For the purposes of this title certain terms are defined. Words used in the present tense shall include the future; words used in the singular shall include plurals; the word “shall” is mandatory, and the word “may” is permissive.

Definitions of the terms used in this title are set forth in Sections 17.01.020 through 17.01.580.

“Alley” means a public or private thoroughfare which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.

“Apartment” means any building or portion thereof which is designated and built for occupancy of four or more families.

“Block” means all property fronting upon one side of a street, between intersecting and intercepting streets, or between a street and a railroad right-of-way, waterway, dead-end street or unsubdivided land. An intercepting street shall determine only the boundary of the block on the side of a street which it intercepts.

“Boardinghouse” means a dwelling other than a hotel, where lodging and/or meals for three or more persons is provided for compensation.

“Building” means any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and designed for the shelter or housing of any person, animal or chattel.

“Accessory building” means a subordinate building including shelters or pools, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building on the same lot and/or building site.

“Main building” means a building in which is conducted the principle use of the lot and/or building site on which it is situated.

“Building site” means a lot or parcel of land, in single or joint ownership, and occupied or to be occupied by a main building and accessory buildings, or by a dwelling group and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces as are required by the terms of this title and having its principle frontage on a street, road, highway or waterway.

“Retail business” means the retail sale of any article, substance or commodity, within a building, but not including the sale of lumber or other building materials.

“Wholesale business” means the wholesale handling of any article, substance or commodity, but not including the handling of lumber or other building materials or the open storage or sale of any material or commodity, and not including the processing or manufacture of any product or substance.

“Condominium” means an estate in real property consisting of an undivided interest in common in a portion of a parcel of real property, together with a separate interest in space in a residential building, such as an apartment. A condominium may include in addition a separate interest in other portions of such real property.

“Condominium conversion” means a change in the type of ownership of a parcel or parcels of real property, together with the existing attached structures, to that defined as a condominium, regardless of the present or prior use of such land and structures and whether substantial improvements have been made or are to be made to such structures.

“Combining district” means any district in which the general district regulations are combined with those special districts defined in Section 17.06.020 for the purpose of adding additional special regulations, i.e., R-l-B-l, increasing lot size.

“Community apartment project” means a development of real property in which an undivided interest in the land is coupled with the right of exclusive occupancy of a designated residential unit located thereon or therein. For the purposes of this title, “community apartment project” means the same thing and shall be treated in the same way as a residential condominium, as defined in Section 17.01.111.

“Developer” means the owner or subdivider of real property with a controlling proprietary interest in the proposed project.

“District” means a portion of the city within which certain uses of land and buildings are permitted or prohibited and within which certain yards and other open spaces are required and certain height limits are established for buildings, all as set forth and specified in this title.

“Drinking establishment” means a business where alcoholic beverages are sold for on-site consumption, which are not part of a larger restaurant. Includes bars, taverns, pubs, wine bars, cocktail lounges, night clubs, and tasting rooms, and similar establishments where any food service is subordinate to the sale of alcoholic beverages. May also provide entertainment, examples of which include live music and/or dancing, comedy, etc. May also include beer brewing as part of a microbrewery (“brew-pub”) and other beverage tasting facilities.

Persons under twenty-one years of age are not allowed to enter and remain on the premises.

“Dwelling” means a building or portion thereof designed and used exclusively for residential occupancy, including one family, two family, three family dwellings and apartments, multifamily dwellings, but not including hotels, motels or boardinghouses.

“Dwelling groups” means a group of two or more detached or semi-detached, one family, two family or multiple dwellings occupying a parcel of land in one ownership and having any yard or court in common, but not including automobile courts.

“Multiple dwelling” means a building or portions thereof, used and designed as a residence for four or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking in said building, including apartment houses, apartment hotels and flats, but not including motels, boardinghouses and hotels.

“Single-family dwelling” means a building designed for, or used to house not more than one family, including all necessary employees of such family.

“Three family or triplex dwelling” means a building containing not more than three families, living independently of each other, including all necessary employees of each such family.

“Two family or duplex dwelling” means a building containing not more than two kitchens, designed and/or used to house not more than two families, living independently of each other, including all necessary employees of each such family.

“Family” means one or more persons occupying a premises and living as a single housekeeping unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a hotel, club, fraternity or sorority house.

“Fence” means any structural device forming a physical barrier by means of hedge, wood, mesh, metal, chain, brick, stake, plastic or other similar materials.

“Garage” or “carport” means accessible and usable covered space of not less than ten feet by twenty feet each for storage of automobiles.

“Guesthouse” means the detached living quarters of a permanent type of construction and without kitchens or cooking facilities, and where no compensation in any form is received or paid.

“Height of building” means the vertical distance from the average level of the highest and lowest point of that portion of the lot covered by the building to the topmost point of the roof, excluding elevator equipment rooms, ventilating and air conditioning equipment.

