A way or means of approach or admission.

A subordinate use, customarily incidental to and subordinate to the principal use of the structure, and located upon the same lot occupied by the main use. Private sewage treatment systems shall be considered as accessory uses, buildings or structures and shall be permitted as a freestanding use on a vacant lot.

A parcel of land, regardless of area, which is not a numbered lot on any recorded subdivision plat.

A unit of measure, the total land area to be developed including rights-of-way, easements, and land set aside for public purposes.

The Zoning Administrator of Mathews County, Virginia. The official, appointed by the governing body, with enforcement of this chapter.

An establishment having a substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade, including but not limited to, books, magazines, periodicals, or video tapes which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or related to specified sexual activities as defined, or an establishment with a segment or section devoted to the sale of such material.

An enclosed building used for presenting material distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities, or specified anatomical areas as defined, for observation by patrons therein.

The tilling of the soil, the raising of the crops, food and fiber; horticulture; and gardening, including the keeping of animals and fowl, and including any agricultural industry or business, such as fruit packing plants, dairies, or similar uses.

The propagation, rearing, enhancement and harvesting of algae, kelp or seaweed.

A public or private way affording secondary means of access to abutting property.

Any change in the total floor area, use, adaptability, or external appearance of an existing structure.

A building which is owned by an individual, person, firm, or corporation which is to be leased as the residence of three or more families independently of each other.

The propagation, rearing, enhancement, and harvest of aquatic organisms in controlled or selected environments, conducted in marine, estuarine, brackish, or fresh water.

Any land, structure, or other appurtenance that is used for aquaculture, including any laboratory, hatchery, pond, raceway, pen, cage, incubator, or other equipment used in aquaculture.

Any species or hybrid of aquatic animal or plant, including fish, shellfish, marine fish, and marine organisms.

A person licensed to practice as an architect in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

An establishment that provides housing and other services which may include meals, housekeeping and personal care assistance for adult residents who typically are functionally impaired, but otherwise in good health and able to maintain a semi-independent lifestyle, not requiring more intensive care of a nursing or convalescent home.

A business holding a valid dealer's license and collecting state sales tax, whose primary concern is the recovery of automobile parts for resale or secondarily to distribute, by the recycling process, the residue of its scrap metal content.

Any place which is exposed to the weather and upon which more than five motor vehicles of any kind, incapable of being operated, and which it would not be economically practical to make operable, are placed, located, or found.

The repair of vehicles including, but not limited to, cars and trucks by the owner-operator of the repair facility. Such repair shall occur on property owned or leased by the operator and the operator shall reside on the same parcel as the repair facility.

Facilities for the take-off and landing of aircraft, including runways, aircraft-storage buildings, helicopter pads, air-traffic facilities, informational facilities and devices, terminal buildings, aircraft-maintenance facilities, aviation-instruction facilities, and heliports.

A story having part, but not more than 1/2, of its height below grade. A basement shall be counted a story for the purpose of height regulations if it is used for business purposes or for the dwelling purposes by other than a janitor employed on the premises.

An owner- or operator-occupied private residence which contains no more than one kitchen and six or fewer rooms which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests, other than temporary personal guests of an owner or operator, none of whom remain any more than seven consecutive nights, for compensation with or without meals.

A private room planned and intended for sleeping, separated from other rooms by a door, and accessible to a bathroom without crossing through another bedroom.

That property abutting one side of the street, and lying between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets or the nearest intersecting or intercepting street and railroad right-of-way, unsubdivided acreage, river or live stream or between any of the foregoing in any barrier to the continuity of development.[1]

The Board of Zoning Appeals of Mathews County, Virginia.

A single-story structure limited to the storage of watercraft and/or watercraft equipment and constructed over the water.

A structure designed to launch and recover watercraft and including supporting facilities such as parking and storage.

A device or natural growth, or a combination of, designed or used as a barrier to vision or noise between adjoining properties or land uses.

Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, designed or intended for the support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, or chattels.

A subordinate structure customarily incidental to and located upon the same lot occupied by the main structure.

The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

A building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.

Commercial establishments which cater to and can be located in close proximity to a residential or rural district without creating undue vehicular congestion, excessive noise, or other objectionable influences. To prevent congestion, convenience uses include, but need not be limited to, drugstores, beauty salons, barber shops, carry-outs, dry cleaning and laundry facilities, and grocery stores, if less than 10,000 square feet in floor area. Uses in this classification tend to serve a day-to-day need in the neighborhood.

Commercial uses which generally require locations on or near major thoroughfares and/or their intersections, and which tend in addition to serving day-to-day needs of the whole community, also supply the more durable and permanent needs of the whole community. General business uses include, but need not be limited to, such activities as supermarkets; stores that sell hardware, apparel, footwear, appliances, and furniture; department stores; and discount stores.

