A.

This chapter defines certain words and terms as they are used in this title.

B.

General.

1.

Words used in the present tense include the future;

2.

The singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular;

3.

The words "shall" and "will" are mandatory;

4.

The word "may" is permissive;

5.

The word "should" is a preferred alternative;

6.

The word "lot" shall include the words "plot," "piece," "tract" and "parcel."

"Accessory dwelling unit" or ADU means a separate dwelling unit within or attached to a single-family dwelling, a separate dwelling unit that occupies an accessory building located on the same lot as a single-family dwelling, or a detached dwelling unit located on the same lot as a single-family dwelling. Accessory dwelling units shall be located in a structure that is permanently located on the ground.

"Affordable housing" means housing for individuals or families earning less than one hundred twenty (120) percent of the area median income (AMI) for ownership housing and eighty (80) percent AMI for rental housing.

"Agriculture" means the production of food, feed and fiber commodities, livestock and poultry, bees, fruits and vegetables and sod, ornamental, nursery and horticultural crops that are raised, grown or produced for commercial purposes or the raising of wildlife in domestication or a captive environment. For the purpose of this Hamilton Municipal Code, Title 17, agriculture does not include feed lot operations.

"Airport" or "airstrip" means a place, on either land or water, where aircraft may land and take off, discharge or receive cargo and passengers, make repairs and take on fuel.

Alcoholic beverage establishment on-site - see "on-site alcoholic beverage establishments".

"Alley" means a dedicated right-of-way set aside for vehicular traffic, entering or going through a city block. Minimum width is twenty (20) feet.

"Apartment" means a room or suite of rooms which include bath and kitchen accommodations, intended or designed to be used as an independent residence by an individual or family.

"Block" means a parcel of land bounded on all sides by streets, railroads and or physical barriers such as bodies of water.

"Boarding house" means a building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by prearrangement, meals and lodging are provided for two to ten persons.

"Building" means a structure having walls and a roof, permanently located on the ground, either directly or by being attached to a structure located on the ground. Separate parts of a building divided by an unpierced wall shall be deemed separate buildings.

Buildings, accessory. "Accessory building" means a subordinate building on the same lot, occupied by or devoted to a use incidental to the main use. Any building, garage, storage shed, greenhouse or any other structure other than the main dwelling unit that is not attached or connected to the main dwelling unit.

"Building area" means that portion of the lot that may be occupied by buildings after setback and open space requirements are met.

"Building height" means the vertical distance from the average elevation of the proposed final grade at the front of a building to the highest point of a flat roof, or the deck of a mansard roof or the mean height between the eaves and the ridge.

Building, main. "Main building" means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot where it is located.

"Building site" means a parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by uses and structures and which abuts a public street, road or highway or a private road which conforms to approved standards.

"Casino" means a business whose purpose is gambling and has fifteen (15) or more gambling machines.

"Common area" means those areas within the property of an association of unit owners of town homes pursuant to MCA 70-23-101, et seq., but which are not under the individual private ownership of one unit owner. Common areas include landscaped areas other than patios of individual units.

"Community center" means a building designed and used for recreational or social assemblies or for educational, health or welfare purposes (public or private).

"Community residential facility" means a community group home for developmentally disabled persons which does not provide skilled or intermediate nursing care, a youth foster home or youth group home as defined in Section 52-2-602 of Montana Code Annotated, a halfway house operated in accordance with regulations of the department of health and environmental sciences for the rehabilitation of alcoholics or drug dependent persons or a licensed adult foster family care home.

"Conditional use structure" means a structure not allowed in a district as a matter of right, but which is allowed upon findings of the zoning board of adjustment that such use is in harmony with the principal uses of the district.

"Conditional use" means a use not allowed in a district as a matter of right, but which is allowed upon findings of the zoning board of adjustment that such use is in harmony with the principal uses of the district.

"Condominium" means a form of dwelling in which an independently owned unit is located in a building and on land, both of which are commonly owned, usually by a homeowners' association. Includes similar units used for business purposes. Condominiums shall only be established as a part of a planned unit development.

"Corner frontage" means property that fronts two intersecting streets.

"Day care or pre-school" has the meaning set forth in Montana Code Annotated Section 52-2-703.

"Director of public works" or "community development" means the city employee who manages the department of public works and community development department.

"Double frontage" means property that fronts two parallel streets.

