For the purpose of the chapter and in order to carry out the provisions contained herein, certain words, terms, phrases, and illustrations are to be interpreted and defined herein.  The word “lot” includes the words “plot or parcel” and the word “building” includes “structure.”  Terms not herein defined shall have the meaning customarily assigned to them.

   1.   “Accessory building or use” means a building or use on the same lot with and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal building or use.

   2.   “Alley” means a public way, other than a street, 20 feet or less in width, affording secondary means of access to abutting property.

   3.   “Alterations, structural” means any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.

   4.   “Apartment” means a room or suite of rooms used as the dwelling of a family, including bath and culinary accommodations, located in a building in which there are three or more such rooms or suites.

   5.   “Auto/car wash” means a building, or portion thereof, containing facilities for washing more than one automobile; using production line methods with a chain conveyor, blower, steam cleaning device, or other mechanical devises, or providing space, water, equipment, or soap for the complete or partial hand-washing of such automobiles, whether by operator or by a customer.

   6.   “Automobile service station” means any building, structure, or land used for the dispensing, sale, or offering for sale at retail of any vehicular fuels, oils, or accessories and in connection with which is performed general vehicular servicing as distinguished from automotive repairs.

   7.   “Basement” means any enclosed area of a building which has its floor or lowest level below ground level (sub-grade) on at least three sides.

   8.   “Billboard” means a type of sign having more than 100 square feet of display surface and which is either erected on the ground or attached to or supported by a building or structure.

   9.   “Board of Adjustment” means the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the City.

   10.   “Boarding, rooming, and lodging house” means a building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by arrangement, meals, lodging, or lodging and meals are provided for three or more persons on a weekly or monthly basis.

   11.   “Building” means any structure designed or built for the support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind.

   12.   “Building height” means the vertical distance from the first story sill to the highest point of the roof.

   13.   “Building length” means greatest horizontal distance measurable between the exterior walls of a building.  Building length will usually be measured between the wall facing the building’s front lot line and the wall facing the rear of the lot line.

   14.   “Building width” means the greatest horizontal distance measurable between exterior walls of a building, as measured at right angles from the building length.  Building width will usually be measured between the walls facing side lot lines.

   15.   “Carport” means a roofed structure providing space for the parking of motor vehicles and enclosed on not more than three sides.  For the purpose of this chapter a carport attached to a principal building shall be considered a part of the principal building and subject to all yard requirements therein.

   16.   “Child care center” means any place, home, or institution which receives four or more children under the age of 16 years, and not of common parentage, for care apart from their natural parents, legal guardian, or custodians, when received for regular periods of time for compensation.

   17.   “Clinic” means a building or buildings used by physicians, dentists, veterinarians, osteopaths, chiropractors, and allied professions for outpatient care of persons requiring such professional service.

   18.   “Consignment and auction sales operations” means a business that, on an ongoing basis, stores and sells personal property to the public indoors.

   19.   “Developmentally disabled” refers to a disability of a person which has continued or can be expected to continue indefinitely and which is one of the following:

      A.   Attributable to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or autism.

      B.   Attributable to any other condition found to be closely related to mental retardation.

      C.   Attributable to dyslexia resulting from a disability.

      D.   Attributable to a mental or nervous disorder.

   20.   “Drive-in restaurant or refreshment stand” means any place or premises principally used for the sale, dispensing, or serving of food, refreshment, or beverages in automobiles, including those establishments where customers may serve themselves and may eat or drink the food, refreshments, or beverages on or off the premises.

   21.   “Driveway” means a private roadway, providing access for vehicles to a parking space, garage, dwelling or other structure.

   22.   “Dwelling” means any building or structure (or portion thereof) designed or adapted to serve as a place of abode for one or more persons, or one or more households. 

   23.   “Dwelling, condominium” means a multiple dwelling, as defined herein, whereby the title to each dwelling unit is held in separate ownership, and the real estate on which the units are located is held in common ownership solely by the owners of the units with each owner having an undivided interest in the common real estate.