Commercial uses which generally require locations on or near major thoroughfares and/or their intersections, and which tend to serve the motoring public. Highway business uses include, but need not be limited to, such activities as filling stations, truck and auto sales and service, restaurants, and motels.

Any profit-making activity which renders services primarily to other commercial or industrial enterprises, or which services and repairs appliances and machines used in homes and businesses.

Business establishments that generally sell commodities in large quantities or by the piece to retailers, jobbers, other wholesale establishments or manufacturing establishments. These commodities are basically for further resale, for use in the fabrication of a product, or for use by a business service.

An adult club, restaurant, theater, hall or similar place which features topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers exhibiting specified anatomical areas or performing specified sexual activities as defined.

A parcel of land devoted to primarily outdoor recreation uses not including overnight accommodations for users.

Any lot or land used, maintained, or held out to be public as a place of use for camping or lodging purposes, whether equipped with tents, tent houses, huts, cabins, cottages, campers, or trailers, or not so equipped, and by whatever name the same may be called, whether any fee is charged for the use thereof or not.

A parcel of land used or designed to be used for seasonal accommodations of individuals in tents or similar rustic structures and for use by such individuals for sports, handcrafts and other outdoor oriented activities and recreation.

Any space outside a building and contiguous thereto wholly or partly covered by a roof, and used for the shelter of motor vehicles.

A traveling or transportable group or aggregation of rides, shows, games or concessions or any combination thereof.

Any place or premises used for sale, dispensing, or serving of food, refreshments, or beverages in automobiles, including those establishments where customers may serve themselves and may eat or drink the food, refreshments or beverages in motor vehicles on the premises; a refreshment stand; a "fast food" or primarily "carry establishments."

Any automatic or self-service facility where the washing of vehicles is conducted. It does not mean facilities that wash or steam-clean engines, buses, tankers or tractor-trailers. Also it does not include mobile car washes or charity car washes. Car washes shall utilize a low-volume water recycling system which provides for an average of at least 80% recycled water per wash.

A story having more than 1/2 of its height below grade.

A publicly or privately owned sewer system, approved by the State Department of Health or the State Water Control Board, which serves three or more dwelling units or other structures, and which consists of collection and transmission lines or mains, pumping stations if necessary, and a sewage treatment and disposal facility. Such system functions by transmission of sewage away from the point of origin, collection and treatment of the sewage at a sewage treatment facility which is not located on any of the lots or parcels served by the system, and disposal or discharge of the treated effluent. Central sewer system shall not include mass drain fields, low pressure drain field systems, mound systems and other on-site wastewater disposal methods.

A publicly or privately owned water supply system which meets State Department of Health requirements for an approved water supply, and which serves five or more dwelling units or other structures. Such systems consist of a well or wells which are not located on any of the lots or parcels served by the system, pump houses, transmission lines or mains, and storage tanks if necessary.

Building in which the primary use is for assembly of persons for religious worship or religious purposes.

A traveling or transportable show or exhibition consisting of performance by persons and animals under one tent or similar structure, with or without side shows.

Buildings and facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for a social, educational or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit and not primarily to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business. Includes, but is not necessarily limited to, Masonic lodges, American Legion halls, and community associations. A lodge shall be considered a club.

An arrangement of structures or adjoining lots in groupings allowing closer spacing than would be generally permitted under ordinance requirements for lot widths with the decrease in lot width or area compensated by maintenance of equivalent open space either elsewhere on the lot or in the form of common open space.

A farm where hogs are kept and raised primarily for sale, the principal product or use of which farm are such hogs.

A farm where poultry are kept and raised primarily for sale, the principal product or use of which farm is such poultry.

The Planning Commission of Mathews County, Virginia.

The adopted Comprehensive Plan for Mathews County, Virginia, including all amendments and elements.

A site where concrete is mixed for us or delivery elsewhere. May include equipment such as mixers, hoppers, conveyors, silos, structures for the ancillary storage of raw materials, and parking for employee and delivery vehicles. No on-site use of concrete unless through an approved conditional use permit for "manufacture of cement and stone products." Requires an approved site plan, which shall include a dust control plan.

Permission for a use listed as such in this chapter and which may be issued in a specified district under certain conditions, such conditions to be determined in each case by the terms of this chapter and by the Board of Supervisors, by means of the procedures specified by this chapter and applicable state laws.

A system of separate ownership of individual units in a multiple-unit building or development of residential, commercial, or industrial use; all owners have a right in common to use the common elements of the building or development with separate ownership confined to the individual units as provided for under § 55-79.39 of the Code of Virginia.

A land burial facility engineered, constructed, and operated to contain and isolate construction waste, demolition waste, debris waste, inert waste, or a combination of the above solid wastes under regulation of the Department of Waste Management or other applicable state or federal agency.

