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

In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter, the provisions shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public safety, health, convenience, comfort, prosperity or general welfare. It is not intended by this chapter to interfere with or abrogate or annul any easements, covenants or other agreements between parties; provided, however, that where this chapter imposes a greater restriction upon the use of buildings or premises or upon height of buildings, or requires larger open spaces, than are imposed or required by other ordinances, rules, or regulations or by easements, covenants or agreements, the provisions of this chapter shall govern.

( Ord. No. 2014-03 , § 1, 5-20-2014)

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Accessory use or building means a subordinate use or building customarily incident to and located on the same lot occupied by the main use or building.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Adjoining or abutting means touching, in contact with, bounding on, or bordering on. Where all or any part of a lot touches or borders on another lot, it adjoins and abuts such other lot which touches or borders on such street and is situated across the street from the lot or portion thereof. The width of the street shall not be included in calculating the minimum yard requirements required by this section.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Alley means a public way which affords only a secondary means of access to property abutting thereon.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Apartment hotel means an apartment house which furnishes, for the use of its tenants, services ordinarily furnished by hotels, but the privileges of which are not primarily available to the public.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Bed and breakfast means a house used for the temporary residence of motorists or travelers.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Boardinghouse and lodginghouse mean a building other than a hotel occupied as a single housekeeping unit where lodging or meals are provided for five or more persons for compensation, pursuant to previous arrangements for definite periods, but not to the public or transients.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building means any structure designed or built for the support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind. The term "building" shall include the term "structure."

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building, height of, means the vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

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

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Building official means any person or officer of the city duly designated by official resolution of the city council having the duty to enforce the regulations contained in this chapter.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Clinic means an establishment where patients, who are not lodged overnight, are admitted for examination and treatment by physicians providing medicine, or other health care professionals.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Club means a building or portion thereof or premises owned or operated by a corporation, association, or person for a social, educational or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Demolition means an act or process which destroys a site or structure in its entirety, or which destroys a part of a site or structure and permanently impairs its structural, historic or architectural integrity.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Design guidelines for the City of Montgomery means written guidelines adopted by the city, as a reference and guide to provide information on appropriate methods for new construction of buildings within the historic preservation district and rehabilitation or restoration of historic properties. The design guidelines shall remain on file with the city secretary.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

District means a section of the city for which regulations governing the use of buildings and premises, the size of yards, and the intensity of use are uniform under this chapter.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling means any building or portion thereof which is designed for or used for residential purposes.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, multifamily, means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by more than one family.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Dwelling, single-family, means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Exterior architectural feature means the architectural style, design, general arrangement and components of all of the outer surfaces of a building or structure, as distinguished from the interior surfaces enclosed by such outer surfaces. Exterior architectural features shall include, by way of example but not by limitation, the kind, color, surface texture of the building material and the type and style of all windows, doors, lights, signs and other fixtures appurtenant to such building or structure.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Exterior walls and façades means the outermost covering of a building that is visible from any public right-of-way, street or roadway.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Family means one or more individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse, lodginghouse, or hotel.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

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

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Historic landmark means an individual property designated by the city council under this chapter, as having outstanding historical and cultural significance in the nation, region, or community. The designation "historic landmark" recognizes that the historic place, or the building, structure, accessory buildings, fences, or other appurtenances at the place are of basic and vital importance for the preservation of culture and neighborhoods and economic development and promotion of tourism. The initial historic landmarks shall consist of the tracts or parcels of land and existing buildings or structures located at the physical addresses shown on the list and map kept on file in the office of the city secretary. For historical landmark buildings or structures located on a tract or parcel of land exceeding 9,000 square feet in area, only the buildings or structures and a 25-foot buffer around said buildings or structures shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter. Said list and map shall remain on file with the city secretary and the county clerk's office.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Historic preservation district means an area of the city designated by the city council under this chapter, as having definable geographic boundaries, and a significant concentration, linkage or continuity of sites, buildings, or structures united historically or aesthetically by plan, appearance, or physical development. The designation "historic preservation district" recognizes that the component historic buildings, structures, accessory buildings, fences, or other appurtenances of the district are of basic and vital importance for the preservation of culture and neighborhoods, and economic development and promotion of tourism. The initial historic preservation district shall consist of the area shown on the map, and the map shall remain on file with the city secretary.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Hotel means a building in which lodging, or boarding and lodging, are provided and offered to the public for compensation and in which ingress and egress to and from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all hours. As such, it is open to the public, in contradistinction to a boardinghouse, a lodginghouse, or an apartment.

