In the interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance, the definitions in this section shall be observed and applied, except with the context clearly indicates otherwise.

   1.   “Accessory building, structure, or use” means a use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building or land on the same lot or parcel of ground and serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or use of land.

   2.   “Agriculture” means the use of land for the purpose of raising and harvesting crops; or for the raising, breeding, or management of livestock, poultry, fish, or honeybees; or for dairying, truck gardening, forestry, nurseries, or orchards; for the noncommercial on-farm storage or processing of agricultural products; or for any similar agricultural, horticultural, silvicultural, or aquacultural use. No farms shall be operated for the disposal of garbage, sewage, rubbish, offal or rendering plants or for the slaughtering of animals, except such animals as have been raised on the premises or have been maintained on the premises for the use and consumption of persons residing on the premises. No land use may be classified as agriculture unless the said parcel is of at least seven (7) acres in size.

   3.   “Aisle” means the traveled way by which vehicles enter and depart parking lots.

   4.   “Alley” means any dedicated public or private way affording a secondary means of vehicular access to abutting property, and not intended for general traffic circulation.

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

   6.   “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 one or more of these units.

   7.   “Attachment” means a use or structure that must share a common wall with primary structure and not less than one-third of the length of the attached structure must be attached to that primary structure.

   8.   “Balcony” means an unroofed platform, unenclosed except by a railing, which projects from the outer wall of any building above ground level with or without support other than the building.

   9.   “Basement” means that portion of a building which is partly below grade but having more than one-half its height above the average grade of the adjoining ground. For the purpose of the Zoning Ordinance, a basement is not considered a story unless designed or used for habitable space or business purposes.

   10.   “Bed and breakfast” means any single-family or multi-family dwelling unit used for the purpose of overnight or temporary lodging for one or more persons wherein meals may also be provided.

   11.   “Board” means the Board of Adjustment as described in Chapter 414.7 of the Code of Iowa.

   12.   “Boarding house” means a building other than a hotel or motel where, for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, meals, or lodging and meals, are provided for three or more persons.

   13.   “Broadcast tower” means a structure for the transmittal or broadcast of radio, cellular, television, radar, or microwaves and which exceeds the maximum height permitted in the district in which it is located; provided, however noncommercial radio towers not exceeding 50 feet in height are not considered broadcast towers.

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

   15.   “Building envelope” means the area of a lot which remains after the minimum yard setbacks, height requirements, and open space requirements of the Zoning Ordinance have been complied with.

   16.   “Building, height of” 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 average height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

   17.   “Building line” means a line formed by the face of the building and, for the purposes of this chapter, a minimum building line is the same as a front setback line.

   18.   “Building, main or principal” means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.

   19.   “Cellar” means that portion of a building, partially or wholly, underground, having half or more than half its clear height below the grade plane. A cellar shall be non-habitable and shall not be counted as a story.

   20.   “Conditional use” means the use allowed in a zoning district after approval has been granted by the Zoning Board of Adjustment according to the provisions set forth in Section 165.31 of this chapter, also referred to as Special Exceptions.

   21.   “Child day care facility” means a facility in which six or more children are received for part or all of a day for care and/or instruction. The facility shall be approved and licensed by the State of Iowa. The term child day care facility includes but is not limited to the following: nursery schools, child care centers, day nurseries, kindergartens, preschools and play groups, but does not include bona fide kindergartens or nursery schools operated by public or private elementary or secondary school systems.

   22.   “Deck” means a covered or uncovered platform area projecting from the wall of a building, accessible at or from above grade, and attached to the ground.

   23.   “Driveway” means a private roadway providing access to a street or highway.

   24.   “Dustless surface” means a street, driveway, parking lot, loading space, or other area intended for the ingress and egress, parking, or loading of vehicles and which is surfaced with concrete, asphalt, seal-coat, or combination of such surfaces.

   25.   “Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof which is designed for and used exclusively for residential purposes.

