Mobile City Zoning Code

ARTICLE 8

DEFINITIONS

Sec. 64-8-1.- General rules of interpretation.

The present tense includes the future tense, the singular number includes the plural and the plural number includes the singular.

The word "shall" is mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.

"Includes" or "including" encompasses, but is not limited to, the items listed after "includes" or "including" unless otherwise provided.

The words "used or occupied" include the words "intended, designed or arranged to be used or occupied."

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22)

Sec. 64-8-2. - Definitions.

Introduction. This section defines terms and phrases in this chapter that are technical in nature or that otherwise may not reflect a common usage of the term. If a term is not defined in this section, the director shall determine the correct definition.

General definitions.

Above-ground oil storage tank	An above-ground oil storage tank having a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more to be located in an I-2 district
Accessory building or structure	A detached subordinate building or structure located on the same lot or building site as the main building or structure on the building site or lot. An accessory building or structure is smaller than, and incidental to, the main structure.
Accessory dwelling unit ("ADU")	A secondary, independent living facility located in, or on the same lot or building site as, a single-family residence. This includes a building or part of a building that provides complete independent living facilities, including a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom, and that is attached to the principal dwelling, or a detached building on the same lot or building site.
Accessory retail and personal service, office, or recreational use	A retail, office or recreational use that is subordinate to and incidental to the primary use.
Accessory use (generally)	A use customarily incidental to the principal use of a building site or to a structure and located upon the same lot or building site with the principal use.
Adult bookstore	An establishment having as a preponderance of its stock in trade or its dollar volume in trade, books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides, tapes, records or other forms of visual or audio representations which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult cabaret	A nightclub, bar, theater, restaurant or similar establishment which frequently features live performances by topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or similar entertainers, where such performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas and/or which regularly feature films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description or specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.
Adult drive-in theater	An open lot or part thereof, with appurtenant facilities, devoted primarily to the presentation of motion pictures, films, theatrical productions and other forms of visual productions, for any form of consideration, to persons in motor vehicles or on outdoor seats in which a preponderance of the total presentation time is devoted to the showing of materials distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.
Adult entertainment enterprise	An adult bookstore, adult motion picture theater, adult mini motion picture theater, adult motion picture arcade, adult cabaret, adult drive-in theater, adult live entertainment arcade or adult service establishment (including, but not limited to a topless car wash or topless cleaning service).
Adult live entertainment arcade	Any building or structure which contains or is used for commercial entertainment where the patron directly or indirectly is charged a fee to view from an enclosed or screened area or booth a series of live dance routines, strip performances or other gyrational choreography which performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas.
Adult mini motion picture theater	An enclosed building with a capacity of more than five (5) but less than fifty (50) persons, used for presenting films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions in which time is devoted to the showing of materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein.
Adult motion picture arcade	Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-or slug-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five (5) or fewer persons per machine at any one (1) time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult motion picture theater	An enclosed building with a capacity of fifty (50) or more persons used for presenting films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions in which a preponderance of the total presentation time is devoted to showing of materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein.
Adult service establishment	Any building, premises, structure or other facility under common ownership or control which provides services involving specified sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas.
Agriculture and forestry	Any parcel of land that is used for profit in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry or dairy products; including necessary farm structures within the prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used. This does not include animals kept for non-commercial purposes.
Alley	A right-of-way located between rear or side property lines, which provides access to adjacent properties.
Alternative financial service provider	A check casher, payday lender, pawnbroker, rent-to-own business, auto title lender or any business that (1) is required to be licensed under the Deferred Presentment Services Act, Alabama Code Title 5, Chapter 18(A) or (2) is required to be licensed under the Alabama Pawnshop Act, Alabama Code Title 5, Chapter 190A, other than a federal or state chartered bank, credit union, mortgage lender, or savings and loan association.
Alternative parking surface	Pervious or semi-pervious parking surface, having a design acceptable to the city engineer and the director, or her or his designee, capable of accommodating vehicles up to eight thousand (8,000) pounds gross vehicle weight and maintained free of weeds, dust, trash and debris; an example of such a material being interlocking grass paving blocks, porous asphalt or grasscrete. Crushed limestone, gravel, shell or sod shall not be considered an acceptable alternative parking surface. Alternative parking surface design shall be appropriate to the intended use. Alternative parking surfaces may only be required as a condition of application approval for spaces requested in excess of the minimum ratio requirements of this chapter.
Amphitheater	An outdoor or open-air structure used for public assembly, entertainment and performances.
Animal services (indoor)	Any part of a building designed or used to care for, board or groom animals. The care of animals occurs entirely inside the principal building and not in ancillary or accessory buildings. This use does not include outside kennels.
Animal services, (with outdoor runs)	Any part of a building designed or used to care for, board or groom animals. This use may include overnight boarding or outdoor confinement or exercise areas. Includes a dog pound.
Antenna	A wireless antenna, including a macrocell antenna and a microcell antenna.
Antenna support structure	Any building or other structure forty-five (45) feet in height or taller and which complies with the maximum height allowed in the district in which it is located, other than a tower which can be used for location of telecommunications facilities.
Appliance repair services	An establishment providing repair services for personal and household goods, such as household appliances, computers, radio, television, audio or video equipment, office machines, furniture and leather goods, and knife sharpening. This classification excludes building maintenance services and maintenance and repair of automobiles and other vehicles and equipment.
Applicant	Any person who files an application.
Application	Any application filed pursuant to this chapter.
Arcade	A series of piers topped by arches that support a permanent roof over a sidewalk.
Architectural review board ("ARB")	The architectural review board established by chapter 44 of the Mobile City Code.
Armory	A building or group of buildings used primarily for housing and training troops or for storing military property, supplies or records.
Art gallery	A retail establishment for the display and sale of art created by one or more artists. A gallery does not include the on-going production of art on site (see "art studio").
Art studio	The working place of a painter, sculptor, artisan or photographer or a place for the study or production of art, including singing and acting.
Attic	The interior part of a building contained within a pitched roof structure.
Auto repair	Car and light truck repair up to fourteen thousand (14,000) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), which includes body repair, painting, engine disassembly and repair and transmission disassembly and repair.
Automobile/light truck/RV/personal water craft/motorcycle dealership	A facility for the sale or rental of automobiles, motorcycles, light trucks, motor homes, boats or marine craft or recreational vehicles. For purposes of this definition, a "light truck" means a vehicle of up to fourteen thousand (14,000) GVWR.
Automobile service station	A business establishment where the primary function is the retail sale of gasoline, oil, grease, tires, batteries and accessories. Services are limited to the installation of items sold, tire changing, and automobile lubrication. Engine steam cleaning and auto repair are prohibited.
Awning	A fixed or movable, lightweight, rigid skeleton structure over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection and is wholly supported by the building to which it is attached.
Bail bond services	An office that engages in the furnishing or issuance of bail bonds, whether by surety, cash, or other financial transaction, for the purpose of securing a person's release from jail, custody or incarceration.
Balcony	An open habitable portion of an upper floor that extends beyond or is recessed within a building 's exterior wall that is not supported from below by vertical columns or piers but is instead supported by either a cantilever or brackets.
Bar/lounge	An establishment where the main source of revenue is the sale of alcoholic beverages which are customarily consumed on the premises. This includes taverns, microbreweries, hookah lounges, neighborhood taverns/bars/pubs or distilleries. This definition does not include a brew pub, which is considered a restaurant. For bars within the DDD, please see appendix A.
Base station	A structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables FCC licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network. This term does not include a tower or any equipment associated with a tower, or a television or radio broadcast facility. This term includes, without limitation: (1) Equipment associated with wireless communications services such as private, broadcast and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul. (2) Radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration (including distributed antenna systems ("DAS") and small-cell networks). (3) Any structure other than a tower that, at the time the relevant application is filed with the city under this section, supports or houses equipment described in paragraphs (1) and (2) above and has been previously reviewed and approved by the city.
Beacon	Any light with one (1) or more beams directed into the atmosphere or directed at one (1) or more points not on the same building site as the light source, or any light with one (1) or more beams that rotate or move.
Bed and breakfast	A house, or portion thereof, where short term lodging rooms, with or without meals, are provided for compensation.
Best management practices (BMPs)	See city Code chapter 17.
Block	A parcel or parcels of land entirely surrounded by streets, streams, railroad rights-of-way, parks or other public spaces or by a combination thereof.
Block face	One (1) side of a block.
Block feeder aisle	An access drive that feeds vehicles into blocks of parking stalls lying along both sides of the aisle.
Board of adjustment	The board established pursuant to Alabama Code, § 11-52-80 (1975) as amended.
Boat building	Establishments primarily engaged in building or manufacturing boats, defined as watercraft not built in shipyards and typically of the type suitable or intended for personal use. Examples of boats include dinghies, heavy-duty inflatable rubber or inflatable plastic boats, rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), motorboats (inboard or outboard), rowboats, sailboats and yachts.
Boat storage facility	An establishment where recreational vessels or other watercraft are stored out of water, by one or more of the following methods: (1) on boat trailers on a paved or unpaved surface; (2) on individual boat racks; or (3) on multi-story boat racks.
Brew pub	An establishment licensed as and meeting the qualifications of a brew pub under the state alcoholic beverage control laws, including title 28, chapter 4A of the Code of Ala. 1975, as amended.
Broadcast transmission facility	Towers, broadcast antennas, satellite dishes, associated buildings, and all equipment cables and hardware used for the purpose of or in connection with the transmission of television or radio broadcast programming.
Broadcast studio	A building or part of a building used for the production of television or radio programming without towers, broadcast antennas, or satellite dishes on the site.
Building	Any covered structure intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels. Unless otherwise indicated, a "building" refers to any part of a building.
Building and landscaping materials supplier	A business that sells building or landscaping materials where the majority of sales are wholesale transactions to other firms, not retail sales.
Building frontage	The width of a building facade that faces a street.
Building frontage percentage	The percentage of the width of a lot that is required to be occupied by the building 's primary facade.
Building height	The vertical distance from grade to the highest finished roof surface in the case of flat roofs, or to a point at the average height of roofs having a pitch of more than one (1) foot in four and one-half (4½) feet. In the O-SH and DDD, the vertical extent of a building measured in stories, from finished grade.
Building maintenance services	An establishment providing carpet cleaning, exterminator, janitorial services, upholstery, painting and paper hanging or rug cleaning; does not include building contractors with outside storage.
Building plan	A specific plan, drawn to a standard architectural scale, detailed sufficiently to illustrate the height and area of the building(s); floor plans and occupant load(s); elevations, materials and architectural details; and any other information necessary to document compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
Building setback line	The line indicating the minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the face of buildings.
Building site	The land occupied or to be occupied by a structure and its accessory structures and including such open spaces, yards, minimum area, off-street parking facilities and off-street truck loading facilities as are required by this chapter; every building site shall abut upon a street for at least twenty-five (25) feet.
Build-to zone	A build-to zone is a range of allowable distances from the front property line that the building shall be built to, in order to create a moderately uniform line of buildings along the street.
Business college/technical school	A nonacademic establishment offering courses such as secretarial, computer and data processing, drafting, electronic repair including radio/TV repair, commercial art, cosmetology, allied health care, real estate, banking and restaurant operation. Instruction may also include vocational training such as welding and metal fabrication courses, automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, building trades, truck driving, mechanical and electrical equipment/appliance repair.
Business support services	Includes blueprinting, printing, graphics, photostatting, copying, packaging, labelling and similar services. "Printing" and "graphics" means a business engaged in the custom design and/or reproduction of written or graphic materials. Typical processes include computerized design and printing, photocopying, and facsimile sending and receiving.
Caliper	Diameter of a tree trunk. Caliper is used to determine the minimum size of trees planted to fulfill the landscaping and tree preservation requirements. Caliper is measured as follows: Diameter less than four (4) inches is measured six (6) inches above ground; diameter between four (4) and twelve (12) inches is measured twelve (12) inches above ground.
Camouflage	Any tower or telecommunications facility which is designed to minimize a visual impact and to blend into the surrounding environment. The term "camouflage" does not necessarily exclude the use of uncamouflaged lattice, guyed or monopole tower designs.
Canopy	A rigid structure over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection and is supported by the building to which it is attached, and which may or may not be attached to the ground at the outer end by at least one column or post.
Car wash	A facility where the primary or secondary function is washing automobiles, pick-up trucks and small vans, but not trailers or commercial trucks. Mechanical production line methods or self-service equipment may be used. A car wash may also function as an accessory use to an automobile service station or other primary use. It does not include the additional activities permitted in "auto and truck repair."
Caretaker or guard dwelling	An accessory dwelling unit on a non-residential site.
Cemetery/mausoleum	A place dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent interment of human or animal remains. It may be either land or earth interment; a mausoleum for vault or crypt entombment; a structure or place used or intended to be used for the interment of cremated remains, including columbaria; cryogenic storage; or any combination of one (1) or more thereof.
Certificate of appropriateness	Certificate issued by the architectural review board or historic development staff specifying approved work.
Channel	A natural or artificial open watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
Chapter	Refers to chapter 64, "Zoning" of the city Code.
City council	The governing body of the city.
Civic building	A building designed specifically for a civic function. Civic buildings include but are not limited to municipal buildings, churches, libraries, schools, recreation facilities and places of assembly.
Civic space	Open spaces that are strategically placed to serve a community function. Civic spaces may be used for active or passive activities, and commonly include manicured green spaces, naturalistic green spaces, parks, squares, hard-scaped plazas, playgrounds or community gardens. Civic buildings may be located within civic spaces.
Clinic, dental or medical	A building in which a group of physicians, dentists and allied professional assistants are associated for the purpose of carrying on their profession; the clinic may include a dental or medical laboratory, or out-patient surgery, but shall not include overnight stays associated with surgical procedures. Examples include medical offices, laboratories or facilities for medical, optical, orthotic, prosthetic, psychiatric, physiotherapy, surgical or dental laboratory services, photographic, analytical or testing services.
Club or lodge (private)	A non-profit association of persons which owns, rents or leases a building for the exclusive use of its members and guests. This does not include collegiate fraternities or sororities.
Coal	All solid fossil fuels classified as anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous or lignite by the American Society of Testing and Materials in ASTM D388.
Coal handling facility	Any building, structure or site used to grind, crush, pick, screen, convey, store or stockpile coal in order to prepare it for transportation or sale on the market.
Collocation	The act of siting telecommunications facilities on an existing structure without the need to construct a new support structure and without a substantial increase in the size of the existing structure. The attachment of facilities to existing structures constitutes collocation regardless of whether the structure or the location has previously been approved for wireless facilities.
Colonnade	A roofed structure, extending over the sidewalk and open to the street except for supporting columns or piers.
Commercial message	Any sign wording, logo or other representation that, directly or indirectly, names, advertises or calls attention to a business, product, service or other commercial activity.
Community garden	A site operated and maintained by a formal or informal organization or the public to cultivate trees, herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers or other ornamental foliage for personal use, consumption, donation or off-site sale for a charitable or non-profit organization.
Community residence	A residential living arrangement for up to ten (10) unrelated individuals with disabilities living as a single functional family in a single dwelling unit who are in need of the mutual support furnished by other residents of the community residence as well as the support services, if any, provided by the staff of the community residence. Residents may be self-governing or supervised by a sponsoring entity or its staff, which provides habilitative or rehabilitative services, related to the residents' disabilities. A community residence seeks to emulate a biological family to normalize its residents and integrate them into the surrounding community. Its primary purpose is to provide shelter in a family-like environment; treatment is incidental as in any home. Supportive inter-relationships between residents are an essential component. A community residence shall be considered a residential use of property for purposes of all zoning, building and property maintenance codes. The term does not include any other group living arrangement for unrelated individuals who are not disabled nor residential facilities for prison pre-parolees or sex offenders. Community residences include functional family sober living arrangements also known as recovery residences.
Community residence, family	A relatively permanent residential living arrangement for unrelated people with disabilities, with no limit on how long a resident may live in the home. The length of tenancy is measured in years. See article 5.
Community residence, transitional	A relatively temporary residential living arrangement for unrelated people with disabilities, with a limit on length of tenancy that is measured in weeks or months, not years. See article 5.
Community supported agriculture	An area of land managed and maintained by an individual or group of individuals to grow and harvest food and/or horticultural products for shareholder consumption or for sale or donation. This can include limited animal husbandry and associated products.
Completely enclosed structure	A building enclosed by a permanent roof and by solid exterior walls pierced only by windows and customary entrance and exit doors.
Composting facility	A facility where solid waste organic materials are biologically decomposed through an aerobic (or oxygen rich) process for the purpose of waste reduction. Includes any "composting or compost plant" as defined by Code of Ala. § 22-27-2.
Comprehensive plan	The comprehensive plan made and adopted by the city planning commission, as provided by law, for the physical development of the city and surrounding area; the term includes any unit or component part of such plan and any amendment to such plan or part thereof when adopted. In this chapter, the "comprehensive plan" refers the documents titled "Map for Mobile" as adopted by the planning commission on November 15, 2015, as amended, and for purposes of the zoning regulations, the "Future Land Use Plan" as adopted by the Planning Commission on May 18, 2017, as amended.
Concept plan	A generalized plan showing proposed location of different components of the proposed development. The plan includes the location of proposed uses, landscape areas and buffers, pedestrian and vehicle circulation, site access and the relationship of the proposed development to the surrounding area.
Conservation area	A land area designated to remain as open space or recreation area.
Conservation development	A development option that preserves open space, natural resources and rural character.
Construction laydown yard	A temporary area used for the storage of construction materials, supplies, equipment, tools, stock piling and recycling of useable construction materials and other items as permitted including temporary storage containers, construction trailers and temporary office trailers.
Contractor with storage yard	Offices of a contractor with on-site outside storage of equipment, materials, supplies, and/or vehicles.
Convenience store	An establishment that retails a limited line of goods that generally includes milk, bread, soda and snacks.
Copy	The characters, letters or illustrations displayed on a sign.
Correctional facilities	A facility where persons are detained pending adjudication or confined under criminal sentences. Examples include penitentiaries, jails, major correctional facilities, community based facilities, community work centers or juvenile detention facilities.
Cottage court	A single lot that includes detached single-family dwellings or duplexes arranged around a courtyard or open space.
Courier, messenger and delivery services	Establishments primarily engaged in providing air, surface or combined mode courier services, express delivery services of parcels or local messenger and delivery services of small items, with local pick-up and delivery. Examples include air courier services, express delivery services; local delivery services for letters, documents, or small parcels; grocery delivery services (i.e., independent service from grocery store) or restaurant meals delivery services.
Courtyard	A plaza like space that includes entrances to abutting buildings and is enclosed by buildings on at least two (2) sides.
Courtyard building	A building that occupies the boundaries of its lot while internally defining one (1) or more private patios.
Coverage	The percentage of a property that is covered by buildings and other roofed structures. "Coverage" refers to building coverage, unless otherwise indicated.
Crematorium	The building or portion of a building that houses the chamber for cremation and the holding facility. May be an accessory use for funeral and interment services.
Crosswalkway	A right-of-way between property lines, which provides pedestrian access but no vehicular access to adjacent properties.
Cultural facility	An institution engaged primarily in the arts, sciences or the performing arts that are open to the public. Examples include performing arts centers, theaters, facilities for dances and events, museums, historical sites, libraries/reading rooms, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and observatories.
Data processing, hosting, and related services (including data centers)	Establishments that provide infrastructure for hosting or data processing services.
Day care center, child	A child day care facility, which receives children for care during any part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day care, adult	An establishment that provides care for any portion of a twenty-four-hour day for eligible adults eighteen (18) years of age and older.
Day care, child, (home based, no more than six (6) children)	A child day care facility, located in a residential structure occupied by the day care operator, which receives on a regular basis not more than six (6) children for care during part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day care, child, (seven (7) to no more than twelve (12) children, home based)	A child day care facility, located in a residential structure occupied by the day care operator, which receives on a regular basis at least seven (7) but no more than twelve (12) children for care during part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day labor service	Any building or premises that serves as a staging point or gathering place for persons who are seeking immediate employment in daily labor activities and who accept or are assigned employment in accordance with whatever employment is available on that particular day. For purposes of this definition, "day labor" means manual labor, such as construction cleanup, garbage pickup and removal, demolition, convention setup and takedown, landscaping, planting and digging.
Development	The act of installing site improvements and building structures, or all improvements and building structures located on a site.
Diameter at breast height (DBH)	The measurement of the width of the trunk of the tree at four and one-half (4½) feet above the existing grade. For multi-trunk trees the DBH shall be the sum of the diameter of the trunks.
Director	The director of the planning department or their designee.
Disability	A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. People with disabilities do not include individuals who are currently using alcohol, illegal drugs or using legal drugs to which they are addicted, nor individuals who constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of others.
Disability glare	The reduction in visibility caused by intense light sources in the field of view.
Disciplinary care facility	A transitional residential facility for youth or adults, including parole-based facilities, boot camps, halfway houses, etc., where residents are placed by criminal court order or action.
Display area	The exterior area or surface of a sign on which is placed the copy.
Dormitory, fraternity or sorority house	A building, located off-campus, maintained by a college or university and exclusively housing students and their families, or a building, located off-campus housing students affiliated with a regularly organized college or university fraternity or sorority.
Drip line	The circumference of the tree's natural, unaltered canopy extended vertically to the ground.
Drive-thru	Any business establishment providing automobile drive-thru service or window facilities, including but not limited to banks, dry cleaners, restaurants, car washes and drug stores.
Driveway	A vehicular lane within a site, often leading to a parking area or garage.
Dumpster	A container used for the temporary storage of garbage, rubbish and like materials pending collection, and having a capacity of at least one (1) cubic yard.
Dwelling unit	One (1) or more rooms in the same structure, connected together and constituting a separate, independent housekeeping unit for permanent residential occupancy and with facilities for sleeping, bathing and cooking.
Dwelling, multi-family	A building containing three (3) or more dwelling units and used for residential purposes by three (3) or more families living independently of each other. It includes any form of family occupancy, including traditional or non-traditional households, elderly housing or retirement housing. The units may be integrated horizontally and vertically, or with two (2) units stacked vertically and separated from adjacent units by a party wall (sometimes called "stacked flats"). Examples include apartments or flats.
Dwelling, single-family	A building containing only one (1) dwelling unit and used for residential purposes exclusively by one (1) family. This includes any factory-built dwelling unit constructed to the standards of the city's Building Code (typically referred to as a "modular home").
Dwelling, two-family (duplex)	A building containing two (2) dwelling units and used for residential purposes by two (2) families living independently of each other.
Electric substation	A facility that regulates voltage of electricity prior to distribution to customers.
Electric transmission line	An electric line carrying high voltage electricity to substations.
Eligible facilities request	Any request for modification of an existing tower or base station that, within the meaning of the Spectrum Act, does not substantially change the physical dimensions of the tower or base station and involves (1) the collocation of new transmission equipment, (2) the removal of transmission equipment or (3) the replacement of transmission equipment.
Emergency refuge	Temporary accommodation for victims of domestic violence, abuse, sexual assault or child abuse.
Emergency shelter	Short term shelter for persons that are homeless, or runaway youths.
Encroach	To break the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit with a structural element, so that it extends into a setback, into the public frontage or above a height limit.
Encroachment	Any structural element that encroaches.
Engineering plans	The drawings on which the proposed subdivision improvements are shown and which, if approved, will be used for construction of the improvements.
Enhanced scrutiny area (ESA)	(A) All properties located within an I-2 district and lying north of Bay Bridge Road and New Bay Bridge Road; and (B) All properties located within an I-2 district and lying south of Bay Bridge Road and New Bay Bridge Road, west of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay, east of a line extending southerly along St. Stephens Road to Broad Street to Interstate 10 to Michigan Avenue, and north of Avenue C as extended to Mobile Bay.
Enlargement	As it relates to an adult entertainment business an increase in the size of the building, structure or premises in which the adult entertainment business is conducted by either construction or use of an adjacent building or any portion thereof whether located on the same or an adjacent lot or parcel of land.
Entertainment facility or event venue	An establishment where the primary source of revenue is derived from live or recorded performances shown or played for the amusement of an audience. Examples include auditoriums, music clubs, carnivals, circuses and reception or banquet halls.
Exhibition, convention, or conference facility	A facility used for assemblies or meetings of the members or representatives of a group, such as convention centers. This does not include clubs, lodges, community meeting facilities or other meeting facilities of private or non-profit groups that are primarily used by group members.
Existing structure	A previously erected support structure or any other structure, including, but not limited to, buildings and water tanks, to which telecommunications facilities can be attached.
Facade	The exterior wall of a building that faces the frontage.
Family	Two (2) or more persons living together and interrelated by bonds of consanguinity, marriage or legal adoption, and/or a group of persons not more than four (4) in number who are not so interrelated, occupying the whole or part of a dwelling as a single housekeeping unit that shares common living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities. Persons placed in foster care shall be deemed to be related to and a member of the family for the purposes of this definition. A family does not include any society, nursing home, club, boarding or lodging house, dormitory, fraternity or sorority.
Fence	A barrier made of wood, metal or other materials.
Financial institution	A federal or state chartered bank, credit union, mortgage lender or savings and loan association.
Flag.	Any fabric or other material containing distinctive colors, patterns or symbols. A flag is attached to a permanent pole, supporting structure or a building. Flags are not considered banners.
Float	A vehicle with platforms used to carry exhibits and/or riders.
Float barn	A building where floats are assembled or stored, and that may also host special events relating to Mardi Gras or similar parades where the floats are displayed. "Parade" has the meaning assigned in chapter 49, article III of the city Code.
Food market	A structure or place where agricultural produce is brought for the purpose of retail sales from vehicles, temporary stands or stalls. These include more than one seller per parcel of land. Examples include farmers markets, seafood markets and mobile markets.
Food preparation	A business that prepares food and beverages for off-site consumption, including delivery services. Examples include catering shops, bakeries with on-site retail sales, and the small-scale production of specialty foods (such as sweets). This classification excludes food production of an industrial character.
Food sales	An establishment for retail sales of food and beverages for off-site preparation and consumption. Examples include grocers/supermarkets, specialty food and beverage stores, fruit and/or vegetable stands, butcher shops, delicatessens, dairy product sales, food cooperatives or convenience markets. This category may also include large-scale stores that sell food items and beverages in bulk. Liquor sales are not included in this use.
Foot candle	A unit for measuring illumination that equals one (1) lumen per square foot.
Foster care, adult or child	Service provided for children or adults in need of care, in a residence occupied by the foster care operator, subject to compliance with the requirements of the state department of human resources. This use type does not include a group home.
Freight depot	Distribution facilities upon which storage and warehousing of cargo is incidental to the primary function of freight shipment, and not to include any display of goods for either retail sale or wholesale. Includes both railway and truck freight transfers.
Front setback	The distance from the frontage line to the point where a building may be constructed. This area shall be maintained clear of permanent structures with the exception of permitted encroachments.
Frontage	The portion of a site which faces a street right-of-way or civic space.
Frontage, building	The facade of a building that faces a street, civic space or parking area.
Frontage, lot	That part of a lot or parcel that adjoins a street or civic space.
Fuel distribution	A facility dedicated to the wholesale or commercial fuel storage and distribution, including petroleum, biodiesel, propane, butane, natural gas, or other similar fuels, to vehicles, machinery or heavy equipment. This does not include auto service stations.
Funeral and interment services	Any place or premises subject to regulation under Alabama Code title 34, chapter 13, and applicable regulations adopted by the Alabama Board of Funeral Services that is devoted to or used in the care and preparation for burial of the body of a deceased person or maintained or held out to the public by advertising or otherwise as the office or place for the practice of funeral directing, embalming or cremation.
Future land use plan	A component of the comprehensive plan that serves as the primary guide to the future physical development of the city. The map and its corresponding land use designations describe the desired types, intensity and spatial arrangement of the city's land uses to achieve the vision described in the comprehensive plan. In this chapter, "Future Land Use Plan" refers to appendix G in "Map for Mobile," as adopted by the planning commission on May 18, 2017, as amended.
Gallery	A platform attached to the building, typically extending over a sidewalk, which is supported from the ground by light-weight columns or other form of structural support. A gallery may be multiple floors and may have a roof.
Garage or yard sale.	A temporary event where miscellaneous used household items are sold from a residential lot.
Garden supply.	An establishment which sells trees, shrubs, lawn and garden supplies and plants, as well as prepackaged soils and landscape materials. Includes limited propagation of plants, as an accessory use.
Garden wall	A freestanding wall along the property line dividing private areas from streets, rear lanes, or adjacent lots.
Gasoline sales	An area used for retail sales of fuels or oils. This use may have storage tanks and pumps, auto service facilities conducted inside the building or an accessory car wash.
Government street corridor	All lots having real property frontage along Government Street from Broad Street to Dauphin Island Parkway.
Green	An exterior open space primarily composed of landscape areas.
Green infrastructure	Systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes to dissipate, infiltrate or reuse stormwater or runoff on the site where it is generated.
Greenhouse	A structure providing protection from weather, used to grow plants.
Greenway	A linear series of areas, typically including natural features and parklands, usually connected by a trail system.
Gross floor area	The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building, including interior balconies and mezzanines, and any exterior open porches or galleries which serve as an extension of those activities conducted within the enclosed structure; all horizontal dimensions shall be measured between the exterior faces of walls, including the walls or railings of roofed porches. The gross floor area of a building shall include the floor area of accessory buildings on the same building site, measured the same way.
Ground passenger transportation	Establishments that provide passenger transportation by bus, charter bus, automobile, limousine, van or shuttle. Examples include charter bus, special needs transportation, taxicab owner/operators, taxicab fleet operators or taxicab organizations. Includes fleet services that store, maintain, repair, fuel and service two (2) or more vehicles owned by a single entity.
Group feeder aisle	Gives access to individual parking spaces.
Group home	A facility providing seven (7) days a week residential and habilitative services with or without resident staff to persons with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Grubbing	The effective removal of understory vegetation that is not greater than three (3) inches DBH.
Hardened shoreline	A bank along a waterbody that is stabilized through impervious cover, armoring, gabions, riprap, vertical bulkhead, retaining wall or other hardened structures.
Hardware/home improvement stores and building materials	Retailing, wholesaling or rental of residential building supplies or equipment. Examples include lumberyards, hardware/home improvement sales and services, paint sales, heating and plumbing equipment, tool and small equipment sales or rental establishments.
Hazardous substance	A substance is considered hazardous when it has one (1) of the following characteristics: flammable, explosive, corrosive, toxic, radioactive or if it readily decomposes into oxygen at elevated temperatures. Includes any substance included on the "List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities," codified as 40 CFR part 302, table 302.4, in force and effect on the effective date of this chapter and subsequent revisions thereof, and any substance listed on the "List of Extremely Hazardous Substances and Their Threshold Planning Quantities," codified as 40 CFR part 355, appendix A, in force and effect on the effective date of this chapter and subsequent revisions thereof.
Hazardous substance storage tank	A site which has at least one (1) aboveground storage tank with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more used to store any hazardous substance. Also refer to article 4.
Hazardous waste	Those wastes defined in, and regulated under, the Alabama Hazardous Wastes Management and Minimization Act of 1978, as amended (Ala. Code title 22, chapter 30), or ADEM Admin. Code 335-14.
Hazardous waste disposal	Any site used for the storage, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste or medical waste. Includes any "facility" or "hazardous waste management facility" as defined by Ala. Administrative Code § 335-14-1-.02, and any "medical waste facility" as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-17-1-.02.
Hazardous waste transfer	A collection and transportation facility where hazardous or medical waste is received and processed for transportation to another place for recycling, re-use, incineration or final disposal. Includes any "transfer facility" as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-14-1-.02.
Health/fitness club	An establishment that offers exercise or weight control facilities and programs, whether or not the business provides any other service. Examples include gymnasiums, martial arts schools, gymnastics schools, weight control establishments/reducing salons, health clubs, health spas, swimming pools, handball facilities, racquetball or tennis club facilities, tanning facilities, fitness facilities and yoga or workout studios.
Heavy duty commercial vehicles	Any vehicle exceeding fourteen thousand (14,000) GVWR and utilized commercially.
Heavy truck/farm equipment/construction equipment dealer	A facility for the sale or rental of heavy trucks, farm equipment or construction equipment. For purposes of this definition, a "heavy truck" means a vehicle more than fourteen (14,000) GVWR.
Hedge	A vegetative boundary formed by bushes, shrubs, or climbing vines spaced less than three (3) feet apart.
Heliport/miscellaneous air transportation	Facilities intended solely for vertical takeoff and landing of aerial vehicles or miscellaneous transportation vehicles for scenic purposes such as balloons.
Heritage tree, credit or compliance	Any tree planted or claimed for credit for compliance with this chapter or tree planting and landscaping requirements of the city.
Heritage tree, existing	Any of the following trees which is at least twelve (12) inches DBH: bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), hickory (Carya spp.), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), magnolia (Magnolia spp.), oak (Quercus spp.) excluding water oak (Quercus nigra), river birch (Betula nigra), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). For trees located in a local historic district, the definition of a heritage tree shall be amended to reduce the size to eight (8) inches DBH.
Historic district	A geographically defined area designated by the city council pursuant to chapter 44 of the city Code.
Historic district guidelines	The general design standards applicable in considering the granting and denial of certificates of appropriateness adopted by the architectural review board pursuant to chapter 44, of the city Code.
Historic district overlay boundaries (HDOB)	All property located within the boundaries of a locally designated historic districts and any historic districts hereafter designated by the city council pursuant to chapter 44 of the city Code.
Historic markers	Any sign indicating historic significance as awarded or recognized by the MHDC.
Home occupation	An accessory use of a dwelling conducted entirely within the enclosed dwelling, employing only the residents of the dwelling, is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential occupancy and does not change the residential character of the property, and is subject to the criteria set forth in article 4.
Hospital	An institution providing health services, primarily for in-patients, and medical and surgical care of the sick or injured, including as an integral part of the institution, such related facilities as laboratories, out-patient departments, training facilities, central service facilities and staff offices.
Hotel/motel	A building containing guest rooms in which lodging is provided, with or without meals, for compensation, and which is open to transient guests or permanent guests, or both.
Industrial launderer	A business that provides cleaning, washing, or similar services to industrial, manufacturing, medical or business establishments. Examples include commercial launderers that launder and dry clean clothing and other fabric articles in bulk quantities, such as cleaning services for hospitals, restaurants, hotels and similar clients, or rug and dry-cleaning plants.
Junkyard	Any establishment or place of business which is maintained, operated or used for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk or for the maintenance or operation of an automobile recycler. This includes any junkyard (other than a sanitary landfill), automobile recycler or scrap processor, (including any scrap tire facility as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-4-1-.01) as defined by Code of Ala. § 23-1-241.
Land clearing	Those operations where trees and vegetation are removed and which occur previous to the construction of building; e.g., road right-of-way excavation or paving, lake and drainage system excavation, utility excavation, grubbing and any other necessary clearing operations.
Landscape material	Living plant material which shall include, but not be limited to, trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, lawn grass and other ground cover; natural features and areas; and nonliving durable material commonly used in landscaping which shall include, but not be limited to, rocks, pebbles, sand, mulch, wood chips, exterior lighting fixtures, planters, fountains, reflecting pools, works of art, walkways, fences, walls, benches and other types of appropriate outdoor furniture. Nonliving landscape material shall not include artificial or synthetic material in the form of trees, flowers, shrubs, vines or ground cover.
Landscaped area	An area which shall consist of landscape material, as defined, such that the use of living landscape material predominates over the use of nonliving landscape material.
Laundry/dry cleaning pick-up station	Establishments that accept from the public clothes or other materials to be laundered or dry-cleaned. The laundering or dry-cleaning work is done by a laundry or dry-cleaning establishment that is not on the premises of the pick-up station.
Lawn	An expanse of grass or low ground cover (for frontage type, located between the building and the sidewalk).
Life care or continuing care services	A facility that is not a single-family residence that provides residential accommodations and personal assistance to residents who depend on the services of others by reason of age or disability; including but not limited to nursing or convalescent homes, hospices or assisted living facilities. This use does not include an establishment which provides care only during the day, or a halfway house for recovering alcohol and drug abusers.
Light fixture, full cut-off	A luminaire or light fixture that, by design of the housing, does not allow any light dispersion or direct glare to shine above ninety-degree horizontal plane from the base of the fixture.
Light loss factor (LLF)	The ratio of illuminance for a given area to the value that would occur if lamps operated at their (initial) rated lumens and if no system variation or depreciation had occurred. Components of this factor can be either initial or maintained. Also known as "maintenance factor."
Linen/uniform supply	Establishments that supply laundered items, such as table and bed linens; towels; diapers; and uniforms, gowns, or coats of the type used by doctors, nurses, barbers, beauticians and waitresses.
Liner building	A building or portion of a building specifically designed to mask a parking lot, parking structure, or other large-footprint use from a right-of-way or civic space.
Live/work dwelling	A principally residential building that includes an office, studio or other commercial use and a single dwelling unit occupied by the building owner. A live-work unit allows a broader range of commercial and production-type uses and more non-residential floor area than a home occupation. In addition, a live-work unit may be designed as a townhouse or with a storefront or other commercial design configuration at the ground level, while a home occupation occurs in a building that is designed as a residence. A live/work dwelling is generally limited to a single dwelling unit and a single business.
Loading dock	An area in which goods and products are moved on and off a vehicle, including the stall or berth, apron and maneuvering room.
Lot	Any piece or parcel of land or a portion of a subdivision, the boundaries of which are established by some legal instrument of record that is recognized and intended as a unit for the purpose of transfer of ownership.
Lot coverage	See "building coverage."
Lot of record	A lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the Office of the Probate Court of Mobile County, or a lot described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been recorded in the Office of the Probate Court of Mobile County, prior to the date of annexation or March 8, 1962.
Machinery and equipment rental and leasing	Establishments primarily engaged in renting or leasing machinery and equipment for use in business or industrial operations. These establishments typically cater to a business clientele and do not generally operate a retail-like or store-front facility. Examples include the sale or leasing of farm equipment and supplies, heavy equipment, office furniture or equipment, machinery tools (construction equipment sales and service) or off-highway transportation equipment.
Machinery and heavy equipment sales and service	The retail sales and accessory repair of construction, agriculture, excavation and similar machinery and equipment, including tractor-trailers.
Major aisle	Provides major circulation within a parking facility.
Manufactured home dealers	Establishments primarily engaged in retailing new and/or used manufactured homes or mobile homes, parts and equipment.
Manufactured housing land lease community	Any plot of ground on which two (2) or more mobile homes are located for long-term occupancy (for periods of thirty (30) days or more) for use as dwellings. Manufactured home land lease communities are not occupied by travel trailers. Includes customary accessory buildings or uses such as clubhouses, laundries or management and sales units.
Manufactured or mobile home	A factory-built dwelling unit constructed to the standards and codes promulgated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. § 5401 et seq., as amended. A mobile home is a home that was manufactured in a factory prior to June 15, 1976 and was not built to HUD standards.
Manufacturing, general	Manufacturing of products, from extracted or raw materials, recycled or secondary materials or bulk storage and handling of those products and materials. These include apparel (including clothing, shoes, dress making), brooms, caskets, food/baking (including coffee roasting, creameries, ice cream, ice, frozen food, confectionery, and beverage), tobacco products, fasteners and buttons, gaskets, leather and allied products, medical equipment and supplies, mill work and similar woodwork, mattresses, musical instruments, novelties, office supplies, printing and print supplies, signs, sporting goods, textiles (including dyeing, laundry bags, canvas products, dry goods, hosiery, millinery) and toys. It also includes incidental finishing and storage. Goods or products manufactured or processed on site may be sold at retail or wholesale on or off the premises. This does not include any activity listed under intensive manufacturing. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the downtown development district.