   24.   “Dwelling, row” means any one of three or more attached dwellings in a continuous row, each dwelling designed and erected as a unit on a separate lot and separated from one another by an approved wall or walls, and may also be referred to as a “townhouse.”

   25.   “Dwelling unit” means a dwelling that consists of one or more rooms which are arranged, designed, or used as living quarters for one family or household only.  Ordinarily a dwelling unit will include accommodations for sleeping, for eating, for preparing and storing food, for bathing, and for other necessary life activities, and will be a location where such life activities may be expected to occur.

   26.   “Dwelling, single-family” means a dwelling containing one dwelling unit, designed or adapted for occupancy by not more than one family or household.

   27.   “Dwelling, two-family” means a detached residential building containing two dwelling units, designed for occupancy by not more than two families or households, with separate housekeeping and cooking facilities for each.

   28.   “Dwelling, multiple-family” means a residential building designed for occupancy by three or more families or households, with separate housekeeping and cooking facilities for each.

   29.   “Dwelling, detached” means a dwelling that is not attached to any other dwelling by any means.  The detached dwelling does not have any roof, wall, or floor in common with any other dwelling unit.

   30.   “Easement” means a grant of one or more of the property rights by the property owner to and/or for the use by the public, a corporation, or another person or entity.

   31.   “Economic base” means the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services within a planning area.

   32.   “Egress” means an exit.

   33.   “Eminent domain” means the authority of a government to take, or to authorize the taking of, private property for public use for just compensation.

   34.   “Environmental Impact Statement” (EIS) means a statement on the effect of development proposals and other major activities which significantly affect the environment.

   35.   “Essential services” are the erection, alteration, or maintenance, by public utilities, municipal or other governmental agencies, of underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution systems, collection, communication, supply or disposal systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith which may be reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies for the public health, safety or general welfare, but not including buildings.

   36.   “Family” means a group of immediate-kindred persons, related by blood, marriage, or adoption.  A family is considered a household for purposes of this chapter.

   37.   “Family home” means a community based residential home which is licensed as a residential care facility under Chapter 135C of the Code of Iowa or as a child foster care facility under Chapter 237 of the Code of Iowa to provide room and board, personal care, habilitation services, and supervision in a family environment exclusively for not more than eight developmentally disabled persons and any necessary support personnel.  A family home does not mean an individual foster care family as licensed under Chapter 237 of the Code of Iowa.

   38.   “Farm” or “farmland” means a parcel of land used for agricultural purposes and the growing and production of all agricultural products thereon, and their storage on the area, or for the raising thereon of livestock.

   39.   “Farm animal” means the production, keeping, or maintenance for sale, lease, or personal use of animals useful to humans, including but not limited to: dairy animals, poultry, livestock, including beef cattle, sheep, swine, horses, ponies, mules, or goats or any mutations or hybrids thereof, including the breeding and grazing of any or all of such animals; bees, fish, and fur animals but not including rabbits kept as pets.

   40.   “Feasibility study” means an analysis of a specific project or program to determine if it can be successfully carried out.

   41.   “Feedlot” means any parcel of land or premises on which the principal use is the concentrated feeding within a confined area of cattle, hogs, sheep or poultry.  The term does not include areas which are used for the raising of crops or other vegetation, and upon which livestock are allowed to graze or feed.

   42.   “Fence, residential” means a barrier and/or structure erected in an R District intended to provide security, mark a boundary, or as a means of landscaping with the centerline of said barrier to be located inside the designated property line.  Such fence shall be constructed of materials commonly used for landscape fencing such as masonry block, lumber, chain link, but does not include corrugated sheet metal, barbed wire or salvage material.

   43.   “Fence, nonresidential” means a barrier and/or structure erected in a district other than an R District intended to provide security, mark a boundary or a means of landscaping with the centerline of said barrier to be located inside the designated property line, provided no such fence is constructed of salvaged material or uses barbed wire closer than six feet to the ground except a fence used purely for agricultural purposes.