   26.   “Dwelling, single-family” means a building designed with accommodations for exclusive occupancy by one family.

   27.   “Dwelling, condominium” means a multiple- or two-family 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.

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

   29.   “Dwelling, two-family” means a building designed with accommodations for occupancy exclusively by two families living independently of each other.

   30.   “Dwelling, multiple-family” means a building designed with accommodations in order to be occupied exclusively by more than two families living independently of each other.

   31.   “Family” means a group of individuals not necessarily related by blood, marriage, adoption, or guardianship living together in a dwelling unit as a single housekeeping unit under a common housekeeping management plan based on an intentionally structured relationship providing organization and stability.

   32.   “Family group care home” means a residential facility having 15 beds or less providing 24-hour room, board, personal assistance, and a program of services designed to meet the special needs of mentally or physically disabled persons who cannot live alone. The home must be duly approved and licensed as required by applicable State and local regulations.

   33.   “Farm” means an area of not less than seven acres and which is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruits and grain, and their storage on the area, as well as for the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals.

   34.   “Feedlot, commercial” means a lot, yard, corral, or other area in which livestock are confined, primarily for the purposes of feeding and growth prior to slaughter. 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.

   35.   Fence" means an artificially constructed barrier erected to enclose, screen, or separate areas. Fences must be constructed of wood, coated chain-link, PVC/resin, rod iron, stone or masonry materials only. Wood fences shall utilize standard building lumber only.

   36.   “Floodplain” means lands that are subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

   37.   “Floor area” means the total area of all floors of a building as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls and not including halls, stairways, elevator shafts, attached garages, porches, and balconies when such area is used for storage or other such incidental use.

   38.   “Frontage” means all the property on one side of a street between two intersecting streets (crossing or terminating), measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead end of the street.

   39.   “Detached garage, private” means a building that is subordinate or used for the storage of motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the buildings to which it is accessory. A detached garage, private has three stalls or less. Not more than one of the vehicles may be a commercial vehicle of not more than two-ton capacity. A detached garage, private shall have no shared common walls with any other structure and must be at a distance of at least six feet, eave to eave, from any existing structure.

   40.   “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.

   41.   “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 personal belongings, and at which motor fuels and oils are not sold, and motor driven vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired, or sold.

   42.   “Grade” means 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 street line, then the elevation of the street shall be grade. The purpose is to regulate the number of stories and height of a structure.

   43.   “Home occupation” means any occupation or activity carried on within a dwelling unit, accessory building, or a private garage by a member of the family residing on the premises, which occupation or activity is incidental and secondary to the residential occupancy and does not change the residential character thereof.

   44.   “Hotel” means a residential building licensed by the State and occupied and used principally as a place of lodging for guests. Hotels may or may not provide meals and there are usually no cooking facilities in guest rooms.

   45.   “Institution” means an establishment occupied or operated by a private or public nonprofit corporation, association, organization, or group for use or benefit of the general public.

   46.   “Junk yard or salvage yard” means any lot or portion thereof where waste, discarded, or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled or packed, disassembled, or handled, including the dismantling or “wrecking” of automobiles or other machinery, house wrecking yards, used lumber yards and places or yards for storage of salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment, but not including areas where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building.

   47.   “Kennel” means an establishment where small animals are bred, raised, trained, groomed, and boarded for compensation, sale, or other commercial purposes.

   48.   “Livestock” means domestic animals, such as cattle, swine, poultry, or other animals, raised for home use or for profit, especially on a farm.

   49.   “Loading space” means a temporary parking (less than 24 hours), off-street space within the main building or on the same lot providing for the standing, loading, or unloading of commercial vehicles, having a minimum dimension of 12 by 35 feet and a vertical clearance of at least 14 feet.

   50.   “Lot” means a parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by one main building together with its accessory buildings officially approved and having its principal frontage upon a dedicated street. The boundaries of the lot shall be determined by its lot lines.

