(a)

Scope. For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms and words are defined. Words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular number shall include the plural and the plural the singular; the word "building" shall include the word "structure"; and the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this code, have the meanings shown in this chapter.

(b)

Interchangeability. Words stated in the present tense include the future; words stated in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular.

(c)

Terms defined in other codes. Where terms are not defined in this code and are defined in the building or mechanical codes, such terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them as in those codes.

(d)

Terms not defined. Where terms are not defined through the methods authorized by this article, such terms shall have ordinarily accepted meanings such as the context implies.

Accessory building means a subordinate building which is incidental to the principal building or use and which is located on the same lot with such principal building or use.

Accessory use or structure means a use or structure incidental to the principal use of a building and which is located on the same lot with the principal building or use.

Administrator means the city administrator of Houston, Missouri.

Agricultural (farm) use means an area which is used for the growing of typical farm products, such as vegetables, fruits, trees and grain, and their storage on the area, as well as for the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals, such as horses, cattle, sheep, and swine. The term "farming" includes the operating of such an area for one (1) or more of the above uses, including dairy farms, 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, that such land shall consist of at least ten (10) acres in one (1) parcel under common ownership or operation and provided further that farming does not include the feeding of collected garbage or offal to swine or other animals or confined feeding operation.

Alley means a permanent public service way dedicated for or in public use, other than a street, place, road, crosswalk, or easement, and designed to provide a secondary means of access for a special accommodation to the back or side of abutting properties and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Apartment/apartment house. See the definition of "Dwelling, multiple."

Basement means that portion of a building which is partly below and partly above grade and having one-half (½) or more of its height above grade. A basement is counted as a story for the purpose of height regulation if subdivided and used for business or dwelling purposes.

Bed and breakfast means a dwelling containing guest rooms that are intended to be used for sleeping purposes for occasional guests for compensation, whether paid directly or indirectly, in which meals are made available and which dwelling is used as a permanent residence by its owner.

Billboard or sign means an outdoor panel, structure, illustration, or device designed to carry or display a sign or advertisement for the purpose of making anything known including those in which the origin or point of sale is remote from the display. Billboards and signs shall include walls, fences or other structures on which advertising signs may be painted or attached. Billboards shall be deemed to be any sign or structure used or designed for the outdoor display of commercial or noncommercial messages, the sign face (display area, border, and trim) of which exceeds one hundred (100) square feet in area. The term "sign face" shall exclude the sign base, supports or other structural members.

Boarding, lodging or rooming house means a building or place where rooming and lodging, with or without meals, are provided (or which is equipped to regularly provide such services) by prearrangement for definite periods and for compensation, for more than five (5) persons, but not more than twenty (20) persons. A boarding, lodging or rooming house is distinguished from a hotel, which is open to transients and has accommodations for six (6) or more persons.

Buildable width means the width of the lot left to be built upon after the side yards are provided.

Building means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls built for the support or enclosure of persons, animals or tangible property of any kind but not including any vehicle, mobile home (with or without wheels), travel trailer nor any moveable device, such as furniture, machinery, or equipment. When any portion of a building is completely separated from any other portion thereof by division wall constructed in accordance with the building code of the city, then each such portion shall be deemed to be a separate building.

Building area means the area included within surrounding exterior walls (or exterior walls and firewalls) exclusive of vent shafts and courts. Areas of the building not provided with surrounding walls shall be included in the building area if included within the horizontal projection of the roof or floor above.

Height of building 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 mean height level between eaves and the ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

Building official means the designated building official of Houston, Missouri.

Cellar means that portion of a building which is having more than one-half of its height below grade. A cellar shall not be counted as a story for the purpose of height regulation.

Child- or day-care center means any place, home or institution which receives five or more children under the age of seventeen (17) years and not of common parentage, for care apart from their natural parents, legal guardians or custodians, which received for regular periods of time for compensation; provided, however, this definition shall not include public and private schools, organized, operated or approved under the laws of this state; custody of children fixed by a court of competent jurisdiction; children related by blood or marriage within the third degree of the custodial person; or to churches or other religious or public institutions while their parents or legal guardians are attending services, meetings or classes, or are engaged in church activities.

