding eight feet and a body length not exceeding thirty-two feet.

3.

"Motor home" means a portable structure constructed as an integral part of a self-propelled recreational vehicle.

4.

"Camping trailer (tent trailer)" means a portable, collapsible structure mounted on wheels and constructed of fabric, plastic, or other pliable material which folds for towing by another vehicle and unfolds at the campsite.

"Rest home," "convalescent home," "guest home" or "home for the aged" means a dwelling unit operated similarly to a boarding house but not restricted to any number of guests or guest rooms the operator of which is licensed by the state or county to give special care and supervision to his or her charges, and in which nursing, dietary and other personal services are furnished to convalescents, invalids and aged persons, and in which are performed no surgery, maternity or other primary treatments such as are customarily provided in sanitariums or hospitals.

"Self-service storage" or "mini-storage building" means a real property designed and used for the purpose of storing and removing personal property on a self-service basis, having a maximum building height of eighteen feet exclusive of architectural features and a maximum building length of one hundred feet; provided, that buildings may exceed the maximum building length where architectural features are incorporated and approved by the administrator.

"Short-term occupancy" means the occupancy of a recreational vehicle for living purposes for a temporary duration of not more than fourteen consecutive days within a two-month period.

"Short-term rental" means rental of a single-family or two-family detached dwelling unit for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes to one group with duration of occupancy of less than thirty consecutive days. Other land uses such as bed and breakfast inns and multiple-family dwellings that are explicitly defined and regulated in this code separately from short-term rentals are not considered to be short-term rentals.

"Sign" means any outdoor advertising display or outdoor advertising structure or indoor advertising display or structure designed and placed so as to be readable principally from the outside.

"Spot rezone" means a circumstance in which a request to rezone a parcel of land, from a less intensive use zone classification to a more intensive use zone classification, that is inconsistent with the surrounding uses and the comprehensive land use plan. A request to rezone a parcel of land, from a more intensive use zone classification to a less intensive use zone classification that is consistent with the surrounding uses and the comprehensive land use plan shall not be found to constitute a spot rezone.

"Stand" means a structure for the display and sale of products with no space for customers within the structure itself.

"Street" means a public or recorded private thoroughfare which affords the primary means of access to abutting property.

"Surface excavation" means all or any part of the process involved in removing minerals by the removing of overburden and removal of the minerals thereby exposed or the removal of minerals naturally exposed at the earth's surface where such minerals are to be used for commercial, industrial or construction purposes. The term "surface mining" shall have the same meaning.

"Use" means the nature of the occupancy, the type of activity, or the character and form of improvements to which land is devoted or may be devoted.

"Variance" means an adjustment in the application of the specific regulations of this title to a particular piece of property which property, because of special circumstances applicable to it, is deprived of privileges commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same vicinity and zone and which adjustment remedies disparity in privileges.

"Wind turbine," types of:

1.

"Commercial wind turbine" means a turbine capable of generating greater than twenty-five kilowatts of power.

2.

"Residential wind turbine" means a turbine capable of generating no greater than twenty-five kilowatts of power.

"Yard" means an open space, other than a court, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except for certain exceptions specified in this title.

"Zone" means an area accurately defined as to boundaries and location, and classified by this title as available for certain types of uses and within which other types of uses are excluded.

(Ord. 333 (part), 2005: Ord. 306 (part), 2003; Ord. 299 § 1, 2002; Ord. 291 § 1, 2001: Ord. 242 (part), 1998; Ord. 241 §§ 13.02.010—13.02.980, 1998)

(Ord. No. 410, § 2, 3-17-2014; Ord. No. 469, § 1, 3-22-2022; Ord. No. 482, § 1, 3-14-2023; Ord. No. 486, § 8, 8-22-2023)