Manufacturing, hazardous materials	Manufacturing or use of hazardous substances including but not limited to chlorine, corrosive acid, fertilizer, acetylene, insecticides, disinfectants, poisons, explosives, petroleum products, coal products, plastic and synthetic resins, manufacturing or refining of oil and gas products. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the Downtown Development District.
Manufacturing, intensive	Manufacturing of paper, rubber, cosmetics, drugs, nonmetallic mineral products (such as concrete and concrete products, glass), fabricated metal products (including electroplating, hardware), primary metals, cement, lime, gypsum or plaster-of-Paris, paint, lacquer, varnish, electrical equipment, appliances, batteries, and machinery. This group also includes smelting and animal slaughtering. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the Downtown Development District.
Marina	A facility that includes docks, piers, floats, mooring devices or other appurtenances designed and used to secure, store, service, repair, fuel, berth and launch boats and other personal watercraft. This may include the sale of fuel and incidental supplies for boat owners and guests as well as the sale and chartering of boats.
Marine cargo and freight handling	Establishments that provide stevedoring, water transportation for cargo, warehousing, storage or other marine cargo handling services, including deep sea transportation of cargo; this does not include coal handling facilities or operations.
Marine passenger transportation	Establishments that provide passenger transportation, including deep sea or inland transportation to United States or foreign ports, harbor or coastal scenic and sightseeing. This includes accessory pier, dock, wharf or jetty facilities.
Marine salvage	Recovery of damaged marine vessels and cargo, as well as the dismantling of ships, barges, drilling rigs and other large-scale marine equipment.
Marine supply and chandlery	Establishments that provide goods and services for commercial vessels.
Marquee	A permanent roofed structure, attached to and supported by a building.
Mechanical equipment	Equipment necessary for the proper functioning of building systems, such as electrical (including electric meters), gas meters, water meters, exhaust fans, HVAC equipment, permanently mounted generators and heating equipment.
Media production	Establishments such as studios, back lots and sound stages that produce, manufacture or arrange for the manufacture of motion pictures, videos, television programs, television commercials or music and sound recordings.
Medical waste	A solid waste or combination of solid wastes which because of its infectious characteristics may either cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or pose a substantial present hazard or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed or otherwise managed. Includes any infectious solid or liquid waste from a medical waste generator, as defined in ADEM Admin. Code 335-17-1.
Mining and quarrying	The extraction of metallic and nonmetallic minerals, including sand and gravel pit operations.
Minor street	A street of limited continuity which serves or is intended to serve the local needs of a neighborhood.
Mitigation	Measures that protect, restore, or enhance a stream, water body or buffer to compensate for or reduce the adverse impacts of development or redevelopment adjacent to a stream, creek, river, water body or buffer.
Mixed use	Multiple functions within the same building through multiple floors or adjacency, or in multiple buildings by adjacency.
Mixed vegetation frontage	A site frontage type providing a combination of ground cover, flowers, trees and shrubs located between the building and the sidewalk.
Mobile Tree Act	The common name of the local law enacted by the Alabama State Legislature (Act. No. 929, Acts of Alabama, 1961 Regular Session), as amended, for the purpose of protecting the trees on both public and private property within the incorporated areas of the city.
Mobile Tree Commission ("MTC")	The entity designated by the Alabama State Legislature to enforce the Mobile Tree Act.
Mobile vendor	Any person who sells or offers to sell, from a vending vehicle or trailer.
Modular dwelling	A residential structure built in a factory to the International Residential Code or International Building Code as applicable. The structure or portions of the structure are then assembled on site to create one or more dwelling units. A modular dwelling is considered a standard residential structure for land use purposes.
Mural	Any graphic painted or otherwise applied directly or indirectly on an exterior wall or to a panel attached to an exterior wall.
Natural area	Areas established for the protection of natural attributes of local, regional and statewide significance, which may be used in a sustainable manner for scientific research, education, aesthetic enjoyment and appropriate use not detrimental to the primary purpose (other than wetlands as provided above). These areas are resource rather than user-based but may provide some passive recreational activities such as hiking, nature study and picnicking. Natural areas may include riparian buffers, floodplains or natural wetlands visible from walkways provided in and through the wetland.
Neighborhood Center sub-district	One (1) of sub-districts in the O-SH. This district is intended to consist of a mixture of uses, including neighborhood-serving retail, residential and civic. The neighborhood center is intended to serve the daily needs of residents located within surrounding residential neighborhoods. Buildings may be attached or detached and are separated from the street with wide sidewalks and regular street tree planting. Buildings may be separated from the sidewalk with small street yards.
Neighborhood general sub-district	One of sub-districts in the O-SH. This district is intended to consist of a mixture of uses but primarily residential urban fabric. It may have a wide range of building types and uses, including residential (in attached and detached buildings), civic buildings and limited retail including home occupations. Setbacks and landscaping are variable. This district has generous sidewalks and regular street tree planting.
Night club	Any club, business or establishment providing an on-going place of entertainment, including discotheques or similar establishments, either with or without payment. A night club does not include uses operated by public agencies or private non-profit or charitable organizations, such as religious youth centers, the boys' and girls' club or youth community centers provided for recreation or congregation.
Nit	Luminance is the measure of the light emanating from an object with respect to its size and is the term used to quantify electronic sign brightness. The unit of measurement for luminance is nits, which is the total amount of light emitted from a sign divided by the surface area of the sign (candelas per square meter (cd/m ² ).
Nonconforming site	A site or lot that lawfully exists on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming structure	A building or structure that lawfully exists on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming use	A use which lawfully occupies a building or land on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and which does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconformity	Any use, site or structure that was established prior to the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not comply with the standards of this chapter.
Non-store retailers	Establishments that retail merchandise through online, mass media, telephone, mail or similar methods (infomercials, direct-response advertising, paper and electronic catalogs, door-to-door solicitation, in-home demonstration, selling from portable stalls, vending machines and similar methods). Examples include mail-order houses, vending machine operators, home delivery sales, door-to-door sales, party plan sales, electronic shopping, and sales through portable stalls (e.g., street vendors).
Notch	A setback in the wall plane at least three (3) feet deep and six (6) feet wide for the full height of the primary facade.
Nursery/horticulture/farm supply	A place for the propagation or sale of trees, shrubs, lawn and garden supplies, and plants. This classification includes bulk sale of seed and feed, landscape materials, soils and rental of landscaping equipment.
Nursing home	A facility which provides chronic and/or convalescent care for not less than twenty-four (24) hours in any one (1) week to individuals not related by blood or marriage to the owner and/or administrator. Chronic and convalescent care includes care given because of prolonged illness or defect, or during recovery from injury or disease, and shall include any or all of the procedures commonly employed in waiting on the sick, application of dressings and bandages, and carrying out of treatments prescribed by a physician.
Office	The use associated with a business or activity involving the transaction of general business but excluding retail, warehousing and manufacturing uses.
Offset	A horizontal wall plane offset of at least three (3) feet, extending for the full height of the primary facade.
Oil	A petroleum or petroleum product whose storage is regulated under National Fire Protection Association ("NFPA") 30.
Oil and gas company (drilling and exploration)	Establishments that operate and/or develop oil and gas field properties. Activities may include exploration for crude petroleum and natural gas; drilling, completing and equipping wells; operating separators, emulsion breakers, desilting equipment and field gathering lines for crude petroleum and natural gas; and all other activities in the preparation of oil and gas up to the point of shipment from the producing property.
Oil and gas storage	A site which has at least one (1) aboveground oil or petroleum storage tank with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more used to store oil or gas. Also refer to article 4.
Oil and mining support activities	Establishments that support oil extraction or minerals mining, including exploration, sampling, excavating, drilling, surveying and similar activities. This includes oil field service companies and oil field supplies and machinery.
Open space	An area typically composed of natural or modified outdoor areas.
Outside storage	An area not located within a structure where any material is kept for more than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours.
Overstory tree	A tree whose mature canopy height is at least thirty-five (35) feet
Owner	Any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation having legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the Probate Court of Mobile County as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
Parapet	That portion of a building wall that rises above the roof line.
Parking facility	A parking lot or a parking garage offering parking to the public and that is the principal use of the premises.
Parking garage	See "parking structure."
Parking lot	An area, other than a public street or alley, devoted to unenclosed parking for operable vehicles.
Parking structure	A building containing one (1) or more stories of vehicular parking above or below grade.
Parking surface	All areas of a parking lot intended for vehicle movement, circulation or parking, including parking spaces, aisles, fire lanes and maneuvering areas.
Parks	Exterior space, typically publicly owned, intended for active or passive uses including but not limited to playgrounds, sports fields, walking paths and un-programmed open space.
Passenger depot	Facilities for passenger transportation operations, as well as baggage holding facilities, which includes rail stations, bus terminals, urban and regional transit stations, but does not include airports and heliports. This includes accessory parking facilities. This does not include transit shelters, which are permitted in all districts.
Patio area	A paved area, at grade, connecting the building to the sidewalk, typically with outdoor furniture and seating.
Pedestrian courtyard	A pedestrian courtyard is a courtyard that includes a building entrance on at least one (1) building wall, and admits only pedestrians, and includes no driveways, streets or other spaces that allow access by motor vehicles. A portion of the building facade is close to the front property line and the remaining facade is set back from the front property line at least eight (8) feet to create an entry courtyard.
Pennant	Any lightweight plastic, fabric or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire or string, usually in series, designed to move in the wind.
Permitted structure	A structure meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the structure is located.
Permitted use	A use meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the use is located.
Person	Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association trust, or any other group or combination of individuals operating as a unit. "Person" includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or similar representative.
Personal instructional services	The provision of instructional services such as tutoring and exam preparation, language, photography, fine arts, crafts, dance or music lessons and personal training.
Personal services	A business which provides a service to the general public. This includes, but is not limited to, barber shops, beauty shops/salons/cosmeticians, self-service laundries, tailors, seamstresses or dressmakers, photographers, photofinishing laboratories, wedding planning, dating services, nail salons, licensed massage establishments, licensed tattoo parlors and shoe shining or repair. This does not include bail bond, or other services listed separately.
Petroleum recycling	The processing of waste oil product for conversion into useable fuel products such as biodiesel and may include storage and sales of resulting useable fuels. This does not include auto service stations.
Petroleum recovery	The collection and temporary storage of waste oil or fuel products. This does not include auto service stations.
Pitched roof element	A break in the roof plane with a minimum pitch of 3:12 and that extends at least eight (8) feet in its vertical dimension.
Planning commission or commission	The planning commission of the city, as such commission was created heretofore by ordinance adopted by the city council of the city, pursuant to title 11, chapter 52, of the Code of Alabama.
Planning department	Term used to identify the city department responsible for the administration of this chapter.
Planning staff	Staff comprising the planning department, or its successors.
Plant list	List of approved trees and plant materials maintained by the director in coordination with the urban forester.
Plaza	An open area, primarily paved, with seating that is adjacent to, or part of, a building. Plazas function as gathering places and may incorporate a variety of non-permanent activities such as vendors and display stands.
Point of origin of the riparian buffer	The location of the top of bank, or the mean or ordinary high water line if the top of bank is not evident.
Porch	A roofed area, attached at the ground floor level or first floor level, and to the front or side of a building, open except for railings and support columns.
Port	A facility that includes docks, piers, floats, mooring devices, fingers, stalls, gridirons, canals, a harbor master structure, or other appurtenances designed and used to secure, store, service, repair, fuel, berth and launch ships, barges, oil platforms, vessels and other large watercraft used to provide water transportation of cargo or passengers. This may include the sale of fuel and incidental supplies for ship crews, and guests, servicing and repair of ships. Examples include pier, dock, wharf or jetty facilities including port and harbor terminals, marine cargo handling and dry dock services, port warehouses and port fuel facilities.
Premises	The building or site in or on which a use is conducted and any accessory buildings, appurtenances, driveways, parking and loading spaces and the associated area of existing development in active use as documented by surveys, aerial photography or other evidence.
Primary building wall	Exterior building walls that face a street and contain a primary public entrance.
Primary entrance	The entrance to a structure that is located along the primary frontage and serves as the main point of access for pedestrians into a building.
Primary facade	The front plane of a building that faces a primary street or civic space.
Primary frontage	The frontage of a site that establishes the orientation of the primary facade, and the primary pedestrian access.
Principal building	The main building on a site.
Principal plane	The plane of a building closest to the front property line, not including stoops, porches, colonnades, galleries or other attached architectural features.
Projected entry	An entry that extends from the front wall plane.
Projection	An extension of the front wall plane at least four (4) inches deep and one (1) foot wide for the full height of the primary facade.
Protection buffer	A wall, fence or screen planting, or any combination thereof intended to physically separate unlike uses and minimize light, debris and visual intrusion onto adjacent lots.
Protective barrier	A physical structure limiting access to a protected area, composed of wood or other suitable materials which assures compliance with the intent of this chapter. Variations of these methods may be permitted by the urban forester upon written request if they satisfy the intent of this chapter.
Public tree	A tree located on any right-of-way or property owned by the city.
Railroad facilities	A facility for freight pick-up or distribution by rail. This may include specialized services for railroad transportation including servicing, routine repairing (except factory conversion, overhaul or rebuilding of rolling stock) and maintaining rail cars; loading and unloading rail cars; and independent terminals.
Raised parapet	A low wall or railing extending above and in the front of a roof.
Recessed entry	An entry that recesses into the front wall plane.
Recreational facility, accessory	A recreational facility for the exclusive use of members and their guests, or solely for the use of employees of a permitted business use. This may include swimming pools, tennis courts, exercise facilities and similar indoor activities. It does not include golf courses, which are classified separately.
Recreational facility, indoor	Buildings or structures principally devoted to recreational activities or non-gambling games, leisure and recreation services to the public or to members. Examples include the following uses when they are conducted indoor: ice or roller skating rinks, bingo parlors, billiard parlors, bowling centers, pool rooms, miniature golf courses, amusement game arcades, tennis clubs, swimming pools, community centers, play courts, shooting facilities, batting cages, skateboard areas and water slides or water parks.
Recreational facility, outdoor or major	A facility principally devoted to recreational activities or non-gambling games, leisure and recreation services to the public or to members, and where the activities, games, or services predominantly occur outdoors. Examples include outdoor roller or ice-skating rinks, sports stadiums and arenas; amusement and theme parks; racetracks; swimming or wave pools; entertainment complexes; amphitheaters; drive-in theaters; archery or shooting ranges; riding academies; miniature golf; golf courses, driving ranges, and country clubs; and similar facilities.
Recreational vehicle	A vehicular portable structure designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational and vacation use. For purposes of these regulations, the term includes pick-up campers, camping trailers, travel trailers, RVs, and motorized homes (living facilities constructed as integral parts of self-propelled vehicles.)
Recreational vehicle park	Any plot of land on which two (2) or more travel trailers are located for short-term (less than thirty (30) days) occupancy during travel, recreational or vacation use. Recreational vehicle (or travel trailer) parks are not occupied by any travel trailer for thirty (30) days or more, nor by any mobile home. Examples include campgrounds and recreational vehicle/travel trailer parks. This use does not include a manufactured housing land lease community.
Recycling drop-off center	An incidental use that serves as a neighborhood collection point for temporary storage of recoverable resources such as glass, paper and aluminum. No processing of such items would be allowed. This facility would generally be located in a shopping center parking lot or in other public/quasi-public areas, such as in churches and schools.
Recycling plant	A facility that is not a junkyard and in which recoverable non-hazardous recyclable materials, such as newspapers, magazines, books and other paper products; glass; metal cans; and other products, are collected, separated, stored, recovered, or recycled, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products, but does not include the use of materials as a fuel or any use which constitutes disposal. Recycling plants shall not store or keep hazardous substances, compost, rubbish or wrecked, scrapped, ruined or dismantled motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts.
Recycling transfer station	A permanent, fixed, collection and transportation facility, where non-hazardous recyclable materials are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation units like railroad cars, barges or truck trailers for transportation to another facility. In some operations, compaction or separation for recycling may be done at the station.
Regulating plan	Zoning maps or set of maps that show the zoning sub-districts and street hierarchy(s) associated with form based overlays such as the Village of Spring Hill.
Religious facility	A building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where persons regularly assemble for religious worship or instruction, and which building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship. Accessory uses include parish houses, community houses, educational buildings and child care for persons attending worship or instruction.
Remediation services	Establishments primarily engaged in one or more of the following: (1) remediation and cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil or ground water; (2) integrated mine-reclamation activities, including demolition, soil remediation, waste water treatment, hazardous substance removal, contouring land and revegetation; or (3) asbestos, lead paint and other toxic material abatement.
Required parking	The number of parking spaces needed to accommodate a building or buildings on a single property according to the intensity of its function.
Research and development	Establishment engaged in product development or testing, which does not include research, engineering or similar activities that occur indoors in an office environment.
Restaurant	A business which prepares, sells and serves food and beverages to customers for consumption within the building or on the building site at the outside tables. Examples include sit-down restaurants, brewpubs, cafes, cafeterias, delis, dining rooms, ice cream parlors, tearooms, coffee shops, hot dog stands, sandwich shops and specialty food and/or outside dining patios and sitting areas. May include take-out, drive-in, sit-down service, or the sale and consumption of alcohol. See appendix A for the definition of restaurant in the DDD.
Restaurant, drive-in	A restaurant providing automobile curb-service in which the parking area is designated for the consumption of food which is served by an employee to the customer in his automobile. Carry-out and drive-thru window service may be provided.
Restaurant, drive-thru	A restaurant providing automobile drive-thru service or window facilities for the consumption of food on or off the premises. Automobile curb-service may not be provided.
Retail, general	An establishment engaged in sale or rental of goods, such as: general merchandise, apparel and accessories/uniforms, appliances, auto parts/tires, bicycles, books, camera and photographic supplies, candy and confections, dry goods, electronics, entertainment media (such as videos, compact discs, DVDs, or computer games), firearms, floral goods, furniture, gifts and novelties, hardware, health and personal care (such as pharmacies, cosmetics and optical or surgical supplies), hobby, jewelry, luggage and leather goods, music, news media (newsstand), office supplies, pets, picture frames, shoes, sporting goods, stationery, tobacco, toys, used merchandise/antiques, arts and crafts, beer or liquor (package) or similar items. This includes artist studios that both create and sell visual artwork. This classification includes the retail sale or rental of merchandise not specifically listed under another use classification. Merchandise is typically sold from locations known as storefronts, stand-alone buildings, department stores, warehouse clubs, variety stores, superstores, swap meets or flea markets, auctions or consumer goods rental/general rental centers. See appendix C for definition of retail in the DDD.
Retirement home or elderly housing	A building or group of buildings containing dwelling units where the occupancy of the dwellings is restricted to the elderly (in which at least one (1) resident per household is fifty-five (55) or older.) This does not include a development that contains convalescent or nursing facilities, but often includes the provision of special support services, such as central dining and limited medical care.
Riparian buffer ("RB")	An area near a stream or other water body that is typically vegetated and protects the water body from the impacts of nearby land uses.
Roadway	The portion of a street available for vehicular traffic; where curbs are laid, the portion between curbs.
Rooming and boarding	A building where, for compensation and by prearrangement, at least five (5) persons other than occasional or transient customers are provided with meals and/or lodging. This use type does not include a group home, hotel, motel or multi-family building. A multifamily building or apartment house includes separate dwelling units occupied by a single household, while a rooming and boarding includes separate households sharing kitchen facilities.
Seafood processing	The storage, drying, cooking, packaging and/or preparation of any aquatic organism after it is harvested.
Secondary frontage	A frontage that is not the principal frontage.
Setback	The distance from the property line to the nearest part of the applicable building, structure or sign, measured perpendicularly to the property line.
Shipyard	A fixed facility including dry docks and fabrication equipment capable of building a ship, barge, drilling and production platforms.
Short-term rental	A lodging accommodation for transient guests where a residential dwelling unit or any part thereof is provided in exchange for compensation. Includes the rental of a residential dwelling unit or dwelling of any type, room, building, house, or other habitable structure, or any part thereof, including a manufactured home, that is or can be utilized as a transient sleeping place by one or more persons for less than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days per rental period. Hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and other land uses explicitly defined and regulated in this chapter separately from short-term rentals are not considered short-term rentals. Excludes a rental between parties to the sale of such dwelling unit or building where valid documentation of the sale is provided. Exclude rentals of property subject to the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Code of Ala. § 35-9A-101 et seq.
Sidewalk frontage	A sidewalk frontage type directly abuts a public sidewalk or is setback with a fully paved frontage between the building and the frontage sidewalk which is not large enough for typical outdoor seating.
Sign	Any device, fixture, placard, object or structure that uses any word, letter, figure, design, fixture, projected image, color, form, graphic, illumination, symbol or writing to advertise, display, direct or attract attention to, announce the purpose of, or identify a person object, institution, organization, business, product, service, event, location or entity, or to communicate information of any kind to the public. A "sign" does not include a work of art.
Sign area	Measured by finding the area of an imaginary rectangle, circle, square or triangle which fully encloses the sign message, including background and logos but not including supports or braces.
Sign, abandoned	A sign shall be considered abandoned when the business activity or firm which such sign advertises is no longer in operation or does not have a current business license in effect or is in a state of disrepair.
Sign, animated	Any sign that uses movement or change of lighting to depict action or create a special effect or scene.
Sign, banner	Any sign of lightweight fabric or similar material that is securely mounted to a building. Flags shall not be considered banners.
Sign, blade	A sign made from rigid material mounted perpendicular to a building wall with one (1) side attached or supported by a device extending from a building wall or hanging or projecting from a freestanding wood or iron pole.
Sign, building marker	Any sign indicating the name of a building and date and incidental information about its construction, which sign is cut into a masonry surface or made of bronze or other permanent material.
Sign, changeable copy	A sign or portion thereof with characters, letters or illustrations that can be changed or rearranged without altering any other portion of the sign.
Sign, directional	A sign that provides on-site directional assistance for the convenience of the public such as location of exits, entrances and parking lots.
Sign, electronic or digital	Any sign, billboard, display, or device, or portion thereof, which electronically changes the fixed display screen composed of a series of lights, including light emitting diodes, fiber optics, or other similar technology; including but not limited to computer programmable, microprocessor controlled electronic or digital displays that display electronic images, graphics, or pictures, with or without textual information.
Sign, external illumination	A sign that is illuminated by an external, artificial light source shining onto the face of the sign.
Sign, freestanding	Any sign supported by permanent structures or permanent posts that are placed on, or anchored in, the ground and that are independent from any building or other structure. This includes any monument sign or pole sign.
Sign, incidental	A sign that is subordinate in scale to the primary signage on the site and does not exceed two (2) square feet per face.
Sign, internal illumination	A sign illuminated in any manner by an internal or backlit artificial light source, or exposed lighting on the sign face.
Sign, menu board	A sign serving drive-through facilities listing items and prices.
Sign, monument	Ground-mounted sign with a maximum height of six (6) feet, where the base is at least two-thirds (⅔) the height.
Sign, nonconforming	Any sign that does not conform to the requirements of this chapter.
Sign, off-premise, off-site or billboard	A sign providing usable advertising space for a product, event, service or entity.
Sign, on-premise or on-site	Any sign that is used to attract attention to an object, person, product, institution, organization, business, service, event or location that is located on the premises upon which the sign is located.
Sign, parking lot	A sign to identify the entrance of a parking lot. Maximum height, including mount, is ten (10) feet.
Sign, portable	A sign that is not permanently affixed to a building, structure or the ground or designed to be permanently affixed to a building, structure or the ground. Trailer signs are considered to be portable signs.
Sign, projecting	Any sign affixed perpendicularly or at an angle of forty-five (45) degrees, to a building or wall.
Sign, roof	A sign that is erected, constructed, or maintained above the roof of a building or above any portion of the building's facade.
Sign, sandwich board	Two-sided, A-frame style self-supporting sign, which is not permanently affixed to the ground and is designed to be moveable.
Sign, suspended	A sign that is suspended from the underside of a horizontal plane surface and is supported by such surface.
Sign, temporary	Any sign other than a banner, that is not permanently mounted, to be displayed for a specified period of time.
Sign, wall	A sign painted on a wall or attached to a wall of a building, parallel to the wall.
Sign, wayfinding	A sign that is intended to direct pedestrian or vehicular traffic to specific areas or amenities. Wayfinding signs are not internally lighted and are generally of a cohesive design for specific areas or types. Wayfinding signs are not advertisements for individual businesses.
Sign, wind-activated	A sign that is driven by the wind or by mechanically produced air flow via movement. Examples include, but are not limited to, free-standing advertising flags, blower-driven tubes or human forms, pennant streamers, whirligigs and the like. Flags are not considered wind-activated signs.
Sign, window	Any sign that is placed inside a window frame or upon the window panes or glass and is visible from the exterior of the window.
Site	An area of land, including a lot or lots or a portion thereof, upon which a project is developed or proposed for development.
Small wireless facility	(1) The structure on which antenna facilities are mounted: a. Is fifty (50) feet or less in height including antenna; or b. Is no more than ten (10) percent taller than the other adjacent structures; or c. Do not extend existing structures on which they are located to a height of more than fifty (50) feet or by more than ten (10) percent, whichever is greater. (2) Each antenna associated with the deployment is no more than three (3) cubic feet in volume; (3) All other wireless equipment associated with the structure, including the wireless equipment associated with the antenna and any pre-existing associated equipment on the structure, is no more than twenty-eight (28) cubic feet in volume; (4) The facility does not require antenna structure registration under applicable FCC regulations; (5) The facility is not located on tribal lands, as defined in 36 C.F.R. 800.16(x); and (6) The facilities do not result in human exposure to radio frequency radiation in excess of the applicable safety standards specified in FCC regulations.
Snack or beverage bars	Establishments primarily engaged in (1) preparing and/or serving a specialty snack, such as ice cream, coffee and/or pastries, frozen yogurt, cookies or popcorn, or (2) serving nonalcoholic beverages, such as coffee, juices or sodas for consumption on or near the premises.
Social assistance, welfare, and charitable services	Establishments that provide social assistance services directly to clients such as children, elderly persons, disabled persons, homeless persons or veterans. Social assistance may include food, medical relief, counseling or training.
Solid waste disposal	Includes any facility where final deposition of solid waste occurs and at which waste may remain after closure, including any landfill, municipal solid waste landfill, private or public solid waste management facility or sanitary landfill; an incinerator; or any other facility the purpose of which is the storage, treatment, utilization, processing or disposal of solid waste.
Solid waste facility	A fixed facility where non-hazardous wastes are taken from collection vehicles, temporarily stored, and ultimately relocated to a permanent disposal site. Includes any facility, incinerator, landfill, materials recovery facility, municipal solid waste landfill, private or public solid waste management facility, recovered materials processing facility, sanitary landfill or solid waste management facility as defined by Code of Ala. § 22-27-2. "Materials recovery facility" means a facility that is not a junkyard and which recoverable resources, such as newspapers, glassware and metal cans, are collected, sorted, stored, flattened, crushed, or bundled, and processed to a condition in which they may again be used for production.
Solid waste transfer	A collection and transportation facility where non-hazardous solid wastes are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation units like railroad cars, barges, or truck trailers for transportation to a permanent disposal site. In some operations, compaction or separation for recycling may be done at the station.
Specified anatomical areas	Means any of the following: (1) Less than complete and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus or female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areolae; or (2) Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.
Specified sexual activities	Means any of the following: (1) Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal; (2) Acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy; (3) Fondling or other erotic touchings of human genitals, pubic regions, buttocks or female breasts; (4) Flagellation or torture in the context of a sexual relationship; (5) Masochism, erotic or sexually oriented torture, beating or the infliction of pain; (6) Erotic touching, fondling or other such contact with an animal by a human being; or (7) Human excretion, urination, menstruation, vaginal or anal irrigation as part of or in connection with any of the activities set forth in (1) through (6) above.
Spectrum Act	Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act and Job Creation Act of 2012, 47 U.S.C. § 1455(a).
Square	An exterior open space typically designed to accommodate public gatherings, including a mixture of paved and landscaped areas, and often containing features such as benches, fountains, monuments, gazebos or public art.
Stone cutting	Establishments that cut, shape and finish marble, granite, slate and other stone for building and miscellaneous uses, or that buy or sell partly finished monuments and tombstones.
Stoop	A small, raised platform, with stairs or ramp, located at the entrance to a building, which may be covered by an awning, canopy or marquee.
Store aisle	Runs parallel to fronts of stores.
Storefront	A frontage for retail and office uses with substantial glazing where the facade is aligned close to the frontage line with the building entrance at sidewalk grade. The building facade at the ground floor is substantially glazed to provide visibility into interior spaces. Storefronts may include display cases that project forward and recessed entries.
Story	A habitable level within a building excluding a basement.
Stream	A course of running water flowing in a definite channel. [Source: Ala. Admin. Code r. 335-7-6-.01] A stream includes, without limitation, any of the following water bodies: the Mobile River, Dog River and its tributaries, any stream defined as "waters of the state" by the Alabama Water Resources Act [Code of Ala. § 9-10B-3], any stream (blue-line) shown on the 7.5 min USGS Quad map, or any river, creek, or stream that is subject to an approved total maximum daily load (TMDL) pursuant to section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act. Any watercourse that sustains normal stream flow during any period of the year under normal meteorological conditions.
Street	A public right-of-way or private easement subject to vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic that provides direct or indirect access to property.
Streetscape	The appearance or view of the street including trees, lighting fixtures and street furnishings such as benches and trash receptacles.
Structure	Anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or is attached to something having a location on the ground; except (a) public utility poles, wires, guy wires, and cables; and, (b) fences and walls other than building walls.
Swimming pool	A structure used for swimming purposes and filled with a controlled water supply.
Telecommunications facilities	Antennas, transmission equipment, towers, base stations, antenna support structures, or small wireless facilities. However, the term "telecommunication facilities" shall not include: (1) Any satellite earth station antenna two (2) meters in diameter or less which is located in an area zoned industrial or commercial; (2) Any satellite earth station antenna one (1) meter or less in diameter, regardless of zoning category.
Telecommunications structure	A pole, tower, base station, or building, whether or not it has an existing antenna facility, that is used for the provision of personal wireless service (whether on its own or comingled with other types of service).
Temporary above-ground storage tank	A conex designed or used to temporarily hold oil, gas, or other petroleum product, or any flammable or hazardous substances, and located at or above ground level.
Temporary construction offices and office trailers	Temporary structures erected on the site of a construction project and used for administrative purposes related to the construction project.
Temporary portable storage unit	A transportable, standardized, reusable vessel or container, or receptacle that is originally and specifically designed for or is used in stowing, packing, shipping, moving or transporting freight, articles, goods or commodities, is designed for or is capable of being mounted or moved on a truck, and is located at site for temporary storage of personal property or any similar device. Examples include "Pack-Rat", "PODS(r)," or shipping container ("CONEX").
Temporary seasonal sales activities and special events	Temporary seasonal sales these activities which are characterized by the sale of products and merchandise associated with a particular holiday, special event, time of year, and/or growing season. These uses include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) Christmas tree sales lots; (2) Pumpkin sales lots; (3) Seasonal farm produce stands; (4) Seasonal sale of landscape plantings, materials, and lawn and garden supplies (as accessory sales to a business with other commercial activities); (5) Haunted houses; (6) Shrimp festivals, crawfish boils, or seafood festivals; and (7) Harvest festivals.
Temporary structure	A structure without any footing or foundation, and which is removed when the temporary use for which the structure was erected has ceased.
Temporary use	A use of land limited in both duration and the number of annual occurrences, excluding uses and events customarily associated with the principal land use (e.g., weddings at a church, sporting events at a stadium).
Terrace	A paved or landscaped area elevated above the grade of the sidewalk, located between the building and the sidewalk.
Theater	A facility with fixed seats for the viewing of movies or live presentations of musicians or other performing artists.
Top of bank	The uppermost limit of the active channel, typically indicated by either; a change in bank slope from steep to gentle slope, or if a change in slope is not discernable, the point of wrested vegetation. This refers to the point at the edge of a stream where vegetation has moved or wrested as a result of normal Stream flow or wave action.
Tower	A distinctly vertical projection in the facade.
Townhouse/row house	A single-family dwelling forming one of a group or series of two or more attached single-family dwellings, separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows, or other provisions for human passage or visibility through the walls from basement or cellar to roof, and having roofs which may extend from one of the dwelling units to another.
Transit shelter	A roofed structure on or adjacent to the right-of-way of a street, which is designed and used primarily for the protection and convenience of transit passengers.
Transmission equipment	Equipment that facilitates transmission of any FCC-licensed or authorized wireless communications services. Transmission equipment includes an antenna and its associated equipment, which includes any and all on-site equipment, such as back-up generators and power supply units, cabinets, coaxial and fiber optic cables, connections, shelters, radio transceivers, regular power supply units and wiring, to which a wireless antenna is attached in order to facilitate mobile broadband service and personal wireless service delivered on mobile broadband devices.
Truck repair	Repair of vehicles exceeding fourteen thousand (14,000) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), which includes body repair, painting, engine disassembly and repair and transmission disassembly and repair.
Truck stop	A structure or land intended to be used primarily for the sale of fuel for trucks and incidental service or repair. This includes a group of facilities consisting of those uses and attendant eating, sleeping or truck parking facilities. As used in this definition, the term "truck" includes any vehicle whose maximum gross weight is more than fourteen thousand (14,000) pounds.
Understory tree	A tree whose mature canopy height is between fifteen (15) and thirty-five (35) feet.
Uniformity ratio	The highest horizontal illuminance point or area, divided by the lowest horizontal illuminance point or area.
University District	The area defined as follows: Starting at the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Cody Road, then running generally North along Cody Road to the intersection of Cody Road and Zeigler Boulevard, then running generally East along Zeigler Boulevard and continuing on Springhill Avenue to the intersection with Pixie Street, and then running generally South along Pixie Street to the intersection with Museum Drive, then running generally East and then South along Museum Drive and then McGregor Avenue to the intersection with Old Shell Road, then running generally West along Old Shell Road to the intersection with Bit and Spur Road, then continuing generally West along Bit and Spur Road to the intersection with Airport Boulevard, and then continuing generally West along Airport Boulevard to the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Cody Road.
Urban forester	The city employee specially trained in forestry or arboriculture tasked with the management of naturally occurring and planted trees and associated plants within the corporate limits of the city who has passed an independent exam administered by the International Society of Arboriculture, and maintains the credential through continuing education, or his/her duly authorized designee.
Useable wall area	The exterior wall or surface area of a building or structure that excludes doors.
Utility, intermediate	Facilities related to the local transport or storage of treated, untreated or wastewater, including water or sewage pumping stations, potable water storage facilities, regional stormwater storage facilities and combined stormwater/sewage storage facilities, gas regulator stations as well as neighborhood scale electric substations including electric transmission or distribution lines with a capacity greater than one hundred fifteen (115) kilovolts (kv) and less than two hundred thirty (230) kilovolts (kv).
Utility, major	A building or other structure for production or generation of utilities for consumption by the general public including any utility scale electric power generating station (including any stations that use fossil fuel, fuel cell, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal technologies), electric transmission line right-of-way for transmission lines with a capacity of two hundred thirty (230) kilovolts (kv) or more, sewage treatment plant, or potable water treatment facility.
Utility, minor	All lines and facilities related to the provision, distribution, collection, transmission, or disposal of water, storm water, communications, electricity, transportation, gas, steam and similar public services at a neighborhood or residential scale and may include storage for vehicles and equipment necessary to provide those services. This includes electric transmission or distribution lines with a capacity of one hundred fifteen (115) kilovolts (kv) or below, and residential scale electric power generation (including any generators that use fossil fuel, fuel cell, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal technologies), telephone exchanges, switch boxes, transformer boxes and cap banks.
Vacant	Lands or buildings not actively used for any purpose, or a lot or parcel upon which no improvements have been constructed.
Vehicle/equipment maintenance facility	A facility providing maintenance and repair services for vehicles and equipment and areas for storage of equipment and supplies. This classification includes construction yards, equipment service centers, transit vehicle storage and servicing, and similar facilities.
Vehicle towing and storage facility	Establishments primarily engaged in towing motor vehicles, along with incidental services such as storage and emergency road repair services.
Vehicular courtyard	A vehicular courtyard is a courtyard that includes a driveway or similar access for motor vehicles not leading to a garage or parking area (such as a circular driveway), and that also includes sidewalks or pedestrian paths and a building entrance on at least one (1) building wall. A portion of the building facade is close to the front property line, and the remaining facade is set back at least eighteen (18) feet from the front property line to create an entry courtyard for compliant vehicular access for at least two (2) vehicles.
Vehicular use area	All areas used by any and all types of vehicles, boats, trailers or other equipment, whether such vehicles, boats, trailers or equipment are self-propelled or not for the purpose of, including but not limited to, driving, parking, loading, unloading, storage or display, such as, but not limited to, new and used car lots, and activities of a drive-in nature in connection with banks, restaurants, gas sales, grocery and dairy stores and the like.
Village center sub-district	One (1) of sub-districts in the Spring Hill Overlay. This district is the most densely occupied sub-district and consists of street-oriented, mixed-use buildings that may accommodate a range of uses, including retail, offices, residential and civic uses. The village center serves the needs of the surrounding community; the walkable, park-once environment is accommodating to both pedestrians from surrounding neighborhoods, as well as those from the greater community. The district has wide sidewalks, regular street tree planting, and buildings set close to the sidewalks to create a regular street facade.
Vocational or trade school	An establishment offering vocational training, including but not limited to automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, truck driving, building trades, airplane maintenance, truck driving, pipefitting, welding, and mechanical or electrical equipment/appliance repair. Courses offered normally would exclude those listed under business college or technical school.
Walkable street	A street that provides amenities for pedestrians as well as vehicles. Common amenities include sidewalks, shading devices (such as awnings, colonnades, second-floor balconies, or street trees), and on-street parking.
Waste management services, other	Establishments primarily engaged in services such as sewer and septic tank cleaning, beach cleaning and maintenance services, pumping (i.e., cleaning) cesspools, cesspool cleaning services, sewer cleaning and rodding services, portable toilet renting and/or servicing and sewer or storm basin cleanout services. These activities do not involve tank cleaning or disinfecting on the premises.
Water body	Any significant accumulation of water, generally on a planet's surface. The term most often refers to oceans, seas and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one (1) place to another are also considered bodies of water.
Welding, metal fabrication, and pipefitting	Establishments that transform metal into intermediate or end products (other than machinery, computers or electronics), or treat metals and metal formed products fabricated elsewhere. Fabricated metal processes include forging, stamping, bending, forming and machining, used to shape individual pieces of metal; and other processes, such as welding and assembling, used to join separate parts together.
Wholesale distribution, warehousing and storage	A business where the primary function is the storage and distribution of goods and products. Examples include warehouse or produce/fruit/food storage, express crating, hauling, cold storage, locker plants, dry goods, hardware storage, paper supplies, shoes, sporting goods, professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers and otherwise preparing goods for transportation. This may include fulfillment centers that combine storage with call centers.
Wireless communications services	Without limitation, means commercial mobile radio services, personal wireless services, all FCC-licensed or authorized back-haul and other fixed wireless services, broadcast, private, and public safety communication services and unlicensed wireless services. The term "wireless communications services" does not include television or radio broadcast facilities.
Work of art	All forms of original creations of visual art including but not limited to: sculpture, in any material or combination of materials, whether in the round, bas-relief, high relief, mobile, fountain, kinetic or electronic; painting, whether portable or permanently fixed, as in the case of murals; mosaics; photographs; crafts made from clay, fiber and textiles, wood, glass, metal, plastics or any other material or any combination thereof; calligraphy; mixed media composed of any combination of forms or media; unique architectural stylings or embellishments, including architectural crafts; environmental landscaping; or restoration or renovation of existing works of art of historical significance.
Yard	A required setback from the street or property lines.
Yard, front	A yard extending the full width of the building site across its front, with required depth measured at right angles to the front street line of the building site. Front yard depth is measured from the future street right-of-way line of a major street.
Yard, rear	A yard extending the full width of the building site across its rear, with required depth measured at right angles to the rear line of the building site.
Yard, side	A yard extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard, with required width measured at right angles to the adjacent side lines of the building site. If no front and/or rear yard is provided, the front and/or rear lines of the building site shall be construed as front and/or rear boundaries of the side yard. In any district where side yards are not required by the district regulations, a side yard shall have the minimum width required by the currently adopted IRC or IBC, as applicable.
Youth organization camp	An area or tract of land on which accommodations for temporary occupancy are located or may be placed, including cabins, tents and major recreational equipment, and which is primarily used for recreational purposes and retains an open air or natural character. It is intended that these types of facilities provide a camping environment for children and youth groups who may be affiliated with such organizations as the Girl or Boy Scouts of America, religious institutions, or other local community activity groups. It is not permitted to serve youth offender organizations.
Zero lot line home	A single-family detached dwelling that is sited with no setback along one side property line.