A housing development designed to provide a full range of accommodations for older adults (55 years of age or older), including independent living, assisted living and skilled full-time nursing or medical care. Residents may move from one level of care to another as their needs change.

Any institution, however named, whether conducted for charity or for profit, which is advertised, announced or maintained for the express or implied purpose of caring for two or more non-related persons admitted thereto for the purpose of nursing or convalescent care. Nursing and convalescent care includes care given because of prolonged illness or defect or during the recovery from injury or disease, and includes any and all of the procedures commonly employed in waiting on the sick, such as administration of medicine, preparation of special diets, giving of bedside care, application of dressing and bandages, and the carrying out of treatments prescribed by a duly licensed practitioner of medicine. (Certain nursing homes and homes for the aged may be "home occupation," if they comply with the definition herein.)

A single store retail use, the ground floor area of which is 5,000 square feet or less and which offers for sale, primarily, the following articles: bread, milk, cheese, canned and bottled foods and drinks, tobacco products, candy, papers and magazines, general hardware articles and gasoline.

Manufacture or processing of items by hand not involving assembly line techniques.

Facilities providing day care or nursery services for six or more children.

A person having legal title to any tract of land or parcel of land to be developed, whether or not they have given their power of attorney to one of their group, or another individual or entity to act on behalf in planning, negotiating or in representing or executing the requirements of the ordinances or the laws of the County.

A vehicle which is inoperable for mechanical or safety reasons and which is not eligible for licensing in its current state or condition.

Districts as referred to in § 15.1-486 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.

Any area of 100 square feet or more where trash, garbage, scrap material, or any solid waste is placed or any area where hazardous or infectious wastes are placed or stored in a manner not in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations.

A building containing three or more dwelling units, with varying arrangements of entrances and party walls.

Four attached dwellings in one building in which each unit has two open-space exposures and shares one or two walls with adjoining unit or units.

A building consisting of an unattached, single dwelling unit only, but excluding manufactured homes.

A group of two or more single-family dwelling units which are joined to one another by a common party wall, a common floor-ceiling and/or connecting permanent structures such as breezeways, carports, garages or screening fences or walls, whether or not such group is located on a single parcel of ground or on adjoining individual lots. Dwellings such as a semi-detached, garden court, patio house and townhouse shall be deemed a single-family attached dwelling.

A building containing three dwelling units, each of which has direct access to the outside or to a common hall.

A building consisting of two dwelling units which may be either attached side by side or one above the other, and each unit having a separate or combined entrance or entrances.

Space, within a building, comprising living, dining, and sleeping rooms, storage closets, and space and equipment for cooking, bathing, and toilet facilities, all for one family and its household employees.

A grant by a property owner of the use of his land by another party for a specific purpose.

Shall be taken to mean constructed, reconstructed moved or structurally altered.

A portable shelter or permanent structure used on specified occasions that accommodates corporate events and social functions.

The process of constructing or assembling a product from previously prepared parts, elements or material which have been manufactured off-site of the fabrication activity.

One or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit, provided that unless all members are related by blood, adoption, or marriage; no such family shall contain over five persons.

For the purposes of § 175-5.4A, "immediate family" is defined as a natural or legally defined offspring, brother, sister, grandchild, grandparent or parent of the owner, including step-relations.

An occasional or periodic market held in a structure or open area where farmers, fishermen and similar persons sell their produce, products, catch or homemade wares.

A fixed structure designed to prevent escape or intrusion or to define property.

Any establishment, the primary business of which is concerned with such state-regulated activities as banking, savings and loans, and consumer loans.

The propagation, rearing, enhancement, and harvest of hatchery produced cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates in controlled or selected aquatic environments.

A means of access of sufficient design to permit ingress and egress by firefighting equipment.

A mixed-use structure in which residential and business uses are combined in the same building (i.e., a building with retail and residential uses on the same floor, or separated by floors). At least 15% of the ground floor space of the building is to be devoted solely to business use, while the rest of the floor space is flexible, and may be used for either business and/or residential uses. Only professional offices are to be permitted by right within a flexible residential/business use; all other proposed business uses must receive a conditional use permit prior to locating within the building. The structure shall comply with both the standards of the underlying Business-2 (B-2) Zoning District, and all other terms and regulations of this chapter, including residential density. Flexible residential/business use shall be only located in the Business-2 (B-2) District and the Village Mixed Use (VMU) District.

For the purpose of determining the number of off-street parking spaces required by this chapter, floor area shall be the sum of the horizontal areas of the several floors of the building, measured from the interior faces of the exterior walls; but excluding stairs, washrooms, elevator shafts, maintenance shafts and rooms, storage spaces, display windows, fitting rooms, and similar areas.

The cultivation, maintenance, development, and harvesting of forests.