City clerk means the city clerk of Houston, Missouri.

Medical or dental clinic means an establishment where patients, who are not lodged overnight, are admitted for examination and treatment by a group of physicians or dentists practicing medicine or dentistry together.

Club means a building or portion thereof, or premises owned or operated by a corporation, association, person, or persons for a social, educational, recreational, or fraternal purpose but not primarily for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.

Commercial use means generally, any businesses of a commercial nature that has as its primary function the direct sale of goods or services to the public.

Commission means the planning and zoning commission of Houston, Missouri.

Comprehensive plan means an official document adopted by the city setting forth a plan for the physical development of the community, including studies of land use, streets, traffic volume and flow, schools, parks, and other public buildings.

Condominium means a single-dwelling structure intended to be occupied by several single families, and within which each single-family dwelling unit is sold to its occupants as an individually subdivided parcel of the entire structure; a type of building in which the ownership is divided into separate units which may be owned and sold by separate owners.

Drive-in restaurant or café means a restaurant, café, or similar establishment where the facilities or services are designed to permit food or beverages to be consumed on the premises, either inside or outside of the building or in automobiles parked on the premises, or to be purchased and picked up by automobile.

Driveway means a minor private way used by vehicles and pedestrians for common access to a single lot or facility.

Dwelling, attached single-family dwelling. "Attached single-family dwelling" means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family and surrounded by a yard or other separation from buildings or adjacent lots.

Dwelling, multiple or apartment dwelling. "Multiple or apartment dwelling" means a building or portion thereof designed for or occupied by three or more families living independently of each other, exclusive of attached single-family dwellings, own houses, patio houses or condominiums on individually subdivided lots of records.

Dwelling, two-family dwelling. "Two-family dwelling" means a building or portion thereof designed for and occupied by two (2) families living independently of each other, including a duplex or semi-detached dwelling.

Dwelling unit means one (1) or more rooms in a dwelling designed for or intended to be occupied as independent and separate living quarters by a single-family as defined herein, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

Family means one (1) or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption, occupying a dwelling unit as an individual housekeeping organization, and not more than two other persons not related by blood, marriage or adoption and living together as a single housekeeping organization in a dwelling unit.

Filling station means any building or premises used for the sale at retail of motor vehicle fuels, oil, 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, bodies or fenders of motor vehicles, or painting motor vehicles, and excluding public garages.

Floor area means the total number of square feet of floor space within the exterior walls of a building, not including space in cellars, basements, porches, carports, or garages. 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.

Frontage means all the property on one (1) side of a street between two (2) intersecting streets (crossing or terminating), measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead ended, then all the property abutting on one (1) side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street, but not including property more than four hundred (400) feet distant on either side of a proposed building or structure.

Garage, comercial or public. "Commercial or public garage" means a building or structure for the storage or parking of motor-driven vehicles and in which provisions may be made for fueling or normal servicing of such vehicles. The terms "servicing" shall not include an automotive repair shop, nor the rebuilding, dismantling or storage of wrecked or junked vehicles.

Garage, privtate. "Private garage" means a detached accessory building, or portion of the main building, housing the automobiles of the occupants of the premises; provided that no business, occupation, or services are conducted for profit therein, nor space there for more than one (1) automobile is leased to a nonresident of the premises.

Garage, storage or parking. "Storage or parking garage" means a building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for term storage by prearrangement of motor-driven vehicles, as distinguished from daily storage furnished to transients, and within which motor fuels and oils may be sold; but no motor-driven vehicles may be equipped, repaired, hired, or sold.

Hotel means any building or portion thereof that contains six (6) or more guest rooms that are intended to be used or occupied or are occupied for sleeping purposes, by guests for compensation, whether it is paid directly or indirectly, and in which ingress and egress to and from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge.

Industrial park means a tract of land, the control, and administration of which are vested in a single body, suitable for industrial use because of location, topography, proper zoning, availability of utilities and accessibility to transportation. The uses permitted may be regulated by protective minimum restrictions (covenants) including the size of the site, parking and lodging regulations, and building setback lines from the front, side and rear yards that may be more restrictive than this chapter.

