a.

Word Usage.

For the purpose of this ordinance certain terms and words are hereby defined:

i.

Words used in the present tense shall include the future tense.

ii.

Words in the singular number include the plural number, and words in the plural number include the singular number.

iii.

The word "building" shall include the words "structure" and "premises."

iv.

The word "shall" is mandatory.

v.

The word "may" is permissive.

vi.

The word "person" includes a firm, organization, association, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as an individual.

vii.

The words "used" or "occupied" include the words "intended," "designed," or "arranged" to be used or "occupied."

viii.

The word "lot" includes the words "plot," "tract," or "parcel."

b.

Definitions.

(1)

ACCESSORY BUILDING: A subordinate building which is incidental to and customary in connection with the principal building or use and located on the same lot.

(2)

ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT: Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are small, self-contained living units that have their own kitchen, bedroom(s), and bathroom space. Often called granny flats, elder cottage housing opportunities (ECHO), mother-daughter residences, or secondary dwelling units, ADUs are apartments that can be located within the walls of an existing or newly constructed single-family home or can be an addition to an existing home. They can also be freestanding cottages on the same lot as the principal dwelling unit or a conversion of a garage or barn.

(3)

ACCESSORY USE: A subordinate use which is incidental to and customary in connection with the principal building or use and located on the same lot.

(4)

APARTMENT HOUSE: Same as Dwelling, Multiple.

(5)

BAIL BOND AGENCY: A facility that houses the operations of licensed bail bond agents as defined by state law.

(6)

BASEMENT: A story having one-half or more of its height below grade.

(7)

BOARDING HOUSE: Same as Rooming house.

(8)

BUILDING: Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls built for the support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind, but not including any vehicle, trailer (with or without wheels) nor any movable device, such as furniture, machinery, or equipment.

(9)

BUILDING LINE: That line, between which and the street right of-way line, no building or part thereof, may be erected, except as provided in these regulations.

(10)

BUILDING OFFICIAL: The individual designated by the City of Hernando to administer and enforce the regulations of the building code and certain provisions of this Zoning Ordinance.

(11)

BUILDING, HEIGHT OF: The vertical distance from the grade (as defined herein) to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, or to the top deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

(12)

CANNABIS CULTIVATION FACILITY: Means a business entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that acquires, grows, cultivates and harvests medical cannabis in an indoor, enclosed, locked and secure area. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line.

(13)

CANNABIS DISPOSAL ENTITY: A business licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that is involved in the commercial disposal or destruction of medical cannabis. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line.

(14)

CANNABIS PROCESSING FACILITY: A business entity that is licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that: (i) Acquires or intends to acquire cannabis from a cannabis cultivation facility; (ii) Possesses cannabis with the intent to manufacture a cannabis product; (iii) Manufactures or intends to manufacture a cannabis product from unprocessed cannabis or a cannabis extract; and or intends to sell a cannabis product to a medical cannabis dispensary, cannabis testing facility or cannabis research facility. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line.

(15)

CANNABIS RESEARCH FACILITY or RESEARCH FACILITY: A research facility at any university or college in this state or an independent entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health pursuant to this chapter that acquires cannabis from cannabis cultivation facilities and cannabis processing facilities in order to research cannabis, develop best practices for specific medical conditions, develop medicines and provide commercial access for medical use. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line.

(16)

CANNABIS TESTING FACILITY or TESTING FACILITY: An independent entity licensed and registered by the 260 Mississippi Department of Health that analyzes the safety and potency of cannabis. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line.

(17)

CANNABIS TRANSPORTATION ENTITY: An independent entity licensed and registered by the Mississippi Department of Health that is involved in the commercial transportation of medical cannabis. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line.

(18)

CELLAR: Same as Basement.

(19)

CHURCH: A building used principally for religious worship, but the word church shall not include or mean an undertakers chapel, funeral building, religious educational institution or parochial school or day care center.

(20)

CITY OF HERNANDO: The Mayor and Board of Aldermen for the City of Hernando.

(21)

CLINIC: A facility wherein professional services concerning personal health of humans are administered by medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors, osteopaths, optometrists, or any other such profession which may lawfully be practiced in the State of Mississippi. Persons therein shall not be lodged overnight.

(22)

CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT: A development pattern for residential subdivisions that permits a reduction in lot area and bulk requirements, provided there is no increase in the number of lots permitted under a conventional subdivision and the resultant land area is devoted to open space.

(23)

COMMISSION: The Planning Commission of City of Hernando, Mississippi.