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22; Ord. No. 64-025-2025, § 1, 6-3-25)

Sec. 64-8-3. - Acronyms.

Ala. Admin. Code	Alabama Administrative Code
Code of Ala.	Code of Alabama
AASHTO	American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ADEM	Alabama Department of Environmental Management
ALDOT	Alabama Department of Transportation
ARB	The Architectural Review Board as established by chapter 44, Mobile City Code, as amended
DBH	Diameter at Breast Height
EPJ	Extraterritorial Planning Jurisdiction
FAA	Federal Aviation Administration
FCC	Federal Communications Commission
GVWR	Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
LID	Low Impact Development
MHDC	Mobile Historic Development Commission
MUTCD	The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, for Streets and Highways, as published by the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
OHWL	Ordinary High Water Line
TRB	Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council
USC	United States Code

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22)

Mobile City Zoning Code

ARTICLE 8

DEFINITIONS

Sec. 64-8-1.- General rules of interpretation.

The present tense includes the future tense, the singular number includes the plural and the plural number includes the singular.

The word "shall" is mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.

"Includes" or "including" encompasses, but is not limited to, the items listed after "includes" or "including" unless otherwise provided.

The words "used or occupied" include the words "intended, designed or arranged to be used or occupied."

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22)

Sec. 64-8-2. - Definitions.

General definitions.