"Downtown core business area." That area of downtown Hamilton which is bounded on the east beginning at Highway 93 (First Street) at the intersection of State Street, then north to Cherry Street, then westerly to the alley between Highway 93 and Second Street, then northerly to Pine Street, then westerly to Fourth Street, then southerly to Pinckney Street, then westerly to Fifth Street, then southerly to State Street, then easterly to the alley between Third Street and Fourth Street, then southerly to Bedford Street, then easterly to Second Street, then northerly to State Street, then easterly to the point of beginning at Highway 93 (First Street).

"Dwelling" means a building, or portion thereof, used for residential purposes providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, that meets the requirements of the city's adopted International Building Code. Dwellings do not include hotels or motels.

"Dwelling, single-family" or "single-family dwelling" means a building with one individual residential unit.

"Dwelling, multiple-family" or "multiple-family dwelling" means a building or portion of a building with two or more individual residential units, or residential condominiums, or townhouses.

"Easement" means the right to use property owned by another for specific purposes.

"Educational services" includes but are not limited to occupations that are concerned with imparting knowledge of the arts, sciences or other fields of learning or of physical activities; or with teaching, advising or instructing others in any of these fields or in vocations. It includes but is not limited to educational institutions, medical and vocational schools, tutorial services, public or private, nonprofit or for profit schools, religious schools, athletic training, dance schools, Braille institutes, clinic consultants, child development centers, preschools, driving schools, music instruction, correspondence schools and art schools.

"Factory built building" means State of Montana approved factory built buildings or other type of prefabricated housing unit built under the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 and bearing the appropriate certification of inspection from the department of housing and urban development. Factory built buildings require certification from the manufacturer that the building was built in accordance with the approved plans.

"Family" means one or more persons occupying a dwelling unit as a single, nonprofit, housekeeping organization.

"Feed lot operation" means an enterprise in which fifty (50) or more cattle, swine, sheep, horses or similar livestock are fed and fattened for market and where sixty (60) percent or more of the feed is imported or purchased.

"Fence" means a structure constructed of wood, metal, block, brick, stone or any other material other than natural vegetation to create a barrier.

"Fence, sight obstructing" means any fence structure where the fence material obstructs twenty-five (25) percent or more of the clear visibility through the fence.

"Fence, nonobstructing" means any fence structure where the fence material obstructs twenty-five (25) percent or less of the clear visibility though the fence.

"Financial services" includes but is not limited to occupations in financial organizations, including banks and trust companies, mortgage associations, savings and loan associations, credit unions, personal finance companies, foreign exchange establishments, security and commodity-contract dealerships, investment brokerage firms, exchanges, tax consultants and accounting firms.

"Frontage" means that lot with a linear distance along a dedicated road, street, highway or right-of-way which is used to provide the primary means of access to a lot.

"Garage, public" or "public garage" means a building or portion of a building, other than a repair garage, used for paid storage or hire of motor vehicles; the sale of gasoline, oil and accessories is incidental to the principal use.

"Governing body" means the Hamilton city council or its designee.

"Grandfather," "grandfathered," or "grandfathering" are terms to describe a pre-existing condition that fails to conform to current federal, state or city regulations. A pre-existing or nonconforming condition may remain until such time as a change or alteration is made to the nonconforming condition. If the item cannot be brought into compliance with current regulations, a new variance or conditional use permit would be required.

"Group home" has the meaning set forth in Montana Code Annotated Sections 53-20-302 and 52-2-602.

"Health related services" includes but is not limited to holistic medicine and natural food stores, acupuncturists, acupressure and massage therapy, chiropractor offices and naturopathic doctor's offices.

"Home occupation" means a for-profit activity carried on in a dwelling as a use subordinated to the primary use.

"Hospital" means a licensed institution where sick or injured persons receive medical care.

"Hotel" means a building with ten or more sleeping rooms which are provided to transient guests for compensation.

"Junk yard" means land or buildings where waste or discarded or salvaged materials are brought, sold, stored, exchanged, cleaned, packed, disassembled or handled.

"Kennel" means a place where six or more domestic animals are kept, whether as pets or commercially.

"Landscaping" means natural vegetation or any combination of natural and man-made materials intended to enhance the appearance or mitigate the adverse effects of the use of a property.

"Livestock" means cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, asses, llamas, alpacas, bison, ostriches, rheas, emus and domestic ungulates.

"Lodging house" means a building where lodging is provided for three to nine persons by prearrangement and for compensation.

"Lot" means a parcel of land in a subdivision or a parcel of deeded land for which the subdivision map or the deed is recorded in the office of the county clerk and recorder.

