(a)

General. Words in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural number; the word "building" includes the word "structure"; the word "lot" includes the word "plot"; the word "shall" is mandatory and not directive.

(b)

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Abutting property. Property abutting upon a street is understood as a lot abutting property on the other side of the street.

Accessory building means:

(1)

In a residence or apartment district, a subordinate building, attached to or detached from the main building, without separate utilities, not used for commercial purposes and not rented and containing servants quarters, a storage room for domestic storage only or space for one or more automobiles;

(2)

In other districts, a subordinate building, the use of which is incidental to and used only in conjunction with the main building.

Alley means a public space or thoroughfare which affords only secondary means of access to property abutting thereon.

Apartment means a room or suite of rooms in an apartment house arranged, designed or occupied as the residence by a single family, individual or group of individuals.

Apartment hotel means any building larger than an apartment house designed or built to be occupied as a series of separate apartments and by persons living independently of each other.

Apartment house means any building, or portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied as three or more apartments or which is occupied as the home or residence of three or more families living independently of each other and maintaining separate cooking facilities.

Area of the lot means the net area of the lot and shall not include portions of streets and alleys.

Automobile and trailer sales area means an open area, other than a street or required automobile parking space, used for the display or sale of new or used automobiles or trailers, and where no repair work is done except minor incidental repair of automobiles or trailers to be displayed and sold on the premises.

Automobile service station means any premises used for supplying gasoline, oil, diesel and liquified petroleum gases, at retail direct to the customer, including accessories and services for vehicles.

Billboard orposter panel means any sign of advertisement used as an outdoor display for the purpose of making anything known, the origin or point of sale of which is remote from said display.

Block means an area within the city enclosed by streets and occupied by or intended for buildings.

Boardinghouse or lodginghouse means a building other than a hotel, where lodging and meals for three or more persons are served for compensation.

Breezeway means a covered passage one story in height connecting a main structure and an accessory building.

Building means any structure built for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind.

Building, end of, means those sides of the building having the least dimensions and in which doors or openings are not customarily provided for ingress and egress.

Building, front of, means the side of a building most nearly parallel with and adjacent to the front of the lot on which it is situated.

Building line means a line parallel or approximately parallel to the street line and beyond which buildings may not be erected.

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

Business means and includes retail, commercial and light industrial uses and districts as herein defined.

Clinic, medical, means an institution or station for the examination and treatment of ill and afflicted out patients.

Condominium means a multi-unit dwelling, each of whose residents, known as unit owners, enjoys exclusive ownership of his individual apartment or unit, holding a fee simple title thereto, while retaining an undivided interest, as a tenant in common, and the common facilities and areas of the building and grounds which are used by all the residents.

Convalescent home means any structure used for or occupied by persons recovering from illness or suffering from the infirmities of old age.

Court means an open, unoccupied space, bounded on more than two sides by the walls of the building. An inner court is a court entirely surrounded by the exterior walls of a building. An outer court is a court having one side open to a street, alley, yard, or other permanently open space.

Day nursery means a place where children are left for care between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight.

Depth of rear yard means the mean horizontal distance between the rear line of a building, other than accessory building, and the rear lot line.

Depth of the lot means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

District means a section of the city, for which the regulations governing the area, height, or use of the buildings are uniform.

Duplex means a two-family dwelling, whether divided vertically or horizontally.

Dwelling, one-family, means a detached building having accommodations for and occupied by not more than one family, or by one family and not more than two boarders or lodgers.

Dwelling unit means a building or portion of a building which is arranged, occupied or intended to be occupied as living quarters.

Family means any number of individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit, in which not more than two individuals are unrelated by blood.

Farm means an area of ten acres or more, which is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruits, trees, and grain and their storage on the area as well as the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals such as horses, cattle, and sheep and including dairy farms with the necessary accessory uses for treating and storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of such accessory use shall be secondary to that of the normal activities.

Front yard means an open, unoccupied space on a lot facing a street and extending across the front of a lot between the side yard lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the main building or any projection thereof other than the projection of the usual steps or eave overhang.

Frontage means all the property fronting on one side of a street between the two nearest intersecting streets, or other natural barriers.

Greenhouse means a building consisting of glazed frames of sashes or other appropriate materials, often artificially heated, used for the purpose of cultivating plants too tender to endure open air.