The minimum width of a lot measured from one side lot line to the other along a straight line on which no point shall be farther away from the street upon which the lot fronts than the building setback line as defined and required herein.

Accessory building designed or used for the storage of private automobiles owned and used by the occupant of the building to which it is accessory.

A building or portion thereof, other than a private garage, designed or used for servicing, repairing, equipping, renting, selling, or storing motor vehicles.

Buildings and premises where gasoline, oil, grease, batteries, tires, and motor vehicle accessories may be sold. Uses permissible include major mechanical bodywork, straightening of body parts, painting, and welding; and storage of automobiles not in operating condition. Storage of automobiles awaiting parts or repair is permitted.

A residential building of no more than three stories in height designed for three or more dwelling units.

A single store which offers for sale general merchandise. Gasoline may also be offered for sale but only as a secondary activity of a general store.

The effect of a light source that shines so as to be conspicuous and obtrusive.

An area of 50 or more contiguous acres, publicly or privately owned, on which the game of golf is played, together with such necessary and usual accessory uses as a club house, caretakers' dwellings, dining and refreshment facilities, and other such uses provided that the operation of such facilities is incidental and subordinate to the operation of a golf course.

A limited area on which golf players do not walk, but onto which they drive golf balls from a central driving tee.

The Board of Supervisors of Mathews County, Virginia.

A facility for drying grain. A commercial grain dryer is one in which the grain dried is primarily grown by sources other than the owner and/or operator of the facility. A noncommercial grain dryer is one in which the grain dried is primarily grown by the owner and/or operator of the facility.

Living quarters within a detached accessory building located on the same premises with the main building for use by temporary guests of the occupants of the premises, and not rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling unless permitted by the terms of this chapter.

A hazardous waste as described by the Virginia Hazardous Waste Regulation or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The legally designated health authority of the State Board of Health for Mathews County or his authorized representative.

A low impact home-based business within any dwelling or accessory structure, which may include limited employee access, customers or clients and is clearly accessory and subordinate to the residential use.

A low impact home-based business activities for individuals within any dwelling completely contained within the dwelling unit and accessory buildings that is an accessory and subordinate use to the residential use.

A nonprofit organization operating under recorded land agreements through which:

An institution rendering medical, surgical, obstetrical, or convalescent care, including nursing homes, homes for the aged, and sanatoriums, but in all cases excluding institutions primarily for mental or feeble-minded patients, epileptics, alcoholics, or drug addicts.

A building or group of buildings on a lot in which food and lodging or food, board and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation. As such it is open to the public in contradistinction to a boarding house, which is herein defined. Irrespective of the nature or form of ownership of a hotel or of an apartment hotel or of ownership of any of its components, and irrespective of the occasional use without compensation of the hotel or apartment hotel by its owners, a hotel or apartment hotel shall not be deemed a condominium for purposes of this chapter.

Solid wastes which contain pathogens with sufficient virulence and quantity so that exposure to the waste by a susceptible host could result in an infectious disease.

A building in which up to 20 lodging rooms or lodging rooms and meals, not including in-room cooking facilities, are offered to the general public for compensation, and in which entrance to lodging rooms is made through a lobby or other common room.

Any motor vehicle which is not in operating condition, or which, for a period of 60 days or longer, has been partially or totally disassembled by the removal of tires and wheels, the engine, or other essential parts required for operation of the vehicle, or on which are displayed neither valid license plates, nor a valid inspection decal. This term shall not include antique motor vehicles, or a vehicle used in agricultural or horticultural use as provided for in § 46.2-665 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended.

Any land or building used for the abandonment, storage, keeping collecting, or bailing of paper, rags, scrap metals, other scrap or discarded materials, or for the abandonment, demolition, dismantling, storage, or salvaging of automobiles or other vehicles not in running condition, machinery or part thereof.

A place prepared to house, board, breed, handle or otherwise keep or care for dogs for sale or in return for compensation.

A sanitary landfill or a construction/demolition/debris landfill under regulation of the Department of Waste Management or other applicable state or federal agency.

A space within a building or on the premises providing for the standing, loading or unloading of vehicles.

A parcel of land occupied or to be occupied by a main structure or group of main structures and accessory structures, together with such yards, open spaces, lot width and lot areas as are required by this chapter, either shown on a plat of record or considered as a unit of property and described by metes and bounds.

The total horizontal area included within the rear, side and front lines or proposed street lines of the lot, excluding any streets or highways, whether dedicated or not dedicated to public use, but including off-street automobile parking area and other accessory uses. Lot area shall not include portions under water except where the total area of a body of water is within a lot.

A lot abutting on two or more streets at their intersection. Of the two sides of a corner lot, the front shall be deemed to be the shorter of the two sides fronting on streets.

The area of a lot occupied by structures, off-street parking, driveways, outside storage, or any other improvements not considered open space.