(24)

CONDITIONAL USE: A conditional use is a use that would not be appropriate generally or without restriction throughout the zoning district but which, if controlled as to number, area, location, or relation to the neighborhood, would promote the public health, safety, morals, order, comfort, convenience, appearance, prosperity, or general welfare. Such uses may be permitted in such zoning districts as conditional uses, if specific provisions for such conditional use is made in this zoning ordinance.

(25)

CONDOMINIUM: The ownership of single units in a multi-unit structure with common areas and facilities.

(26)

COUNTRY STORE: A Neighborhood type retail service establishment or general store and filling station.

(27)

DAY CARE CENTER: A place which provides shelter and personal care on a regular basis for six or more children who are not related within the third degree computed according to civil law to the operator, for four or more hours of any part of twenty-four hour day, whether such place be organized or operated for profit or not. The term "day care center" includes child care facility, kindergarten, nurseries or any other facility that falls within the scope of the definitions set forth above, regardless of auspices.

(28)

DENSITY: The number of dwelling units per acre of gross land area.

(29)

DISTRICT: A section or sections of City of Hernando for which the regulations governing the use of buildings and premises or the height and area of buildings are uniform.

(30)

DWELLING: Any building or portion thereof designed or used as the residence of one (1) or more persons, but not including a tent, cabin, travel trailer, or a room in a hotel, motel or boarding house.

(31)

DWELLING, MANUFACTURED HOME: A factory-built, single-family structure that is manufactured under the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, is transportable in one or more sections, is built on a permanent chassis, and is used as a place of human habitation, but which is not constructed with a permanent hitch or other device allowing transport of the unit other than for the purpose of delivery to a permanent site, and which does not have wheels or axles permanently attached to its body or frame. It must be permanently connected to utilities, and used for year-round occupancy. It may consist of two or more components that can be separated when transported but designed to be joined into one integral unit.

(32)

DWELLING, MOBILE HOME: A dwelling, constructed prior to June 15, 1976, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. It does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers. A mobile home by this definition does not qualify as a manufactured housing unit. Mobile homes are not permitted in the City of Hernando.

(33)

DWELLING, MULTIPLE FAMILY: A building designed or occupied by more than two families living independently of each other.

(34)

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY ATTACHED: A dwelling designed for and occupied by not more than one family having a wall in common with one other dwelling unit but located on a separate lot.

(35)

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED: A dwelling designed for and occupied by not more than one family which does not have any roof wall or floor in common with any other dwelling unit.

(36)

DWELLING, TWO FAMILY: A building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other, and being located on a single lot.

(37)

DWELLING UNIT: One room or rooms connected together, constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment for owner occupancy, or rental or lease on a weekly, monthly, or longer basis, and physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure, and containing independent cooking, sleeping and bathroom facilities.

(38)

FAMILY: One or more individuals occupying a dwelling unit and living as a single household unit but not exceeding four unrelated persons.

(39)

FARM: An area of more than 10 acres located outside a recorded subdivision which is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruit, trees, hay, cotton, and grain, and their storage on the area, as well as the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals, such as horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and swine, and including dairy farms. The term "farming" includes the operating of such an area for one or more of the above uses with the necessary accessory uses for treating or storing the produce provided, however, that the operation of such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal farming activities, and provided further that farming does not include the extraction of minerals, the feeding of collected garbage or offal to swine or other animals or intensive livestock raising, such as commercial feed lots, large batteries of rabbit hutches, or poultry lots or coops.

(40)

FARM BUILDING OR STRUCTURE: Any building or structure upon a farm having no dwelling facilities and constituting a necessary accessory building or structure for treating, processing, storing, and assembling of farm produce or products associated with farm production, and/or the storage and maintenance of tools and/or implements involved in normal farming activities conducted on the farm.

(41)

FILLING STATION OR SERVICE STATION: Any building or premises where the principal use is for the retail sale of motor vehicle fuels, oils, or accessories, or for servicing or lubricating motor vehicles or installing or repairing parts and accessories, but not including the repairing or replacement of motors or other major parts, bodies, or fenders of motor vehicles, or painting motor vehicles. The term does not include public garages.

(42)

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION OR FINANCIAL SERVICES ESTABLISHMENT: An establishment that is engaged in the business of a bank, savings and loan association, or credit union that is regulated by state or federal authority. Such establishment includes, without limitation, an office building or portion thereof devoted to such use, a drive-up facility, and a facility containing one or more automated teller machines.