Gross floor area. The gross floor area of an apartment house shall be measured by taking the outside dimensions of the apartment building at each floor level, excluding, however, the floor area of basements or attics not used for residential purposes.

Height. The height of a building or portion of a building shall be measured from the average established grade at the street lot line or from the average natural ground level, if higher, or, if no street grade has been established, to the highest point of the roof's surface if a flat surface; to the deck of mansard roofs; and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for hip and gable roofs. In measuring the height of a building, the following structures shall be excluded: chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, penthouses, tanks, water towers, radio towers, ornamental cupolas, domes or spires, and parapet walls not exceeding four feet in height.

Hobby shop means an accessory use housed in a dwelling or in an accessory building in which the residents of the premises engage in recreational activities, none of which shall disturb the neighbors on either side or in the rear thereof, and from which no revenue may be derived, in which no goods may be publicly displayed, offered for sale, or advertised for sale, nor may any sign be used in connection therewith.

Home occupations means any occupation that is customarily performed at home that does not involve a structural change in the building, that does not require the employment of help, the installation of equipment shall not include beauty culture schools, beauty parlors, barbershops, electrician, radio, plumbers, or tinner shops, auto repair and/or painting, furniture repair or other similar uses.

Hospital means an institute or place where sick or injured inpatients are given medical or surgical care either at public (charity) or private expense.

Hotel andmotel mean a building or arrangement of buildings designed and occupied as a temporary abiding place of individuals who are lodged with or without meals, in which the rooms are usually occupied for hire.

Housing project means an area of three or more acres arranged according to a site plan to be submitted to and to be approved by the city zoning commission and the city council on which is indicated the amount of land to be devoted to housing facilities, their arrangement thereon, together with the arrangement of access streets and alleys, and the entire area is to be zoned an R-2 district upon the recommendation of the city zoning commission and the action of the city council, and in which it shall not be necessary to subdivide the area into lots and blocks. The site plan shall indicate that all access streets, alleys, sidewalks, storm sewers, and storm inlets, shall be provided by the developer, and built in accordance with city specifications.

Kennel means any lot or premises on which four or more dogs, more than four months of age, are kept.

Kindergarten means a school for children of pre-public school age in which constructive endeavors, object lessons and helpful games are prominent features of the curriculum.

Lot means land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory building, and including such open spaces as are required under this chapter, and having its principal frontage upon a public street.

Lot, corner, means a lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets.

Lot, interior, means a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot lines means the lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

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 clerk of Atascosa, Bexar or Medina County, or a parcel of land, the deed for which was recorded in the office of the county clerk of Atascosa, Bexar or Medina County prior to the adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived.

Lot width means the horizontal distance between the side lot lines, measured at right angles to the lot depth at a point midway between the front and rear lot lines.

Nonconforming use means a building, structure or use of land lawfully occupied at the time of the effective date of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived or amendments thereto, and which does not conform to the use of regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Nurseries means a place where trees, shrubs, or flowering plants are raised from seed or otherwise in order to be transplanted or propagated.

Open space means area included in any side, rear or front yard or any unoccupied space on the lot that is open and unobstructed to the sky except for the ordinary projection of cornices, eaves or porches.

Private garage means an accessory building or portion thereof in which not more than five privately owned motor-driven vehicles are stored by occupants of the premises.

Private stable means a stable with a capacity for not more than four horses.

Public garage means a building or portion of a building used for repair, care, or servicing of motor-driven vehicles, or where motor-driven vehicles are equipped for operation, or kept for hire or sale, but not including the open storage of trucks, trailers and vans.

Public parking lots means any premises used for the purpose of parking motor vehicles for remuneration. No repairs or sales will be permitted on the premises.

Public stable means a stable with a capacity for more than four horses.

Rear yard means a yard extending across the rear of a lot, measuring between the side of lot lines, and being the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building or any projections other than steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches. On corner lots, the rear yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension. On both corner lots and interior lots, the rear yard shall in all cases be at the opposite end of a lot from the front yard.

Servants quarters means an accessory building or portion of a main building located on the same lot as the main building and used as a living quarters for servants employed on the premises and not rented or otherwise used as a separate domicile.