   44.   “Flag lot” means a lot not fronting on or abutting a public road and where access to the public road is by a narrow, private right-of-way.

   45.   “Frontage” means that side of a lot abutting on a street; the front lot line.

   46.   “Garage, private” means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.

   47.   “Garage, public” means a building or portion thereof other than a private or storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, hiring, selling, or storing motor-driven vehicles.

   48.   “Garage, storage” means a building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for term storage by pre-arrangement of motor-driven vehicles, as distinguished from daily storage furnished transients, and at which motor fuels and oils are not sold, and motor-driven vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired or sold.

   49.   “Grade” means the degree of rise or descent of a sloping surface.  (See Figure 1 below)

   50.   “Grade, finished” means the final evaluation of the ground surface after development.  (See Figure 2 below)

   51.   “Grade, natural” means the evaluation of the ground surface in its natural state before manmade alterations.  (See Figure 1 above)

   52.   “Group care facility” means a facility which provides resident services to nine or more individuals of whom one or more are unrelated.  These individuals are handicapped, aged, or disabled, are undergoing rehabilitation, and are provided services to meet their needs.  This category includes any licensed or supervised federal, State or County health/welfare agencies, such as group homes (all ages), halfway houses, resident schools, resident facilities, and foster or boarding homes.

   53.   “Historic preservation” means the protection, rehabilitation, and restoration of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and artifacts significant in American history, architecture, archaeology or culture.

   54.   “Home occupation” means any gainful occupation or profession conducted entirely within an enclosed dwelling unit, which is clearly incidental and secondary to residential occupancy and does not change the character thereof.  [See Section 165.09(23)]

   55.   “Household” means one or more persons living together in a single dwelling unit, with common access to, and common use of all areas within the dwelling unit.

   56.   “Ingress” means access or entry.

   57.   “Institution” means an organization whose purpose is to promote public welfare or learning, including (but not limited to) a church, library, public or private school, hospital, or municipal government or other non-profit or public organization.  For the purposes of this chapter, “institution” includes the building, structures or land owned or used for public purposes, by such organizations.

   58.   “Junkyard” means any area where waste, discarded, or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored or abandoned, baled or packed, disassembled, or handled, including the dismantling or wrecking of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery, house wrecking yards, house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment; but not including areas where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building.

   59.   “Kennel, dog” (commercial) means any parcel of land on which three or more dogs, six months old or older, are kept for the purposes of breeding, grooming, boarding or other activities associated with the care of dogs for commercial purposes.

   60.   “Kennel, dog” (private) means any parcel of land on which no more than two dogs are kept, however, this shall not include breeding, grooming, boarding or other activities associated with the care of dogs other than the owner’s dogs.

   61.   “Laundromat” means an establishment providing washing, drying and/or dry cleaning machines on the premises for rental use to the general public for family laundering and/or dry cleaning purposes.

   62.   “Loading space” means an off-street space or berth used for the loading or unloading of vehicles.

   63.   “Lot” means, for the purposes of this chapter, a parcel of land of at least sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage and area to provide such yards and other open space as are herein required.  Such lot shall have frontage on a public street or private street and may consist of:  (i) a single lot of record; (ii) a portion of a lot of record; (iii) a combination of complete lots of record; of complete lots of record and portions of lots of record; or of portions of lots of record; and (iv) a parcel of land described by metes and bounds; provided that in no case of division or combination shall any residual lot or parcel be created which does not meet the requirements of this chapter.

   64.   “Lot area” means the total area within the lot lines of a lot, excluding any street right-of-way.

   65.   “Lot, corner” means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.

   66.   “Lot depth” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines. (See Figure 3)

   67.   “Lot, double frontage” means a lot having a frontage on two nonintersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

   68.   “Lot frontage” means the length of the front line measured at the street right-of-way line. (See Figure 3.) With a corner lot, the primary lot frontage of a corner lot or a double frontage lot is the frontage abutting the street which provides the lot’s County E-911 address.

   69.   “Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot.