Above-ground oil storage tank	An above-ground oil storage tank having a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more to be located in an I-2 district
Accessory building or structure	A detached subordinate building or structure located on the same lot or building site as the main building or structure on the building site or lot. An accessory building or structure is smaller than, and incidental to, the main structure.
Accessory dwelling unit ("ADU")	A secondary, independent living facility located in, or on the same lot or building site as, a single-family residence. This includes a building or part of a building that provides complete independent living facilities, including a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom, and that is attached to the principal dwelling, or a detached building on the same lot or building site.
Accessory retail and personal service, office, or recreational use	A retail, office or recreational use that is subordinate to and incidental to the primary use.
Accessory use (generally)	A use customarily incidental to the principal use of a building site or to a structure and located upon the same lot or building site with the principal use.
Adult bookstore	An establishment having as a preponderance of its stock in trade or its dollar volume in trade, books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides, tapes, records or other forms of visual or audio representations which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult cabaret	A nightclub, bar, theater, restaurant or similar establishment which frequently features live performances by topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or similar entertainers, where such performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas and/or which regularly feature films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description or specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.
Adult drive-in theater	An open lot or part thereof, with appurtenant facilities, devoted primarily to the presentation of motion pictures, films, theatrical productions and other forms of visual productions, for any form of consideration, to persons in motor vehicles or on outdoor seats in which a preponderance of the total presentation time is devoted to the showing of materials distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.
Adult entertainment enterprise	An adult bookstore, adult motion picture theater, adult mini motion picture theater, adult motion picture arcade, adult cabaret, adult drive-in theater, adult live entertainment arcade or adult service establishment (including, but not limited to a topless car wash or topless cleaning service).
Adult live entertainment arcade	Any building or structure which contains or is used for commercial entertainment where the patron directly or indirectly is charged a fee to view from an enclosed or screened area or booth a series of live dance routines, strip performances or other gyrational choreography which performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas.
Adult mini motion picture theater	An enclosed building with a capacity of more than five (5) but less than fifty (50) persons, used for presenting films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions in which time is devoted to the showing of materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein.
Adult motion picture arcade	Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-or slug-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five (5) or fewer persons per machine at any one (1) time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult motion picture theater	An enclosed building with a capacity of fifty (50) or more persons used for presenting films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions in which a preponderance of the total presentation time is devoted to showing of materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein.
Adult service establishment	Any building, premises, structure or other facility under common ownership or control which provides services involving specified sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas.
Agriculture and forestry	Any parcel of land that is used for profit in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry or dairy products; including necessary farm structures within the prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used. This does not include animals kept for non-commercial purposes.
Alley	A right-of-way located between rear or side property lines, which provides access to adjacent properties.
Alternative financial service provider	A check casher, payday lender, pawnbroker, rent-to-own business, auto title lender or any business that (1) is required to be licensed under the Deferred Presentment Services Act, Alabama Code Title 5, Chapter 18(A) or (2) is required to be licensed under the Alabama Pawnshop Act, Alabama Code Title 5, Chapter 190A, other than a federal or state chartered bank, credit union, mortgage lender, or savings and loan association.
Alternative parking surface	Pervious or semi-pervious parking surface, having a design acceptable to the city engineer and the director, or her or his designee, capable of accommodating vehicles up to eight thousand (8,000) pounds gross vehicle weight and maintained free of weeds, dust, trash and debris; an example of such a material being interlocking grass paving blocks, porous asphalt or grasscrete. Crushed limestone, gravel, shell or sod shall not be considered an acceptable alternative parking surface. Alternative parking surface design shall be appropriate to the intended use. Alternative parking surfaces may only be required as a condition of application approval for spaces requested in excess of the minimum ratio requirements of this chapter.
Amphitheater	An outdoor or open-air structure used for public assembly, entertainment and performances.
Animal services (indoor)	Any part of a building designed or used to care for, board or groom animals. The care of animals occurs entirely inside the principal building and not in ancillary or accessory buildings. This use does not include outside kennels.
Animal services, (with outdoor runs)	Any part of a building designed or used to care for, board or groom animals. This use may include overnight boarding or outdoor confinement or exercise areas. Includes a dog pound.
Antenna	A wireless antenna, including a macrocell antenna and a microcell antenna.
Antenna support structure	Any building or other structure forty-five (45) feet in height or taller and which complies with the maximum height allowed in the district in which it is located, other than a tower which can be used for location of telecommunications facilities.
Appliance repair services	An establishment providing repair services for personal and household goods, such as household appliances, computers, radio, television, audio or video equipment, office machines, furniture and leather goods, and knife sharpening. This classification excludes building maintenance services and maintenance and repair of automobiles and other vehicles and equipment.
Applicant	Any person who files an application.
Application	Any application filed pursuant to this chapter.
Arcade	A series of piers topped by arches that support a permanent roof over a sidewalk.
Architectural review board ("ARB")	The architectural review board established by chapter 44 of the Mobile City Code.
Armory	A building or group of buildings used primarily for housing and training troops or for storing military property, supplies or records.
Art gallery	A retail establishment for the display and sale of art created by one or more artists. A gallery does not include the on-going production of art on site (see "art studio").
Art studio	The working place of a painter, sculptor, artisan or photographer or a place for the study or production of art, including singing and acting.
Attic	The interior part of a building contained within a pitched roof structure.
Auto repair	Car and light truck repair up to fourteen thousand (14,000) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), which includes body repair, painting, engine disassembly and repair and transmission disassembly and repair.
Automobile/light truck/RV/personal water craft/motorcycle dealership	A facility for the sale or rental of automobiles, motorcycles, light trucks, motor homes, boats or marine craft or recreational vehicles. For purposes of this definition, a "light truck" means a vehicle of up to fourteen thousand (14,000) GVWR.
Automobile service station	A business establishment where the primary function is the retail sale of gasoline, oil, grease, tires, batteries and accessories. Services are limited to the installation of items sold, tire changing, and automobile lubrication. Engine steam cleaning and auto repair are prohibited.
Awning	A fixed or movable, lightweight, rigid skeleton structure over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection and is wholly supported by the building to which it is attached.
Bail bond services	An office that engages in the furnishing or issuance of bail bonds, whether by surety, cash, or other financial transaction, for the purpose of securing a person's release from jail, custody or incarceration.
Balcony	An open habitable portion of an upper floor that extends beyond or is recessed within a building 's exterior wall that is not supported from below by vertical columns or piers but is instead supported by either a cantilever or brackets.
Bar/lounge	An establishment where the main source of revenue is the sale of alcoholic beverages which are customarily consumed on the premises. This includes taverns, microbreweries, hookah lounges, neighborhood taverns/bars/pubs or distilleries. This definition does not include a brew pub, which is considered a restaurant. For bars within the DDD, please see appendix A.
Base station	A structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables FCC licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network. This term does not include a tower or any equipment associated with a tower, or a television or radio broadcast facility. This term includes, without limitation: (1) Equipment associated with wireless communications services such as private, broadcast and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul. (2) Radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration (including distributed antenna systems ("DAS") and small-cell networks). (3) Any structure other than a tower that, at the time the relevant application is filed with the city under this section, supports or houses equipment described in paragraphs (1) and (2) above and has been previously reviewed and approved by the city.
Beacon	Any light with one (1) or more beams directed into the atmosphere or directed at one (1) or more points not on the same building site as the light source, or any light with one (1) or more beams that rotate or move.
Bed and breakfast	A house, or portion thereof, where short term lodging rooms, with or without meals, are provided for compensation.
Best management practices (BMPs)	See city Code chapter 17.
Block	A parcel or parcels of land entirely surrounded by streets, streams, railroad rights-of-way, parks or other public spaces or by a combination thereof.
Block face	One (1) side of a block.
Block feeder aisle	An access drive that feeds vehicles into blocks of parking stalls lying along both sides of the aisle.
Board of adjustment	The board established pursuant to Alabama Code, § 11-52-80 (1975) as amended.
Boat building	Establishments primarily engaged in building or manufacturing boats, defined as watercraft not built in shipyards and typically of the type suitable or intended for personal use. Examples of boats include dinghies, heavy-duty inflatable rubber or inflatable plastic boats, rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), motorboats (inboard or outboard), rowboats, sailboats and yachts.
Boat storage facility	An establishment where recreational vessels or other watercraft are stored out of water, by one or more of the following methods: (1) on boat trailers on a paved or unpaved surface; (2) on individual boat racks; or (3) on multi-story boat racks.
Brew pub	An establishment licensed as and meeting the qualifications of a brew pub under the state alcoholic beverage control laws, including title 28, chapter 4A of the Code of Ala. 1975, as amended.
Broadcast transmission facility	Towers, broadcast antennas, satellite dishes, associated buildings, and all equipment cables and hardware used for the purpose of or in connection with the transmission of television or radio broadcast programming.
Broadcast studio	A building or part of a building used for the production of television or radio programming without towers, broadcast antennas, or satellite dishes on the site.
Building	Any covered structure intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels. Unless otherwise indicated, a "building" refers to any part of a building.
Building and landscaping materials supplier	A business that sells building or landscaping materials where the majority of sales are wholesale transactions to other firms, not retail sales.
Building frontage	The width of a building facade that faces a street.
Building frontage percentage	The percentage of the width of a lot that is required to be occupied by the building 's primary facade.
Building height	The vertical distance from grade to the highest finished roof surface in the case of flat roofs, or to a point at the average height of roofs having a pitch of more than one (1) foot in four and one-half (4½) feet. In the O-SH and DDD, the vertical extent of a building measured in stories, from finished grade.
Building maintenance services	An establishment providing carpet cleaning, exterminator, janitorial services, upholstery, painting and paper hanging or rug cleaning; does not include building contractors with outside storage.
Building plan	A specific plan, drawn to a standard architectural scale, detailed sufficiently to illustrate the height and area of the building(s); floor plans and occupant load(s); elevations, materials and architectural details; and any other information necessary to document compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
Building setback line	The line indicating the minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the face of buildings.
Building site	The land occupied or to be occupied by a structure and its accessory structures and including such open spaces, yards, minimum area, off-street parking facilities and off-street truck loading facilities as are required by this chapter; every building site shall abut upon a street for at least twenty-five (25) feet.
Build-to zone	A build-to zone is a range of allowable distances from the front property line that the building shall be built to, in order to create a moderately uniform line of buildings along the street.
Business college/technical school	A nonacademic establishment offering courses such as secretarial, computer and data processing, drafting, electronic repair including radio/TV repair, commercial art, cosmetology, allied health care, real estate, banking and restaurant operation. Instruction may also include vocational training such as welding and metal fabrication courses, automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, building trades, truck driving, mechanical and electrical equipment/appliance repair.
Business support services	Includes blueprinting, printing, graphics, photostatting, copying, packaging, labelling and similar services. "Printing" and "graphics" means a business engaged in the custom design and/or reproduction of written or graphic materials. Typical processes include computerized design and printing, photocopying, and facsimile sending and receiving.
Caliper	Diameter of a tree trunk. Caliper is used to determine the minimum size of trees planted to fulfill the landscaping and tree preservation requirements. Caliper is measured as follows: Diameter less than four (4) inches is measured six (6) inches above ground; diameter between four (4) and twelve (12) inches is measured twelve (12) inches above ground.
Camouflage	Any tower or telecommunications facility which is designed to minimize a visual impact and to blend into the surrounding environment. The term "camouflage" does not necessarily exclude the use of uncamouflaged lattice, guyed or monopole tower designs.
Canopy	A rigid structure over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection and is supported by the building to which it is attached, and which may or may not be attached to the ground at the outer end by at least one column or post.
Car wash	A facility where the primary or secondary function is washing automobiles, pick-up trucks and small vans, but not trailers or commercial trucks. Mechanical production line methods or self-service equipment may be used. A car wash may also function as an accessory use to an automobile service station or other primary use. It does not include the additional activities permitted in "auto and truck repair."
Caretaker or guard dwelling	An accessory dwelling unit on a non-residential site.
Cemetery/mausoleum	A place dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent interment of human or animal remains. It may be either land or earth interment; a mausoleum for vault or crypt entombment; a structure or place used or intended to be used for the interment of cremated remains, including columbaria; cryogenic storage; or any combination of one (1) or more thereof.
Certificate of appropriateness	Certificate issued by the architectural review board or historic development staff specifying approved work.
Channel	A natural or artificial open watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
Chapter	Refers to chapter 64, "Zoning" of the city Code.
City council	The governing body of the city.
Civic building	A building designed specifically for a civic function. Civic buildings include but are not limited to municipal buildings, churches, libraries, schools, recreation facilities and places of assembly.
Civic space	Open spaces that are strategically placed to serve a community function. Civic spaces may be used for active or passive activities, and commonly include manicured green spaces, naturalistic green spaces, parks, squares, hard-scaped plazas, playgrounds or community gardens. Civic buildings may be located within civic spaces.
Clinic, dental or medical	A building in which a group of physicians, dentists and allied professional assistants are associated for the purpose of carrying on their profession; the clinic may include a dental or medical laboratory, or out-patient surgery, but shall not include overnight stays associated with surgical procedures. Examples include medical offices, laboratories or facilities for medical, optical, orthotic, prosthetic, psychiatric, physiotherapy, surgical or dental laboratory services, photographic, analytical or testing services.
Club or lodge (private)	A non-profit association of persons which owns, rents or leases a building for the exclusive use of its members and guests. This does not include collegiate fraternities or sororities.
Coal	All solid fossil fuels classified as anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous or lignite by the American Society of Testing and Materials in ASTM D388.
Coal handling facility	Any building, structure or site used to grind, crush, pick, screen, convey, store or stockpile coal in order to prepare it for transportation or sale on the market.
Collocation	The act of siting telecommunications facilities on an existing structure without the need to construct a new support structure and without a substantial increase in the size of the existing structure. The attachment of facilities to existing structures constitutes collocation regardless of whether the structure or the location has previously been approved for wireless facilities.
Colonnade	A roofed structure, extending over the sidewalk and open to the street except for supporting columns or piers.
Commercial message	Any sign wording, logo or other representation that, directly or indirectly, names, advertises or calls attention to a business, product, service or other commercial activity.
Community garden	A site operated and maintained by a formal or informal organization or the public to cultivate trees, herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers or other ornamental foliage for personal use, consumption, donation or off-site sale for a charitable or non-profit organization.
Community residence	A residential living arrangement for up to ten (10) unrelated individuals with disabilities living as a single functional family in a single dwelling unit who are in need of the mutual support furnished by other residents of the community residence as well as the support services, if any, provided by the staff of the community residence. Residents may be self-governing or supervised by a sponsoring entity or its staff, which provides habilitative or rehabilitative services, related to the residents' disabilities. A community residence seeks to emulate a biological family to normalize its residents and integrate them into the surrounding community. Its primary purpose is to provide shelter in a family-like environment; treatment is incidental as in any home. Supportive inter-relationships between residents are an essential component. A community residence shall be considered a residential use of property for purposes of all zoning, building and property maintenance codes. The term does not include any other group living arrangement for unrelated individuals who are not disabled nor residential facilities for prison pre-parolees or sex offenders. Community residences include functional family sober living arrangements also known as recovery residences.
Community residence, family	A relatively permanent residential living arrangement for unrelated people with disabilities, with no limit on how long a resident may live in the home. The length of tenancy is measured in years. See article 5.
Community residence, transitional	A relatively temporary residential living arrangement for unrelated people with disabilities, with a limit on length of tenancy that is measured in weeks or months, not years. See article 5.
Community supported agriculture	An area of land managed and maintained by an individual or group of individuals to grow and harvest food and/or horticultural products for shareholder consumption or for sale or donation. This can include limited animal husbandry and associated products.
Completely enclosed structure	A building enclosed by a permanent roof and by solid exterior walls pierced only by windows and customary entrance and exit doors.
Composting facility	A facility where solid waste organic materials are biologically decomposed through an aerobic (or oxygen rich) process for the purpose of waste reduction. Includes any "composting or compost plant" as defined by Code of Ala. § 22-27-2.
Comprehensive plan	The comprehensive plan made and adopted by the city planning commission, as provided by law, for the physical development of the city and surrounding area; the term includes any unit or component part of such plan and any amendment to such plan or part thereof when adopted. In this chapter, the "comprehensive plan" refers the documents titled "Map for Mobile" as adopted by the planning commission on November 15, 2015, as amended, and for purposes of the zoning regulations, the "Future Land Use Plan" as adopted by the Planning Commission on May 18, 2017, as amended.
Concept plan	A generalized plan showing proposed location of different components of the proposed development. The plan includes the location of proposed uses, landscape areas and buffers, pedestrian and vehicle circulation, site access and the relationship of the proposed development to the surrounding area.
Conservation area	A land area designated to remain as open space or recreation area.
Conservation development	A development option that preserves open space, natural resources and rural character.
Construction laydown yard	A temporary area used for the storage of construction materials, supplies, equipment, tools, stock piling and recycling of useable construction materials and other items as permitted including temporary storage containers, construction trailers and temporary office trailers.
Contractor with storage yard	Offices of a contractor with on-site outside storage of equipment, materials, supplies, and/or vehicles.
Convenience store	An establishment that retails a limited line of goods that generally includes milk, bread, soda and snacks.
Copy	The characters, letters or illustrations displayed on a sign.
Correctional facilities	A facility where persons are detained pending adjudication or confined under criminal sentences. Examples include penitentiaries, jails, major correctional facilities, community based facilities, community work centers or juvenile detention facilities.
Cottage court	A single lot that includes detached single-family dwellings or duplexes arranged around a courtyard or open space.
Courier, messenger and delivery services	Establishments primarily engaged in providing air, surface or combined mode courier services, express delivery services of parcels or local messenger and delivery services of small items, with local pick-up and delivery. Examples include air courier services, express delivery services; local delivery services for letters, documents, or small parcels; grocery delivery services (i.e., independent service from grocery store) or restaurant meals delivery services.
Courtyard	A plaza like space that includes entrances to abutting buildings and is enclosed by buildings on at least two (2) sides.
Courtyard building	A building that occupies the boundaries of its lot while internally defining one (1) or more private patios.
Coverage	The percentage of a property that is covered by buildings and other roofed structures. "Coverage" refers to building coverage, unless otherwise indicated.
Crematorium	The building or portion of a building that houses the chamber for cremation and the holding facility. May be an accessory use for funeral and interment services.
Crosswalkway	A right-of-way between property lines, which provides pedestrian access but no vehicular access to adjacent properties.
Cultural facility	An institution engaged primarily in the arts, sciences or the performing arts that are open to the public. Examples include performing arts centers, theaters, facilities for dances and events, museums, historical sites, libraries/reading rooms, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and observatories.
Data processing, hosting, and related services (including data centers)	Establishments that provide infrastructure for hosting or data processing services.
Day care center, child	A child day care facility, which receives children for care during any part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day care, adult	An establishment that provides care for any portion of a twenty-four-hour day for eligible adults eighteen (18) years of age and older.
Day care, child, (home based, no more than six (6) children)	A child day care facility, located in a residential structure occupied by the day care operator, which receives on a regular basis not more than six (6) children for care during part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day care, child, (seven (7) to no more than twelve (12) children, home based)	A child day care facility, located in a residential structure occupied by the day care operator, which receives on a regular basis at least seven (7) but no more than twelve (12) children for care during part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day labor service	Any building or premises that serves as a staging point or gathering place for persons who are seeking immediate employment in daily labor activities and who accept or are assigned employment in accordance with whatever employment is available on that particular day. For purposes of this definition, "day labor" means manual labor, such as construction cleanup, garbage pickup and removal, demolition, convention setup and takedown, landscaping, planting and digging.
Development	The act of installing site improvements and building structures, or all improvements and building structures located on a site.
Diameter at breast height (DBH)	The measurement of the width of the trunk of the tree at four and one-half (4½) feet above the existing grade. For multi-trunk trees the DBH shall be the sum of the diameter of the trunks.
Director	The director of the planning department or their designee.
Disability	A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. People with disabilities do not include individuals who are currently using alcohol, illegal drugs or using legal drugs to which they are addicted, nor individuals who constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of others.
Disability glare	The reduction in visibility caused by intense light sources in the field of view.
Disciplinary care facility	A transitional residential facility for youth or adults, including parole-based facilities, boot camps, halfway houses, etc., where residents are placed by criminal court order or action.
Display area	The exterior area or surface of a sign on which is placed the copy.
Dormitory, fraternity or sorority house	A building, located off-campus, maintained by a college or university and exclusively housing students and their families, or a building, located off-campus housing students affiliated with a regularly organized college or university fraternity or sorority.
Drip line	The circumference of the tree's natural, unaltered canopy extended vertically to the ground.
Drive-thru	Any business establishment providing automobile drive-thru service or window facilities, including but not limited to banks, dry cleaners, restaurants, car washes and drug stores.
Driveway	A vehicular lane within a site, often leading to a parking area or garage.
Dumpster	A container used for the temporary storage of garbage, rubbish and like materials pending collection, and having a capacity of at least one (1) cubic yard.
Dwelling unit	One (1) or more rooms in the same structure, connected together and constituting a separate, independent housekeeping unit for permanent residential occupancy and with facilities for sleeping, bathing and cooking.
Dwelling, multi-family	A building containing three (3) or more dwelling units and used for residential purposes by three (3) or more families living independently of each other. It includes any form of family occupancy, including traditional or non-traditional households, elderly housing or retirement housing. The units may be integrated horizontally and vertically, or with two (2) units stacked vertically and separated from adjacent units by a party wall (sometimes called "stacked flats"). Examples include apartments or flats.
Dwelling, single-family	A building containing only one (1) dwelling unit and used for residential purposes exclusively by one (1) family. This includes any factory-built dwelling unit constructed to the standards of the city's Building Code (typically referred to as a "modular home").
Dwelling, two-family (duplex)	A building containing two (2) dwelling units and used for residential purposes by two (2) families living independently of each other.
Electric substation	A facility that regulates voltage of electricity prior to distribution to customers.
Electric transmission line	An electric line carrying high voltage electricity to substations.
Eligible facilities request	Any request for modification of an existing tower or base station that, within the meaning of the Spectrum Act, does not substantially change the physical dimensions of the tower or base station and involves (1) the collocation of new transmission equipment, (2) the removal of transmission equipment or (3) the replacement of transmission equipment.
Emergency refuge	Temporary accommodation for victims of domestic violence, abuse, sexual assault or child abuse.
Emergency shelter	Short term shelter for persons that are homeless, or runaway youths.
Encroach	To break the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit with a structural element, so that it extends into a setback, into the public frontage or above a height limit.
Encroachment	Any structural element that encroaches.
Engineering plans	The drawings on which the proposed subdivision improvements are shown and which, if approved, will be used for construction of the improvements.
Enhanced scrutiny area (ESA)	(A) All properties located within an I-2 district and lying north of Bay Bridge Road and New Bay Bridge Road; and (B) All properties located within an I-2 district and lying south of Bay Bridge Road and New Bay Bridge Road, west of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay, east of a line extending southerly along St. Stephens Road to Broad Street to Interstate 10 to Michigan Avenue, and north of Avenue C as extended to Mobile Bay.
Enlargement	As it relates to an adult entertainment business an increase in the size of the building, structure or premises in which the adult entertainment business is conducted by either construction or use of an adjacent building or any portion thereof whether located on the same or an adjacent lot or parcel of land.
Entertainment facility or event venue	An establishment where the primary source of revenue is derived from live or recorded performances shown or played for the amusement of an audience. Examples include auditoriums, music clubs, carnivals, circuses and reception or banquet halls.
Exhibition, convention, or conference facility	A facility used for assemblies or meetings of the members or representatives of a group, such as convention centers. This does not include clubs, lodges, community meeting facilities or other meeting facilities of private or non-profit groups that are primarily used by group members.
Existing structure	A previously erected support structure or any other structure, including, but not limited to, buildings and water tanks, to which telecommunications facilities can be attached.
Facade	The exterior wall of a building that faces the frontage.
Family	Two (2) or more persons living together and interrelated by bonds of consanguinity, marriage or legal adoption, and/or a group of persons not more than four (4) in number who are not so interrelated, occupying the whole or part of a dwelling as a single housekeeping unit that shares common living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities. Persons placed in foster care shall be deemed to be related to and a member of the family for the purposes of this definition. A family does not include any society, nursing home, club, boarding or lodging house, dormitory, fraternity or sorority.
Fence	A barrier made of wood, metal or other materials.
Financial institution	A federal or state chartered bank, credit union, mortgage lender or savings and loan association.
Flag.	Any fabric or other material containing distinctive colors, patterns or symbols. A flag is attached to a permanent pole, supporting structure or a building. Flags are not considered banners.
Float	A vehicle with platforms used to carry exhibits and/or riders.
Float barn	A building where floats are assembled or stored, and that may also host special events relating to Mardi Gras or similar parades where the floats are displayed. "Parade" has the meaning assigned in chapter 49, article III of the city Code.
Food market	A structure or place where agricultural produce is brought for the purpose of retail sales from vehicles, temporary stands or stalls. These include more than one seller per parcel of land. Examples include farmers markets, seafood markets and mobile markets.
Food preparation	A business that prepares food and beverages for off-site consumption, including delivery services. Examples include catering shops, bakeries with on-site retail sales, and the small-scale production of specialty foods (such as sweets). This classification excludes food production of an industrial character.
Food sales	An establishment for retail sales of food and beverages for off-site preparation and consumption. Examples include grocers/supermarkets, specialty food and beverage stores, fruit and/or vegetable stands, butcher shops, delicatessens, dairy product sales, food cooperatives or convenience markets. This category may also include large-scale stores that sell food items and beverages in bulk. Liquor sales are not included in this use.
Foot candle	A unit for measuring illumination that equals one (1) lumen per square foot.
Foster care, adult or child	Service provided for children or adults in need of care, in a residence occupied by the foster care operator, subject to compliance with the requirements of the state department of human resources. This use type does not include a group home.
Freight depot	Distribution facilities upon which storage and warehousing of cargo is incidental to the primary function of freight shipment, and not to include any display of goods for either retail sale or wholesale. Includes both railway and truck freight transfers.
Front setback	The distance from the frontage line to the point where a building may be constructed. This area shall be maintained clear of permanent structures with the exception of permitted encroachments.
Frontage	The portion of a site which faces a street right-of-way or civic space.
Frontage, building	The facade of a building that faces a street, civic space or parking area.
Frontage, lot	That part of a lot or parcel that adjoins a street or civic space.
Fuel distribution	A facility dedicated to the wholesale or commercial fuel storage and distribution, including petroleum, biodiesel, propane, butane, natural gas, or other similar fuels, to vehicles, machinery or heavy equipment. This does not include auto service stations.
Funeral and interment services	Any place or premises subject to regulation under Alabama Code title 34, chapter 13, and applicable regulations adopted by the Alabama Board of Funeral Services that is devoted to or used in the care and preparation for burial of the body of a deceased person or maintained or held out to the public by advertising or otherwise as the office or place for the practice of funeral directing, embalming or cremation.
Future land use plan	A component of the comprehensive plan that serves as the primary guide to the future physical development of the city. The map and its corresponding land use designations describe the desired types, intensity and spatial arrangement of the city's land uses to achieve the vision described in the comprehensive plan. In this chapter, "Future Land Use Plan" refers to appendix G in "Map for Mobile," as adopted by the planning commission on May 18, 2017, as amended.
Gallery	A platform attached to the building, typically extending over a sidewalk, which is supported from the ground by light-weight columns or other form of structural support. A gallery may be multiple floors and may have a roof.
Garage or yard sale.	A temporary event where miscellaneous used household items are sold from a residential lot.
Garden supply.	An establishment which sells trees, shrubs, lawn and garden supplies and plants, as well as prepackaged soils and landscape materials. Includes limited propagation of plants, as an accessory use.
Garden wall	A freestanding wall along the property line dividing private areas from streets, rear lanes, or adjacent lots.
Gasoline sales	An area used for retail sales of fuels or oils. This use may have storage tanks and pumps, auto service facilities conducted inside the building or an accessory car wash.
Government street corridor	All lots having real property frontage along Government Street from Broad Street to Dauphin Island Parkway.
Green	An exterior open space primarily composed of landscape areas.
Green infrastructure	Systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes to dissipate, infiltrate or reuse stormwater or runoff on the site where it is generated.
Greenhouse	A structure providing protection from weather, used to grow plants.
Greenway	A linear series of areas, typically including natural features and parklands, usually connected by a trail system.
Gross floor area	The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building, including interior balconies and mezzanines, and any exterior open porches or galleries which serve as an extension of those activities conducted within the enclosed structure; all horizontal dimensions shall be measured between the exterior faces of walls, including the walls or railings of roofed porches. The gross floor area of a building shall include the floor area of accessory buildings on the same building site, measured the same way.
Ground passenger transportation	Establishments that provide passenger transportation by bus, charter bus, automobile, limousine, van or shuttle. Examples include charter bus, special needs transportation, taxicab owner/operators, taxicab fleet operators or taxicab organizations. Includes fleet services that store, maintain, repair, fuel and service two (2) or more vehicles owned by a single entity.
Group feeder aisle	Gives access to individual parking spaces.
Group home	A facility providing seven (7) days a week residential and habilitative services with or without resident staff to persons with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Grubbing	The effective removal of understory vegetation that is not greater than three (3) inches DBH.
Hardened shoreline	A bank along a waterbody that is stabilized through impervious cover, armoring, gabions, riprap, vertical bulkhead, retaining wall or other hardened structures.
Hardware/home improvement stores and building materials	Retailing, wholesaling or rental of residential building supplies or equipment. Examples include lumberyards, hardware/home improvement sales and services, paint sales, heating and plumbing equipment, tool and small equipment sales or rental establishments.
Hazardous substance	A substance is considered hazardous when it has one (1) of the following characteristics: flammable, explosive, corrosive, toxic, radioactive or if it readily decomposes into oxygen at elevated temperatures. Includes any substance included on the "List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities," codified as 40 CFR part 302, table 302.4, in force and effect on the effective date of this chapter and subsequent revisions thereof, and any substance listed on the "List of Extremely Hazardous Substances and Their Threshold Planning Quantities," codified as 40 CFR part 355, appendix A, in force and effect on the effective date of this chapter and subsequent revisions thereof.
Hazardous substance storage tank	A site which has at least one (1) aboveground storage tank with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more used to store any hazardous substance. Also refer to article 4.
Hazardous waste	Those wastes defined in, and regulated under, the Alabama Hazardous Wastes Management and Minimization Act of 1978, as amended (Ala. Code title 22, chapter 30), or ADEM Admin. Code 335-14.
Hazardous waste disposal	Any site used for the storage, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste or medical waste. Includes any "facility" or "hazardous waste management facility" as defined by Ala. Administrative Code § 335-14-1-.02, and any "medical waste facility" as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-17-1-.02.
Hazardous waste transfer	A collection and transportation facility where hazardous or medical waste is received and processed for transportation to another place for recycling, re-use, incineration or final disposal. Includes any "transfer facility" as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-14-1-.02.
Health/fitness club	An establishment that offers exercise or weight control facilities and programs, whether or not the business provides any other service. Examples include gymnasiums, martial arts schools, gymnastics schools, weight control establishments/reducing salons, health clubs, health spas, swimming pools, handball facilities, racquetball or tennis club facilities, tanning facilities, fitness facilities and yoga or workout studios.
Heavy duty commercial vehicles	Any vehicle exceeding fourteen thousand (14,000) GVWR and utilized commercially.
Heavy truck/farm equipment/construction equipment dealer	A facility for the sale or rental of heavy trucks, farm equipment or construction equipment. For purposes of this definition, a "heavy truck" means a vehicle more than fourteen (14,000) GVWR.
Hedge	A vegetative boundary formed by bushes, shrubs, or climbing vines spaced less than three (3) feet apart.
Heliport/miscellaneous air transportation	Facilities intended solely for vertical takeoff and landing of aerial vehicles or miscellaneous transportation vehicles for scenic purposes such as balloons.
Heritage tree, credit or compliance	Any tree planted or claimed for credit for compliance with this chapter or tree planting and landscaping requirements of the city.
Heritage tree, existing	Any of the following trees which is at least twelve (12) inches DBH: bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), hickory (Carya spp.), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), magnolia (Magnolia spp.), oak (Quercus spp.) excluding water oak (Quercus nigra), river birch (Betula nigra), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). For trees located in a local historic district, the definition of a heritage tree shall be amended to reduce the size to eight (8) inches DBH.
Historic district	A geographically defined area designated by the city council pursuant to chapter 44 of the city Code.
Historic district guidelines	The general design standards applicable in considering the granting and denial of certificates of appropriateness adopted by the architectural review board pursuant to chapter 44, of the city Code.
Historic district overlay boundaries (HDOB)	All property located within the boundaries of a locally designated historic districts and any historic districts hereafter designated by the city council pursuant to chapter 44 of the city Code.
Historic markers	Any sign indicating historic significance as awarded or recognized by the MHDC.
Home occupation	An accessory use of a dwelling conducted entirely within the enclosed dwelling, employing only the residents of the dwelling, is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential occupancy and does not change the residential character of the property, and is subject to the criteria set forth in article 4.
Hospital	An institution providing health services, primarily for in-patients, and medical and surgical care of the sick or injured, including as an integral part of the institution, such related facilities as laboratories, out-patient departments, training facilities, central service facilities and staff offices.
Hotel/motel	A building containing guest rooms in which lodging is provided, with or without meals, for compensation, and which is open to transient guests or permanent guests, or both.
Industrial launderer	A business that provides cleaning, washing, or similar services to industrial, manufacturing, medical or business establishments. Examples include commercial launderers that launder and dry clean clothing and other fabric articles in bulk quantities, such as cleaning services for hospitals, restaurants, hotels and similar clients, or rug and dry-cleaning plants.
Junkyard	Any establishment or place of business which is maintained, operated or used for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk or for the maintenance or operation of an automobile recycler. This includes any junkyard (other than a sanitary landfill), automobile recycler or scrap processor, (including any scrap tire facility as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-4-1-.01) as defined by Code of Ala. § 23-1-241.
Land clearing	Those operations where trees and vegetation are removed and which occur previous to the construction of building; e.g., road right-of-way excavation or paving, lake and drainage system excavation, utility excavation, grubbing and any other necessary clearing operations.
Landscape material	Living plant material which shall include, but not be limited to, trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, lawn grass and other ground cover; natural features and areas; and nonliving durable material commonly used in landscaping which shall include, but not be limited to, rocks, pebbles, sand, mulch, wood chips, exterior lighting fixtures, planters, fountains, reflecting pools, works of art, walkways, fences, walls, benches and other types of appropriate outdoor furniture. Nonliving landscape material shall not include artificial or synthetic material in the form of trees, flowers, shrubs, vines or ground cover.
Landscaped area	An area which shall consist of landscape material, as defined, such that the use of living landscape material predominates over the use of nonliving landscape material.
Laundry/dry cleaning pick-up station	Establishments that accept from the public clothes or other materials to be laundered or dry-cleaned. The laundering or dry-cleaning work is done by a laundry or dry-cleaning establishment that is not on the premises of the pick-up station.
Lawn	An expanse of grass or low ground cover (for frontage type, located between the building and the sidewalk).
Life care or continuing care services	A facility that is not a single-family residence that provides residential accommodations and personal assistance to residents who depend on the services of others by reason of age or disability; including but not limited to nursing or convalescent homes, hospices or assisted living facilities. This use does not include an establishment which provides care only during the day, or a halfway house for recovering alcohol and drug abusers.
Light fixture, full cut-off	A luminaire or light fixture that, by design of the housing, does not allow any light dispersion or direct glare to shine above ninety-degree horizontal plane from the base of the fixture.
Light loss factor (LLF)	The ratio of illuminance for a given area to the value that would occur if lamps operated at their (initial) rated lumens and if no system variation or depreciation had occurred. Components of this factor can be either initial or maintained. Also known as "maintenance factor."
Linen/uniform supply	Establishments that supply laundered items, such as table and bed linens; towels; diapers; and uniforms, gowns, or coats of the type used by doctors, nurses, barbers, beauticians and waitresses.
Liner building	A building or portion of a building specifically designed to mask a parking lot, parking structure, or other large-footprint use from a right-of-way or civic space.
Live/work dwelling	A principally residential building that includes an office, studio or other commercial use and a single dwelling unit occupied by the building owner. A live-work unit allows a broader range of commercial and production-type uses and more non-residential floor area than a home occupation. In addition, a live-work unit may be designed as a townhouse or with a storefront or other commercial design configuration at the ground level, while a home occupation occurs in a building that is designed as a residence. A live/work dwelling is generally limited to a single dwelling unit and a single business.
Loading dock	An area in which goods and products are moved on and off a vehicle, including the stall or berth, apron and maneuvering room.
Lot	Any piece or parcel of land or a portion of a subdivision, the boundaries of which are established by some legal instrument of record that is recognized and intended as a unit for the purpose of transfer of ownership.
Lot coverage	See "building coverage."
Lot of record	A lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the Office of the Probate Court of Mobile County, or a lot described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been recorded in the Office of the Probate Court of Mobile County, prior to the date of annexation or March 8, 1962.
Machinery and equipment rental and leasing	Establishments primarily engaged in renting or leasing machinery and equipment for use in business or industrial operations. These establishments typically cater to a business clientele and do not generally operate a retail-like or store-front facility. Examples include the sale or leasing of farm equipment and supplies, heavy equipment, office furniture or equipment, machinery tools (construction equipment sales and service) or off-highway transportation equipment.
Machinery and heavy equipment sales and service	The retail sales and accessory repair of construction, agriculture, excavation and similar machinery and equipment, including tractor-trailers.
Major aisle	Provides major circulation within a parking facility.
Manufactured home dealers	Establishments primarily engaged in retailing new and/or used manufactured homes or mobile homes, parts and equipment.
Manufactured housing land lease community	Any plot of ground on which two (2) or more mobile homes are located for long-term occupancy (for periods of thirty (30) days or more) for use as dwellings. Manufactured home land lease communities are not occupied by travel trailers. Includes customary accessory buildings or uses such as clubhouses, laundries or management and sales units.
Manufactured or mobile home	A factory-built dwelling unit constructed to the standards and codes promulgated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. § 5401 et seq., as amended. A mobile home is a home that was manufactured in a factory prior to June 15, 1976 and was not built to HUD standards.
Manufacturing, general	Manufacturing of products, from extracted or raw materials, recycled or secondary materials or bulk storage and handling of those products and materials. These include apparel (including clothing, shoes, dress making), brooms, caskets, food/baking (including coffee roasting, creameries, ice cream, ice, frozen food, confectionery, and beverage), tobacco products, fasteners and buttons, gaskets, leather and allied products, medical equipment and supplies, mill work and similar woodwork, mattresses, musical instruments, novelties, office supplies, printing and print supplies, signs, sporting goods, textiles (including dyeing, laundry bags, canvas products, dry goods, hosiery, millinery) and toys. It also includes incidental finishing and storage. Goods or products manufactured or processed on site may be sold at retail or wholesale on or off the premises. This does not include any activity listed under intensive manufacturing. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the downtown development district.
Manufacturing, hazardous materials	Manufacturing or use of hazardous substances including but not limited to chlorine, corrosive acid, fertilizer, acetylene, insecticides, disinfectants, poisons, explosives, petroleum products, coal products, plastic and synthetic resins, manufacturing or refining of oil and gas products. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the Downtown Development District.