(43)

FLEA MARKET: Market held in an open area or structure where groups of individual sellers offer goods for sale to the public.

(44)

FLOOR AREA: The total number of square feet of floor space within the exterior walls of a building, not including unheated space in cellars or basements; however, if the cellar or basement is used for business or commercial purposes, it shall be counted as floor area in computing off-street parking requirements.

(45)

FLOOD HAZARD BOUNDARY MAP: An official map or plot of an area, issued or approved by the Federal Insurance Administrator, on which the boundaries of the flood-prone areas having special hazards have been drawn.

(46)

FLOOD, 100-YEAR: The highest level of flooding that, on the average, is likely to occur once every one hundred (100) years (i.e. that has one (l) percent chance of occurring each year).

(47)

FLOODWAY: The channel of a watercourse and portions of the flood plain adjoining the channel, which are reasonably required to carry and discharge the floodwater of any natural stream or river.

(48)

GARAGE, PRIVATE: An accessory building or an accessory portion of the principal building, including a carport, which is intended for and used for storing the privately owned motor vehicles, boats, and trailers of the family or families resident upon the premises, and in which no business, service or industry is carried on.

(49)

GARAGE, PUBLIC: Any building or premises, except those used as private or storage garages, used for equipping, repairing, hiring, selling, or storing motor-driven vehicles. The term repairing shall not include the rebuilding, dismantling, or storage of wrecked or junked vehicles.

(50)

GARAGE, STORAGE: Any building or premises, used for housing only motor-driven vehicles, other than trucks and commercial vehicles, pursuant to previous arrangements for storage and not open to transients, and at which automobile fuels and oils are not sold and motor driven vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired, or sold.

(51)

GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Hernando 2027 General Development Plan for City of Hernando Mississippi.

(52)

GRADE: The average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building, except when any wall approximately parallels and is not more than five feet from a road line, then the elevation of the road at the center of the wall adjoining the road shall be the grade.

(53)

HOME OCCUPATION: An occupation conducted in a dwelling unit.

(54)

HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION: A community association which is organized in a development in which individual owners share common interests in common property such as open space or facilities, manages and maintains the common property, and enforces certain covenants and restrictions.

(55)

HOTEL: A building in which overnight lodging is provided and offered to the public for compensation, and which is open to transient guests, in contradistinction, to a boarding house or lodging house as herein defined.

(56)

INSTITUTION: A building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit establishment for public use.

(57)

JUNK CAR: Any motor vehicle which does not have a current inspection sticker or is obviously in such condition as to be considered inoperable.

(58)

JUNK YARD: A parcel of land upon which the principal or accessory use is the accumulation of used, discarded, or worn out materials, or manufactured products, any of which may or may not be reusable or salable.

(59)

KENNEL: An establishment where dogs or other pets are boarded for compensation or bred or raised on a commercial scale.

(60)

LOADING SPACE: Space logically and conveniently located for bulk pickups and deliveries, scaled to delivery vehicles expected to be used, and accessible to such vehicles when required off-street parking spaces are filled. Required off-street loading space is not to be included as off-street parking space in computation of required off-street parking space.

(61)

LODGING HOUSE: Same as Rooming house.

(62)

LOT: For purposes of this ordinance, a lot is a parcel of land of at least sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage, and area, and to provide such yards and other open spaces as are herein required. Such lot shall have frontage on a public right-of-way, public road, public street or approved private driveway, and shall consist of a single lot of record or a portion of a lot of record.

(63)

LOT FRONTAGE: The front of a lot shall be construed to be the portion nearest the street. For the purposes of determining yard requirements on corner lots and double frontage lots, all sides of a lot adjacent to streets shall be considered frontage, and yards shall be provided as indicated in this ordinance.

(64)

LOT, AREA: The total area within the lot lines of a lot including land area within easements and excluding any street rights-of-way.

(65)

LOT, CORNER: A lot abutting upon two or more streets or roads at their intersection.

(66)

LOT, DEPTH OF: The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

(67)

LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE: A lot having frontage on two non-intersecting roads, as distinguished from a corner lot.

(68)

LOT LINE, FRONT: The property line separating the lot from a street right-of-way. In the case of a corner lot each line separating such lot from the street shall be considered a front lot line.

(69)

LOT LINE, REAR: The lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line of the lot. In the case of a corner lot the line opposite the front of the house shall be considered the rear lot line.

(70)

LOT LINE, SIDE: Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street is considered a front lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from another lot or lots is called an interior side lot line.