"Lot, corner" or "corner lot" means a lot located at the intersection of two streets or a lot bounded on two sides by a curving street, two cords of which form an interior angle of one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees or less.

"Lot coverage" means the area of a lot occupied by the main building or buildings and accessory buildings.

"Lot, double frontage" or "double frontage lot" means an interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.

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

"Lot, frontage." Required "lot frontage" is measured at the front setback as required for the zoning district. Cul-de-sac lots and knuckle lots shall permit a reduction of lot width at the front property line not to exceed fifteen (15) feet.

"Lot, interior" or "interior lot" means a lot other than a corner lot.

"Lot width" means the distance between the side lot lines measured at right angles to the lot depth at the established front building line.

"Manufactured home" means a residential dwelling built in a factory in accordance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Code and the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. A manufactured home does not include a mobile home, as defined in Section 15-24-201, a house trailer as defined in Section 15-24-201 or a mobile home or house trailer constructed before the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards went into effect on June 15, 1976.

"Marijuana" has the meaning set forth in Montana Code Annotated 16-12-102.

"Marijuana business" means a marijuana cultivator, manufacturer, dispensary, combined-use licensee, testing laboratory, transporter, or any other business or function that is licensed by the state.

"Marijuana cultivator" means a use operated by a person licensed by the State of Montana to plant, cultivate, grow, harvest, and dry marijuana; or package and relabel marijuana produced at the location in a natural or naturally dried form that has not been converted, concentrated, or compounded for sale through a licensed dispensary.

"Marijuana dispensary" means a registered premises from which a person or entity licensed by the State of Montana may obtain marijuana or marijuana products from a licensed cultivator, manufacturer, dispensary, or other licensee approved by the state; and sell marijuana or marijuana products to registered cardholders, adults that are 21 years of age, or both.

"Marijuana manufacturer" means a use operated by a person licensed by the State of Montana to convert or compound marijuana into marijuana products, marijuana concentrates, or marijuana extract and package, repackage, label, or relabel marijuana products.

"Marijuana product" means a product that contains marijuana and is intended for use by a consumer by a means other than smoking. The term includes but is not limited to edible products, ointments, tinctures, marijuana derivatives, and marijuana concentrates.

"Marijuana testing laboratory" means the qualified person licensed by the state that provides testing of representative samples of marijuana and marijuana products; and provides information regarding the chemical composition and potency of a sample, as well as the presence of molds, pesticides, or other contaminants in a sample.

"Marijuana transporter" means a person that is licensed to transport marijuana and marijuana products from one marijuana business to another marijuana business, or to and from a testing laboratory, and to temporarily store the transported retail marijuana and retail marijuana products at its licensed premises, but is not authorized to sell marijuana or marijuana products to consumers under any circumstances.

"Medical services" includes but is not limited to professional occupations concerned with treating and caring for sick and injured persons and animals. It includes but is not limited to medical facilities, hospitals, sanitariums, clinics, doctor's offices, dentist offices, pharmacies, medical supplies and equipment, medical research, medical and dental related experimental and testing laboratories, emergency medical services, ambulance services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, rehabilitation facilities, immunology and serology laboratories, blood banks, nursing services, medical house keeping services, midwifery offices, prosthetic supplies, imagery centers, dietetics, optical and ophthalmological services, and veterinarian services including laboratories, veterinary bacteriology, parasitology and pharmacology.

"Mini-storage units" or "storage units" means a multiple storage building, usually attached with common walls, available for leasing.

"Mobile home" means forms of housing known as "trailers," "house trailers" or "trailer coaches" eight feet or more in width or forty-five (45) feet or more in length, designed to be moved from one place to another by an independent power connected to them.

"Mobile home park" means five acres of land or more upon which two or more mobile homes, occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes, are located, regardless of whether a charge is made for such accommodation.

"Motel" means a group of attached or detached buildings containing individual sleeping units for transient guests where a majority of such units open individually and directly to the outside or to an interior corridor and where parking is located on the premises.

"Nonconforming use" means a use of a building or land which was lawful when the use started, but which no longer conforms to the uses allowed in the district in which it is located.

"Nursing home" or "convalescent home" means a facility used for the care of the aged or infirm. Services provided do not include surgical care for treatment of disease or injury.

"On-site alcoholic beverage establishments" means those establishments under Montana law, which permit the on-site sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, including but not limited to cabarets, taverns and cocktail establishments.

"Personal service facility" means a retail establishment where cleaning, maintenance or repair of clothing is done, or where services to improve personal physical appearance are performed.