   70.   “Lot line” means a line of record bounding a lot which divides one lot from another lot or from a public or private street or any other public space. (See Figure 3)

   71.   “Lot line, front” means the lot line abutting a platted street or highway (or, if the street or highway is un-platted, the centerline thereof.)  A lot line abutting upon a public alley is not a front lot line, unless the lot abuts no other public way.  If the lot abuts two or more streets, the front lot line is that line abutting the street which provides the lots County E-911 address.

   72.   “Lot line, rear” means the lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line; or in the case of triangular or otherwise irregularly shaped lots, are 10 feet in length entirely within the lot, parallel to and at a maximum distance from the front lot line. (See Figure 3)

   73.   “Lot line, side” means any lot line other than a front or rear lot line. (See Figure 3).

   74.   “Lot, minimum area of” means the smallest lot area established by the Zoning Ordinance on which a use or structure may be located in a particular district.

   75.   “Lot of record” means a lot which is a part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded at or before the effective date of the Zoning Ordinance in the office of the Plymouth County Recorder.

   76.   “Lot width” means the horizontal measure of a lot at the point of its greatest linear extent, measured at right angles to a line measuring lot length.  (See Figure 3)

   77.   “Massage establishment” means any place of business wherein massage (as the practice of a profession, scientifically applied to the patient by a massage therapist’s hands) is administered or used.

   78.   “Manufactured home” means a factory-built single-family structure, which is manufactured or constructed under the authority of the 42 U.S.C. Code Section 5403, National Manufactured Home construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, and is to be used exclusively as a place for human habitation, but which is not constructed with permanent hitch or other device allowing it to be moved other than for the purpose of moving to a permanent site, and which does not have permanently attached to its body or frame and wheels or axles.  A mobile home is not a manufactured home unless it has been converted to real property and is taxed as a site dwelling.  For the purpose of these regulations, a manufactured home shall be built after June 15, 1976, and bear a seal certifying that it is in compliance with the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards act of 1974.  A manufactured home meeting the preceding requirements shall be considered the same as a site-built, single-family detached dwelling.

   79.   “Manufacturing” means establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products including the assembling of component parts, the manufacturing of products, and the blending of materials such as lubricating oils, plastics, resins or liquors.

   80.   “Mobile home” means any vehicle without motive power used or so manufactured or constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets and highways and so designed, constructed, or reconstructed as will permit the vehicle to be used as a place for human habitation by one or more persons; but does not also include any such vehicle with motive power not registered as a motor vehicle in Iowa.  A mobile home shall be construed to remain a mobile home, subject to all regulations applying thereto, whether or not wheels, axles, hitch, or other appurtenances of mobility are removed and regardless of the nature of the foundation provided.  Nothing in this definition shall be construed as permitting a mobile home in other than an approved mobile home park.

   81.   “Mobile home park” means a tract of land that is used, designed, maintained, or held out for rent to accommodate one or more mobile homes.  Mobile homes located in a mobile home park shall not include an automobile or mobile home sales lot on which unoccupied mobile homes are parked for inspection or sale.

   82.   “Modular home” means a factory built housing unit certified as meeting the State of Iowa Building Code as applicable to modular housing.  Once certified by the State, modular housing shall be subject to the same regulations as site-built homes.

   83.   “Motor court or motel” means a building or group of buildings used primarily for the temporary residence of motorists or travelers with parking facilities conveniently located to each unit, and may include accessory facilities such as swimming pool, restaurant, meeting rooms, etc.

   84.   “Nonconforming use” means a use or activity which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision or amendment of a Zoning Ordinance, but which fails, by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment, to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.

   85.   “Nursing home” means a home for the aged, chronically ill or incurable persons in which three or more persons not of the immediate family are received, kept, or provided with food, shelter and care, for compensation; but not including hospitals, clinics, or similar institutions devoted primarily to the diagnosis, treatment, or care of the sick or injured.

   86.   “Overhang” means the part of a roof or wall which extends beyond the façade of a lower wall.

   87.   “Planning Commission” means the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Kingsley, Iowa.