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

   52.   “Lot, depth of” means the average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

   53.   “Lot, double frontage” means a lot having a frontage on two non- intersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

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

   55.   “Lot lines” means the lines bounding a lot, as defined herein:

      A.   Front Lot Line. In the case of an interior lot, the front lot line is that line separating said lot from the street. In the case of a corner lot, or double frontage lot, the front lot line means that line separating said lot from that street that is designated as the front street in the plat and in the application for a zoning compliance permit.

      B.   Rear Lot Line. The rear lot line is that lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line. In the case of a lot pointed at the rear or triangular shaped, the rear lot line is an imaginary line parallel to the front lot line not less than 10 feet long farthest from the lot line and wholly within the lot.

      C.   Side Lot Line. A side lot line is any lot line other than the front lot line or rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street is a side street lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from another lot or lots is an interior side lot line.

   56.   “Lot of record” means a lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the County Recorder, or a parcel of land, the deed of which was recorded in the office of the County Recorder prior to the adoption of the Zoning Ordinance.

   57.   “Lot width” means the width of a lot measured at the building line and at right angles to its depth where the minimum building line or setback intersects the side lot lines.

   58.   “Lot, reversed corner” means a corner lot, the rear of which abuts the side of another lot.

   59.   “Main building” means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot upon which it is situated.

   60.   “Main use” means the principal use to which the premises are devoted and the principal purpose for which the premises exists.

   61.   “Manufactured home” means a factory-built structure, built under authority of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 5403, and required by Federal law to display a seal from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and which was constructed on or after June 15, 1976. If a manufactured home is placed in a mobile home park, the home must be titled and is subject to the mobile home square foot tax. If a manufactured home is placed outside of a mobile home park, the home is to be assessed and taxed as real estate. A manufactured home shall not be constructed with a 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 any wheels or axles. A mobile home constructed to the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards is not a manufactured home unless it has been converted to real property and is taxed as a site built dwelling as is provided in Code of Iowa, Section 435.26. For the purpose of any of these regulations, manufactured homes are considered the same as a single-family detached dwelling.

   62.   “Manufacturing” means the process of making wares by hand, by machinery or by other agency, often with the provision of labor and the use of machinery.

   63.   “Manufacturing, heavy” means manufacturing including the production, processing, cleaning, testing and distribution of materials, goods, foodstuffs and products which, due to the nature of the materials, equipment, or process utilized, the manufacturing operation is considered to be unclean, noisy, hazardous or is associated with other objectionable elements.

   64.   “Manufacturing, light” means manufacturing including the production, processing, cleaning, testing and distribution of materials, goods, foodstuffs and products which, by the nature of the materials, equipment and process utilized, is to a considerable measure clean, quiet, and free of any objectionable or hazardous element.

   65.   “Mobile home” means a vehicle without motive power used or so 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 also includes any vehicle with motive power not registered as a motor vehicle in Iowa. A mobile home is not built to a mandatory building code, contains no Federal or State seals, and was built before June 15, 1976. If a mobile home is placed outside of a mobile home park, the home is to be assessed and taxed as real estate.

   66.   “Mobile home park” means any site, lot, field, or tract of land under common ownership upon which two or more occupied mobile homes, manufactured homes, modular homes, or a combination of the homes are harbored, either free of charge or for revenue purposes, and includes any building, structure, tent, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended for use as part of the equipment of such mobile home park. The term mobile home park shall not be construed to include mobile homes, buildings, tents, or other structures temporarily maintained by an individual, educational institution, or company on said person’s own premises and used exclusively to house said person’s own labor or students. A mobile home park must be classified as to whether it is a residential mobile home park or a recreational mobile home park or both. The Mobile Home Park Residential Landlord Tenant Act only applies to residential mobile home parks.

   67.   “Mobile home converted to real estate” means a mobile home that has been attached to a permanent foundation on real estate owned by the mobile home owner, rendering it totally immobile, and which has been inspected by the assessor, the mobile home vehicle title, registration, and license plates collected from the owner, and the property entered upon the tax rolls of Linn County.