Industry or industrial as used in this chapter, are restricted to establishments primarily involved in product manufacturing and processing, heavy equipment uses and warehousing. It does not include retail and wholesale trades, agricultural uses, institutional uses and other businesses that are primarily commercial in nature.

Institution means a building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit establishment for public use.

Loading space means an off-street space or berth on the same lot with a building, or within a building, for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials, and which abuts upon a street, alley, or other appropriate means of access.

Lot means a parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by a use permitted in this chapter, including one (1) main building, together with any accessory buildings, open spaces and parking spaces required by this chapter and having its principal frontage upon a street or upon an officially approved place.

Lot, corner. "Corner lot" means a lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersection.

Lot coverage means that percentage of a lot which, when viewed from above, would be covered by a structure or structures, or any part thereof, excluding roof eaves.

Lot, depth of. "Depth of lot" means the mean (average) horizontal distance between the front and the rear lot lines.

Lot, double frontage. "Double frontage lot" means a lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

Lot, front lot. "Front lot line" means in the case of an interior lot, a line separating the lot from a street or place; and in the case of a corner lot, a line separating the narrowest frontage of the lot from a street.

Lot of record means a lot which is a part of a subdivision, the map or plat of which has been recorded in the office of the county recorder of Texas County, Missouri; or a lot or parcel of land, the deed of which has been recorded in the office of the county recorder of Texas County, Missouri, prior to the adoption of this chapter.

Lot width means the dimension (width) of a lot, measured between side lot lines on the required building setback line for the district in which the lot is located.

Manufacturer means an establishment whose primary function is the mechanical or chemical transformation or processing of materials or substances into new products, including the assembly of component parts and the blending of materials.

Mobile business unit/manufactured business unit means a factory-built structure or structures which, in the traveling mode, is eight (8) body feet or more in width or forty (40) body feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, contains three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, equipped with the necessary service connections and made so as to be readily movable as a unit or units on its or their own running gear and designed to be used for commercial, educational, or industrial purposes with or without a permanent foundation. The phrase "without a permanent foundation" indicates that the support system is constructed with the intent that the manufactured unit placed thereon may be moved from time to time at the convenience of the owner.

Mobile business units/manufactured business units are those factory-built structures manufactured under the authority of the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, effective June 15, 1976, and must carry a seal of approval of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as required by the Missouri Public Service Commission.

The term "manufactured home" shall also include units defined as above if such units are in two (2) or more separately towable components designed to be joined into one (1) integral unit capable of being again separated into the components capable of repeated towing and includes two (2) or more manufactured home units joined into a single residential unit which is kept on separate chassis for repeated towing.

Modular unit means a transportable building unit to be used by itself or to be incorporated with similar units at a point-of-use into a modular structure to be used for residential, commercial, educational, or industrial purposes. This definition shall not apply to structures under six hundred fifty (650) square feet used temporarily and exclusively for construction site office purposes. A modular unit may or may not constitute a manufactured home as defined herein.

Motel, motor court, motor lodge or tourist court means any building or group of buildings containing guestrooms 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 designed, used, or intended wholly or in part for the accommodation of transients in automobiles.

Nonconforming use means any building or land lawfully occupied by a use at the time of passage of this chapter, or amendment thereto, which does not conform after the passage of this chapter, or amendment thereto, with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Nursery school means a school operated by a person or organization which is conducted primarily for the education of preschool-age children for no more than four (4) hours per child per day and which provides no custodial care.

Nursing home, rest home or convalescent home means a home for the aged or infirm, in which three (3) or more persons, not of the immediate family are received, kept, or provided with food and shelter or care, whether compensation or not; but not including hospitals, clinics or similar institutions devoted primarily to the diagnosis, treatment or care of the sick or injured. The definition of "nursing home" shall include any adult boarding facility, intermediate care facility, as defined in RSMo ch. 198.

Office means a place where business or services for others is transacted, and not a place where tangible property or goods, wares or merchandise are commonly created, exchanged, or sold.

Off-street parking space means an area, enclosed or unenclosed, sufficient in size to store one (1) automobile, together with a driveway connecting the parking space with a street, road, or alley, and permitting the ingress and egress of an automobile.