Shopping center means an area consisting of three acres or more arranged according to a site plan to be submitted to and to be approved by the city zoning commission and the city council, on which is indicated the amount of land to be devoted to the shopping village, the detailed arrangement of the various buildings, parking area, streets, and type of zoning desired. It shall be required that the installation of all utilities, drainage structures, the paving of streets, parking area, alley and the installation of sidewalks be in accordance with the city specifications for each type of improvement.

Side yard means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building, situated between the building and side line of the lot and extending through from the front yard to a front line.

Story, half, means a story having an average height of not more than eight feet , covering a floor area of not more than 75 percent of the area of the floor of the first story below.

Story, standard, means a story having 11 feet, six inches between floors.

Street means any thoroughfare or public driveway, other than an alley, and more than 20 feet in width, which has been dedicated or deeded to the public for public use.

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

Structural alterations means any change in the supporting member of a building, such as a bearing wall, column, beams or girders.

Trailer camp, trailer coach park ormobile home park means a lot or tract of land, at least three acres in size, where facilities and accommodations, including electricity, water and sewer service, are provided by the day, week or month, or longer period of time, for trailers or mobile homes, and whether provided on a rental basis or so occupied and used by the owner or owners of such lot or tract of land.

Trailers andmobile homes. A "trailer" is any structure used for living, sleeping, business or storage purposes, having no foundation other than wheels, blocks, skids, jacks, horses or skirtings and which is, has been, or reasonably may be, equipped with wheels or other devices for transporting the structure from place to place, whether by motive power or other means. The term "trailer" shall include camp car and house car. A "mobile home" is a movable or portable dwelling constructed to be towed by a motor vehicle on its own chassis over state roads and highways under special permit, connected to utilities, and designed without a permanent foundation, for year-round living. It may consist of one or more units that can be telescoped when towed and expanded later for additional capacity, or of two or more units separately towable but designed to be joined into one integral unit.

Used car lot means a lot or portion thereof to be used only for the display and sale of automobiles that are in condition to be driven on or off the lot. A used car lot shall not be used for the storage of wrecked automobiles, or the dismantling of automobiles or the storage of automobile parts.

Width of side yard means the mean horizontal distance between a side wall of a building and the side line of the lot, or to the center line of an alley adjacent to such side lot line.

Yard means an open, unoccupied space other than a court, on the lot in which a building is situated and which is unobstructed from the ground to the sky.

(Code 1978, §§ 20.100, 20.101)

The zoning regulations and districts as herein established have been made in accordance with a comprehensive plan for the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals and the general welfare of the community. They have been designed to lessen congestion in the streets, to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers, to provide adequate light and air, to prevent the over-crowding of land, to avoid undue concentration of population and to facilitate the adequate provisions of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements. They have been made with reasonable consideration, among other things, to the character of the district, and its particular suitability for the particular uses, and with a view of conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the community.

(Code 1978, §§ 20.200, 20.201)

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to property belonging to the city, or to property used to provide public utilities; provided, in the erection of buildings or other structures, the city and utility companies shall attempt to conform in architectural design or otherwise as nearly as possible to the buildings permitted in the district in which they are being erected.

(Code 1978, § 20.202)

Except as provided in this chapter:

(1)

No building shall be erected, reconstructed or structurally altered, nor shall any building or land be used for any purpose other than is permitted in the district in which such building or land is located;

(2)

No building shall be erected, reconstructed or structurally altered to exceed the height or bulk limit herein established for the district in which such building is located;

(3)

No lot area shall be so reduced or diminished that the yards or other open spaces shall be smaller than prescribed by this chapter, nor shall the yard or open spaces provided about any building for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this chapter be considered as providing a yard or open spaces for any other building;

(4)

Every building hereafter erected shall be located on a lot, and in no case shall there be more than one building on one lot except as provided in this chapter.

(Code 1978, § 20.203)

All buildings erected hereafter, all uses of land or buildings established or changed hereafter, and all structural alterations, enlargements, relocations, and restorations of existing buildings occurring hereafter shall be subject to the requirements and regulations of this chapter, and no land shall be used for and no building shall be erected for or converted to any use other than provided in the regulations prescribed for the district in which it is located, except as hereinafter provided.

(Code 1978, § 20.204)