Minerva City Zoning Code
CHAPTER 1137
General Regulations
1137.01 CONFORMANCE REQUIRED.
(a) Except as hereinafter specified, no land, building, structure or premises, shall hereafter be used, and no building or part thereof or other structure shall be located, erected, reconstructed, extended, enlarged or altered except in conformity with the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located.
(b) In areas where a public sanitary sewer is not available, a zoning permit shall not be issued for any dwellings until written approval has been obtained from the Stark County Health Department for one, two and three family dwelling units or from the Ohio Department of Health for four family units or more, authorizing the number of dwelling units to be constructed on any specified lot or tract.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.02 CONTINUING EXISTING USES.
Any use, building or structure, existing at the time of the enactment of this Zoning Ordinance may be continued, even though such use, building or structure may not conform with the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance for the district in which it is located.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.03 NONCONFORMING USES OR BUILDINGS.
No existing buildings or premises devoted to a use not permitted by this Zoning Ordinance in the district in which such building or premises is located, except when required to do so by law or order, shall be enlarged, extended, reconstructed, substituted or structurally altered, unless the use thereof is changed to a use permitted in the district in which such building or premises is located, except as follows:
(a) Substitution May Be Made.
(1) If no structural alterations are made, a nonconforming use of a building may be changed to another nonconforming use of the same or of a more restricted classification.
(2) Whenever a nonconforming use has been changed to a more restricted use or to a conforming use, such use shall not thereafter be changed to a less restricted use.
(3) When authorized by the Board of Zoning Appeals according to the provisions of Sections 1161.03 and 1161.06, the substitution for a nonconforming use, if no structural alterations, except those required by law or regulation, are made. However, in any R District no change shall be permitted to any use prohibited in a B-1 Business District, and in any B District no change shall be permitted to any use prohibited in any M Industrial District.
(b) Discontinuance. In the event that a nonconforming use of any building or structure and of any land is voluntarily discontinued for two years or more, any further use thereof shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance.
(c) Extensions May Be Made.
(1) When authorized by the Board according to the provisions of Sections 1161.03 and 1161.06, the extension or completion of a building devoted to a nonconforming use upon a lot occupied by such building or on a lot adjoining, provided that such lot was under the same ownership as the lot in question on the date such building became nonconforming, and where such extension is necessary and incidental to the existing use of such building. However, the floor area of such extension shall not exceed in all, thirty-five percent of the floor area of the existing building or buildings devoted to a nonconforming use and provided further, that such extension or extensions shall be undertaken within five years of the date when the use of such buildings became nonconforming.
(2) When authorized by the Board, according to the provisions of Sections 1161.03 and 1161.06, a nonconforming use may be extended throughout those parts of a building which were manifestly designed or arranged for such use prior to the effective date of this Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance 11-71, passed May 25, 1971), if no structural alterations, except those required by law, are made therein.
(d) Replacing Damaged Buildings. Any nonconforming building or structure damaged more than sixty percent of its then fair market value exclusive of the foundations at the time of damage by fire, flood, explosion, war, riot, or act of God, shall not be restored or reconstructed and used as before such happening; but if less than sixty percent damaged above the foundation, it may be restored, reconstructed or used as before, provided that it be done within six months of such happening.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.04 UNSAFE BUILDINGS.
Nothing in this Zoning Ordinance shall prevent the strengthening or restoring to a safe condition of any part of any building or structure declared unsafe by proper authority.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.05 OUTDOOR ADVERTISING.
Outdoor advertising shall be classified as a business use and shall be permitted in all districts zoned industrial, business or commercial, subject, however, to the provisions set forth in Section 1157.01.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.06 CORNER LOTS.
(a) In the case of a corner lot, either street may be used as the front lot line and the building shall be set back according to the required front yard setback for the district in which it is located.
