This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “City of Mount Vernon, Iowa, Zoning Ordinance.”

The provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to all property within the corporate limits of the City of Mount Vernon as provided by Chapter 414, Code of Iowa. The purposes of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Mount Vernon are to:

1.   Serve the public health, safety, and general welfare of the city and its jurisdiction.

2.   Classify property in a manner that reflects its suitability for specific uses.

3.   Provide for sound, attractive development within the city and its jurisdiction.

4.   Encourage compatibility of adjacent land uses.

5.   Protect environmentally sensitive areas.

6.   Further the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan of the City of Mount Vernon. The City of Mount Vernon intends that this Zoning Ordinance and any amendments to it shall be consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan. Should this ordinance become inconsistent with the adopted Comprehensive Plan because of subsequent amendments to that plan, it is the City's intent to amend this ordinance to bring it into general conformance with the plan as amended.

The Zoning Ordinance shall be held to provide the minimum requirements necessary for the promotion of the public health, safety, and welfare. If any provision of the Zoning Ordinance conflicts with any other provision of the Zoning Ordinance, any other Ordinance of the City of Mount Vernon, or any applicable State or Federal law, the more restrictive provision shall apply.

Nothing in these provisions shall relieve any property owner or user from satisfying any condition or requirement associated with a previous approval, special permit, variance, development permit, or other permit issued under any local, State, or Federal ordinance or statute.

The regulations set by this chapter within each district shall be minimum regulations and shall apply uniformly to each class or kind of structure of land, and particularly, except as hereinafter provided.

1.   No building, structure, or land shall hereafter be used or occupied, no building or structure or part thereof shall hereafter be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved, or structurally altered except in conformity with all the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located.

2.   No part of a yard, or other open space, or off-street parking or loading space required about or in connection with any building for the purpose of complying with this chapter, shall be included as part of a yard, open space, or off-street parking or loading space similarly required for any other building.

3.   No yard or lot existing at the time of passage of this chapter shall be reduced in dimension or area below the minimum requirements set forth herein. Yards or lots created after the effective date of this chapter shall meet at least the minimum requirements established by this chapter.

4.   In the case of any real or apparent conflict between the text of the Ordinance and any illustration explaining the text, the text shall apply.

5.   There shall be no more than one principal structure allowed upon any lot.

6.   All dwelling units, including attached garages, shall be placed on and secured to a permanent frost-free perimeter foundation.

7.   Every principal building hereafter erected or moved shall be on a lot adjacent to a public street, or with access to an approved private street, and all structures shall be so located on lots as to provide safe and convenient access for utilities servicing, fire protection, and required off-street parking.