   68.   “Modular home” means a factory-built structure built on a permanent chassis and which is manufactured to be used as a of human habitation, is constructed to comply with the Iowa State Building Code for modular factory-built structures, and must display the seal issued by the State Building Code Commissioner. If a modular home is placed in a mobile home park, the home is subject to the annual tax as required by Section 435.22, Code of Iowa. If a modular home is placed outside a mobile home park, the home shall be considered real property and is to be assessed and taxed as real estate.

   69.   “Motel” means a building or group of buildings in which lodging is provided and offered primarily to transient occupancy and in which each unit has convenient access to a parking space for the use of the unit’s occupants.

   70.   “Multiple-family dwelling unit” means a building arranged, designed, and intended for use as a residence by two or more families living independently of each other.

   71.   “Net metering” means measuring the difference between the electricity supplied by the utility and the electricity generated by an alternative electric generating facility, which is fed back to the utility over the application billing period.

   72.   “Nonconforming building” means a building or portion thereof which does not conform to the provisions of this chapter relative to height, bulk, area or yard size requirements for the district in which it is located.

   73.   “Nonconforming use” means a use that lawfully occupied a building or land but does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

   74.   “Nursing home” means an institution which is advertised, announced, or maintained for the express or implied purpose of providing nursing or convalescent care for persons unrelated to the licensee. A nursing home is a home for chronic or convalescent patients who, on admission, are not as a rule, acutely ill and who do not usually require special facilities, such as an operating room, x-ray facilities, laboratory facilities, and obstetrical facilities. A nursing home provides care for persons who have remedial ailments, for which continuing medical and skilled nursing care is indicated, who, however, are not sick enough to require general hospital care. Nursing care is their primary need, but they will require continuing medical supervision. A major factor that distinguishes a nursing home is that the residents will require the individualization of medical care. For the purpose of the Zoning Ordinance, a nursing home is also considered a convalescent home. Such institution shall be in compliance with the provisions of Sections 135C.1(13), nursing facility, and (17), residential care facility, Code of Iowa.

   75.   “Office” means a room or group of rooms used for conducting the affairs of a business, profession, service, industry, or government and generally furnished with desks, tables, files, and communication equipment.

   76.   "On-Site Storage Container" means:

      A.   Any container or vessel originally designed for, or used in, the packing, storage, shipping, movement or transportation of cargo, freight, goods, equipment or commodities; and/or

      B.   Any container or vessel designed to be, or capable of being, mounted or moved by rail, truck, or ship by means of being mounted on a chassis or other transport device, including portable on-site storage containers, or units having similar characteristics; and/or

      C.   Any railroad cars, truck vans, concerted mobile homes, trailers, recreational vehicles, bus bodies, vehicles, and similar pre-fabricated items originally built for purposes other than the storage of goods and materials.

   77.   “Open space” means the land area of a site not covered by buildings, right-of-ways, parking structures, or accessory buildings, except recreational structures, and which is available to all occupants of units for whose use the space is intended. Open space does not include school sites and commercial areas.

   78.   “Parking space” means a surfaced area, enclosed in the main building or in an accessory building, or unenclosed, having a area of not less than 9 feet by 19 feet, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one vehicle and connected with a street or alley by a surfaced driveway which affords satisfactory ingress and egress for vehicles.

   79.   “Permanent foundation” means the base of the principal structure, sometimes referred to as the basement or slab, constructed of materials such as concrete, bricks, or masonry, and intended to provide principal support the structure.

   80.   “Plan” means a Comprehensive, Land Use, or General Development Plan of the City of Lisbon.

   81.   “Principal building” means the building in which is conducted the main use of the lot upon which it is situated.

   82.   “Principal use” means the main use of land or structures as distinguished from secondary or accessory use. For example, a house is a principal use in a residential area; a garage or pool is an accessory use.