The shortest horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

An interior lot having frontage on two streets.

Any lot other than corner lot.

A lot, a plat, or description of which has been recorded in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of Mathews County.

A lot abutting a body of water.

The shortest horizontal distance between side lot lines at the front lot line, building line or shoreline.

A lighting fixture assembly or source of artificial illumination including, but not limited to, bulbs, lamps, reflectors, refractors and housings associated with them.

The process and/or converting of raw, unfinished materials, or products, or either of them, into articles or substances of different character, or for use for a different purpose.

A structure subject to federal regulation, which is transportable in one or more sections; is eight body feet or more in width and 40 body feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or is 320 or more square feet when erected on site; is built on a permanent chassis; is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities; and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained in the structure.

Any area of land designed to accommodate two or more manufactured homes intended for residential use where residence is in manufactured homes exclusively, regardless of whether the lots are rented or sold. This definition shall not apply to an area specifically used for display of manufactured homes by a manufactured homes sales agency.

Manufacturing or other industrial uses which are usually controlled operations; relatively clean, quiet, and free of objectionable or hazardous elements such as smoke, noise, odor, or dust; operating and storing within enclosed structures; dependent on highway transportation; and creating no nuisances.

A boating establishment located on a navigable waterway, which may include in-water berths/slips, which are covered or uncovered, dry berths/slips for boat storage on land, either indoors or outdoors, and provisions for transfer of boats to and from the water by means of ramps or mechanical equipment, boat repairs and/or construction, marine fuel and lubricants, marine supplies, restaurants, or refreshment facilities, and boat and boat motor sales. A marina may provide boats to rent, charter, lease, or hire for uses clearly incidental to watercraft activities.

A marina designed and intended to be used for mooring of boats by residents of the general neighborhood with no commercial facilities other than necessary for minor servicing and repairs.

A solid waste management facility for the collection, processing and recovery of material from solid waste under regulation of the Department of Waste Management or other applicable state or federal agency.

The development of a tract of land, building or structure with a variety of complementary and integrated uses, such as, but not limited to, residential, office and retail in a compact form.

A single structure containing at least two complementary, integrated, or mutually supporting uses (such as housing, offices and retail).

A self-propelled or towed vehicle licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles containing a mobile kitchen in which food and beverages are stored and/or prepared and from which menu items are served in individual portions to walk-up customers.

A factory-fabricated transportable building designed to be used by itself or to be incorporated with similar units at a building site into a modular structure. This term is intended to apply to major assemblies, and does not include prefabricated panels, trusses, plumbing trees and other prefabricated sub-elements incorporated into a structure at the site.

One or more buildings containing individual sleeping rooms, designed for or used temporarily by tourists or transients, with garage or parking space conveniently located to each unit. Cooking facilities may be provided for each unit.

A vehicle which is self-propelled or designed for self-propulsion, having a normal seating capacity of not more than 10 persons, including the driver, designed primarily for use as living quarters for human beings. (See "trailer, travel.")

A watercraft in or by which any person or persons is or may be transported on the waterways which is propelled by oars, paddles or sails without primary or secondary motor propulsion; for example, kayaks, canoes, sailboards, catamarans and small sailboats. Related accessories include oars, life preservers, boat trailers/racks and sails.

A vehicle in or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway which is self-propelled or designed for self-propulsion; excluding mopeds and motorized wheelchairs. Semi-trailers and trailers designed to transport only property are considered part of a motor vehicle.

A facility intended primarily for the exhibit and/or repository and/or research of books, artworks, artifacts, archives and other similar items for public appreciation and information. Accessory sales and services may be permitted.

An otherwise legally platted lot that does not conform to the minimum area or width requirements of this chapter for the district in which it is located either at the effective date of this chapter or as a result of subsequent amendments to this chapter.

An otherwise legal building or structure that does not conform with the lot area, yard, height, lot coverage, or other area regulations of this chapter, or is designed or intended for a use that does not conform to the regulations of this chapter for the district in which it is located either at the effective date of this chapter or as a result of subsequent amendments to the ordinance.

The otherwise legal use of a building or structure or a tract of land that does not conform to the use regulations of this chapter for the district in which it is located either at the effective date of this chapter or as a result of subsequent amendments to the ordinance.

An incorporated organization or group whose charter prohibits profit-making endeavors, and which enjoys tax exemption privileges.

The certificate issued by the Building Official, after approval by the Administrator, which permits the use of a building in accordance with the approved plans and specifications and which certifies compliance with the provisions of the law for the use and occupancy of the building as specified in the Building Code and this chapter.

Describes a location on an area of land which is proximate to a parcel of land defined as "on-site."