Manufacturing, intensive	Manufacturing of paper, rubber, cosmetics, drugs, nonmetallic mineral products (such as concrete and concrete products, glass), fabricated metal products (including electroplating, hardware), primary metals, cement, lime, gypsum or plaster-of-Paris, paint, lacquer, varnish, electrical equipment, appliances, batteries, and machinery. This group also includes smelting and animal slaughtering. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the Downtown Development District.
Marina	A facility that includes docks, piers, floats, mooring devices or other appurtenances designed and used to secure, store, service, repair, fuel, berth and launch boats and other personal watercraft. This may include the sale of fuel and incidental supplies for boat owners and guests as well as the sale and chartering of boats.
Marine cargo and freight handling	Establishments that provide stevedoring, water transportation for cargo, warehousing, storage or other marine cargo handling services, including deep sea transportation of cargo; this does not include coal handling facilities or operations.
Marine passenger transportation	Establishments that provide passenger transportation, including deep sea or inland transportation to United States or foreign ports, harbor or coastal scenic and sightseeing. This includes accessory pier, dock, wharf or jetty facilities.
Marine salvage	Recovery of damaged marine vessels and cargo, as well as the dismantling of ships, barges, drilling rigs and other large-scale marine equipment.
Marine supply and chandlery	Establishments that provide goods and services for commercial vessels.
Marquee	A permanent roofed structure, attached to and supported by a building.
Mechanical equipment	Equipment necessary for the proper functioning of building systems, such as electrical (including electric meters), gas meters, water meters, exhaust fans, HVAC equipment, permanently mounted generators and heating equipment.
Media production	Establishments such as studios, back lots and sound stages that produce, manufacture or arrange for the manufacture of motion pictures, videos, television programs, television commercials or music and sound recordings.
Medical waste	A solid waste or combination of solid wastes which because of its infectious characteristics may either cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or pose a substantial present hazard or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed or otherwise managed. Includes any infectious solid or liquid waste from a medical waste generator, as defined in ADEM Admin. Code 335-17-1.
Mining and quarrying	The extraction of metallic and nonmetallic minerals, including sand and gravel pit operations.
Minor street	A street of limited continuity which serves or is intended to serve the local needs of a neighborhood.
Mitigation	Measures that protect, restore, or enhance a stream, water body or buffer to compensate for or reduce the adverse impacts of development or redevelopment adjacent to a stream, creek, river, water body or buffer.
Mixed use	Multiple functions within the same building through multiple floors or adjacency, or in multiple buildings by adjacency.
Mixed vegetation frontage	A site frontage type providing a combination of ground cover, flowers, trees and shrubs located between the building and the sidewalk.
Mobile Tree Act	The common name of the local law enacted by the Alabama State Legislature (Act. No. 929, Acts of Alabama, 1961 Regular Session), as amended, for the purpose of protecting the trees on both public and private property within the incorporated areas of the city.
Mobile Tree Commission ("MTC")	The entity designated by the Alabama State Legislature to enforce the Mobile Tree Act.
Mobile vendor	Any person who sells or offers to sell, from a vending vehicle or trailer.
Modular dwelling	A residential structure built in a factory to the International Residential Code or International Building Code as applicable. The structure or portions of the structure are then assembled on site to create one or more dwelling units. A modular dwelling is considered a standard residential structure for land use purposes.
Mural	Any graphic painted or otherwise applied directly or indirectly on an exterior wall or to a panel attached to an exterior wall.
Natural area	Areas established for the protection of natural attributes of local, regional and statewide significance, which may be used in a sustainable manner for scientific research, education, aesthetic enjoyment and appropriate use not detrimental to the primary purpose (other than wetlands as provided above). These areas are resource rather than user-based but may provide some passive recreational activities such as hiking, nature study and picnicking. Natural areas may include riparian buffers, floodplains or natural wetlands visible from walkways provided in and through the wetland.
Neighborhood Center sub-district	One (1) of sub-districts in the O-SH. This district is intended to consist of a mixture of uses, including neighborhood-serving retail, residential and civic. The neighborhood center is intended to serve the daily needs of residents located within surrounding residential neighborhoods. Buildings may be attached or detached and are separated from the street with wide sidewalks and regular street tree planting. Buildings may be separated from the sidewalk with small street yards.
Neighborhood general sub-district	One of sub-districts in the O-SH. This district is intended to consist of a mixture of uses but primarily residential urban fabric. It may have a wide range of building types and uses, including residential (in attached and detached buildings), civic buildings and limited retail including home occupations. Setbacks and landscaping are variable. This district has generous sidewalks and regular street tree planting.
Night club	Any club, business or establishment providing an on-going place of entertainment, including discotheques or similar establishments, either with or without payment. A night club does not include uses operated by public agencies or private non-profit or charitable organizations, such as religious youth centers, the boys' and girls' club or youth community centers provided for recreation or congregation.
Nit	Luminance is the measure of the light emanating from an object with respect to its size and is the term used to quantify electronic sign brightness. The unit of measurement for luminance is nits, which is the total amount of light emitted from a sign divided by the surface area of the sign (candelas per square meter (cd/m ² ).
Nonconforming site	A site or lot that lawfully exists on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming structure	A building or structure that lawfully exists on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming use	A use which lawfully occupies a building or land on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and which does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconformity	Any use, site or structure that was established prior to the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not comply with the standards of this chapter.
Non-store retailers	Establishments that retail merchandise through online, mass media, telephone, mail or similar methods (infomercials, direct-response advertising, paper and electronic catalogs, door-to-door solicitation, in-home demonstration, selling from portable stalls, vending machines and similar methods). Examples include mail-order houses, vending machine operators, home delivery sales, door-to-door sales, party plan sales, electronic shopping, and sales through portable stalls (e.g., street vendors).
Notch	A setback in the wall plane at least three (3) feet deep and six (6) feet wide for the full height of the primary facade.
Nursery/horticulture/farm supply	A place for the propagation or sale of trees, shrubs, lawn and garden supplies, and plants. This classification includes bulk sale of seed and feed, landscape materials, soils and rental of landscaping equipment.
Nursing home	A facility which provides chronic and/or convalescent care for not less than twenty-four (24) hours in any one (1) week to individuals not related by blood or marriage to the owner and/or administrator. Chronic and convalescent care includes care given because of prolonged illness or defect, or during recovery from injury or disease, and shall include any or all of the procedures commonly employed in waiting on the sick, application of dressings and bandages, and carrying out of treatments prescribed by a physician.
Office	The use associated with a business or activity involving the transaction of general business but excluding retail, warehousing and manufacturing uses.
Offset	A horizontal wall plane offset of at least three (3) feet, extending for the full height of the primary facade.
Oil	A petroleum or petroleum product whose storage is regulated under National Fire Protection Association ("NFPA") 30.
Oil and gas company (drilling and exploration)	Establishments that operate and/or develop oil and gas field properties. Activities may include exploration for crude petroleum and natural gas; drilling, completing and equipping wells; operating separators, emulsion breakers, desilting equipment and field gathering lines for crude petroleum and natural gas; and all other activities in the preparation of oil and gas up to the point of shipment from the producing property.
Oil and gas storage	A site which has at least one (1) aboveground oil or petroleum storage tank with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more used to store oil or gas. Also refer to article 4.
Oil and mining support activities	Establishments that support oil extraction or minerals mining, including exploration, sampling, excavating, drilling, surveying and similar activities. This includes oil field service companies and oil field supplies and machinery.
Open space	An area typically composed of natural or modified outdoor areas.
Outside storage	An area not located within a structure where any material is kept for more than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours.
Overstory tree	A tree whose mature canopy height is at least thirty-five (35) feet
Owner	Any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation having legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the Probate Court of Mobile County as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
Parapet	That portion of a building wall that rises above the roof line.
Parking facility	A parking lot or a parking garage offering parking to the public and that is the principal use of the premises.
Parking garage	See "parking structure."
Parking lot	An area, other than a public street or alley, devoted to unenclosed parking for operable vehicles.
Parking structure	A building containing one (1) or more stories of vehicular parking above or below grade.
Parking surface	All areas of a parking lot intended for vehicle movement, circulation or parking, including parking spaces, aisles, fire lanes and maneuvering areas.
Parks	Exterior space, typically publicly owned, intended for active or passive uses including but not limited to playgrounds, sports fields, walking paths and un-programmed open space.
Passenger depot	Facilities for passenger transportation operations, as well as baggage holding facilities, which includes rail stations, bus terminals, urban and regional transit stations, but does not include airports and heliports. This includes accessory parking facilities. This does not include transit shelters, which are permitted in all districts.
Patio area	A paved area, at grade, connecting the building to the sidewalk, typically with outdoor furniture and seating.
Pedestrian courtyard	A pedestrian courtyard is a courtyard that includes a building entrance on at least one (1) building wall, and admits only pedestrians, and includes no driveways, streets or other spaces that allow access by motor vehicles. A portion of the building facade is close to the front property line and the remaining facade is set back from the front property line at least eight (8) feet to create an entry courtyard.
Pennant	Any lightweight plastic, fabric or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire or string, usually in series, designed to move in the wind.
Permitted structure	A structure meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the structure is located.
Permitted use	A use meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the use is located.
Person	Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association trust, or any other group or combination of individuals operating as a unit. "Person" includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or similar representative.
Personal instructional services	The provision of instructional services such as tutoring and exam preparation, language, photography, fine arts, crafts, dance or music lessons and personal training.
Personal services	A business which provides a service to the general public. This includes, but is not limited to, barber shops, beauty shops/salons/cosmeticians, self-service laundries, tailors, seamstresses or dressmakers, photographers, photofinishing laboratories, wedding planning, dating services, nail salons, licensed massage establishments, licensed tattoo parlors and shoe shining or repair. This does not include bail bond, or other services listed separately.
Petroleum recycling	The processing of waste oil product for conversion into useable fuel products such as biodiesel and may include storage and sales of resulting useable fuels. This does not include auto service stations.
Petroleum recovery	The collection and temporary storage of waste oil or fuel products. This does not include auto service stations.
Pitched roof element	A break in the roof plane with a minimum pitch of 3:12 and that extends at least eight (8) feet in its vertical dimension.
Planning commission or commission	The planning commission of the city, as such commission was created heretofore by ordinance adopted by the city council of the city, pursuant to title 11, chapter 52, of the Code of Alabama.
Planning department	Term used to identify the city department responsible for the administration of this chapter.
Planning staff	Staff comprising the planning department, or its successors.
Plant list	List of approved trees and plant materials maintained by the director in coordination with the urban forester.
Plaza	An open area, primarily paved, with seating that is adjacent to, or part of, a building. Plazas function as gathering places and may incorporate a variety of non-permanent activities such as vendors and display stands.
Point of origin of the riparian buffer	The location of the top of bank, or the mean or ordinary high water line if the top of bank is not evident.
Porch	A roofed area, attached at the ground floor level or first floor level, and to the front or side of a building, open except for railings and support columns.
Port	A facility that includes docks, piers, floats, mooring devices, fingers, stalls, gridirons, canals, a harbor master structure, or other appurtenances designed and used to secure, store, service, repair, fuel, berth and launch ships, barges, oil platforms, vessels and other large watercraft used to provide water transportation of cargo or passengers. This may include the sale of fuel and incidental supplies for ship crews, and guests, servicing and repair of ships. Examples include pier, dock, wharf or jetty facilities including port and harbor terminals, marine cargo handling and dry dock services, port warehouses and port fuel facilities.
Premises	The building or site in or on which a use is conducted and any accessory buildings, appurtenances, driveways, parking and loading spaces and the associated area of existing development in active use as documented by surveys, aerial photography or other evidence.
Primary building wall	Exterior building walls that face a street and contain a primary public entrance.
Primary entrance	The entrance to a structure that is located along the primary frontage and serves as the main point of access for pedestrians into a building.
Primary facade	The front plane of a building that faces a primary street or civic space.
Primary frontage	The frontage of a site that establishes the orientation of the primary facade, and the primary pedestrian access.
Principal building	The main building on a site.
Principal plane	The plane of a building closest to the front property line, not including stoops, porches, colonnades, galleries or other attached architectural features.
Projected entry	An entry that extends from the front wall plane.
Projection	An extension of the front wall plane at least four (4) inches deep and one (1) foot wide for the full height of the primary facade.
Protection buffer	A wall, fence or screen planting, or any combination thereof intended to physically separate unlike uses and minimize light, debris and visual intrusion onto adjacent lots.
Protective barrier	A physical structure limiting access to a protected area, composed of wood or other suitable materials which assures compliance with the intent of this chapter. Variations of these methods may be permitted by the urban forester upon written request if they satisfy the intent of this chapter.
Public tree	A tree located on any right-of-way or property owned by the city.
Railroad facilities	A facility for freight pick-up or distribution by rail. This may include specialized services for railroad transportation including servicing, routine repairing (except factory conversion, overhaul or rebuilding of rolling stock) and maintaining rail cars; loading and unloading rail cars; and independent terminals.
Raised parapet	A low wall or railing extending above and in the front of a roof.
Recessed entry	An entry that recesses into the front wall plane.
Recreational facility, accessory	A recreational facility for the exclusive use of members and their guests, or solely for the use of employees of a permitted business use. This may include swimming pools, tennis courts, exercise facilities and similar indoor activities. It does not include golf courses, which are classified separately.
Recreational facility, indoor	Buildings or structures principally devoted to recreational activities or non-gambling games, leisure and recreation services to the public or to members. Examples include the following uses when they are conducted indoor: ice or roller skating rinks, bingo parlors, billiard parlors, bowling centers, pool rooms, miniature golf courses, amusement game arcades, tennis clubs, swimming pools, community centers, play courts, shooting facilities, batting cages, skateboard areas and water slides or water parks.
Recreational facility, outdoor or major	A facility principally devoted to recreational activities or non-gambling games, leisure and recreation services to the public or to members, and where the activities, games, or services predominantly occur outdoors. Examples include outdoor roller or ice-skating rinks, sports stadiums and arenas; amusement and theme parks; racetracks; swimming or wave pools; entertainment complexes; amphitheaters; drive-in theaters; archery or shooting ranges; riding academies; miniature golf; golf courses, driving ranges, and country clubs; and similar facilities.
Recreational vehicle	A vehicular portable structure designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational and vacation use. For purposes of these regulations, the term includes pick-up campers, camping trailers, travel trailers, RVs, and motorized homes (living facilities constructed as integral parts of self-propelled vehicles.)
Recreational vehicle park	Any plot of land on which two (2) or more travel trailers are located for short-term (less than thirty (30) days) occupancy during travel, recreational or vacation use. Recreational vehicle (or travel trailer) parks are not occupied by any travel trailer for thirty (30) days or more, nor by any mobile home. Examples include campgrounds and recreational vehicle/travel trailer parks. This use does not include a manufactured housing land lease community.
Recycling drop-off center	An incidental use that serves as a neighborhood collection point for temporary storage of recoverable resources such as glass, paper and aluminum. No processing of such items would be allowed. This facility would generally be located in a shopping center parking lot or in other public/quasi-public areas, such as in churches and schools.
Recycling plant	A facility that is not a junkyard and in which recoverable non-hazardous recyclable materials, such as newspapers, magazines, books and other paper products; glass; metal cans; and other products, are collected, separated, stored, recovered, or recycled, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products, but does not include the use of materials as a fuel or any use which constitutes disposal. Recycling plants shall not store or keep hazardous substances, compost, rubbish or wrecked, scrapped, ruined or dismantled motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts.
Recycling transfer station	A permanent, fixed, collection and transportation facility, where non-hazardous recyclable materials are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation units like railroad cars, barges or truck trailers for transportation to another facility. In some operations, compaction or separation for recycling may be done at the station.
Regulating plan	Zoning maps or set of maps that show the zoning sub-districts and street hierarchy(s) associated with form based overlays such as the Village of Spring Hill.
Religious facility	A building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where persons regularly assemble for religious worship or instruction, and which building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship. Accessory uses include parish houses, community houses, educational buildings and child care for persons attending worship or instruction.
Remediation services	Establishments primarily engaged in one or more of the following: (1) remediation and cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil or ground water; (2) integrated mine-reclamation activities, including demolition, soil remediation, waste water treatment, hazardous substance removal, contouring land and revegetation; or (3) asbestos, lead paint and other toxic material abatement.
Required parking	The number of parking spaces needed to accommodate a building or buildings on a single property according to the intensity of its function.
Research and development	Establishment engaged in product development or testing, which does not include research, engineering or similar activities that occur indoors in an office environment.
Restaurant	A business which prepares, sells and serves food and beverages to customers for consumption within the building or on the building site at the outside tables. Examples include sit-down restaurants, brewpubs, cafes, cafeterias, delis, dining rooms, ice cream parlors, tearooms, coffee shops, hot dog stands, sandwich shops and specialty food and/or outside dining patios and sitting areas. May include take-out, drive-in, sit-down service, or the sale and consumption of alcohol. See appendix A for the definition of restaurant in the DDD.
Restaurant, drive-in	A restaurant providing automobile curb-service in which the parking area is designated for the consumption of food which is served by an employee to the customer in his automobile. Carry-out and drive-thru window service may be provided.
Restaurant, drive-thru	A restaurant providing automobile drive-thru service or window facilities for the consumption of food on or off the premises. Automobile curb-service may not be provided.
Retail, general	An establishment engaged in sale or rental of goods, such as: general merchandise, apparel and accessories/uniforms, appliances, auto parts/tires, bicycles, books, camera and photographic supplies, candy and confections, dry goods, electronics, entertainment media (such as videos, compact discs, DVDs, or computer games), firearms, floral goods, furniture, gifts and novelties, hardware, health and personal care (such as pharmacies, cosmetics and optical or surgical supplies), hobby, jewelry, luggage and leather goods, music, news media (newsstand), office supplies, pets, picture frames, shoes, sporting goods, stationery, tobacco, toys, used merchandise/antiques, arts and crafts, beer or liquor (package) or similar items. This includes artist studios that both create and sell visual artwork. This classification includes the retail sale or rental of merchandise not specifically listed under another use classification. Merchandise is typically sold from locations known as storefronts, stand-alone buildings, department stores, warehouse clubs, variety stores, superstores, swap meets or flea markets, auctions or consumer goods rental/general rental centers. See appendix C for definition of retail in the DDD.
Retirement home or elderly housing	A building or group of buildings containing dwelling units where the occupancy of the dwellings is restricted to the elderly (in which at least one (1) resident per household is fifty-five (55) or older.) This does not include a development that contains convalescent or nursing facilities, but often includes the provision of special support services, such as central dining and limited medical care.
Riparian buffer ("RB")	An area near a stream or other water body that is typically vegetated and protects the water body from the impacts of nearby land uses.
Roadway	The portion of a street available for vehicular traffic; where curbs are laid, the portion between curbs.
Rooming and boarding	A building where, for compensation and by prearrangement, at least five (5) persons other than occasional or transient customers are provided with meals and/or lodging. This use type does not include a group home, hotel, motel or multi-family building. A multifamily building or apartment house includes separate dwelling units occupied by a single household, while a rooming and boarding includes separate households sharing kitchen facilities.
Seafood processing	The storage, drying, cooking, packaging and/or preparation of any aquatic organism after it is harvested.
Secondary frontage	A frontage that is not the principal frontage.
Setback	The distance from the property line to the nearest part of the applicable building, structure or sign, measured perpendicularly to the property line.
Shipyard	A fixed facility including dry docks and fabrication equipment capable of building a ship, barge, drilling and production platforms.
Short-term rental	A lodging accommodation for transient guests where a residential dwelling unit or any part thereof is provided in exchange for compensation. Includes the rental of a residential dwelling unit or dwelling of any type, room, building, house, or other habitable structure, or any part thereof, including a manufactured home, that is or can be utilized as a transient sleeping place by one or more persons for less than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days per rental period. Hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and other land uses explicitly defined and regulated in this chapter separately from short-term rentals are not considered short-term rentals. Excludes a rental between parties to the sale of such dwelling unit or building where valid documentation of the sale is provided. Exclude rentals of property subject to the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Code of Ala. § 35-9A-101 et seq.
Sidewalk frontage	A sidewalk frontage type directly abuts a public sidewalk or is setback with a fully paved frontage between the building and the frontage sidewalk which is not large enough for typical outdoor seating.
Sign	Any device, fixture, placard, object or structure that uses any word, letter, figure, design, fixture, projected image, color, form, graphic, illumination, symbol or writing to advertise, display, direct or attract attention to, announce the purpose of, or identify a person object, institution, organization, business, product, service, event, location or entity, or to communicate information of any kind to the public. A "sign" does not include a work of art.
Sign area	Measured by finding the area of an imaginary rectangle, circle, square or triangle which fully encloses the sign message, including background and logos but not including supports or braces.
Sign, abandoned	A sign shall be considered abandoned when the business activity or firm which such sign advertises is no longer in operation or does not have a current business license in effect or is in a state of disrepair.
Sign, animated	Any sign that uses movement or change of lighting to depict action or create a special effect or scene.
Sign, banner	Any sign of lightweight fabric or similar material that is securely mounted to a building. Flags shall not be considered banners.
Sign, blade	A sign made from rigid material mounted perpendicular to a building wall with one (1) side attached or supported by a device extending from a building wall or hanging or projecting from a freestanding wood or iron pole.
Sign, building marker	Any sign indicating the name of a building and date and incidental information about its construction, which sign is cut into a masonry surface or made of bronze or other permanent material.
Sign, changeable copy	A sign or portion thereof with characters, letters or illustrations that can be changed or rearranged without altering any other portion of the sign.
Sign, directional	A sign that provides on-site directional assistance for the convenience of the public such as location of exits, entrances and parking lots.
Sign, electronic or digital	Any sign, billboard, display, or device, or portion thereof, which electronically changes the fixed display screen composed of a series of lights, including light emitting diodes, fiber optics, or other similar technology; including but not limited to computer programmable, microprocessor controlled electronic or digital displays that display electronic images, graphics, or pictures, with or without textual information.
Sign, external illumination	A sign that is illuminated by an external, artificial light source shining onto the face of the sign.
Sign, freestanding	Any sign supported by permanent structures or permanent posts that are placed on, or anchored in, the ground and that are independent from any building or other structure. This includes any monument sign or pole sign.
Sign, incidental	A sign that is subordinate in scale to the primary signage on the site and does not exceed two (2) square feet per face.
Sign, internal illumination	A sign illuminated in any manner by an internal or backlit artificial light source, or exposed lighting on the sign face.
Sign, menu board	A sign serving drive-through facilities listing items and prices.
Sign, monument	Ground-mounted sign with a maximum height of six (6) feet, where the base is at least two-thirds (⅔) the height.
Sign, nonconforming	Any sign that does not conform to the requirements of this chapter.
Sign, off-premise, off-site or billboard	A sign providing usable advertising space for a product, event, service or entity.
Sign, on-premise or on-site	Any sign that is used to attract attention to an object, person, product, institution, organization, business, service, event or location that is located on the premises upon which the sign is located.
Sign, parking lot	A sign to identify the entrance of a parking lot. Maximum height, including mount, is ten (10) feet.
Sign, portable	A sign that is not permanently affixed to a building, structure or the ground or designed to be permanently affixed to a building, structure or the ground. Trailer signs are considered to be portable signs.
Sign, projecting	Any sign affixed perpendicularly or at an angle of forty-five (45) degrees, to a building or wall.
Sign, roof	A sign that is erected, constructed, or maintained above the roof of a building or above any portion of the building's facade.
Sign, sandwich board	Two-sided, A-frame style self-supporting sign, which is not permanently affixed to the ground and is designed to be moveable.
Sign, suspended	A sign that is suspended from the underside of a horizontal plane surface and is supported by such surface.
Sign, temporary	Any sign other than a banner, that is not permanently mounted, to be displayed for a specified period of time.
Sign, wall	A sign painted on a wall or attached to a wall of a building, parallel to the wall.
Sign, wayfinding	A sign that is intended to direct pedestrian or vehicular traffic to specific areas or amenities. Wayfinding signs are not internally lighted and are generally of a cohesive design for specific areas or types. Wayfinding signs are not advertisements for individual businesses.
Sign, wind-activated	A sign that is driven by the wind or by mechanically produced air flow via movement. Examples include, but are not limited to, free-standing advertising flags, blower-driven tubes or human forms, pennant streamers, whirligigs and the like. Flags are not considered wind-activated signs.
Sign, window	Any sign that is placed inside a window frame or upon the window panes or glass and is visible from the exterior of the window.
Site	An area of land, including a lot or lots or a portion thereof, upon which a project is developed or proposed for development.
Small wireless facility	(1) The structure on which antenna facilities are mounted: a. Is fifty (50) feet or less in height including antenna; or b. Is no more than ten (10) percent taller than the other adjacent structures; or c. Do not extend existing structures on which they are located to a height of more than fifty (50) feet or by more than ten (10) percent, whichever is greater. (2) Each antenna associated with the deployment is no more than three (3) cubic feet in volume; (3) All other wireless equipment associated with the structure, including the wireless equipment associated with the antenna and any pre-existing associated equipment on the structure, is no more than twenty-eight (28) cubic feet in volume; (4) The facility does not require antenna structure registration under applicable FCC regulations; (5) The facility is not located on tribal lands, as defined in 36 C.F.R. 800.16(x); and (6) The facilities do not result in human exposure to radio frequency radiation in excess of the applicable safety standards specified in FCC regulations.
Snack or beverage bars	Establishments primarily engaged in (1) preparing and/or serving a specialty snack, such as ice cream, coffee and/or pastries, frozen yogurt, cookies or popcorn, or (2) serving nonalcoholic beverages, such as coffee, juices or sodas for consumption on or near the premises.
Social assistance, welfare, and charitable services	Establishments that provide social assistance services directly to clients such as children, elderly persons, disabled persons, homeless persons or veterans. Social assistance may include food, medical relief, counseling or training.
Solid waste disposal	Includes any facility where final deposition of solid waste occurs and at which waste may remain after closure, including any landfill, municipal solid waste landfill, private or public solid waste management facility or sanitary landfill; an incinerator; or any other facility the purpose of which is the storage, treatment, utilization, processing or disposal of solid waste.
Solid waste facility	A fixed facility where non-hazardous wastes are taken from collection vehicles, temporarily stored, and ultimately relocated to a permanent disposal site. Includes any facility, incinerator, landfill, materials recovery facility, municipal solid waste landfill, private or public solid waste management facility, recovered materials processing facility, sanitary landfill or solid waste management facility as defined by Code of Ala. § 22-27-2. "Materials recovery facility" means a facility that is not a junkyard and which recoverable resources, such as newspapers, glassware and metal cans, are collected, sorted, stored, flattened, crushed, or bundled, and processed to a condition in which they may again be used for production.
Solid waste transfer	A collection and transportation facility where non-hazardous solid wastes are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation units like railroad cars, barges, or truck trailers for transportation to a permanent disposal site. In some operations, compaction or separation for recycling may be done at the station.
Specified anatomical areas	Means any of the following: (1) Less than complete and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus or female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areolae; or (2) Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.
Specified sexual activities	Means any of the following: (1) Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal; (2) Acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy; (3) Fondling or other erotic touchings of human genitals, pubic regions, buttocks or female breasts; (4) Flagellation or torture in the context of a sexual relationship; (5) Masochism, erotic or sexually oriented torture, beating or the infliction of pain; (6) Erotic touching, fondling or other such contact with an animal by a human being; or (7) Human excretion, urination, menstruation, vaginal or anal irrigation as part of or in connection with any of the activities set forth in (1) through (6) above.
Spectrum Act	Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act and Job Creation Act of 2012, 47 U.S.C. § 1455(a).
Square	An exterior open space typically designed to accommodate public gatherings, including a mixture of paved and landscaped areas, and often containing features such as benches, fountains, monuments, gazebos or public art.
Stone cutting	Establishments that cut, shape and finish marble, granite, slate and other stone for building and miscellaneous uses, or that buy or sell partly finished monuments and tombstones.
Stoop	A small, raised platform, with stairs or ramp, located at the entrance to a building, which may be covered by an awning, canopy or marquee.
Store aisle	Runs parallel to fronts of stores.
Storefront	A frontage for retail and office uses with substantial glazing where the facade is aligned close to the frontage line with the building entrance at sidewalk grade. The building facade at the ground floor is substantially glazed to provide visibility into interior spaces. Storefronts may include display cases that project forward and recessed entries.
Story	A habitable level within a building excluding a basement.
Stream	A course of running water flowing in a definite channel. [Source: Ala. Admin. Code r. 335-7-6-.01] A stream includes, without limitation, any of the following water bodies: the Mobile River, Dog River and its tributaries, any stream defined as "waters of the state" by the Alabama Water Resources Act [Code of Ala. § 9-10B-3], any stream (blue-line) shown on the 7.5 min USGS Quad map, or any river, creek, or stream that is subject to an approved total maximum daily load (TMDL) pursuant to section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act. Any watercourse that sustains normal stream flow during any period of the year under normal meteorological conditions.
Street	A public right-of-way or private easement subject to vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic that provides direct or indirect access to property.
Streetscape	The appearance or view of the street including trees, lighting fixtures and street furnishings such as benches and trash receptacles.
Structure	Anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or is attached to something having a location on the ground; except (a) public utility poles, wires, guy wires, and cables; and, (b) fences and walls other than building walls.
Swimming pool	A structure used for swimming purposes and filled with a controlled water supply.
Telecommunications facilities	Antennas, transmission equipment, towers, base stations, antenna support structures, or small wireless facilities. However, the term "telecommunication facilities" shall not include: (1) Any satellite earth station antenna two (2) meters in diameter or less which is located in an area zoned industrial or commercial; (2) Any satellite earth station antenna one (1) meter or less in diameter, regardless of zoning category.
Telecommunications structure	A pole, tower, base station, or building, whether or not it has an existing antenna facility, that is used for the provision of personal wireless service (whether on its own or comingled with other types of service).
Temporary above-ground storage tank	A conex designed or used to temporarily hold oil, gas, or other petroleum product, or any flammable or hazardous substances, and located at or above ground level.
Temporary construction offices and office trailers	Temporary structures erected on the site of a construction project and used for administrative purposes related to the construction project.
Temporary portable storage unit	A transportable, standardized, reusable vessel or container, or receptacle that is originally and specifically designed for or is used in stowing, packing, shipping, moving or transporting freight, articles, goods or commodities, is designed for or is capable of being mounted or moved on a truck, and is located at site for temporary storage of personal property or any similar device. Examples include "Pack-Rat", "PODS(r)," or shipping container ("CONEX").
Temporary seasonal sales activities and special events	Temporary seasonal sales these activities which are characterized by the sale of products and merchandise associated with a particular holiday, special event, time of year, and/or growing season. These uses include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) Christmas tree sales lots; (2) Pumpkin sales lots; (3) Seasonal farm produce stands; (4) Seasonal sale of landscape plantings, materials, and lawn and garden supplies (as accessory sales to a business with other commercial activities); (5) Haunted houses; (6) Shrimp festivals, crawfish boils, or seafood festivals; and (7) Harvest festivals.
Temporary structure	A structure without any footing or foundation, and which is removed when the temporary use for which the structure was erected has ceased.
Temporary use	A use of land limited in both duration and the number of annual occurrences, excluding uses and events customarily associated with the principal land use (e.g., weddings at a church, sporting events at a stadium).
Terrace	A paved or landscaped area elevated above the grade of the sidewalk, located between the building and the sidewalk.
Theater	A facility with fixed seats for the viewing of movies or live presentations of musicians or other performing artists.
Top of bank	The uppermost limit of the active channel, typically indicated by either; a change in bank slope from steep to gentle slope, or if a change in slope is not discernable, the point of wrested vegetation. This refers to the point at the edge of a stream where vegetation has moved or wrested as a result of normal Stream flow or wave action.
Tower	A distinctly vertical projection in the facade.
Townhouse/row house	A single-family dwelling forming one of a group or series of two or more attached single-family dwellings, separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows, or other provisions for human passage or visibility through the walls from basement or cellar to roof, and having roofs which may extend from one of the dwelling units to another.
Transit shelter	A roofed structure on or adjacent to the right-of-way of a street, which is designed and used primarily for the protection and convenience of transit passengers.
Transmission equipment	Equipment that facilitates transmission of any FCC-licensed or authorized wireless communications services. Transmission equipment includes an antenna and its associated equipment, which includes any and all on-site equipment, such as back-up generators and power supply units, cabinets, coaxial and fiber optic cables, connections, shelters, radio transceivers, regular power supply units and wiring, to which a wireless antenna is attached in order to facilitate mobile broadband service and personal wireless service delivered on mobile broadband devices.
Truck repair	Repair of vehicles exceeding fourteen thousand (14,000) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), which includes body repair, painting, engine disassembly and repair and transmission disassembly and repair.
Truck stop	A structure or land intended to be used primarily for the sale of fuel for trucks and incidental service or repair. This includes a group of facilities consisting of those uses and attendant eating, sleeping or truck parking facilities. As used in this definition, the term "truck" includes any vehicle whose maximum gross weight is more than fourteen thousand (14,000) pounds.
Understory tree	A tree whose mature canopy height is between fifteen (15) and thirty-five (35) feet.
Uniformity ratio	The highest horizontal illuminance point or area, divided by the lowest horizontal illuminance point or area.
University District	The area defined as follows: Starting at the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Cody Road, then running generally North along Cody Road to the intersection of Cody Road and Zeigler Boulevard, then running generally East along Zeigler Boulevard and continuing on Springhill Avenue to the intersection with Pixie Street, and then running generally South along Pixie Street to the intersection with Museum Drive, then running generally East and then South along Museum Drive and then McGregor Avenue to the intersection with Old Shell Road, then running generally West along Old Shell Road to the intersection with Bit and Spur Road, then continuing generally West along Bit and Spur Road to the intersection with Airport Boulevard, and then continuing generally West along Airport Boulevard to the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Cody Road.
Urban forester	The city employee specially trained in forestry or arboriculture tasked with the management of naturally occurring and planted trees and associated plants within the corporate limits of the city who has passed an independent exam administered by the International Society of Arboriculture, and maintains the credential through continuing education, or his/her duly authorized designee.
Useable wall area	The exterior wall or surface area of a building or structure that excludes doors.
Utility, intermediate	Facilities related to the local transport or storage of treated, untreated or wastewater, including water or sewage pumping stations, potable water storage facilities, regional stormwater storage facilities and combined stormwater/sewage storage facilities, gas regulator stations as well as neighborhood scale electric substations including electric transmission or distribution lines with a capacity greater than one hundred fifteen (115) kilovolts (kv) and less than two hundred thirty (230) kilovolts (kv).
Utility, major	A building or other structure for production or generation of utilities for consumption by the general public including any utility scale electric power generating station (including any stations that use fossil fuel, fuel cell, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal technologies), electric transmission line right-of-way for transmission lines with a capacity of two hundred thirty (230) kilovolts (kv) or more, sewage treatment plant, or potable water treatment facility.
Utility, minor	All lines and facilities related to the provision, distribution, collection, transmission, or disposal of water, storm water, communications, electricity, transportation, gas, steam and similar public services at a neighborhood or residential scale and may include storage for vehicles and equipment necessary to provide those services. This includes electric transmission or distribution lines with a capacity of one hundred fifteen (115) kilovolts (kv) or below, and residential scale electric power generation (including any generators that use fossil fuel, fuel cell, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal technologies), telephone exchanges, switch boxes, transformer boxes and cap banks.
Vacant	Lands or buildings not actively used for any purpose, or a lot or parcel upon which no improvements have been constructed.
Vehicle/equipment maintenance facility	A facility providing maintenance and repair services for vehicles and equipment and areas for storage of equipment and supplies. This classification includes construction yards, equipment service centers, transit vehicle storage and servicing, and similar facilities.
Vehicle towing and storage facility	Establishments primarily engaged in towing motor vehicles, along with incidental services such as storage and emergency road repair services.
Vehicular courtyard	A vehicular courtyard is a courtyard that includes a driveway or similar access for motor vehicles not leading to a garage or parking area (such as a circular driveway), and that also includes sidewalks or pedestrian paths and a building entrance on at least one (1) building wall. A portion of the building facade is close to the front property line, and the remaining facade is set back at least eighteen (18) feet from the front property line to create an entry courtyard for compliant vehicular access for at least two (2) vehicles.
Vehicular use area	All areas used by any and all types of vehicles, boats, trailers or other equipment, whether such vehicles, boats, trailers or equipment are self-propelled or not for the purpose of, including but not limited to, driving, parking, loading, unloading, storage or display, such as, but not limited to, new and used car lots, and activities of a drive-in nature in connection with banks, restaurants, gas sales, grocery and dairy stores and the like.
Village center sub-district	One (1) of sub-districts in the Spring Hill Overlay. This district is the most densely occupied sub-district and consists of street-oriented, mixed-use buildings that may accommodate a range of uses, including retail, offices, residential and civic uses. The village center serves the needs of the surrounding community; the walkable, park-once environment is accommodating to both pedestrians from surrounding neighborhoods, as well as those from the greater community. The district has wide sidewalks, regular street tree planting, and buildings set close to the sidewalks to create a regular street facade.
Vocational or trade school	An establishment offering vocational training, including but not limited to automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, truck driving, building trades, airplane maintenance, truck driving, pipefitting, welding, and mechanical or electrical equipment/appliance repair. Courses offered normally would exclude those listed under business college or technical school.
Walkable street	A street that provides amenities for pedestrians as well as vehicles. Common amenities include sidewalks, shading devices (such as awnings, colonnades, second-floor balconies, or street trees), and on-street parking.
Waste management services, other	Establishments primarily engaged in services such as sewer and septic tank cleaning, beach cleaning and maintenance services, pumping (i.e., cleaning) cesspools, cesspool cleaning services, sewer cleaning and rodding services, portable toilet renting and/or servicing and sewer or storm basin cleanout services. These activities do not involve tank cleaning or disinfecting on the premises.
Water body	Any significant accumulation of water, generally on a planet's surface. The term most often refers to oceans, seas and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one (1) place to another are also considered bodies of water.
Welding, metal fabrication, and pipefitting	Establishments that transform metal into intermediate or end products (other than machinery, computers or electronics), or treat metals and metal formed products fabricated elsewhere. Fabricated metal processes include forging, stamping, bending, forming and machining, used to shape individual pieces of metal; and other processes, such as welding and assembling, used to join separate parts together.
Wholesale distribution, warehousing and storage	A business where the primary function is the storage and distribution of goods and products. Examples include warehouse or produce/fruit/food storage, express crating, hauling, cold storage, locker plants, dry goods, hardware storage, paper supplies, shoes, sporting goods, professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers and otherwise preparing goods for transportation. This may include fulfillment centers that combine storage with call centers.
Wireless communications services	Without limitation, means commercial mobile radio services, personal wireless services, all FCC-licensed or authorized back-haul and other fixed wireless services, broadcast, private, and public safety communication services and unlicensed wireless services. The term "wireless communications services" does not include television or radio broadcast facilities.
Work of art	All forms of original creations of visual art including but not limited to: sculpture, in any material or combination of materials, whether in the round, bas-relief, high relief, mobile, fountain, kinetic or electronic; painting, whether portable or permanently fixed, as in the case of murals; mosaics; photographs; crafts made from clay, fiber and textiles, wood, glass, metal, plastics or any other material or any combination thereof; calligraphy; mixed media composed of any combination of forms or media; unique architectural stylings or embellishments, including architectural crafts; environmental landscaping; or restoration or renovation of existing works of art of historical significance.
Yard	A required setback from the street or property lines.
Yard, front	A yard extending the full width of the building site across its front, with required depth measured at right angles to the front street line of the building site. Front yard depth is measured from the future street right-of-way line of a major street.
Yard, rear	A yard extending the full width of the building site across its rear, with required depth measured at right angles to the rear line of the building site.
Yard, side	A yard extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard, with required width measured at right angles to the adjacent side lines of the building site. If no front and/or rear yard is provided, the front and/or rear lines of the building site shall be construed as front and/or rear boundaries of the side yard. In any district where side yards are not required by the district regulations, a side yard shall have the minimum width required by the currently adopted IRC or IBC, as applicable.
Youth organization camp	An area or tract of land on which accommodations for temporary occupancy are located or may be placed, including cabins, tents and major recreational equipment, and which is primarily used for recreational purposes and retains an open air or natural character. It is intended that these types of facilities provide a camping environment for children and youth groups who may be affiliated with such organizations as the Girl or Boy Scouts of America, religious institutions, or other local community activity groups. It is not permitted to serve youth offender organizations.
Zero lot line home	A single-family detached dwelling that is sited with no setback along one side property line.