"Planned unit development" means a land development project in which flexible and efficient use of land and services is encouraged while preserving and enhancing open space and natural or historical features. Such development may include public, commercial and/or residential uses.

"Pre-school" — see "day care or pre-school".

"Recreational vehicle (RV)" means a vehicular unit eight feet or less in width, designed as temporary living quarters for recreational camping or travel use, and operated under its own motive power or mounted on or drawn by another vehicle. Includes travel trailer, camping trailer, truck camper and motor home.

"Restaurant" means an establishment serving food and beverages, including but not limited to coffee shop, cafeteria, short order cafe, luncheonette, grille, tearoom, sandwich shop, soda fountain, tavern, bar, cocktail lounge or similar place where food and drink is prepared, served or provided to the public with or without charge.

"Right-of-way" means a strip of land publicly owned by the city that various types of city infrastructure may be constructed within (i.e., sidewalks, curbs, gutters, streets, boulevards, water mains, sewer mains, storm drains, street lights. This list of examples is not all inclusive.

"RV park" means a site used for temporary parking of motor homes, travel trailers or tents.

"Service station" means a building or premises where automobile fuels, lubrication oil or grease, tires, batteries or minor automobile accessories are sold and/or installed, except when such sales and services are incidental to the conduct of a public garage.

"Setback" means the required distance between lot lines and any structures as established by the regulations for each zoning district.

"Short-term rental" means a building or part of a building that is rented by or on behalf of the owner to the general public for compensation for transient guests.

"Sign" means any advertising device designed to inform or to draw attention to goods and/or services available.

"Special use" means a use which, because of its unique or varying characteristics, cannot properly be classified as an allowed use in a particular zone district. Special uses are contingent uses which may or may not be appropriate in a particular location depending on the nature of the proposed special use, its relationship to the surrounding land uses and its impacts on traffic capacities, potential environmental effects, compatibility with the neighborhood, and conformance to adopted policies, guidelines, plans and regulations of the City of Hamilton.

"Story" means that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor above, or if there is no floor above, the space between the surface of any floor and the ceiling above. A basement is considered a story if the distance measured between the established floor and the ceiling is six feet or more.

"Street" means any public or private surfaced or unsurfaced thoroughfare that provides vehicular movement.

"Street" means a public-owned thoroughfare that provides vehicle movement.

"Street, primary" or "primary street" means the public street and/or private street of which the main building's main entrance faces.

"Street, private" or "private street" means a privately owned thoroughfare that provides vehicle movement.

"Structure" means anything constructed or erected, and permanently located on the ground either directly or by being attached to a structure located on the ground. A structure is not necessarily a building, but a building is a structure.

"Townhouse" or "townhome" means a form of multiple-family dwelling in which the owner of each dwelling unit owns the land underneath the unit in addition to sharing in joint ownership of the common areas of the development.

"Transient guest" means an occupant who is temporary in nature, staying at one location for twenty-eight (28) days or less.

"Two-family dwelling" means a form of multiple-family dwelling in which two individual living units are within one structure under common ownership.

"Use" means the principal purpose for which land or premises or a structure is designed, arranged, intended, occupied or maintained.

"Use, accessory" or "accessory use" means a use incidental to the principal allowed use of a lot or building located on the same lot.

"Variance" means a deviation from the terms of this Title 17. See section 17.12.070.

"Vehicle broker" means an individual or company who:

a.

Engages in the business of offering to procure or procuring a motor vehicle, a trailer, a semitrailer, a pole trailer, a travel trailer, a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle on behalf of another; or

b.

Represents to the public through solicitation, advertisement, or otherwise that the person is one who offers to procure or procures a motor vehicle, a trailer, a semitrailer, a pole trailer, a travel trailer, a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle by negotiating purchases, contracts, sales, or exchanges on behalf of another and who does not store, display, or take ownership of a motor vehicle, a trailer, a semitrailer, a pole trailer, a travel trailer, a motorboat, a personal watercraft, a snowmobile, or an off-highway vehicle.

"Yard" means the open space unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward by any portion of a structure which is located on the same lot with a building.

"Yard, front" or "front yard" means the open space between the side lot lines and lying between the front property line and the nearest building on the lot.

"Yard, rear" or "rear yard" means the open space between the side lot lines and lying between the rear property line and the nearest building on the lot.

"Yard, side" or "side yard" means the open space between the front and rear property lines and lying between the side property line and the nearest building on the lot.

"Zoned lot" means a legally described parcel that is located within a defined zoning district within the city boundaries.

(Ord. No. 441 , Exh. A, 6-6-23)