   83.   “Private” means, in reference to a building, structure, utility, facility, or use, owned by someone other than a unit of government, or an agency of government, unless the context clearly indicates that said term is being used in a broader sense of something not open or available to the general populace.

   84   “Public” means, in reference to a building, structure, utility, facility, or use, owned and/or operated by a unit of government or an agency thereof, unless the context clearly indicates that such term is being used in the broader sense of something available to the general populace.

   85.   "Public floor area" means the total area of all floors of a building used by the public in the course of business as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls and not including halls, stairways, elevator shafts, attached garages, porches, and balconies when such area is used for storage or other such incidental use.

   86.   “Roof mount solar energy collection system” means an individual solar energy collection system that is placed upon the roof of an individual building or structure.

   87.   “Setback” means the distance required to obtain the front, side or rear yard open space provisions of this chapter.

   88.   “Services” means establishments primarily engaged in providing assistance, as opposed to products, to individuals, business, industry, government, and other enterprises, including hotels and other lodging places; personal, business, repair, and amusement services; health, legal, engineering, and other professional services; educational services; membership organizations; and other miscellaneous services.

   89   “Shed” means an accessory structure of not more than 12 feet by 12 feet in area and having a height of 8 feet or less, constructed primarily for storage, and is also referred to as garden house.

   90.   “Sign” means any structure or part thereof or device attached thereto or painted, or represented thereon, which shall display or include any letter, word, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device or representation used as, or which is in the nature of an announcement, direction, or advertisement. The word sign includes the word billboard. Temporary signs include, but are not limited to political, holiday, for-sale or lease signs or other signs or advertising intended to be displayed for a short period of time.

   91.   “Solar energy collection system” means a panel or other solar energy device, the primary purpose of which is to provide for the collection, inversion, storage, and distribution of solar energy for electricity generation, space heating, space cooling or water heating.

   92.   “Story” means that portion of a building, other than a basement not having over 50 percent of its height below grade, 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.

   93.   “Story, half” means a partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than three (3) feet above the floor of such story, except that any partial story used for residence purposes, other than for janitor or caretaker or his family, or by a family occupying the floor immediately below it, shall be deemed a full story.

   94.   “Street” means an approved public or private thoroughfare which provides the principal means of vehicular access to abutting property and/or for vehicular passage.

   95.   “Structure” means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more of less permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, advertising signs, billboards, backstops for tennis courts, gazebos, ground-based satellite dishes, and solar collectors.

   96.   “Travel trailer or motor home” means a vehicle with or 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 to permit the vehicle to be used as a place of human habitation by one or more persons. Said vehicle may be up to 8 feet in width and a length not to exceed 28 feet. If such vehicle is customarily or ordinarily used as a place of human habitation for more than 90 days in any 18-month period, it shall be classed as a mobile home, regardless of the size and weight limitation provided herein.

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

   98.   “Urban solar farm” means an energy general facility or area of land principally used to convert solar energy to electricity.

   99.   “Variance” means a modification of the literal provisions of the Zoning Ordinance which would cause undue hardship owing to circumstances unique to the individual property on which the variance is granted. The crucial points of variance are: (i) undue hardship; (ii) unique circumstances; and (iii) applying to property. The authority to grant variances is vested in the Board of Adjustment pursuant to Chapter 414 of the Code of Iowa.

   100.   “Yard” means an open space between a building and the adjoining lot lines unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure. 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 line shall be used. See the following yard examples:

      A.   Front Yard. A front yard is a yard extending across the front of a lot and being the minimum horizontal distance between the street or place line and the main building or any projections thereof other than the projections of the usual uncovered steps. On corner lots, the front yard is considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension, except where owner shall elect to front his or her building on a street parallel to the lot line having the greater dimension.

      B.   Rear Yard. A rear yard is 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 line or any projections thereof other than the projections of uncovered steps. On all lots the rear yard is in the rear of the front yard.

      C.   Side Yard. A side yard is a yard between the main building line 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 line or any projections of uncovered steps.