   88.   “Parking space” means a surfaced area, enclosed in the principal building, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one automobile and connected with an accessory building, or an unenclosed area having an area of not less than 180 square feet street or alley by a surfaced driveway which affords satisfactory ingress and egress for automobiles.

   89.   “Place” means an open unoccupied space or a public or private thoroughfare other than a street or alley permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.

   90.   “Principal building” is a single-family dwelling in an R-1 or R-2 District.

   91.   “Recreational vehicle” means a vehicular type portable structure without permanent foundation, which can be towed, hauled or driven and primarily designed as temporary living accommodation for recreational, camping and travel use and including but not limited to travel trailers, truck campers, camping trailers and self-propelled motor homes.

   92.   “Satellite dish antenna” means a satellite receiver, a satellite ground dish antenna or a satellite rooftop antenna, which may or may not be able to rotate to enable the dish to aim at different satellites for the purpose of television reception.

   93.   “Sidewalk” means a paved or surfaced area, paralleling and usually separated from the street, used as a pedestrian walkway.

   94.   “Sign” means any structure or part thereof or device attached thereto or painted, or represented thereon, which displays or includes any letter, work, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device or representation used as, or which is in the nature of an announcement, direction, or advertisement.  “Sign” includes billboard but does not include the flag, pennant or insignia of any nation, state, city or other political unit, or of any political, educational, charitable, philanthropic, civic, professional, religious or like campaign, drive, movement or event.

   95.   “Site plan” means a plan (to scale) showing uses and structures proposed for a parcel of land as required by the regulations involved.

   96.   “Story” means that portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of any floor and the 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.

   97.   “Story, half” means a space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersection of roof decking and exterior wall face not more than four feet above the top floor level.

   98.   “Street” means a general term used to describe a public right-of-way which provides a channel for vehicular and pedestrian movement, and may provide for vehicular and pedestrian access to properties adjacent to it, and which may also provide space for the location of utilities (both above and below ground).

   99.   “Structure” means anything constructed or erected, other than sidewalks or driveways, with a mixed location on the ground, or attached to something having a fixed location on the ground. Among other things, structures include buildings, mobile homes, billboards and poster panels.

   100.   “Swimming pool” means a tank of water either above or below grade level in which the depth of the container exceeds 24 inches.  Swimming pools, hot tubs, whirlpool baths and tubs, jacuzzi type tubs or baths, are considered “swimming pools” if they are located outdoors.

   101.   “Temporary structure” means any structure, including any shed, building, or enclosure of any kind used for storage, commercial or business or residential purposes, which any person or business intends to place on the same lot with or on any lot immediately adjacent to, any permanent structure used for business or commercial or residential purposes, that does not have a permanent foundation or attached to a permanent foundation.  This term includes “temporary portable storage container,” which is defined as a container designed, used, rented, or leased for the temporary storage of commercial, industrial, or residential household goods and that does not have a foundation or attached to a permanent foundation.

   102.   “Trailer camp” or “tourist camp” means an area providing spaces for two or more recreational vehicles, or tent sites for temporary occupancy, with necessary incidental services, sanitation and recreation facilities to serve the traveling public.

   103.   “Warehouse storage facility” means a building or portion of a building where goods are stored for hire.

   104.   “Yard” means an open space between a building and the adjoining lot lines unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from 30 inches above the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard, or the depth of the rear yard, the minimum horizontal distance between the lot lines and the main building shall be used. (See Figure 3)

   105.   “Yard, front” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the front lot line and the building.

   106.   “Yard, rear” means a yard extending across the rear of a lot and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and rear of the main building or any projections thereof other than the projections of uncovered steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches.  On all lots the rear yard shall be in the rear of the front yard. (See Figure 3)

   107.   “Yard, side” means a yard between the main building and the side line of the lot, and extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard, and being the minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the side of the main building or any projections thereto. (See Figure 3)

   108.   “Zoning Administrator” means the zoning official appointed by the City Council.

   109.   “Zoning Commission” means the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City.