A septic tank and drain field or similar installation such as a peat moss filtration (e.g., VDH GMP 79 such as PURAFLO7 system), approved by the State Department of Health, located on an individual lot or parcel as an accessory or principal use and serving a single dwelling unit or other structure located on a different lot or parcel, which provides proper and safe treatment and disposal of sewage. The term "off-site sewer" shall not include spray irrigation nor similar waste disposal methods.

Space provided for vehicular parking not on a street or roadway.

Shall be construed to be describing a location on all, or a portion of a parcel of land which is the subject of an application for approval by the Board of Supervisors, its agent, Planning Commission or Board of Zoning Appeals and which parcel of land is in single ownership or under unified control.

A septic tank and drain field or similar installation such as a peat moss filtration (e.g., VDH GMP 79 such as PURAFLO7 system), approved by the State Department of Health, located on an individual lot or parcel and serving a single dwelling unit or other structure located on that lot, which provides proper and safe treatment and disposal of sewage. The term "on-site sewer" shall not include spray irrigation or similar waste disposal methods.

That area within the boundaries of a lot that is intended to provide light and air, and is designed for either scenic or recreational purposes. Open space shall, in general, be available for entry and use by the residents or occupants of the development, but may include a limited proportion of space so located and treated as to enhance the amenity of the development by providing landscaping features, screening for the benefit of the occupants or those in neighboring areas, or a general appearance of openness. Open space may include, but need not be limited to, lawns, decorative planting, walkways, active and passive recreation areas, children's playgrounds, fountains, swimming pools, wooded areas, and watercourses. Open space shall not include driveways, parking lots, or other vehicular surfaces, any area occupied by a building, nor areas so located or so small or so circumscribed by buildings, driveways, parking lots, or drainage areas as to have no substantial value for the purposes stated in this definition.

A parcel of land set aside for nonprofit activities of a recreational nature such as fishing, boating, swimming, camping, hiking, picnicking, outdoor games, and sports incidental to the foregoing, but not any activity that would upset the tranquility of the neighborhood.

A bond of surety and/or cash deposit approved by the Board of Supervisors equal to full cost of improvements required by these regulations and providing for completion of such improvements within a definite term.

A pier designed to be used for the mooring of a boat or boats by the landowner.

The office of a person engaged in any occupation, vocation or calling, not purely commercial, mechanical or agricultural, in which a professed knowledge or skill in some department of science or learning is used in its practical application to the affairs of others, either advising or guiding them, in serving their interest or welfare through the practice of an act founded thereon.

Any tract, lot or parcel or several of the same collected together for the purpose of subdividing, preparing a site development plan and/or developing.

A legal easement, or series of easements, which grant and guarantee the right of access for emergency and public service vehicles to any given area or right-of-way.

Shall be considered for the purpose of this chapter to be any building owned by a governmental organization such as a County, state or federal government. Such buildings may include a County courthouse, a state armory, a federal office building, a post office, an auditorium, a museum, an art gallery, a college or university, hospitals, clinics, schools, libraries, police and fire stations, etc.

Shall be considered for the purpose of this chapter to be any public works supplied generally by a governmental organization. Such public works shall include, but not be limited to: public roads, schools, water supply and sewer facilities and police, fire, rescue and emergency services protection facilities.

A central system for the removal, carrying off, treatment and disposal of sewage serving or designed to serve three or more independent dwellings or structures, and which may be owned and/or operated by a municipality or County or service authority or by a person approved by the Board of Supervisors in accordance with Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, and licensed by the State Corporation Commission.

An object being in sight or otherwise observable to persons from a public right-of-way, private right-of-way or another property.

A central system for supplying potable water to three or more independent dwellings and which may be owned and/or operated by a municipality or County or service authority or by a person approved by the Board of Supervisors and properly licensed by the State Board of Health in accordance with Title 62 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended, and licensed by the State Corporation Commission.

Any structure utilized for relaxation, exercise, or entertainment sponsored by a private concern and held out to the public for its use. Includes, but is not limited to, video arcades, billiard parlors, and skating rinks.

Any site specified for collecting from the general public materials intended for periodic transfer to another site for remanufacture into new materials.

Family care homes, foster homes or group homes serving physically handicapped, mentally ill, mentally retarded or other developmentally disabled persons not related by blood or marriage.

Any space in any front, side, or rear yard, excluding required off-street parking areas.

An establishment with limited or no eat-in facilities that provides prepared food for pick-up by the customer or delivery by the restaurant employees.

An eating establishment where food and/or beverages are primarily served to customers in motor vehicles.

An establishment which prepares and sells food products intended for ready consumption, which are generally packaged in paper or served in other types of disposable plates, wrappers, or containers, for consumption inside the building, on a patio, or off the premises and, which may include service directly to customers in their motor vehicles.

A traditional sit-down eating establishment with table service (order placement and delivery), provided to customers by a waiter or waitress; carry-out trade, if any, shall be a limited portion of the business.