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22; Ord. No. 64-025-2025, § 1, 6-3-25)

Sec. 64-8-3. - Acronyms.

Ala. Admin. Code	Alabama Administrative Code
Code of Ala.	Code of Alabama
AASHTO	American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ADEM	Alabama Department of Environmental Management
ALDOT	Alabama Department of Transportation
ARB	The Architectural Review Board as established by chapter 44, Mobile City Code, as amended
DBH	Diameter at Breast Height
EPJ	Extraterritorial Planning Jurisdiction
FAA	Federal Aviation Administration
FCC	Federal Communications Commission
GVWR	Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
LID	Low Impact Development
MHDC	Mobile Historic Development Commission
MUTCD	The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, for Streets and Highways, as published by the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
OHWL	Ordinary High Water Line
TRB	Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council
USC	United States Code

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22)

Mobile City Zoning Code

ARTICLE 8

DEFINITIONS

Sec. 64-8-1.- General rules of interpretation.

The present tense includes the future tense, the singular number includes the plural and the plural number includes the singular.

The word "shall" is mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.

"Includes" or "including" encompasses, but is not limited to, the items listed after "includes" or "including" unless otherwise provided.

The words "used or occupied" include the words "intended, designed or arranged to be used or occupied."

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22)

Sec. 64-8-2. - Definitions.

General definitions.