Lot means a parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by a use permitted in this chapter, including one main building together with its accessory buildings, and the open spaces and parking spaces required by this chapter, and having its principal frontage upon a street or upon an officially approved place. The term "lot" includes the term "plot."

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Lot, depth of, means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Main entryways and corridors means the two primary, intersecting thoroughfares in the city, namely State Highway 105 and State Farm Road 149, along with the Lone Star Parkway.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Metal panels means profiled metal panels, deep-ribbed panels and concealed fastener systems.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Motor court and motel mean a building or group of buildings used for the temporary residence of motorists or travelers.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nonconforming structures means commercial, residential, and/or institutional buildings or other structures existing within an historic preservation district but not possessing the character nor the designation of an official historic landmark.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Nonconforming use, building or yard means a use, building, or yard, existing legally at the time of passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, which does not, by reason of design or use, conform with the regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Ordinary maintenance means repairs and other work necessary for the upkeep of buildings and other structures that may include, but is not limited to, minor building material replacement, cleaning, caulking, painting, etc. Ordinary maintenance does not require a building permit.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Parking space, off-street, means an area of not less than 162 square feet (measuring approximately nine feet by 18 feet) not on a public street or alley, surfaced with an all-weather surface, enclosed or not enclosed. The parking space shall be durably surfaced and so arranged to permit satisfactory ingress and egress of an automobile. A public street shall not be classified as off-street parking in computing the parking requirements for any use.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Place means an open, unoccupied space, other than a street or alley, permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Planning and zoning approval means an indication on the building permit evidencing the approval of the planning and zoning commission, signed and dated by the chairperson of the commission, for the installation, construction, alteration, change, restoration, removal, or demolition of an exterior architectural feature, resource or other significant appurtenance of any historic landmark or of any building or structure located within the historic preservation district to be issued in cases further defined in this chapter, where approval for the same is required.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Story means that portion of a building, other than a cellar, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or, if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Street means a public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to the abutting property.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

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

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Structural alterations means any changes in the supporting members of a structure, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Structure means anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground, or attached to something having a location on the ground, including, but not limited to, buildings of all types, advertising signs, billboards, and poster panels, but exclusive of customary fences, or boundary or retaining walls.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Temporary building means any structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Used for includes the meaning "designed for" or "intended for."

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Visual barrier means a continuous unbroken and solid screen of masonry construction, or fencing, natural hedge or vegetation at maturity (two years), or a combination thereof, of not less than six feet measured from the existing natural ground level. Non-vegetative barriers must be a maximum of eight feet in height measured from the existing natural ground level. Vegetation must consist of any combination of trees, shrubs, berms, or other natural flora. The visual barrier improvements shall be adequate to accommodate the proposed screening, and must be a minimum of one foot in width for non-vegetative screening and five feet in width for vegetative screening, provided it creates a visual barrier. The city shall not be responsible for the maintenance of required screening. Deed restrictions and covenants, if any, filed of record and running with the land for any tract, shall make provisions for a maintenance entity authorized to provide maintenance of the visual barrier improvements through assessment of the costs thereof to lot owners.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Wetland means any swamps, marshes or bogs or other areas classified as jurisdictional wetland which would require appropriate permits from the Corps of Engineers for any construction.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard means an open space at grade between a building and the adjoining lot lines, unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward except as otherwise provided in this chapter. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard or the depth of the rear yard, the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard, front, means a yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines, and being the minimum horizontal distance between the street or place line and the main building or any projections thereof other than the projections of the usual uncovered steps, uncovered balconies, or uncovered porch. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimensions.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard, rear, means a yard extending across the rear of a lot and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building or any projections thereof other than the projections of uncovered steps, enclosed balconies or unenclosed porches. On all lots, the rear yard shall be in the rear of the front yard.

Effective on: 1/1/1901

Yard, side, means a yard between the main building and the side line of the lot, extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard and being the minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the side of the main building or any projections thereto.

( Ord. No. 2014-03 , § 1, 5-20-2014)

Effective on: 1/1/1901