(b) Traffic visibility across corner lots: In no district shall a fence, structure or planting be erected or maintained within thirty feet of a corner at a height between 2.4 and 10 feet above the curb or street grade, so as to interfere with traffic visibility across the corner.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.07 ACCESSORY BUILDINGS IN RESIDENCE DISTRICTS.
(a) No accessory buildings may be erected in any required court, nor may any accessory building be erected in any yard other than a rear yard, except as part of the principal building or connected thereto as provided in subsection (b) hereof. Accessory buildings shall be distant at least six feet from alley lines and from any other separate buildings or other structure on the same lot, and at least three feet from lot lines of adjoining lots.
(b) Accessory buildings, except stables, may be erected as a part of the principal building or, if at least six feet therefrom, may be connected thereto by a breezeway or similar structure, provided that all yard requirements for a principal building are complied with.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.08 REQUIRED YARD CANNOT BE REDUCED.
(a) No lot shall be reduced in area so as to make any yard or any other open space less than the minimum required by this Zoning Ordinance. No part of a yard or other open space provided about any building or structure for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this Zoning Ordinance shall be included as part of a yard or other open space required under this Zoning Ordinance for another building or structure.
(b) Off-street parking and loading areas may occupy all or part of any required yard or open space except as otherwise specified in this Zoning Ordinance.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.09 OFF-STREET PARKING AND LOADING.
In any business, commercial or industrial district, spaces for loading or unloading shall be provided, and in all districts, parking spaces for parking and storage of vehicles shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1155
.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.10 MEASURING SETBACKS FROM STREET.
(a) The minimum setback of all residential structures, including accessory buildings, shall be forty feet as measured from the established right-of-way lines. Along State, County and other major streets as shown in the General Development Plan, the minimum setback shall be sixty feet as measured from the established right-of-way lines.
(b) However, where there are existing buildings (other than those of an accessory use) that do not meet the minimum setback requirements, the distance to the front lot line may be the mean distance of the setback of the nearest building or buildings within 200 feet of the proposed structure. However, in no instance shall a building be placed nearer to the front lot line than twenty-five feet.
(c) Lots having frontage on more than one street shall provide the required front yard depths along the principal street and shall meet the setback requirements on the other street.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.11 MEASURING HEIGHTS.
On a corner or interior lot, the height of buildings shall be the vertical distance from the average established curb grades, or from the average finished grade at the building line if higher.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.12 STORIES.
(a) The lowest story, or the ground story, or first story of any building is the lowest story, the floor of which is not more than three and one-half feet below the average contact ground level at the exterior walls of the building; except that any basement used for residence purposes, other than for a janitor or caretaker or his family, shall be deemed a ground or first story.
(b) A mezzanine story shall be deemed a full-story in case it covers more than one-third of the area of the ground story.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.13 FRONT YARD ON LOTS RUNNING THROUGH THE BLOCK.
In any district where a lot runs through a block from street to street, and where a front yard is required, such front yard shall be provided along each street lot line which is not a side street lot line.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.14 MEASURING FRONT YARD DEPTHS.
The minimum front yard depths as specified shall be measured from the established right-of-way lines.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.15 PROHIBITED USES, ALL DISTRICTS.
The following uses shall not be permitted in any district in the Municipality:
(a) Abattoirs and slaughterhouses or stockyards.
(b) Acid manufacture or wholesale storage of acids.
(c) Distillation of bones.
(d) Explosive manufacture or storage.
(e) Fat rendering, fertilizer, gas or glue manufacture.
(f) Garbage, offal or dead animal reduction or dumping.
(g) Petroleum or petroleum products refining.
(h) Smelting or reduction of ores or metallurgical products.
(i) Race tracks and courses for the conduct of seasonal or periodic racing meets of aircraft, horses, dogs, automobiles, motorcycles and the like.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)
1137.16 JUNK.
The storage of junk which includes junk motor vehicles shall be prohibited in all districts except as permitted in the Industrial District subject to the approval of the Board of Zoning Appeals after a public hearing.
(Ord. 11-71. Passed 5-25-71.)