Where chimneys, silos, cupolas, flag poles, monuments, gas storage holders, radio, televisions and other towers, water tanks, church steeples and similar structures and mechanical appurtenances are permitted in a district, height limits may be exceeded upon the securing of a use permit in each case.

“Home occupation” means an operation conducted on the premises by the occupant of the dwelling as a secondary use in connection therewith, and where there are no advertising signs, no display, no stock or commodity sold on the premises, no employees in connection therewith and no mechanical equipment designed, to be used in connection therein, other than that necessary or convenient for domestic purposes.

“Junkyard” means more than one hundred square feet of the area of any lot used for the storage of junk, including scrap metals, salvage or other scrap materials of any kind, or for the dismantling or “wrecking” of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery, whether for sale or storage.

“Lot” see “building site.”

“Lot front” means the shortest dimension of a lot fronting on a street.

“Lot line” means a line separating the frontage from a street; the side from a street or adjoining property; the rear or side from an alley or street or adjoining property.

“Lot rear” means the lot boundary opposite, or approximately opposite the lot front.

“Lot side” means any lot boundary not a front or rear lot line.

“Through lot” means a lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.

For purposes of determining applicability of transient occupancy tax, any new building containing six or more guest rooms intended or designed to be used, or which are used, rented or hired out to be occupied, or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests.

“Nonconforming use” means a use that does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is situated.

“Office” means a business establishment for rendering of service or administration, but excluding retail sales.

“Parking space” means an accessible and usable space on the building site, or adjacent lot, at least nine feet by twenty feet, for the parking of automobiles.

“Person” includes any individual, city, county or city and county; partnerships, corporations, cooperatives, association, trust or any other legal entities, including the state of California and the federal government.

“Private parties” means parties or gatherings not open to the public held at commercial properties where alcohol is served and/or entertainment is provided. Individuals or businesses shall acquire a temporary use permit prior to hosting a private party. Permitted hours are between eight a.m. to eleven p.m. A commercial property may host up to four private parties per calendar year. The host shall obtain any necessary permits or clearances from the State of California Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and from the city’s building department for occupancy load.

“Rest home” means any premises licensed under Section 2300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code of the state of California.

“Rooming house” see “boardinghouse.”

“Sanitarium” means a health station or retreat or other place where patients are housed, and where treatment is given, but excluding mental institutions or institutions for treatment of persons addicted to the use of drugs.

“Setback lines” means a line established by this title to govern the placement of buildings or structures with respect to lot lines, streets or alleys.

“Side and front of corner lots,” for the purpose of this title, means the narrowest frontage of a corner lot facing the street is the front, and the longest frontage facing the intersecting street is the side, irrespective of the direction in which the dwelling faces.

“Street” means a public thoroughfare which affords principal means of access to abutting property, including avenue, place, way, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, road and any other thoroughfare except an alley as defined herein.

“Street line” means the boundary between a street right-of-way and property.

“Structural alterations” means any change in the supporting members of a structure, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

“Structure” means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on or in the ground, or attachment to something having location on the ground, including swimming pools, excluding driveways, patios or parking spaces.

“Trailer court” or “mobile home park” means land or premises used or intended to be used, let or rented for occupancy by one or more trailers, mobile homes or movable dwellings, rooms or sleeping quarters of any kind.

“Two-unit development” means the simultaneous development of two new residential dwelling units on a parcel with no existing residential dwelling units other than an accessory dwelling unit.

“Accessory dwelling unit” means an attached or detached residential dwelling unit that provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons. An accessory dwelling unit includes: (1) an efficiency unit, as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 17958.1(2); and a manufactured home, as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 18007. This definition shall be interpreted to be consistent with the definition for “accessory dwelling unit” in Government Code Section 65852.2, as may be amended.

“Junior accessory dwelling unit” means a residential dwelling unit that is no more than five hundred square feet in size and is contained within a single-family residence. This definition shall be interpreted as consistent with the definition for “junior accessory dwelling unit” in Government Code Section 65852.22, as may be amended.

“Second unit” means a second residential dwelling unit, other than an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit, on a parcel with one and only one existing residential unit that is not an accessory dwelling unit or junior accessory dwelling unit.

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

“Accessory use” means a use incidental or subordinate to, and devoted exclusively to the main use of a lot or a building located on the same lot.

“Veterinary clinic” means any premises used for the treatment of small domestic animals but not including boarding or hospitalization.

“Veterinary hospital” means any premises used for the treatment or boarding of small domestic animals including dogs, cats, birds and similar animals and fowl with all such operations being conducted wholly within a building.

“Yard” means an open space other than a court on the same lot with a building, which open space is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise permitted in Chapters 17.48—17.52.

“Front yard” means a yard extending across the front of the lot and measured from the front line of the lot to the front setback lines; provided, however, that if any official plan line has been established for the street upon which the lot faces, the front yard measurement shall be taken from such official plan line to the nearest line of the building.

“Rear yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the rear line of the lot and the nearest line of the main building.

“Side yard” means a yard between the side line of the lot and the nearest line of the building and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.