(71)

LOT LINES: The property lines bounding the lot.

(72)

LOT OF RECORD: A lot or parcel of land, the deed or plat of which has been recorded in the office of the Chancery Clerk of DeSoto County, in compliance with all regulations and ordinances of City of Hernando at the time of its recording.

(73)

LOT WIDTH: The width of a lot at the building line. Buildable width is the width of lot left to be built upon after the side yards are provided.

(74)

LOUNGE, BAR OR TAVERN: A business which serves liquor, beer, or wine to be consumed on the premises without a meal and which may also provide entertainment in the form of live or recorded music, bands, singers, piano players, dancing, floor shows and the like.

(75)

MANUFACTURED HOME PARK: A single lot area where two or more manufactured homes can be or are intended to be parked, designed, or intended to be used as living facilities for two or more families.

(76)

MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY or DISPENSARY: An entity licensed and registered with the MDOR that acquires, possesses, stores, transfers, sells, supplies or dispenses medical cannabis, equipment used for medical cannabis, or related supplies and educational materials to cardholders. The business shall be located in an area that is in accordance with all applicable state laws, outside the historic district, and at least 500 feet from the Desoto County Courthouse, measured parcel line to parcel line. Additionally, the allowable hours of operation shall be 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

(77)

MOBILE FOOD VENDOR: means any person who sells food and/or beverages from a mobile pushcart or motorized mobile food preparation vehicle.

(78)

MOBILE FOOD VENDOR PARK: A food truck park is a permanently established area designed to accommodate up to ten (10) food trucks and offering food and/or beverages for sale.

(79)

MODULAR HOME (PANELIZED HOME): A home constructed to factory-produced components, including wall panels of open or closed construction and not involving a permanent or temporary steel chassis. Open wall panels are wall sections containing exterior sheathing only, with necessary plumbing, electrical, heating, air conditioning, insulation, and interior sheathing installed at the building site. Closed wall panels are shipped from the factory as complete wall units containing necessary electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, insulation, interior, and exterior sheathing installed and connected at the site. All service systems and connections as well as construction must comply with all local and state codes and ordinances.

(80)

MOTEL, MOTOR COURT, MOTOR LODGE, OR TOURIST COURT: Any building or group of buildings containing guest rooms or dwelling units, some or all of which have a separate entrance leading directly from the outside of the building with garage or parking space conveniently located on the lot, and designated, used or intended wholly or in part for the accommodation of overnight lodging of automobile transients.

(81)

NON-CONFORMING USE: Any building or land lawfully occupied by a use at the time of passage of this ordinance or amendment thereto which does not conform after the passage of this ordinance or amendment thereto with the use regulations or dimension regulations of the district in which it is situated. Uses established after the passage of this ordinance which are in violation of this ordinance are illegal uses and shall not be given the status of nonconforming uses.

(82)

NURSING HOME: A home for the aged or infirmed, in which three or more persons not of the immediate family are received, kept, or provided with food and shelter or care, for compensation, but not including hospitals, clinics, or similar institutions.

(83)

PARKING SPACE: An area enclosed, intended for the purpose of storing one automobile and which shall be not less than nine feet wide and 20 feet long.

(84)

PATIO: An uncovered area, improved with concrete, brick, or other hard surface, adjacent to a dwelling and used by occupants of the dwelling for leisure time activities but not used for vehicle parking or storage.

(85)

PATTERN BOOK: A building guide that illustrates key components of building design such as the shape of windows and doors, roof pitches, eave details, column details, dormer details, and types of porches that are appropriate for that style.

(85.1)

PLACE OF PUBLIC ASSEMBLY OR "ASSEMBLY HALL" shall mean a building or portion of a building used for the gathering together of 50 or more persons for such purposes as deliberation, education, instruction, worship.

(86)

PREFABRICATED BUILDING: A substantially completed permanent structure of which the structural or sub-assemblies are constructed off site, transported to the site and erected on a permanent foundation.

(87)

PREMISES: A lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.

(88)

PUBLIC SERVICE FACILITY: Any facility necessary with the operation and/or maintenance of a local governmental unit or a public utility as defined by the laws of the State of Mississippi.

(89)

RESTAURANT: An establishment where complete meals are prepared, served and where beverages are customarily served to be consumed with the meal. These activities are primarily within the principal building.

(90)

RESTAURANT, CARRY OUT: An establishment which by design of physical facilities or by service or packaging procedures permits or encourages the purchase of prepared ready-to-eat foods intended primarily to be consumed off the premises, and where the consumption of food in motor vehicles on the premises is not permitted or not encouraged.