Above-ground oil storage tank	An above-ground oil storage tank having a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more to be located in an I-2 district
Accessory building or structure	A detached subordinate building or structure located on the same lot or building site as the main building or structure on the building site or lot. An accessory building or structure is smaller than, and incidental to, the main structure.
Accessory dwelling unit ("ADU")	A secondary, independent living facility located in, or on the same lot or building site as, a single-family residence. This includes a building or part of a building that provides complete independent living facilities, including a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom, and that is attached to the principal dwelling, or a detached building on the same lot or building site.
Accessory retail and personal service, office, or recreational use	A retail, office or recreational use that is subordinate to and incidental to the primary use.
Accessory use (generally)	A use customarily incidental to the principal use of a building site or to a structure and located upon the same lot or building site with the principal use.
Adult bookstore	An establishment having as a preponderance of its stock in trade or its dollar volume in trade, books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides, tapes, records or other forms of visual or audio representations which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult cabaret	A nightclub, bar, theater, restaurant or similar establishment which frequently features live performances by topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, or similar entertainers, where such performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas and/or which regularly feature films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description or specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.
Adult drive-in theater	An open lot or part thereof, with appurtenant facilities, devoted primarily to the presentation of motion pictures, films, theatrical productions and other forms of visual productions, for any form of consideration, to persons in motor vehicles or on outdoor seats in which a preponderance of the total presentation time is devoted to the showing of materials distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons.
Adult entertainment enterprise	An adult bookstore, adult motion picture theater, adult mini motion picture theater, adult motion picture arcade, adult cabaret, adult drive-in theater, adult live entertainment arcade or adult service establishment (including, but not limited to a topless car wash or topless cleaning service).
Adult live entertainment arcade	Any building or structure which contains or is used for commercial entertainment where the patron directly or indirectly is charged a fee to view from an enclosed or screened area or booth a series of live dance routines, strip performances or other gyrational choreography which performances are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or by exposure of specified anatomical areas.
Adult mini motion picture theater	An enclosed building with a capacity of more than five (5) but less than fifty (50) persons, used for presenting films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions in which time is devoted to the showing of materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein.
Adult motion picture arcade	Any place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-or slug-operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five (5) or fewer persons per machine at any one (1) time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
Adult motion picture theater	An enclosed building with a capacity of fifty (50) or more persons used for presenting films, motion pictures, videocassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions in which a preponderance of the total presentation time is devoted to showing of materials which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein.
Adult service establishment	Any building, premises, structure or other facility under common ownership or control which provides services involving specified sexual activities or display of specified anatomical areas.
Agriculture and forestry	Any parcel of land that is used for profit in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry or dairy products; including necessary farm structures within the prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used. This does not include animals kept for non-commercial purposes.
Alley	A right-of-way located between rear or side property lines, which provides access to adjacent properties.
Alternative financial service provider	A check casher, payday lender, pawnbroker, rent-to-own business, auto title lender or any business that (1) is required to be licensed under the Deferred Presentment Services Act, Alabama Code Title 5, Chapter 18(A) or (2) is required to be licensed under the Alabama Pawnshop Act, Alabama Code Title 5, Chapter 190A, other than a federal or state chartered bank, credit union, mortgage lender, or savings and loan association.
Alternative parking surface	Pervious or semi-pervious parking surface, having a design acceptable to the city engineer and the director, or her or his designee, capable of accommodating vehicles up to eight thousand (8,000) pounds gross vehicle weight and maintained free of weeds, dust, trash and debris; an example of such a material being interlocking grass paving blocks, porous asphalt or grasscrete. Crushed limestone, gravel, shell or sod shall not be considered an acceptable alternative parking surface. Alternative parking surface design shall be appropriate to the intended use. Alternative parking surfaces may only be required as a condition of application approval for spaces requested in excess of the minimum ratio requirements of this chapter.
Amphitheater	An outdoor or open-air structure used for public assembly, entertainment and performances.
Animal services (indoor)	Any part of a building designed or used to care for, board or groom animals. The care of animals occurs entirely inside the principal building and not in ancillary or accessory buildings. This use does not include outside kennels.
Animal services, (with outdoor runs)	Any part of a building designed or used to care for, board or groom animals. This use may include overnight boarding or outdoor confinement or exercise areas. Includes a dog pound.
Antenna	A wireless antenna, including a macrocell antenna and a microcell antenna.
Antenna support structure	Any building or other structure forty-five (45) feet in height or taller and which complies with the maximum height allowed in the district in which it is located, other than a tower which can be used for location of telecommunications facilities.
Appliance repair services	An establishment providing repair services for personal and household goods, such as household appliances, computers, radio, television, audio or video equipment, office machines, furniture and leather goods, and knife sharpening. This classification excludes building maintenance services and maintenance and repair of automobiles and other vehicles and equipment.
Applicant	Any person who files an application.
Application	Any application filed pursuant to this chapter.
Arcade	A series of piers topped by arches that support a permanent roof over a sidewalk.
Architectural review board ("ARB")	The architectural review board established by chapter 44 of the Mobile City Code.
Armory	A building or group of buildings used primarily for housing and training troops or for storing military property, supplies or records.
Art gallery	A retail establishment for the display and sale of art created by one or more artists. A gallery does not include the on-going production of art on site (see "art studio").
Art studio	The working place of a painter, sculptor, artisan or photographer or a place for the study or production of art, including singing and acting.
Attic	The interior part of a building contained within a pitched roof structure.
Auto repair	Car and light truck repair up to fourteen thousand (14,000) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), which includes body repair, painting, engine disassembly and repair and transmission disassembly and repair.
Automobile/light truck/RV/personal water craft/motorcycle dealership	A facility for the sale or rental of automobiles, motorcycles, light trucks, motor homes, boats or marine craft or recreational vehicles. For purposes of this definition, a "light truck" means a vehicle of up to fourteen thousand (14,000) GVWR.
Automobile service station	A business establishment where the primary function is the retail sale of gasoline, oil, grease, tires, batteries and accessories. Services are limited to the installation of items sold, tire changing, and automobile lubrication. Engine steam cleaning and auto repair are prohibited.
Awning	A fixed or movable, lightweight, rigid skeleton structure over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection and is wholly supported by the building to which it is attached.
Bail bond services	An office that engages in the furnishing or issuance of bail bonds, whether by surety, cash, or other financial transaction, for the purpose of securing a person's release from jail, custody or incarceration.
Balcony	An open habitable portion of an upper floor that extends beyond or is recessed within a building 's exterior wall that is not supported from below by vertical columns or piers but is instead supported by either a cantilever or brackets.
Bar/lounge	An establishment where the main source of revenue is the sale of alcoholic beverages which are customarily consumed on the premises. This includes taverns, microbreweries, hookah lounges, neighborhood taverns/bars/pubs or distilleries. This definition does not include a brew pub, which is considered a restaurant. For bars within the DDD, please see appendix A.
Base station	A structure or equipment at a fixed location that enables FCC licensed or authorized wireless communications between user equipment and a communications network. This term does not include a tower or any equipment associated with a tower, or a television or radio broadcast facility. This term includes, without limitation: (1) Equipment associated with wireless communications services such as private, broadcast and public safety services, as well as unlicensed wireless services and fixed wireless services such as microwave backhaul. (2) Radio transceivers, antennas, coaxial or fiber-optic cable, regular and backup power supplies, and comparable equipment, regardless of technological configuration (including distributed antenna systems ("DAS") and small-cell networks). (3) Any structure other than a tower that, at the time the relevant application is filed with the city under this section, supports or houses equipment described in paragraphs (1) and (2) above and has been previously reviewed and approved by the city.
Beacon	Any light with one (1) or more beams directed into the atmosphere or directed at one (1) or more points not on the same building site as the light source, or any light with one (1) or more beams that rotate or move.
Bed and breakfast	A house, or portion thereof, where short term lodging rooms, with or without meals, are provided for compensation.
Best management practices (BMPs)	See city Code chapter 17.
Block	A parcel or parcels of land entirely surrounded by streets, streams, railroad rights-of-way, parks or other public spaces or by a combination thereof.
Block face	One (1) side of a block.
Block feeder aisle	An access drive that feeds vehicles into blocks of parking stalls lying along both sides of the aisle.
Board of adjustment	The board established pursuant to Alabama Code, § 11-52-80 (1975) as amended.
Boat building	Establishments primarily engaged in building or manufacturing boats, defined as watercraft not built in shipyards and typically of the type suitable or intended for personal use. Examples of boats include dinghies, heavy-duty inflatable rubber or inflatable plastic boats, rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), motorboats (inboard or outboard), rowboats, sailboats and yachts.
Boat storage facility	An establishment where recreational vessels or other watercraft are stored out of water, by one or more of the following methods: (1) on boat trailers on a paved or unpaved surface; (2) on individual boat racks; or (3) on multi-story boat racks.
Brew pub	An establishment licensed as and meeting the qualifications of a brew pub under the state alcoholic beverage control laws, including title 28, chapter 4A of the Code of Ala. 1975, as amended.
Broadcast transmission facility	Towers, broadcast antennas, satellite dishes, associated buildings, and all equipment cables and hardware used for the purpose of or in connection with the transmission of television or radio broadcast programming.
Broadcast studio	A building or part of a building used for the production of television or radio programming without towers, broadcast antennas, or satellite dishes on the site.
Building	Any covered structure intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels. Unless otherwise indicated, a "building" refers to any part of a building.
Building and landscaping materials supplier	A business that sells building or landscaping materials where the majority of sales are wholesale transactions to other firms, not retail sales.
Building frontage	The width of a building facade that faces a street.
Building frontage percentage	The percentage of the width of a lot that is required to be occupied by the building 's primary facade.
Building height	The vertical distance from grade to the highest finished roof surface in the case of flat roofs, or to a point at the average height of roofs having a pitch of more than one (1) foot in four and one-half (4½) feet. In the O-SH and DDD, the vertical extent of a building measured in stories, from finished grade.
Building maintenance services	An establishment providing carpet cleaning, exterminator, janitorial services, upholstery, painting and paper hanging or rug cleaning; does not include building contractors with outside storage.
Building plan	A specific plan, drawn to a standard architectural scale, detailed sufficiently to illustrate the height and area of the building(s); floor plans and occupant load(s); elevations, materials and architectural details; and any other information necessary to document compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
Building setback line	The line indicating the minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the face of buildings.
Building site	The land occupied or to be occupied by a structure and its accessory structures and including such open spaces, yards, minimum area, off-street parking facilities and off-street truck loading facilities as are required by this chapter; every building site shall abut upon a street for at least twenty-five (25) feet.
Build-to zone	A build-to zone is a range of allowable distances from the front property line that the building shall be built to, in order to create a moderately uniform line of buildings along the street.
Business college/technical school	A nonacademic establishment offering courses such as secretarial, computer and data processing, drafting, electronic repair including radio/TV repair, commercial art, cosmetology, allied health care, real estate, banking and restaurant operation. Instruction may also include vocational training such as welding and metal fabrication courses, automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, building trades, truck driving, mechanical and electrical equipment/appliance repair.
Business support services	Includes blueprinting, printing, graphics, photostatting, copying, packaging, labelling and similar services. "Printing" and "graphics" means a business engaged in the custom design and/or reproduction of written or graphic materials. Typical processes include computerized design and printing, photocopying, and facsimile sending and receiving.
Caliper	Diameter of a tree trunk. Caliper is used to determine the minimum size of trees planted to fulfill the landscaping and tree preservation requirements. Caliper is measured as follows: Diameter less than four (4) inches is measured six (6) inches above ground; diameter between four (4) and twelve (12) inches is measured twelve (12) inches above ground.
Camouflage	Any tower or telecommunications facility which is designed to minimize a visual impact and to blend into the surrounding environment. The term "camouflage" does not necessarily exclude the use of uncamouflaged lattice, guyed or monopole tower designs.
Canopy	A rigid structure over which a covering is attached that provides weather protection and is supported by the building to which it is attached, and which may or may not be attached to the ground at the outer end by at least one column or post.
Car wash	A facility where the primary or secondary function is washing automobiles, pick-up trucks and small vans, but not trailers or commercial trucks. Mechanical production line methods or self-service equipment may be used. A car wash may also function as an accessory use to an automobile service station or other primary use. It does not include the additional activities permitted in "auto and truck repair."
Caretaker or guard dwelling	An accessory dwelling unit on a non-residential site.
Cemetery/mausoleum	A place dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent interment of human or animal remains. It may be either land or earth interment; a mausoleum for vault or crypt entombment; a structure or place used or intended to be used for the interment of cremated remains, including columbaria; cryogenic storage; or any combination of one (1) or more thereof.
Certificate of appropriateness	Certificate issued by the architectural review board or historic development staff specifying approved work.
Channel	A natural or artificial open watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
Chapter	Refers to chapter 64, "Zoning" of the city Code.
City council	The governing body of the city.
Civic building	A building designed specifically for a civic function. Civic buildings include but are not limited to municipal buildings, churches, libraries, schools, recreation facilities and places of assembly.
Civic space	Open spaces that are strategically placed to serve a community function. Civic spaces may be used for active or passive activities, and commonly include manicured green spaces, naturalistic green spaces, parks, squares, hard-scaped plazas, playgrounds or community gardens. Civic buildings may be located within civic spaces.
Clinic, dental or medical	A building in which a group of physicians, dentists and allied professional assistants are associated for the purpose of carrying on their profession; the clinic may include a dental or medical laboratory, or out-patient surgery, but shall not include overnight stays associated with surgical procedures. Examples include medical offices, laboratories or facilities for medical, optical, orthotic, prosthetic, psychiatric, physiotherapy, surgical or dental laboratory services, photographic, analytical or testing services.
Club or lodge (private)	A non-profit association of persons which owns, rents or leases a building for the exclusive use of its members and guests. This does not include collegiate fraternities or sororities.
Coal	All solid fossil fuels classified as anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous or lignite by the American Society of Testing and Materials in ASTM D388.
Coal handling facility	Any building, structure or site used to grind, crush, pick, screen, convey, store or stockpile coal in order to prepare it for transportation or sale on the market.
Collocation	The act of siting telecommunications facilities on an existing structure without the need to construct a new support structure and without a substantial increase in the size of the existing structure. The attachment of facilities to existing structures constitutes collocation regardless of whether the structure or the location has previously been approved for wireless facilities.
Colonnade	A roofed structure, extending over the sidewalk and open to the street except for supporting columns or piers.
Commercial message	Any sign wording, logo or other representation that, directly or indirectly, names, advertises or calls attention to a business, product, service or other commercial activity.
Community garden	A site operated and maintained by a formal or informal organization or the public to cultivate trees, herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers or other ornamental foliage for personal use, consumption, donation or off-site sale for a charitable or non-profit organization.
Community residence	A residential living arrangement for up to ten (10) unrelated individuals with disabilities living as a single functional family in a single dwelling unit who are in need of the mutual support furnished by other residents of the community residence as well as the support services, if any, provided by the staff of the community residence. Residents may be self-governing or supervised by a sponsoring entity or its staff, which provides habilitative or rehabilitative services, related to the residents' disabilities. A community residence seeks to emulate a biological family to normalize its residents and integrate them into the surrounding community. Its primary purpose is to provide shelter in a family-like environment; treatment is incidental as in any home. Supportive inter-relationships between residents are an essential component. A community residence shall be considered a residential use of property for purposes of all zoning, building and property maintenance codes. The term does not include any other group living arrangement for unrelated individuals who are not disabled nor residential facilities for prison pre-parolees or sex offenders. Community residences include functional family sober living arrangements also known as recovery residences.
Community residence, family	A relatively permanent residential living arrangement for unrelated people with disabilities, with no limit on how long a resident may live in the home. The length of tenancy is measured in years. See article 5.
Community residence, transitional	A relatively temporary residential living arrangement for unrelated people with disabilities, with a limit on length of tenancy that is measured in weeks or months, not years. See article 5.
Community supported agriculture	An area of land managed and maintained by an individual or group of individuals to grow and harvest food and/or horticultural products for shareholder consumption or for sale or donation. This can include limited animal husbandry and associated products.
Completely enclosed structure	A building enclosed by a permanent roof and by solid exterior walls pierced only by windows and customary entrance and exit doors.
Composting facility	A facility where solid waste organic materials are biologically decomposed through an aerobic (or oxygen rich) process for the purpose of waste reduction. Includes any "composting or compost plant" as defined by Code of Ala. § 22-27-2.
Comprehensive plan	The comprehensive plan made and adopted by the city planning commission, as provided by law, for the physical development of the city and surrounding area; the term includes any unit or component part of such plan and any amendment to such plan or part thereof when adopted. In this chapter, the "comprehensive plan" refers the documents titled "Map for Mobile" as adopted by the planning commission on November 15, 2015, as amended, and for purposes of the zoning regulations, the "Future Land Use Plan" as adopted by the Planning Commission on May 18, 2017, as amended.
Concept plan	A generalized plan showing proposed location of different components of the proposed development. The plan includes the location of proposed uses, landscape areas and buffers, pedestrian and vehicle circulation, site access and the relationship of the proposed development to the surrounding area.
Conservation area	A land area designated to remain as open space or recreation area.
Conservation development	A development option that preserves open space, natural resources and rural character.
Construction laydown yard	A temporary area used for the storage of construction materials, supplies, equipment, tools, stock piling and recycling of useable construction materials and other items as permitted including temporary storage containers, construction trailers and temporary office trailers.
Contractor with storage yard	Offices of a contractor with on-site outside storage of equipment, materials, supplies, and/or vehicles.
Convenience store	An establishment that retails a limited line of goods that generally includes milk, bread, soda and snacks.
Copy	The characters, letters or illustrations displayed on a sign.
Correctional facilities	A facility where persons are detained pending adjudication or confined under criminal sentences. Examples include penitentiaries, jails, major correctional facilities, community based facilities, community work centers or juvenile detention facilities.
Cottage court	A single lot that includes detached single-family dwellings or duplexes arranged around a courtyard or open space.
Courier, messenger and delivery services	Establishments primarily engaged in providing air, surface or combined mode courier services, express delivery services of parcels or local messenger and delivery services of small items, with local pick-up and delivery. Examples include air courier services, express delivery services; local delivery services for letters, documents, or small parcels; grocery delivery services (i.e., independent service from grocery store) or restaurant meals delivery services.
Courtyard	A plaza like space that includes entrances to abutting buildings and is enclosed by buildings on at least two (2) sides.
Courtyard building	A building that occupies the boundaries of its lot while internally defining one (1) or more private patios.
Coverage	The percentage of a property that is covered by buildings and other roofed structures. "Coverage" refers to building coverage, unless otherwise indicated.
Crematorium	The building or portion of a building that houses the chamber for cremation and the holding facility. May be an accessory use for funeral and interment services.
Crosswalkway	A right-of-way between property lines, which provides pedestrian access but no vehicular access to adjacent properties.
Cultural facility	An institution engaged primarily in the arts, sciences or the performing arts that are open to the public. Examples include performing arts centers, theaters, facilities for dances and events, museums, historical sites, libraries/reading rooms, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and observatories.
Data processing, hosting, and related services (including data centers)	Establishments that provide infrastructure for hosting or data processing services.
Day care center, child	A child day care facility, which receives children for care during any part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day care, adult	An establishment that provides care for any portion of a twenty-four-hour day for eligible adults eighteen (18) years of age and older.
Day care, child, (home based, no more than six (6) children)	A child day care facility, located in a residential structure occupied by the day care operator, which receives on a regular basis not more than six (6) children for care during part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day care, child, (seven (7) to no more than twelve (12) children, home based)	A child day care facility, located in a residential structure occupied by the day care operator, which receives on a regular basis at least seven (7) but no more than twelve (12) children for care during part of the twenty-four-hour day.
Day labor service	Any building or premises that serves as a staging point or gathering place for persons who are seeking immediate employment in daily labor activities and who accept or are assigned employment in accordance with whatever employment is available on that particular day. For purposes of this definition, "day labor" means manual labor, such as construction cleanup, garbage pickup and removal, demolition, convention setup and takedown, landscaping, planting and digging.
Development	The act of installing site improvements and building structures, or all improvements and building structures located on a site.
Diameter at breast height (DBH)	The measurement of the width of the trunk of the tree at four and one-half (4½) feet above the existing grade. For multi-trunk trees the DBH shall be the sum of the diameter of the trunks.
Director	The director of the planning department or their designee.
Disability	A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. People with disabilities do not include individuals who are currently using alcohol, illegal drugs or using legal drugs to which they are addicted, nor individuals who constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of others.
Disability glare	The reduction in visibility caused by intense light sources in the field of view.
Disciplinary care facility	A transitional residential facility for youth or adults, including parole-based facilities, boot camps, halfway houses, etc., where residents are placed by criminal court order or action.
Display area	The exterior area or surface of a sign on which is placed the copy.
Dormitory, fraternity or sorority house	A building, located off-campus, maintained by a college or university and exclusively housing students and their families, or a building, located off-campus housing students affiliated with a regularly organized college or university fraternity or sorority.
Drip line	The circumference of the tree's natural, unaltered canopy extended vertically to the ground.
Drive-thru	Any business establishment providing automobile drive-thru service or window facilities, including but not limited to banks, dry cleaners, restaurants, car washes and drug stores.
Driveway	A vehicular lane within a site, often leading to a parking area or garage.
Dumpster	A container used for the temporary storage of garbage, rubbish and like materials pending collection, and having a capacity of at least one (1) cubic yard.
Dwelling unit	One (1) or more rooms in the same structure, connected together and constituting a separate, independent housekeeping unit for permanent residential occupancy and with facilities for sleeping, bathing and cooking.
Dwelling, multi-family	A building containing three (3) or more dwelling units and used for residential purposes by three (3) or more families living independently of each other. It includes any form of family occupancy, including traditional or non-traditional households, elderly housing or retirement housing. The units may be integrated horizontally and vertically, or with two (2) units stacked vertically and separated from adjacent units by a party wall (sometimes called "stacked flats"). Examples include apartments or flats.
Dwelling, single-family	A building containing only one (1) dwelling unit and used for residential purposes exclusively by one (1) family. This includes any factory-built dwelling unit constructed to the standards of the city's Building Code (typically referred to as a "modular home").
Dwelling, two-family (duplex)	A building containing two (2) dwelling units and used for residential purposes by two (2) families living independently of each other.
Electric substation	A facility that regulates voltage of electricity prior to distribution to customers.
Electric transmission line	An electric line carrying high voltage electricity to substations.
Eligible facilities request	Any request for modification of an existing tower or base station that, within the meaning of the Spectrum Act, does not substantially change the physical dimensions of the tower or base station and involves (1) the collocation of new transmission equipment, (2) the removal of transmission equipment or (3) the replacement of transmission equipment.
Emergency refuge	Temporary accommodation for victims of domestic violence, abuse, sexual assault or child abuse.
Emergency shelter	Short term shelter for persons that are homeless, or runaway youths.
Encroach	To break the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit with a structural element, so that it extends into a setback, into the public frontage or above a height limit.
Encroachment	Any structural element that encroaches.
Engineering plans	The drawings on which the proposed subdivision improvements are shown and which, if approved, will be used for construction of the improvements.
Enhanced scrutiny area (ESA)	(A) All properties located within an I-2 district and lying north of Bay Bridge Road and New Bay Bridge Road; and (B) All properties located within an I-2 district and lying south of Bay Bridge Road and New Bay Bridge Road, west of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay, east of a line extending southerly along St. Stephens Road to Broad Street to Interstate 10 to Michigan Avenue, and north of Avenue C as extended to Mobile Bay.
Enlargement	As it relates to an adult entertainment business an increase in the size of the building, structure or premises in which the adult entertainment business is conducted by either construction or use of an adjacent building or any portion thereof whether located on the same or an adjacent lot or parcel of land.
Entertainment facility or event venue	An establishment where the primary source of revenue is derived from live or recorded performances shown or played for the amusement of an audience. Examples include auditoriums, music clubs, carnivals, circuses and reception or banquet halls.
Exhibition, convention, or conference facility	A facility used for assemblies or meetings of the members or representatives of a group, such as convention centers. This does not include clubs, lodges, community meeting facilities or other meeting facilities of private or non-profit groups that are primarily used by group members.
Existing structure	A previously erected support structure or any other structure, including, but not limited to, buildings and water tanks, to which telecommunications facilities can be attached.
Facade	The exterior wall of a building that faces the frontage.
Family	Two (2) or more persons living together and interrelated by bonds of consanguinity, marriage or legal adoption, and/or a group of persons not more than four (4) in number who are not so interrelated, occupying the whole or part of a dwelling as a single housekeeping unit that shares common living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities. Persons placed in foster care shall be deemed to be related to and a member of the family for the purposes of this definition. A family does not include any society, nursing home, club, boarding or lodging house, dormitory, fraternity or sorority.
Fence	A barrier made of wood, metal or other materials.
Financial institution	A federal or state chartered bank, credit union, mortgage lender or savings and loan association.
Flag.	Any fabric or other material containing distinctive colors, patterns or symbols. A flag is attached to a permanent pole, supporting structure or a building. Flags are not considered banners.
Float	A vehicle with platforms used to carry exhibits and/or riders.
Float barn	A building where floats are assembled or stored, and that may also host special events relating to Mardi Gras or similar parades where the floats are displayed. "Parade" has the meaning assigned in chapter 49, article III of the city Code.
Food market	A structure or place where agricultural produce is brought for the purpose of retail sales from vehicles, temporary stands or stalls. These include more than one seller per parcel of land. Examples include farmers markets, seafood markets and mobile markets.
Food preparation	A business that prepares food and beverages for off-site consumption, including delivery services. Examples include catering shops, bakeries with on-site retail sales, and the small-scale production of specialty foods (such as sweets). This classification excludes food production of an industrial character.
Food sales	An establishment for retail sales of food and beverages for off-site preparation and consumption. Examples include grocers/supermarkets, specialty food and beverage stores, fruit and/or vegetable stands, butcher shops, delicatessens, dairy product sales, food cooperatives or convenience markets. This category may also include large-scale stores that sell food items and beverages in bulk. Liquor sales are not included in this use.
Foot candle	A unit for measuring illumination that equals one (1) lumen per square foot.
Foster care, adult or child	Service provided for children or adults in need of care, in a residence occupied by the foster care operator, subject to compliance with the requirements of the state department of human resources. This use type does not include a group home.
Freight depot	Distribution facilities upon which storage and warehousing of cargo is incidental to the primary function of freight shipment, and not to include any display of goods for either retail sale or wholesale. Includes both railway and truck freight transfers.
Front setback	The distance from the frontage line to the point where a building may be constructed. This area shall be maintained clear of permanent structures with the exception of permitted encroachments.
Frontage	The portion of a site which faces a street right-of-way or civic space.
Frontage, building	The facade of a building that faces a street, civic space or parking area.
Frontage, lot	That part of a lot or parcel that adjoins a street or civic space.
Fuel distribution	A facility dedicated to the wholesale or commercial fuel storage and distribution, including petroleum, biodiesel, propane, butane, natural gas, or other similar fuels, to vehicles, machinery or heavy equipment. This does not include auto service stations.
Funeral and interment services	Any place or premises subject to regulation under Alabama Code title 34, chapter 13, and applicable regulations adopted by the Alabama Board of Funeral Services that is devoted to or used in the care and preparation for burial of the body of a deceased person or maintained or held out to the public by advertising or otherwise as the office or place for the practice of funeral directing, embalming or cremation.
Future land use plan	A component of the comprehensive plan that serves as the primary guide to the future physical development of the city. The map and its corresponding land use designations describe the desired types, intensity and spatial arrangement of the city's land uses to achieve the vision described in the comprehensive plan. In this chapter, "Future Land Use Plan" refers to appendix G in "Map for Mobile," as adopted by the planning commission on May 18, 2017, as amended.
Gallery	A platform attached to the building, typically extending over a sidewalk, which is supported from the ground by light-weight columns or other form of structural support. A gallery may be multiple floors and may have a roof.
Garage or yard sale.	A temporary event where miscellaneous used household items are sold from a residential lot.
Garden supply.	An establishment which sells trees, shrubs, lawn and garden supplies and plants, as well as prepackaged soils and landscape materials. Includes limited propagation of plants, as an accessory use.
Garden wall	A freestanding wall along the property line dividing private areas from streets, rear lanes, or adjacent lots.
Gasoline sales	An area used for retail sales of fuels or oils. This use may have storage tanks and pumps, auto service facilities conducted inside the building or an accessory car wash.
Government street corridor	All lots having real property frontage along Government Street from Broad Street to Dauphin Island Parkway.
Green	An exterior open space primarily composed of landscape areas.
Green infrastructure	Systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes to dissipate, infiltrate or reuse stormwater or runoff on the site where it is generated.
Greenhouse	A structure providing protection from weather, used to grow plants.
Greenway	A linear series of areas, typically including natural features and parklands, usually connected by a trail system.
Gross floor area	The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building, including interior balconies and mezzanines, and any exterior open porches or galleries which serve as an extension of those activities conducted within the enclosed structure; all horizontal dimensions shall be measured between the exterior faces of walls, including the walls or railings of roofed porches. The gross floor area of a building shall include the floor area of accessory buildings on the same building site, measured the same way.
Ground passenger transportation	Establishments that provide passenger transportation by bus, charter bus, automobile, limousine, van or shuttle. Examples include charter bus, special needs transportation, taxicab owner/operators, taxicab fleet operators or taxicab organizations. Includes fleet services that store, maintain, repair, fuel and service two (2) or more vehicles owned by a single entity.
Group feeder aisle	Gives access to individual parking spaces.
Group home	A facility providing seven (7) days a week residential and habilitative services with or without resident staff to persons with disabilities, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Grubbing	The effective removal of understory vegetation that is not greater than three (3) inches DBH.
Hardened shoreline	A bank along a waterbody that is stabilized through impervious cover, armoring, gabions, riprap, vertical bulkhead, retaining wall or other hardened structures.
Hardware/home improvement stores and building materials	Retailing, wholesaling or rental of residential building supplies or equipment. Examples include lumberyards, hardware/home improvement sales and services, paint sales, heating and plumbing equipment, tool and small equipment sales or rental establishments.
Hazardous substance	A substance is considered hazardous when it has one (1) of the following characteristics: flammable, explosive, corrosive, toxic, radioactive or if it readily decomposes into oxygen at elevated temperatures. Includes any substance included on the "List of Hazardous Substances and Reportable Quantities," codified as 40 CFR part 302, table 302.4, in force and effect on the effective date of this chapter and subsequent revisions thereof, and any substance listed on the "List of Extremely Hazardous Substances and Their Threshold Planning Quantities," codified as 40 CFR part 355, appendix A, in force and effect on the effective date of this chapter and subsequent revisions thereof.
Hazardous substance storage tank	A site which has at least one (1) aboveground storage tank with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more used to store any hazardous substance. Also refer to article 4.
Hazardous waste	Those wastes defined in, and regulated under, the Alabama Hazardous Wastes Management and Minimization Act of 1978, as amended (Ala. Code title 22, chapter 30), or ADEM Admin. Code 335-14.
Hazardous waste disposal	Any site used for the storage, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste or medical waste. Includes any "facility" or "hazardous waste management facility" as defined by Ala. Administrative Code § 335-14-1-.02, and any "medical waste facility" as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-17-1-.02.
Hazardous waste transfer	A collection and transportation facility where hazardous or medical waste is received and processed for transportation to another place for recycling, re-use, incineration or final disposal. Includes any "transfer facility" as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-14-1-.02.
Health/fitness club	An establishment that offers exercise or weight control facilities and programs, whether or not the business provides any other service. Examples include gymnasiums, martial arts schools, gymnastics schools, weight control establishments/reducing salons, health clubs, health spas, swimming pools, handball facilities, racquetball or tennis club facilities, tanning facilities, fitness facilities and yoga or workout studios.
Heavy duty commercial vehicles	Any vehicle exceeding fourteen thousand (14,000) GVWR and utilized commercially.
Heavy truck/farm equipment/construction equipment dealer	A facility for the sale or rental of heavy trucks, farm equipment or construction equipment. For purposes of this definition, a "heavy truck" means a vehicle more than fourteen (14,000) GVWR.
Hedge	A vegetative boundary formed by bushes, shrubs, or climbing vines spaced less than three (3) feet apart.
Heliport/miscellaneous air transportation	Facilities intended solely for vertical takeoff and landing of aerial vehicles or miscellaneous transportation vehicles for scenic purposes such as balloons.
Heritage tree, credit or compliance	Any tree planted or claimed for credit for compliance with this chapter or tree planting and landscaping requirements of the city.
Heritage tree, existing	Any of the following trees which is at least twelve (12) inches DBH: bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), hickory (Carya spp.), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), magnolia (Magnolia spp.), oak (Quercus spp.) excluding water oak (Quercus nigra), river birch (Betula nigra), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). For trees located in a local historic district, the definition of a heritage tree shall be amended to reduce the size to eight (8) inches DBH.
Historic district	A geographically defined area designated by the city council pursuant to chapter 44 of the city Code.
Historic district guidelines	The general design standards applicable in considering the granting and denial of certificates of appropriateness adopted by the architectural review board pursuant to chapter 44, of the city Code.
Historic district overlay boundaries (HDOB)	All property located within the boundaries of a locally designated historic districts and any historic districts hereafter designated by the city council pursuant to chapter 44 of the city Code.
Historic markers	Any sign indicating historic significance as awarded or recognized by the MHDC.
Home occupation	An accessory use of a dwelling conducted entirely within the enclosed dwelling, employing only the residents of the dwelling, is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential occupancy and does not change the residential character of the property, and is subject to the criteria set forth in article 4.
Hospital	An institution providing health services, primarily for in-patients, and medical and surgical care of the sick or injured, including as an integral part of the institution, such related facilities as laboratories, out-patient departments, training facilities, central service facilities and staff offices.
Hotel/motel	A building containing guest rooms in which lodging is provided, with or without meals, for compensation, and which is open to transient guests or permanent guests, or both.
Industrial launderer	A business that provides cleaning, washing, or similar services to industrial, manufacturing, medical or business establishments. Examples include commercial launderers that launder and dry clean clothing and other fabric articles in bulk quantities, such as cleaning services for hospitals, restaurants, hotels and similar clients, or rug and dry-cleaning plants.
Junkyard	Any establishment or place of business which is maintained, operated or used for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk or for the maintenance or operation of an automobile recycler. This includes any junkyard (other than a sanitary landfill), automobile recycler or scrap processor, (including any scrap tire facility as defined by ADEM Admin. Code 335-4-1-.01) as defined by Code of Ala. § 23-1-241.
Land clearing	Those operations where trees and vegetation are removed and which occur previous to the construction of building; e.g., road right-of-way excavation or paving, lake and drainage system excavation, utility excavation, grubbing and any other necessary clearing operations.
Landscape material	Living plant material which shall include, but not be limited to, trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, lawn grass and other ground cover; natural features and areas; and nonliving durable material commonly used in landscaping which shall include, but not be limited to, rocks, pebbles, sand, mulch, wood chips, exterior lighting fixtures, planters, fountains, reflecting pools, works of art, walkways, fences, walls, benches and other types of appropriate outdoor furniture. Nonliving landscape material shall not include artificial or synthetic material in the form of trees, flowers, shrubs, vines or ground cover.
Landscaped area	An area which shall consist of landscape material, as defined, such that the use of living landscape material predominates over the use of nonliving landscape material.
Laundry/dry cleaning pick-up station	Establishments that accept from the public clothes or other materials to be laundered or dry-cleaned. The laundering or dry-cleaning work is done by a laundry or dry-cleaning establishment that is not on the premises of the pick-up station.
Lawn	An expanse of grass or low ground cover (for frontage type, located between the building and the sidewalk).
Life care or continuing care services	A facility that is not a single-family residence that provides residential accommodations and personal assistance to residents who depend on the services of others by reason of age or disability; including but not limited to nursing or convalescent homes, hospices or assisted living facilities. This use does not include an establishment which provides care only during the day, or a halfway house for recovering alcohol and drug abusers.
Light fixture, full cut-off	A luminaire or light fixture that, by design of the housing, does not allow any light dispersion or direct glare to shine above ninety-degree horizontal plane from the base of the fixture.
Light loss factor (LLF)	The ratio of illuminance for a given area to the value that would occur if lamps operated at their (initial) rated lumens and if no system variation or depreciation had occurred. Components of this factor can be either initial or maintained. Also known as "maintenance factor."
Linen/uniform supply	Establishments that supply laundered items, such as table and bed linens; towels; diapers; and uniforms, gowns, or coats of the type used by doctors, nurses, barbers, beauticians and waitresses.
Liner building	A building or portion of a building specifically designed to mask a parking lot, parking structure, or other large-footprint use from a right-of-way or civic space.
Live/work dwelling	A principally residential building that includes an office, studio or other commercial use and a single dwelling unit occupied by the building owner. A live-work unit allows a broader range of commercial and production-type uses and more non-residential floor area than a home occupation. In addition, a live-work unit may be designed as a townhouse or with a storefront or other commercial design configuration at the ground level, while a home occupation occurs in a building that is designed as a residence. A live/work dwelling is generally limited to a single dwelling unit and a single business.
Loading dock	An area in which goods and products are moved on and off a vehicle, including the stall or berth, apron and maneuvering room.
Lot	Any piece or parcel of land or a portion of a subdivision, the boundaries of which are established by some legal instrument of record that is recognized and intended as a unit for the purpose of transfer of ownership.
Lot coverage	See "building coverage."
Lot of record	A lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the Office of the Probate Court of Mobile County, or a lot described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been recorded in the Office of the Probate Court of Mobile County, prior to the date of annexation or March 8, 1962.
Machinery and equipment rental and leasing	Establishments primarily engaged in renting or leasing machinery and equipment for use in business or industrial operations. These establishments typically cater to a business clientele and do not generally operate a retail-like or store-front facility. Examples include the sale or leasing of farm equipment and supplies, heavy equipment, office furniture or equipment, machinery tools (construction equipment sales and service) or off-highway transportation equipment.
Machinery and heavy equipment sales and service	The retail sales and accessory repair of construction, agriculture, excavation and similar machinery and equipment, including tractor-trailers.
Major aisle	Provides major circulation within a parking facility.
Manufactured home dealers	Establishments primarily engaged in retailing new and/or used manufactured homes or mobile homes, parts and equipment.
Manufactured housing land lease community	Any plot of ground on which two (2) or more mobile homes are located for long-term occupancy (for periods of thirty (30) days or more) for use as dwellings. Manufactured home land lease communities are not occupied by travel trailers. Includes customary accessory buildings or uses such as clubhouses, laundries or management and sales units.
Manufactured or mobile home	A factory-built dwelling unit constructed to the standards and codes promulgated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. § 5401 et seq., as amended. A mobile home is a home that was manufactured in a factory prior to June 15, 1976 and was not built to HUD standards.
Manufacturing, general	Manufacturing of products, from extracted or raw materials, recycled or secondary materials or bulk storage and handling of those products and materials. These include apparel (including clothing, shoes, dress making), brooms, caskets, food/baking (including coffee roasting, creameries, ice cream, ice, frozen food, confectionery, and beverage), tobacco products, fasteners and buttons, gaskets, leather and allied products, medical equipment and supplies, mill work and similar woodwork, mattresses, musical instruments, novelties, office supplies, printing and print supplies, signs, sporting goods, textiles (including dyeing, laundry bags, canvas products, dry goods, hosiery, millinery) and toys. It also includes incidental finishing and storage. Goods or products manufactured or processed on site may be sold at retail or wholesale on or off the premises. This does not include any activity listed under intensive manufacturing. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the downtown development district.
Manufacturing, hazardous materials	Manufacturing or use of hazardous substances including but not limited to chlorine, corrosive acid, fertilizer, acetylene, insecticides, disinfectants, poisons, explosives, petroleum products, coal products, plastic and synthetic resins, manufacturing or refining of oil and gas products. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the Downtown Development District.
Manufacturing, intensive	Manufacturing of paper, rubber, cosmetics, drugs, nonmetallic mineral products (such as concrete and concrete products, glass), fabricated metal products (including electroplating, hardware), primary metals, cement, lime, gypsum or plaster-of-Paris, paint, lacquer, varnish, electrical equipment, appliances, batteries, and machinery. This group also includes smelting and animal slaughtering. See appendix A for manufacturing definition within the Downtown Development District.
Marina	A facility that includes docks, piers, floats, mooring devices or other appurtenances designed and used to secure, store, service, repair, fuel, berth and launch boats and other personal watercraft. This may include the sale of fuel and incidental supplies for boat owners and guests as well as the sale and chartering of boats.