Any building wherein the primary occupation is the sale of merchandise in small quantities, in broken lots or parcels, not in bulk, for use of consumption by the immediate purchaser (but specifically exclusive of coal, wood and lumber yards), such as the following which will serve only as illustrations: drugstore, antique store and gift shop, hardware store, household appliance store, furniture store, florist, optician, music and radio store, tailor shop, barber shop, and beauty shop.

A strip of land taken or dedicated for use as a public or private way. In addition to the roadway, it normally incorporates the curbs, lawn strips, sidewalks, and lighting and drainage facilities and may include special features (required by the topography or treatment) such as grade separation, landscaped areas, and bridges.

Any mining, quarrying, excavating, processing, storing, separating, cleaning, or marketing of sand, gravel, stone, or soil conducted as an integral part of or connected with any full-time or part-time ongoing business or industry.

An engineered land burial facility for the disposal of solid waste which is so located, designed, constructed and operated to contain and isolate the solid waste so that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment under regulation of the Department of Waste Management or other applicable state or federal agency.

A permanently located mill or machine for sawing, planing, or otherwise converting logs into marketable wood products, and including any office or accessory buildings and storage areas.

A temporary sawmill located on the parcel to be harvested, or on a parcel immediately adjacent and contiguous to the parcel to be harvested, for a period not to exceed two years.

A visual barrier composed of masonry, wood, metal, or plant material of sufficient height and density to obscure direct viewing of disabled vehicles or any other use as required by this chapter. All screening must be approved by the Administrator.

For the purpose of determining the number of off-street parking spaces for certain uses, the number of individual seats and/or the number of seats contained in seating units such as booths, benches, etc., that are installed or indicated on plans.

A development providing self-contained dwelling units specifically designed for the needs of older adults (55 years of age or older). Units may be rented or owner-occupied.

The minimum distance by which any building or structure must be separated from the right-of-way line or center line, as applicable, of the street or highway upon which it fronts.

Any sewage treatment works, plant, or equipment, or any part of any treatment works, plant, or equipment within the County now or hereafter owned, managed or controlled by any corporation (other than a municipality) company, individual, or association of individuals or cooperative, their lessees, trustees, or court-appointed receivers, for the storing, treating, or reclaiming the water-carried human waste from residences, buildings, industrial establishments, or other places together with such other water as may be present, either directly or indirectly to any corporation, company, individual, or association of individuals, which will require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit/certificate issued by the State Water Control Board in order to discharge to state waters as defined in § 62.1-44.3 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended. For the purposes of this chapter, private sewage treatment systems shall be considered as accessory uses, buildings or structures unless located as freestanding structures on a lot or parcel, in which case such facilities shall be considered principal or main use, buildings or structures. "Sewage treatment systems (private)" shall include, but not be limited to, any spray irrigation systems (e.g., VDH-GMP 74) or other similar technology that requires air dispersion or land application not associated with an agricultural or forestry management plan.

The propagation, rearing, enhancement, and harvest of hatchery-produced bivalve molluscan organisms in controlled or selected environments, which are conducted in todal waters of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The propagation, rearing and/or growout of shellfish that are to be sold, traded, bartered, or marketed to others for financial consideration or remuneration.

The propagation, rearing, and/or growout of shellfish in protective structures such as floats, bags, cages, etc., adjacent to a private pier exclusively for noncommercial purposes.

A group of commercial establishments, planned, developed, owned and managed as a unit with off-street parking provided on the property and related in size and type of shops to the trade area the unit serves.

The line where open tidal waters abut wetlands, dunes, fastland or beach area during mean high water.

An accommodation for transient guests where, in exchange for compensation, a dwelling unit is rented for lodging for a period of time not to exceed 30 consecutive days. Such use may or may not include an on-site manager.

A person designated by the owner of a short-term vacation rental to act on behalf of the owner. Such person shall be available for and responsive to contact at all times and can respond within two hours of contact from a representative of the County in case problems arise with the property. A property owner may serve as the short-term vacation rental agent.

As defined in Article 13.

Includes the support, uprights, bracing, and frameworks of any structure, be it single-faced, double-faced, v-type, or otherwise, exhibiting a sign.

A facility for the production and packaging of alcoholic beverages of the following types (beer, distilled spirits, wine, or alcoholic cider) for distribution, retail, or wholesale, on or off the premises, and which meets all laws pertaining to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The establishment may include accessory uses such as a restaurant or live entertainment as otherwise permitted in the zoning district.

A non-incinerating facility and/or site used for planned treating, storing, and disposing of solid waste which are not considered by the Department of Waste Management to be a hazardous or infectious waste. A facility may consist of several treatment, storage, or disposal units under regulation of the Department of Waste Management or other applicable state or federal agency.