(91)

RESTAURANT, DRIVE-IN: An establishment where food is sold in a form ready for consumption and where all or a significant portion of the consumption takes place or is designed to take place outside the confines of the building, often in a motor vehicle on the site.

(92)

RETAIL-SERVICE TRUCK ROUTE CENTER: An establishment engaged in transporting goods to other business enterprises, including parking and repair of vehicles used in providing such service.

(93)

ROADSIDE STAND: A temporary structure with a floor area of not more than 400 square feet, enclosed, or partially enclosed, and so designed and constructed that the structure is easily portable.

(94)

ROOMING HOUSE: A building or place where lodging is provided (or which is equipped regularly to provide lodging by pre-arrangement for definite periods), for compensation, for five or more, but not exceeding 12 individuals, not open to transient guests, in contra-distinction to hotels open to transients including group houses and halfway houses.

(95)

SHOPPING CENTER: A group of commercial establishments, planned, developed, owned, and managed as a unit, with off street parking provided on the property.

(96)

SHORT-TERM LOAN ESTABLISHMENTS: A business engaged in providing short-term loans to members of the general public as an element of its operation and which is not licensed by the appropriate state or federal agency as a bank, savings and loan association, or credit union. Short-Term Loan Establishments shall include businesses offering title loans, payday loans, signature loans, small loans, pawnshops, and other similar businesses.

(97)

SIGNS: (See Sign Regulation Definitions).

(98)

STORY: That portion of a building, other than a basement or cellar, included between the surface of any floor and surface of the floor next above it or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

(99)

STORY, HALF: A space under a sloping roof or in a basement in which not more than 60 per cent of the floor area is finished off for use.

(100)

STREET OR HIGHWAY: A public right-of-way which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

(101)

STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground.

(102)

STRUCTURAL ALTERATION: Any change except those required by law, that would alter the life of the supporting members of a building or structure, such as the bearing walls, columns, beams or girders, not including openings in bearing walls as permitted by other resolutions.

(103)

TERRACE: Same as Patio.

(104)

TOWN HOUSE: A single-family dwelling forming one of a group or series of three or more attached single-family dwellings separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows, or other provisions for human passage or visibility through such walls from basement or cellar to roof, and having roofs which may extend from one of the dwelling units to another.

(105)

TRAVEL PARK: A lot or parcel of land upon which five or more spaces are occupied or intended for occupancy by recreational vehicles designed for travel, recreation, and vacation uses.

(106)

UTILITY SUBSTATION: A facility containing high voltage electrical equipment, transformers or specialized transmission facilities for gas, water, sewer or other public utilities enclosed in a single area and connected to a transmission network.

(107)

VARIANCE: A variance is a relaxation of the terms of the zoning ordinance where such variance will not be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of actions of the applicant, a literal enforcement of the ordinance would result in unnecessary and undue hardship.

(108)

WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITIES: Wireless Communication Facilities shall include all buildings, cabinets, structures and facilities, including generating and switching stations, repeaters, antennas, transmitters, receivers, towers, relating to the low power mobile voice transmission, data transmission, video transmission, and radio transmission, or wireless transmission; accomplished by linking a wireless network of radio wave transmission devices (including, but not limited to wire, cable, fiber optics, laser, microwave, radio, satellite, portable phones, pagers, mobile phones, or similar facilities) to conventional ground-wired communications systems (including, but not limited to telephone lines, video, and/or microwave transmission) through a series of short range, contiguous cells that are part of an evolving cell grid. This includes all facilities to aid in "personal wireless services" as defined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which includes Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensed commercial wireless telecommunication services including cellular, personal communications services (PCS), specialized mobile radio (SMR), enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR), paging, and similar services that currently exist or that may in the future be developed.

(109)

YARD: An open space on the same lot with a building unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of the structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this ordinance.

(110)

YARD, FRONT: A yard across the full width of the lot extending from the front line of the main building to the front line of the lot.

(111)

YARD, REAR: A yard extending the full width of the lot between a main building and the rear lot line.

(112)

YARD, SIDE: A yard between the main building and the side line of the lot, and extending from the front yard line to the rear yard line.

(113)

ZERO LOT LINE: A development approach in which a building is located on a lot in such a manner that one or more of the building's sides rest directly on a lot line.

(Ord. of 6-21-2022(1); Ord. of 6-21-2022(2); Ord. of 7-20-2023; Ord. of 8-20-2024(1))