Parking area means an open, paved area used exclusively for the temporary storage of motor vehicles and within which motor fuels and oils may be sold and fees charged; but no vehicles may be equipped, repaired, rented, or sold.

Park street means a private way which affords principal means of access to individual mobile home lots or auxiliary buildings.

Pedestrian sidewalk sign is defined as any portable outdoor sign providing supplemental business identity or advertisement which is placed upon a public sidewalk or city right-of-way in addition to the types and amount of signage that could otherwise be achieved under the sign regulations of the City of Houston.

Place means any open, unoccupied, officially dedicated space, other than a street or alley, permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.

Plat means a map, plan or layout of a city, township, section, or subdivision, indicating the location and boundaries of individual properties.

Porch means a covered entrance to a building usually with a separate roof, that may or may not be enclosed, or a roofed, open gallery attached to the exterior of a building.

Premises means a lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.

Public building or facility means a building or facility owned or operated by a general unit of a local, state, or federal government; or a public building or facility under the laws of the State of Missouri; or a building or facility operated or used by a nonprofit organization and open to general use by the public.

Recreational vehicle means a vehicular, portable structure, built on a chassis, or designed to be carried by any type of vehicle (whether located on or off such vehicle), traditionally used as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational, or vacation purposes.

RV park means an area designed to provide space where one (1) or more recreational vehicles can be temporarily parked for travel, recreation, or vacation purposes.

Self-service storage facility means a building or structure used for renting or leasing individual storage spaces in which the occupants themselves customarily store and remove their own personal property on a self-service basis.

Shopping center or mall means group of architecturally unified commercial establishments in one or more buildings, built on a site which is planned, developed, owned, and managed as an operating unit related in its location, size, and type of shops to the trade area that the unit serves. The unit provides on-site parking in a definite relationship to the types and total size of the stores, and a mall includes a roofed-over common pedestrian way.

Sign. See definition of "Billboard."

Story means that portion of a building, other than a cellar, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it; or if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

Story, half. "Half-story" means a space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three (3) feet above the top floor level, and in which space, not more than sixty (60) percent of the floor area, is finished off for use. A half-story may be used for occupancy only in conjunction with and by the occupancy of the floor immediately below.

Street means a public right-of-way or thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

Street line means a dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.

Structure means 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 and including, but not limited to the following: Advertising signs, billboards, fences, backstops for tennis courts, pergolas (projecting roofs), satellite television antennas and freestanding solar collectors or equipment.

Structural alteration means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls, excepting such repair or replacement as may be required for the safety of the building, but not including openings in bearing walls as permitted by existing ordinances.

Tourist or trailer camp means an area where one (1) or more tents, auto trailers of recreational vehicles can be or are intended to be parked, designed, or intended to be used as temporary living facilities of one (1) or more families and intended primarily for automobile transients.

Townhouse apartment means one (1) of a series of three (3) or more attached dwellings, two (2) or three (3) stories in height, for single-family occupancy which are separated from one another by partition walls extending from the basement to roof without openings, but which are not located or sited on individual subdivided lots.

Use means the purpose for which land or a building is arranged, designed, or intended, or for which either land or a building is or may be occupied or maintained.

Vestibule or lobby means a passage, hall or room between the outer door and the interior of a building.

Yard means 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 chapter. In measuring required yard widths and depths, the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.

Yard, front. "Front yard" means a yard extending across the front of the lot and being the minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line and the main building, or any projections thereof, other than the projections of uncovered steps, unenclosed balconies, or unenclosed portion. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered as being parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension.

Yard, rear. "Rear yard" means a yard extending across the rear of a lot and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building, or any uncovered steps, unenclosed balconies, or unenclosed portion. On all lots, the rear yard shall be at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard.

Yard, side. "Side yard" means a yard between the main building and the sideline of the lot and extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard and being the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and the side of the main buildings or any projections thereto.

Zoning district means a section or sections of the city for which the regulations governing the use of buildings and premises, the height of buildings, the size of yards and the intensity of the use are uniform.

(Ord. No. 2021-112, § 1, 8-16-21)