An exception to any provision of this chapter, permitted within a district, provided that certain conditions or criteria specified in the ordinance are met, requiring a special exception - special use permit and approval of the Board of Supervisors or requiring a special exception - conditional use permit and approval of the Board of Supervisors.

A permit issued by the Administrator upon approval by the Board of Supervisors to allow a special exception to be established within a district.

Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areola and human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state even if completely and opaquely covered.

Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal, acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy, fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttocks or female breasts.

Light which falls or is transmitted from a luminary in one area or site into an adjoining area or site.

That portion of a building, other than the basement, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it. If there is no floor above it, the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

A space under a sloping roof, which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three feet above the top floor level, and in which space not more than 2/3 of the floor plan is finished off for use.

The dividing line between a street or road right-of-way and the contiguous property.

A public thoroughfare which affords principal means of access to abutting property.

A street which affords principal means of access to abutting property, and encompassed by a right-of-way dedicated to public use and maintained by a private corporation or adjacent landowners within the platted subdivision, constructed to standards adopted by the County. The right-of-way shall not be less than 40 feet except as may be provided by the County Subdivision Ordinance.[2]

A street which affords principal means of access to abutting property, and encompassed by a right-of-way dedicated to public use and maintained by the Commonwealth as a part of the state primary or secondary road system. The right-of-way shall not be less than 40 feet.

Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the roof.

Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground, or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground. This includes, among other things, dwellings, buildings, signs, etc.

The division of land as defined in the Subdivision Ordinance of Mathews County, Virginia.[3]

Division of a parent tract of land into more than five lots.

Division of a parent tract of land into not more than five lots.[4]

The office or place of business utilized by massage therapists certified by the state to render such services.[5]

Any one of a group of not less than three and not more than eight attached dwelling units which have been constructed together in a lateral row surrounded by yard space, each dwelling being separated from another by a party wall.

A structure or vehicle mounted on wheels for use on roads, propelled or drawn by its own or other motor power, and designed and constructed to provide for temporary human habitation for one or more persons or for the conduct of a business, profession, trade or occupation or for use as a selling or advertising device.

An industrialized unit designed for transportation after fabrication on streets and highways on its own wheels or on flatbed and arriving at the site where it is to be occupied as an office complete and ready for occupancy except for minor or incidental unpacking and assembly operation, located on jacks or permanent foundation, connected to utilities and the like.

A portable structure built on a chassis and originally designed for use as a temporary office at a construction site.

A vehicle built on a chassis and designed to be used for temporary occupancy.

Any solid waste storage or collection facility at which solid waste is transferred from collection vehicles to haulage vehicles for transportation to a central solid waste management facility for disposal, incineration or resource recovery under regulation of the Department of Waste Management or other applicable state or federal agency.

A person who resides at a place other than his/her place of residence for no more than 30 consecutive days in exchange for compensation.

A structure or facility that is a relatively major component of an infrastructure system providing community- or region-wide utility services. Examples of major utility uses include potable water treatment plants, water towers, wastewater treatment plants, solid waste facilities, gas compressor stations, energy generating facilities that produce electricity for use off-site, and electrical substations.

Structure or facility that by itself is a relatively minor component of an infrastructure system providing community- or region-wide services and that needs to be located in or near the neighborhood or use type where the service is provided. Examples of minor utility uses include water and sewage pipes, stormwater pipes and retention/detention facilities, telephone lines and local exchanges, electric lines and transformers, gas transmission pipes and valves, CATV lines, and energy generating facilities that produce electricity for personal use.

One or more buildings constructed independently of each other, designed for or used temporarily by tourists or transients. Cooking facilities may be provided for each unit.

In the application of a zoning ordinance, a reasonable deviation from those provisions regulating the shape, size, or area of a lot or parcel of land or the size, height, area, bulk, or location of a building or structure when the strict application of the ordinance would unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property, and such need for a variance would not be shared generally by other properties, and provided such variance is not contrary to the purpose of the ordinance. It shall not include a change in use, which change shall be accomplished by a rezoning or by a conditional zoning.

A place designated or maintained for the treatment of diseases of animals. It may also include as a secondary use the housing, boarding, breeding or otherwise keeping of or caring for animals.

The region drained by or contributing water to a stream, creek, pond or other body of water.

The upper surface of the free groundwater in a zone of saturation except when separated by an underlying of groundwater by unsaturated material.

Any structure or land used for the sale of agricultural or horticultural produce, livestock, or merchandise produced by the owner or his family on their farm.

A facility designed and intended to be operated by a club or organized group where hull and engine repair, boat and accessory sales, packaged food sales, and a restaurant are permitted.

An open space on a lot other than a court, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein.

Any area or structure utilized for relaxation, exercise, or entertainment sponsored by a private nonprofit concern and reserved for use by their members and guests only.

A document issued by the Administrator authorizing the use of lots, structures, lots and structures, and the characteristics of uses.