Marine cargo and freight handling	Establishments that provide stevedoring, water transportation for cargo, warehousing, storage or other marine cargo handling services, including deep sea transportation of cargo; this does not include coal handling facilities or operations.
Marine passenger transportation	Establishments that provide passenger transportation, including deep sea or inland transportation to United States or foreign ports, harbor or coastal scenic and sightseeing. This includes accessory pier, dock, wharf or jetty facilities.
Marine salvage	Recovery of damaged marine vessels and cargo, as well as the dismantling of ships, barges, drilling rigs and other large-scale marine equipment.
Marine supply and chandlery	Establishments that provide goods and services for commercial vessels.
Marquee	A permanent roofed structure, attached to and supported by a building.
Mechanical equipment	Equipment necessary for the proper functioning of building systems, such as electrical (including electric meters), gas meters, water meters, exhaust fans, HVAC equipment, permanently mounted generators and heating equipment.
Media production	Establishments such as studios, back lots and sound stages that produce, manufacture or arrange for the manufacture of motion pictures, videos, television programs, television commercials or music and sound recordings.
Medical waste	A solid waste or combination of solid wastes which because of its infectious characteristics may either cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or pose a substantial present hazard or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed or otherwise managed. Includes any infectious solid or liquid waste from a medical waste generator, as defined in ADEM Admin. Code 335-17-1.
Mining and quarrying	The extraction of metallic and nonmetallic minerals, including sand and gravel pit operations.
Minor street	A street of limited continuity which serves or is intended to serve the local needs of a neighborhood.
Mitigation	Measures that protect, restore, or enhance a stream, water body or buffer to compensate for or reduce the adverse impacts of development or redevelopment adjacent to a stream, creek, river, water body or buffer.
Mixed use	Multiple functions within the same building through multiple floors or adjacency, or in multiple buildings by adjacency.
Mixed vegetation frontage	A site frontage type providing a combination of ground cover, flowers, trees and shrubs located between the building and the sidewalk.
Mobile Tree Act	The common name of the local law enacted by the Alabama State Legislature (Act. No. 929, Acts of Alabama, 1961 Regular Session), as amended, for the purpose of protecting the trees on both public and private property within the incorporated areas of the city.
Mobile Tree Commission ("MTC")	The entity designated by the Alabama State Legislature to enforce the Mobile Tree Act.
Mobile vendor	Any person who sells or offers to sell, from a vending vehicle or trailer.
Modular dwelling	A residential structure built in a factory to the International Residential Code or International Building Code as applicable. The structure or portions of the structure are then assembled on site to create one or more dwelling units. A modular dwelling is considered a standard residential structure for land use purposes.
Mural	Any graphic painted or otherwise applied directly or indirectly on an exterior wall or to a panel attached to an exterior wall.
Natural area	Areas established for the protection of natural attributes of local, regional and statewide significance, which may be used in a sustainable manner for scientific research, education, aesthetic enjoyment and appropriate use not detrimental to the primary purpose (other than wetlands as provided above). These areas are resource rather than user-based but may provide some passive recreational activities such as hiking, nature study and picnicking. Natural areas may include riparian buffers, floodplains or natural wetlands visible from walkways provided in and through the wetland.
Neighborhood Center sub-district	One (1) of sub-districts in the O-SH. This district is intended to consist of a mixture of uses, including neighborhood-serving retail, residential and civic. The neighborhood center is intended to serve the daily needs of residents located within surrounding residential neighborhoods. Buildings may be attached or detached and are separated from the street with wide sidewalks and regular street tree planting. Buildings may be separated from the sidewalk with small street yards.
Neighborhood general sub-district	One of sub-districts in the O-SH. This district is intended to consist of a mixture of uses but primarily residential urban fabric. It may have a wide range of building types and uses, including residential (in attached and detached buildings), civic buildings and limited retail including home occupations. Setbacks and landscaping are variable. This district has generous sidewalks and regular street tree planting.
Night club	Any club, business or establishment providing an on-going place of entertainment, including discotheques or similar establishments, either with or without payment. A night club does not include uses operated by public agencies or private non-profit or charitable organizations, such as religious youth centers, the boys' and girls' club or youth community centers provided for recreation or congregation.
Nit	Luminance is the measure of the light emanating from an object with respect to its size and is the term used to quantify electronic sign brightness. The unit of measurement for luminance is nits, which is the total amount of light emitted from a sign divided by the surface area of the sign (candelas per square meter (cd/m ² ).
Nonconforming site	A site or lot that lawfully exists on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming structure	A building or structure that lawfully exists on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming use	A use which lawfully occupies a building or land on the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and which does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconformity	Any use, site or structure that was established prior to the effective date of this chapter, subsequent amendment(s) or annexation, and does not comply with the standards of this chapter.
Non-store retailers	Establishments that retail merchandise through online, mass media, telephone, mail or similar methods (infomercials, direct-response advertising, paper and electronic catalogs, door-to-door solicitation, in-home demonstration, selling from portable stalls, vending machines and similar methods). Examples include mail-order houses, vending machine operators, home delivery sales, door-to-door sales, party plan sales, electronic shopping, and sales through portable stalls (e.g., street vendors).
Notch	A setback in the wall plane at least three (3) feet deep and six (6) feet wide for the full height of the primary facade.
Nursery/horticulture/farm supply	A place for the propagation or sale of trees, shrubs, lawn and garden supplies, and plants. This classification includes bulk sale of seed and feed, landscape materials, soils and rental of landscaping equipment.
Nursing home	A facility which provides chronic and/or convalescent care for not less than twenty-four (24) hours in any one (1) week to individuals not related by blood or marriage to the owner and/or administrator. Chronic and convalescent care includes care given because of prolonged illness or defect, or during recovery from injury or disease, and shall include any or all of the procedures commonly employed in waiting on the sick, application of dressings and bandages, and carrying out of treatments prescribed by a physician.
Office	The use associated with a business or activity involving the transaction of general business but excluding retail, warehousing and manufacturing uses.
Offset	A horizontal wall plane offset of at least three (3) feet, extending for the full height of the primary facade.
Oil	A petroleum or petroleum product whose storage is regulated under National Fire Protection Association ("NFPA") 30.
Oil and gas company (drilling and exploration)	Establishments that operate and/or develop oil and gas field properties. Activities may include exploration for crude petroleum and natural gas; drilling, completing and equipping wells; operating separators, emulsion breakers, desilting equipment and field gathering lines for crude petroleum and natural gas; and all other activities in the preparation of oil and gas up to the point of shipment from the producing property.
Oil and gas storage	A site which has at least one (1) aboveground oil or petroleum storage tank with a capacity of ten thousand (10,000) gallons or more used to store oil or gas. Also refer to article 4.
Oil and mining support activities	Establishments that support oil extraction or minerals mining, including exploration, sampling, excavating, drilling, surveying and similar activities. This includes oil field service companies and oil field supplies and machinery.
Open space	An area typically composed of natural or modified outdoor areas.
Outside storage	An area not located within a structure where any material is kept for more than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours.
Overstory tree	A tree whose mature canopy height is at least thirty-five (35) feet
Owner	Any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation having legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the Probate Court of Mobile County as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
Parapet	That portion of a building wall that rises above the roof line.
Parking facility	A parking lot or a parking garage offering parking to the public and that is the principal use of the premises.
Parking garage	See "parking structure."
Parking lot	An area, other than a public street or alley, devoted to unenclosed parking for operable vehicles.
Parking structure	A building containing one (1) or more stories of vehicular parking above or below grade.
Parking surface	All areas of a parking lot intended for vehicle movement, circulation or parking, including parking spaces, aisles, fire lanes and maneuvering areas.
Parks	Exterior space, typically publicly owned, intended for active or passive uses including but not limited to playgrounds, sports fields, walking paths and un-programmed open space.
Passenger depot	Facilities for passenger transportation operations, as well as baggage holding facilities, which includes rail stations, bus terminals, urban and regional transit stations, but does not include airports and heliports. This includes accessory parking facilities. This does not include transit shelters, which are permitted in all districts.
Patio area	A paved area, at grade, connecting the building to the sidewalk, typically with outdoor furniture and seating.
Pedestrian courtyard	A pedestrian courtyard is a courtyard that includes a building entrance on at least one (1) building wall, and admits only pedestrians, and includes no driveways, streets or other spaces that allow access by motor vehicles. A portion of the building facade is close to the front property line and the remaining facade is set back from the front property line at least eight (8) feet to create an entry courtyard.
Pennant	Any lightweight plastic, fabric or other material, whether or not containing a message of any kind, suspended from a rope, wire or string, usually in series, designed to move in the wind.
Permitted structure	A structure meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the structure is located.
Permitted use	A use meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the use is located.
Person	Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association trust, or any other group or combination of individuals operating as a unit. "Person" includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or similar representative.
Personal instructional services	The provision of instructional services such as tutoring and exam preparation, language, photography, fine arts, crafts, dance or music lessons and personal training.
Personal services	A business which provides a service to the general public. This includes, but is not limited to, barber shops, beauty shops/salons/cosmeticians, self-service laundries, tailors, seamstresses or dressmakers, photographers, photofinishing laboratories, wedding planning, dating services, nail salons, licensed massage establishments, licensed tattoo parlors and shoe shining or repair. This does not include bail bond, or other services listed separately.
Petroleum recycling	The processing of waste oil product for conversion into useable fuel products such as biodiesel and may include storage and sales of resulting useable fuels. This does not include auto service stations.
Petroleum recovery	The collection and temporary storage of waste oil or fuel products. This does not include auto service stations.
Pitched roof element	A break in the roof plane with a minimum pitch of 3:12 and that extends at least eight (8) feet in its vertical dimension.
Planning commission or commission	The planning commission of the city, as such commission was created heretofore by ordinance adopted by the city council of the city, pursuant to title 11, chapter 52, of the Code of Alabama.
Planning department	Term used to identify the city department responsible for the administration of this chapter.
Planning staff	Staff comprising the planning department, or its successors.
Plant list	List of approved trees and plant materials maintained by the director in coordination with the urban forester.
Plaza	An open area, primarily paved, with seating that is adjacent to, or part of, a building. Plazas function as gathering places and may incorporate a variety of non-permanent activities such as vendors and display stands.
Point of origin of the riparian buffer	The location of the top of bank, or the mean or ordinary high water line if the top of bank is not evident.
Porch	A roofed area, attached at the ground floor level or first floor level, and to the front or side of a building, open except for railings and support columns.
Port	A facility that includes docks, piers, floats, mooring devices, fingers, stalls, gridirons, canals, a harbor master structure, or other appurtenances designed and used to secure, store, service, repair, fuel, berth and launch ships, barges, oil platforms, vessels and other large watercraft used to provide water transportation of cargo or passengers. This may include the sale of fuel and incidental supplies for ship crews, and guests, servicing and repair of ships. Examples include pier, dock, wharf or jetty facilities including port and harbor terminals, marine cargo handling and dry dock services, port warehouses and port fuel facilities.
Premises	The building or site in or on which a use is conducted and any accessory buildings, appurtenances, driveways, parking and loading spaces and the associated area of existing development in active use as documented by surveys, aerial photography or other evidence.
Primary building wall	Exterior building walls that face a street and contain a primary public entrance.
Primary entrance	The entrance to a structure that is located along the primary frontage and serves as the main point of access for pedestrians into a building.
Primary facade	The front plane of a building that faces a primary street or civic space.
Primary frontage	The frontage of a site that establishes the orientation of the primary facade, and the primary pedestrian access.
Principal building	The main building on a site.
Principal plane	The plane of a building closest to the front property line, not including stoops, porches, colonnades, galleries or other attached architectural features.
Projected entry	An entry that extends from the front wall plane.
Projection	An extension of the front wall plane at least four (4) inches deep and one (1) foot wide for the full height of the primary facade.
Protection buffer	A wall, fence or screen planting, or any combination thereof intended to physically separate unlike uses and minimize light, debris and visual intrusion onto adjacent lots.
Protective barrier	A physical structure limiting access to a protected area, composed of wood or other suitable materials which assures compliance with the intent of this chapter. Variations of these methods may be permitted by the urban forester upon written request if they satisfy the intent of this chapter.
Public tree	A tree located on any right-of-way or property owned by the city.
Railroad facilities	A facility for freight pick-up or distribution by rail. This may include specialized services for railroad transportation including servicing, routine repairing (except factory conversion, overhaul or rebuilding of rolling stock) and maintaining rail cars; loading and unloading rail cars; and independent terminals.
Raised parapet	A low wall or railing extending above and in the front of a roof.
Recessed entry	An entry that recesses into the front wall plane.
Recreational facility, accessory	A recreational facility for the exclusive use of members and their guests, or solely for the use of employees of a permitted business use. This may include swimming pools, tennis courts, exercise facilities and similar indoor activities. It does not include golf courses, which are classified separately.
Recreational facility, indoor	Buildings or structures principally devoted to recreational activities or non-gambling games, leisure and recreation services to the public or to members. Examples include the following uses when they are conducted indoor: ice or roller skating rinks, bingo parlors, billiard parlors, bowling centers, pool rooms, miniature golf courses, amusement game arcades, tennis clubs, swimming pools, community centers, play courts, shooting facilities, batting cages, skateboard areas and water slides or water parks.
Recreational facility, outdoor or major	A facility principally devoted to recreational activities or non-gambling games, leisure and recreation services to the public or to members, and where the activities, games, or services predominantly occur outdoors. Examples include outdoor roller or ice-skating rinks, sports stadiums and arenas; amusement and theme parks; racetracks; swimming or wave pools; entertainment complexes; amphitheaters; drive-in theaters; archery or shooting ranges; riding academies; miniature golf; golf courses, driving ranges, and country clubs; and similar facilities.
Recreational vehicle	A vehicular portable structure designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreational and vacation use. For purposes of these regulations, the term includes pick-up campers, camping trailers, travel trailers, RVs, and motorized homes (living facilities constructed as integral parts of self-propelled vehicles.)
Recreational vehicle park	Any plot of land on which two (2) or more travel trailers are located for short-term (less than thirty (30) days) occupancy during travel, recreational or vacation use. Recreational vehicle (or travel trailer) parks are not occupied by any travel trailer for thirty (30) days or more, nor by any mobile home. Examples include campgrounds and recreational vehicle/travel trailer parks. This use does not include a manufactured housing land lease community.
Recycling drop-off center	An incidental use that serves as a neighborhood collection point for temporary storage of recoverable resources such as glass, paper and aluminum. No processing of such items would be allowed. This facility would generally be located in a shopping center parking lot or in other public/quasi-public areas, such as in churches and schools.
Recycling plant	A facility that is not a junkyard and in which recoverable non-hazardous recyclable materials, such as newspapers, magazines, books and other paper products; glass; metal cans; and other products, are collected, separated, stored, recovered, or recycled, or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products, but does not include the use of materials as a fuel or any use which constitutes disposal. Recycling plants shall not store or keep hazardous substances, compost, rubbish or wrecked, scrapped, ruined or dismantled motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts.
Recycling transfer station	A permanent, fixed, collection and transportation facility, where non-hazardous recyclable materials are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation units like railroad cars, barges or truck trailers for transportation to another facility. In some operations, compaction or separation for recycling may be done at the station.
Regulating plan	Zoning maps or set of maps that show the zoning sub-districts and street hierarchy(s) associated with form based overlays such as the Village of Spring Hill.
Religious facility	A building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where persons regularly assemble for religious worship or instruction, and which building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship. Accessory uses include parish houses, community houses, educational buildings and child care for persons attending worship or instruction.
Remediation services	Establishments primarily engaged in one or more of the following: (1) remediation and cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil or ground water; (2) integrated mine-reclamation activities, including demolition, soil remediation, waste water treatment, hazardous substance removal, contouring land and revegetation; or (3) asbestos, lead paint and other toxic material abatement.
Required parking	The number of parking spaces needed to accommodate a building or buildings on a single property according to the intensity of its function.
Research and development	Establishment engaged in product development or testing, which does not include research, engineering or similar activities that occur indoors in an office environment.
Restaurant	A business which prepares, sells and serves food and beverages to customers for consumption within the building or on the building site at the outside tables. Examples include sit-down restaurants, brewpubs, cafes, cafeterias, delis, dining rooms, ice cream parlors, tearooms, coffee shops, hot dog stands, sandwich shops and specialty food and/or outside dining patios and sitting areas. May include take-out, drive-in, sit-down service, or the sale and consumption of alcohol. See appendix A for the definition of restaurant in the DDD.
Restaurant, drive-in	A restaurant providing automobile curb-service in which the parking area is designated for the consumption of food which is served by an employee to the customer in his automobile. Carry-out and drive-thru window service may be provided.
Restaurant, drive-thru	A restaurant providing automobile drive-thru service or window facilities for the consumption of food on or off the premises. Automobile curb-service may not be provided.
Retail, general	An establishment engaged in sale or rental of goods, such as: general merchandise, apparel and accessories/uniforms, appliances, auto parts/tires, bicycles, books, camera and photographic supplies, candy and confections, dry goods, electronics, entertainment media (such as videos, compact discs, DVDs, or computer games), firearms, floral goods, furniture, gifts and novelties, hardware, health and personal care (such as pharmacies, cosmetics and optical or surgical supplies), hobby, jewelry, luggage and leather goods, music, news media (newsstand), office supplies, pets, picture frames, shoes, sporting goods, stationery, tobacco, toys, used merchandise/antiques, arts and crafts, beer or liquor (package) or similar items. This includes artist studios that both create and sell visual artwork. This classification includes the retail sale or rental of merchandise not specifically listed under another use classification. Merchandise is typically sold from locations known as storefronts, stand-alone buildings, department stores, warehouse clubs, variety stores, superstores, swap meets or flea markets, auctions or consumer goods rental/general rental centers. See appendix C for definition of retail in the DDD.
Retirement home or elderly housing	A building or group of buildings containing dwelling units where the occupancy of the dwellings is restricted to the elderly (in which at least one (1) resident per household is fifty-five (55) or older.) This does not include a development that contains convalescent or nursing facilities, but often includes the provision of special support services, such as central dining and limited medical care.
Riparian buffer ("RB")	An area near a stream or other water body that is typically vegetated and protects the water body from the impacts of nearby land uses.
Roadway	The portion of a street available for vehicular traffic; where curbs are laid, the portion between curbs.
Rooming and boarding	A building where, for compensation and by prearrangement, at least five (5) persons other than occasional or transient customers are provided with meals and/or lodging. This use type does not include a group home, hotel, motel or multi-family building. A multifamily building or apartment house includes separate dwelling units occupied by a single household, while a rooming and boarding includes separate households sharing kitchen facilities.
Seafood processing	The storage, drying, cooking, packaging and/or preparation of any aquatic organism after it is harvested.
Secondary frontage	A frontage that is not the principal frontage.
Setback	The distance from the property line to the nearest part of the applicable building, structure or sign, measured perpendicularly to the property line.
Shipyard	A fixed facility including dry docks and fabrication equipment capable of building a ship, barge, drilling and production platforms.
Short-term rental	A lodging accommodation for transient guests where a residential dwelling unit or any part thereof is provided in exchange for compensation. Includes the rental of a residential dwelling unit or dwelling of any type, room, building, house, or other habitable structure, or any part thereof, including a manufactured home, that is or can be utilized as a transient sleeping place by one or more persons for less than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days per rental period. Hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and other land uses explicitly defined and regulated in this chapter separately from short-term rentals are not considered short-term rentals. Excludes a rental between parties to the sale of such dwelling unit or building where valid documentation of the sale is provided. Exclude rentals of property subject to the Alabama Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Code of Ala. § 35-9A-101 et seq.
Sidewalk frontage	A sidewalk frontage type directly abuts a public sidewalk or is setback with a fully paved frontage between the building and the frontage sidewalk which is not large enough for typical outdoor seating.
Sign	Any device, fixture, placard, object or structure that uses any word, letter, figure, design, fixture, projected image, color, form, graphic, illumination, symbol or writing to advertise, display, direct or attract attention to, announce the purpose of, or identify a person object, institution, organization, business, product, service, event, location or entity, or to communicate information of any kind to the public. A "sign" does not include a work of art.
Sign area	Measured by finding the area of an imaginary rectangle, circle, square or triangle which fully encloses the sign message, including background and logos but not including supports or braces.
Sign, abandoned	A sign shall be considered abandoned when the business activity or firm which such sign advertises is no longer in operation or does not have a current business license in effect or is in a state of disrepair.
Sign, animated	Any sign that uses movement or change of lighting to depict action or create a special effect or scene.
Sign, banner	Any sign of lightweight fabric or similar material that is securely mounted to a building. Flags shall not be considered banners.
Sign, blade	A sign made from rigid material mounted perpendicular to a building wall with one (1) side attached or supported by a device extending from a building wall or hanging or projecting from a freestanding wood or iron pole.
Sign, building marker	Any sign indicating the name of a building and date and incidental information about its construction, which sign is cut into a masonry surface or made of bronze or other permanent material.
Sign, changeable copy	A sign or portion thereof with characters, letters or illustrations that can be changed or rearranged without altering any other portion of the sign.
Sign, directional	A sign that provides on-site directional assistance for the convenience of the public such as location of exits, entrances and parking lots.
Sign, electronic or digital	Any sign, billboard, display, or device, or portion thereof, which electronically changes the fixed display screen composed of a series of lights, including light emitting diodes, fiber optics, or other similar technology; including but not limited to computer programmable, microprocessor controlled electronic or digital displays that display electronic images, graphics, or pictures, with or without textual information.
Sign, external illumination	A sign that is illuminated by an external, artificial light source shining onto the face of the sign.
Sign, freestanding	Any sign supported by permanent structures or permanent posts that are placed on, or anchored in, the ground and that are independent from any building or other structure. This includes any monument sign or pole sign.
Sign, incidental	A sign that is subordinate in scale to the primary signage on the site and does not exceed two (2) square feet per face.
Sign, internal illumination	A sign illuminated in any manner by an internal or backlit artificial light source, or exposed lighting on the sign face.
Sign, menu board	A sign serving drive-through facilities listing items and prices.
Sign, monument	Ground-mounted sign with a maximum height of six (6) feet, where the base is at least two-thirds (⅔) the height.
Sign, nonconforming	Any sign that does not conform to the requirements of this chapter.
Sign, off-premise, off-site or billboard	A sign providing usable advertising space for a product, event, service or entity.
Sign, on-premise or on-site	Any sign that is used to attract attention to an object, person, product, institution, organization, business, service, event or location that is located on the premises upon which the sign is located.
Sign, parking lot	A sign to identify the entrance of a parking lot. Maximum height, including mount, is ten (10) feet.
Sign, portable	A sign that is not permanently affixed to a building, structure or the ground or designed to be permanently affixed to a building, structure or the ground. Trailer signs are considered to be portable signs.
Sign, projecting	Any sign affixed perpendicularly or at an angle of forty-five (45) degrees, to a building or wall.
Sign, roof	A sign that is erected, constructed, or maintained above the roof of a building or above any portion of the building's facade.
Sign, sandwich board	Two-sided, A-frame style self-supporting sign, which is not permanently affixed to the ground and is designed to be moveable.
Sign, suspended	A sign that is suspended from the underside of a horizontal plane surface and is supported by such surface.
Sign, temporary	Any sign other than a banner, that is not permanently mounted, to be displayed for a specified period of time.
Sign, wall	A sign painted on a wall or attached to a wall of a building, parallel to the wall.
Sign, wayfinding	A sign that is intended to direct pedestrian or vehicular traffic to specific areas or amenities. Wayfinding signs are not internally lighted and are generally of a cohesive design for specific areas or types. Wayfinding signs are not advertisements for individual businesses.
Sign, wind-activated	A sign that is driven by the wind or by mechanically produced air flow via movement. Examples include, but are not limited to, free-standing advertising flags, blower-driven tubes or human forms, pennant streamers, whirligigs and the like. Flags are not considered wind-activated signs.
Sign, window	Any sign that is placed inside a window frame or upon the window panes or glass and is visible from the exterior of the window.
Site	An area of land, including a lot or lots or a portion thereof, upon which a project is developed or proposed for development.
Small wireless facility	(1) The structure on which antenna facilities are mounted: a. Is fifty (50) feet or less in height including antenna; or b. Is no more than ten (10) percent taller than the other adjacent structures; or c. Do not extend existing structures on which they are located to a height of more than fifty (50) feet or by more than ten (10) percent, whichever is greater. (2) Each antenna associated with the deployment is no more than three (3) cubic feet in volume; (3) All other wireless equipment associated with the structure, including the wireless equipment associated with the antenna and any pre-existing associated equipment on the structure, is no more than twenty-eight (28) cubic feet in volume; (4) The facility does not require antenna structure registration under applicable FCC regulations; (5) The facility is not located on tribal lands, as defined in 36 C.F.R. 800.16(x); and (6) The facilities do not result in human exposure to radio frequency radiation in excess of the applicable safety standards specified in FCC regulations.
Snack or beverage bars	Establishments primarily engaged in (1) preparing and/or serving a specialty snack, such as ice cream, coffee and/or pastries, frozen yogurt, cookies or popcorn, or (2) serving nonalcoholic beverages, such as coffee, juices or sodas for consumption on or near the premises.
Social assistance, welfare, and charitable services	Establishments that provide social assistance services directly to clients such as children, elderly persons, disabled persons, homeless persons or veterans. Social assistance may include food, medical relief, counseling or training.
Solid waste disposal	Includes any facility where final deposition of solid waste occurs and at which waste may remain after closure, including any landfill, municipal solid waste landfill, private or public solid waste management facility or sanitary landfill; an incinerator; or any other facility the purpose of which is the storage, treatment, utilization, processing or disposal of solid waste.
Solid waste facility	A fixed facility where non-hazardous wastes are taken from collection vehicles, temporarily stored, and ultimately relocated to a permanent disposal site. Includes any facility, incinerator, landfill, materials recovery facility, municipal solid waste landfill, private or public solid waste management facility, recovered materials processing facility, sanitary landfill or solid waste management facility as defined by Code of Ala. § 22-27-2. "Materials recovery facility" means a facility that is not a junkyard and which recoverable resources, such as newspapers, glassware and metal cans, are collected, sorted, stored, flattened, crushed, or bundled, and processed to a condition in which they may again be used for production.
Solid waste transfer	A collection and transportation facility where non-hazardous solid wastes are taken from smaller collection vehicles and placed in larger transportation units like railroad cars, barges, or truck trailers for transportation to a permanent disposal site. In some operations, compaction or separation for recycling may be done at the station.
Specified anatomical areas	Means any of the following: (1) Less than complete and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus or female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areolae; or (2) Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.
Specified sexual activities	Means any of the following: (1) Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal; (2) Acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse or sodomy; (3) Fondling or other erotic touchings of human genitals, pubic regions, buttocks or female breasts; (4) Flagellation or torture in the context of a sexual relationship; (5) Masochism, erotic or sexually oriented torture, beating or the infliction of pain; (6) Erotic touching, fondling or other such contact with an animal by a human being; or (7) Human excretion, urination, menstruation, vaginal or anal irrigation as part of or in connection with any of the activities set forth in (1) through (6) above.
Spectrum Act	Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act and Job Creation Act of 2012, 47 U.S.C. § 1455(a).
Square	An exterior open space typically designed to accommodate public gatherings, including a mixture of paved and landscaped areas, and often containing features such as benches, fountains, monuments, gazebos or public art.
Stone cutting	Establishments that cut, shape and finish marble, granite, slate and other stone for building and miscellaneous uses, or that buy or sell partly finished monuments and tombstones.
Stoop	A small, raised platform, with stairs or ramp, located at the entrance to a building, which may be covered by an awning, canopy or marquee.
Store aisle	Runs parallel to fronts of stores.
Storefront	A frontage for retail and office uses with substantial glazing where the facade is aligned close to the frontage line with the building entrance at sidewalk grade. The building facade at the ground floor is substantially glazed to provide visibility into interior spaces. Storefronts may include display cases that project forward and recessed entries.
Story	A habitable level within a building excluding a basement.
Stream	A course of running water flowing in a definite channel. [Source: Ala. Admin. Code r. 335-7-6-.01] A stream includes, without limitation, any of the following water bodies: the Mobile River, Dog River and its tributaries, any stream defined as "waters of the state" by the Alabama Water Resources Act [Code of Ala. § 9-10B-3], any stream (blue-line) shown on the 7.5 min USGS Quad map, or any river, creek, or stream that is subject to an approved total maximum daily load (TMDL) pursuant to section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act. Any watercourse that sustains normal stream flow during any period of the year under normal meteorological conditions.
Street	A public right-of-way or private easement subject to vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic that provides direct or indirect access to property.
Streetscape	The appearance or view of the street including trees, lighting fixtures and street furnishings such as benches and trash receptacles.
Structure	Anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or is attached to something having a location on the ground; except (a) public utility poles, wires, guy wires, and cables; and, (b) fences and walls other than building walls.
Swimming pool	A structure used for swimming purposes and filled with a controlled water supply.
Telecommunications facilities	Antennas, transmission equipment, towers, base stations, antenna support structures, or small wireless facilities. However, the term "telecommunication facilities" shall not include: (1) Any satellite earth station antenna two (2) meters in diameter or less which is located in an area zoned industrial or commercial; (2) Any satellite earth station antenna one (1) meter or less in diameter, regardless of zoning category.
Telecommunications structure	A pole, tower, base station, or building, whether or not it has an existing antenna facility, that is used for the provision of personal wireless service (whether on its own or comingled with other types of service).
Temporary above-ground storage tank	A conex designed or used to temporarily hold oil, gas, or other petroleum product, or any flammable or hazardous substances, and located at or above ground level.
Temporary construction offices and office trailers	Temporary structures erected on the site of a construction project and used for administrative purposes related to the construction project.
Temporary portable storage unit	A transportable, standardized, reusable vessel or container, or receptacle that is originally and specifically designed for or is used in stowing, packing, shipping, moving or transporting freight, articles, goods or commodities, is designed for or is capable of being mounted or moved on a truck, and is located at site for temporary storage of personal property or any similar device. Examples include "Pack-Rat", "PODS(r)," or shipping container ("CONEX").
Temporary seasonal sales activities and special events	Temporary seasonal sales these activities which are characterized by the sale of products and merchandise associated with a particular holiday, special event, time of year, and/or growing season. These uses include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) Christmas tree sales lots; (2) Pumpkin sales lots; (3) Seasonal farm produce stands; (4) Seasonal sale of landscape plantings, materials, and lawn and garden supplies (as accessory sales to a business with other commercial activities); (5) Haunted houses; (6) Shrimp festivals, crawfish boils, or seafood festivals; and (7) Harvest festivals.
Temporary structure	A structure without any footing or foundation, and which is removed when the temporary use for which the structure was erected has ceased.
Temporary use	A use of land limited in both duration and the number of annual occurrences, excluding uses and events customarily associated with the principal land use (e.g., weddings at a church, sporting events at a stadium).
Terrace	A paved or landscaped area elevated above the grade of the sidewalk, located between the building and the sidewalk.
Theater	A facility with fixed seats for the viewing of movies or live presentations of musicians or other performing artists.
Top of bank	The uppermost limit of the active channel, typically indicated by either; a change in bank slope from steep to gentle slope, or if a change in slope is not discernable, the point of wrested vegetation. This refers to the point at the edge of a stream where vegetation has moved or wrested as a result of normal Stream flow or wave action.
Tower	A distinctly vertical projection in the facade.
Townhouse/row house	A single-family dwelling forming one of a group or series of two or more attached single-family dwellings, separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows, or other provisions for human passage or visibility through the walls from basement or cellar to roof, and having roofs which may extend from one of the dwelling units to another.
Transit shelter	A roofed structure on or adjacent to the right-of-way of a street, which is designed and used primarily for the protection and convenience of transit passengers.
Transmission equipment	Equipment that facilitates transmission of any FCC-licensed or authorized wireless communications services. Transmission equipment includes an antenna and its associated equipment, which includes any and all on-site equipment, such as back-up generators and power supply units, cabinets, coaxial and fiber optic cables, connections, shelters, radio transceivers, regular power supply units and wiring, to which a wireless antenna is attached in order to facilitate mobile broadband service and personal wireless service delivered on mobile broadband devices.
Truck repair	Repair of vehicles exceeding fourteen thousand (14,000) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), which includes body repair, painting, engine disassembly and repair and transmission disassembly and repair.
Truck stop	A structure or land intended to be used primarily for the sale of fuel for trucks and incidental service or repair. This includes a group of facilities consisting of those uses and attendant eating, sleeping or truck parking facilities. As used in this definition, the term "truck" includes any vehicle whose maximum gross weight is more than fourteen thousand (14,000) pounds.
Understory tree	A tree whose mature canopy height is between fifteen (15) and thirty-five (35) feet.
Uniformity ratio	The highest horizontal illuminance point or area, divided by the lowest horizontal illuminance point or area.
University District	The area defined as follows: Starting at the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Cody Road, then running generally North along Cody Road to the intersection of Cody Road and Zeigler Boulevard, then running generally East along Zeigler Boulevard and continuing on Springhill Avenue to the intersection with Pixie Street, and then running generally South along Pixie Street to the intersection with Museum Drive, then running generally East and then South along Museum Drive and then McGregor Avenue to the intersection with Old Shell Road, then running generally West along Old Shell Road to the intersection with Bit and Spur Road, then continuing generally West along Bit and Spur Road to the intersection with Airport Boulevard, and then continuing generally West along Airport Boulevard to the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Cody Road.
Urban forester	The city employee specially trained in forestry or arboriculture tasked with the management of naturally occurring and planted trees and associated plants within the corporate limits of the city who has passed an independent exam administered by the International Society of Arboriculture, and maintains the credential through continuing education, or his/her duly authorized designee.
Useable wall area	The exterior wall or surface area of a building or structure that excludes doors.
Utility, intermediate	Facilities related to the local transport or storage of treated, untreated or wastewater, including water or sewage pumping stations, potable water storage facilities, regional stormwater storage facilities and combined stormwater/sewage storage facilities, gas regulator stations as well as neighborhood scale electric substations including electric transmission or distribution lines with a capacity greater than one hundred fifteen (115) kilovolts (kv) and less than two hundred thirty (230) kilovolts (kv).
Utility, major	A building or other structure for production or generation of utilities for consumption by the general public including any utility scale electric power generating station (including any stations that use fossil fuel, fuel cell, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal technologies), electric transmission line right-of-way for transmission lines with a capacity of two hundred thirty (230) kilovolts (kv) or more, sewage treatment plant, or potable water treatment facility.
Utility, minor	All lines and facilities related to the provision, distribution, collection, transmission, or disposal of water, storm water, communications, electricity, transportation, gas, steam and similar public services at a neighborhood or residential scale and may include storage for vehicles and equipment necessary to provide those services. This includes electric transmission or distribution lines with a capacity of one hundred fifteen (115) kilovolts (kv) or below, and residential scale electric power generation (including any generators that use fossil fuel, fuel cell, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric or tidal technologies), telephone exchanges, switch boxes, transformer boxes and cap banks.
Vacant	Lands or buildings not actively used for any purpose, or a lot or parcel upon which no improvements have been constructed.
Vehicle/equipment maintenance facility	A facility providing maintenance and repair services for vehicles and equipment and areas for storage of equipment and supplies. This classification includes construction yards, equipment service centers, transit vehicle storage and servicing, and similar facilities.
Vehicle towing and storage facility	Establishments primarily engaged in towing motor vehicles, along with incidental services such as storage and emergency road repair services.
Vehicular courtyard	A vehicular courtyard is a courtyard that includes a driveway or similar access for motor vehicles not leading to a garage or parking area (such as a circular driveway), and that also includes sidewalks or pedestrian paths and a building entrance on at least one (1) building wall. A portion of the building facade is close to the front property line, and the remaining facade is set back at least eighteen (18) feet from the front property line to create an entry courtyard for compliant vehicular access for at least two (2) vehicles.
Vehicular use area	All areas used by any and all types of vehicles, boats, trailers or other equipment, whether such vehicles, boats, trailers or equipment are self-propelled or not for the purpose of, including but not limited to, driving, parking, loading, unloading, storage or display, such as, but not limited to, new and used car lots, and activities of a drive-in nature in connection with banks, restaurants, gas sales, grocery and dairy stores and the like.
Village center sub-district	One (1) of sub-districts in the Spring Hill Overlay. This district is the most densely occupied sub-district and consists of street-oriented, mixed-use buildings that may accommodate a range of uses, including retail, offices, residential and civic uses. The village center serves the needs of the surrounding community; the walkable, park-once environment is accommodating to both pedestrians from surrounding neighborhoods, as well as those from the greater community. The district has wide sidewalks, regular street tree planting, and buildings set close to the sidewalks to create a regular street facade.
Vocational or trade school	An establishment offering vocational training, including but not limited to automobile body and engine repair, construction equipment operation, truck driving, building trades, airplane maintenance, truck driving, pipefitting, welding, and mechanical or electrical equipment/appliance repair. Courses offered normally would exclude those listed under business college or technical school.
Walkable street	A street that provides amenities for pedestrians as well as vehicles. Common amenities include sidewalks, shading devices (such as awnings, colonnades, second-floor balconies, or street trees), and on-street parking.
Waste management services, other	Establishments primarily engaged in services such as sewer and septic tank cleaning, beach cleaning and maintenance services, pumping (i.e., cleaning) cesspools, cesspool cleaning services, sewer cleaning and rodding services, portable toilet renting and/or servicing and sewer or storm basin cleanout services. These activities do not involve tank cleaning or disinfecting on the premises.
Water body	Any significant accumulation of water, generally on a planet's surface. The term most often refers to oceans, seas and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more rarely, puddles. A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one (1) place to another are also considered bodies of water.
Welding, metal fabrication, and pipefitting	Establishments that transform metal into intermediate or end products (other than machinery, computers or electronics), or treat metals and metal formed products fabricated elsewhere. Fabricated metal processes include forging, stamping, bending, forming and machining, used to shape individual pieces of metal; and other processes, such as welding and assembling, used to join separate parts together.
Wholesale distribution, warehousing and storage	A business where the primary function is the storage and distribution of goods and products. Examples include warehouse or produce/fruit/food storage, express crating, hauling, cold storage, locker plants, dry goods, hardware storage, paper supplies, shoes, sporting goods, professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers and otherwise preparing goods for transportation. This may include fulfillment centers that combine storage with call centers.
Wireless communications services	Without limitation, means commercial mobile radio services, personal wireless services, all FCC-licensed or authorized back-haul and other fixed wireless services, broadcast, private, and public safety communication services and unlicensed wireless services. The term "wireless communications services" does not include television or radio broadcast facilities.
Work of art	All forms of original creations of visual art including but not limited to: sculpture, in any material or combination of materials, whether in the round, bas-relief, high relief, mobile, fountain, kinetic or electronic; painting, whether portable or permanently fixed, as in the case of murals; mosaics; photographs; crafts made from clay, fiber and textiles, wood, glass, metal, plastics or any other material or any combination thereof; calligraphy; mixed media composed of any combination of forms or media; unique architectural stylings or embellishments, including architectural crafts; environmental landscaping; or restoration or renovation of existing works of art of historical significance.
Yard	A required setback from the street or property lines.
Yard, front	A yard extending the full width of the building site across its front, with required depth measured at right angles to the front street line of the building site. Front yard depth is measured from the future street right-of-way line of a major street.
Yard, rear	A yard extending the full width of the building site across its rear, with required depth measured at right angles to the rear line of the building site.
Yard, side	A yard extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard, with required width measured at right angles to the adjacent side lines of the building site. If no front and/or rear yard is provided, the front and/or rear lines of the building site shall be construed as front and/or rear boundaries of the side yard. In any district where side yards are not required by the district regulations, a side yard shall have the minimum width required by the currently adopted IRC or IBC, as applicable.
Youth organization camp	An area or tract of land on which accommodations for temporary occupancy are located or may be placed, including cabins, tents and major recreational equipment, and which is primarily used for recreational purposes and retains an open air or natural character. It is intended that these types of facilities provide a camping environment for children and youth groups who may be affiliated with such organizations as the Girl or Boy Scouts of America, religious institutions, or other local community activity groups. It is not permitted to serve youth offender organizations.
Zero lot line home	A single-family detached dwelling that is sited with no setback along one side property line.

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22; Ord. No. 64-025-2025, § 1, 6-3-25)

Sec. 64-8-3. - Acronyms.

Ala. Admin. Code	Alabama Administrative Code
Code of Ala.	Code of Alabama
AASHTO	American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
ADEM	Alabama Department of Environmental Management
ALDOT	Alabama Department of Transportation
ARB	The Architectural Review Board as established by chapter 44, Mobile City Code, as amended
DBH	Diameter at Breast Height
EPJ	Extraterritorial Planning Jurisdiction
FAA	Federal Aviation Administration
FCC	Federal Communications Commission
GVWR	Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
LID	Low Impact Development
MHDC	Mobile Historic Development Commission
MUTCD	The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, for Streets and Highways, as published by the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
OHWL	Ordinary High Water Line
TRB	Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council
USC	United States Code

(Ord. No. 64-017-2022, 7-12-22)