1.1  Jurisdiction: Within the Borough of Naugatuck, no land, building or other structure shall be used and no building or other structure shall be constructed, reconstructed, enlarged, extended, moved or structurally altered except in conformity with these regulations. No lot or land shall be subdivided, sold, encumbered or conveyed so as (1) to make said lot or land nonconforming or more nonconforming to these regulations, (2) to make any use, building or other structure nonconforming or more nonconforming, (3) to reduce any setback, yard, open space or off-street parking and loading spaces to less than is required by these regulations or (4) to make any nonconforming setback, yard, open space or off-street parking and loading spaces more nonconforming.

2.1  Certificate: No building or other structure, or part thereof, shall be constructed, reconstructed, enlarged, extended, moved or structurally altered until an application for a certificate of zoning compliance has been approved by the zoning enforcement officer. No land, building or other structure, or part thereof, shall be used or occupied or changed in use, until an application for a certificate of zoning compliance therefor has been approved by the zoning enforcement officer and until a certificate of zoning compliance therefor has been issued by the zoning enforcement officer certifying conformity with these regulations. No certificate of zoning compliance, however, is required for a farm, forestry, truck garden or nursery use when no building or other structure is proposed and when no livestock is to be kept. All applications for a certificate of zoning compliance shall be submitted and approved in accordance with the provisions of section 52, and all certificates of zoning compliance shall be issued in accordance with said section.

3.1Districts: As provided in section 21, the Borough of Naugatuck is divided into classes of districts. Such districts are established on the zoning map specified in section 22 for the uses specified in section 32 [23]. The area, location and bulk standards applicable to uses noted in section 23, schedule A permitted uses, are specified in section 24.

3.2Performance standards: The use of land, buildings and other structures, wherever located, shall be established and conducted so as to conform to the performance standards specified in section 41.

3.3Off-street parking and loading: Parking and loading spaces shall be provided off the street for any use of land, buildings and other structures as specified in section 42.

3.4Signs: All permitted signs shall be established in accordance with the requirements of section 43.

3.5  Nonconformity: Any use, building or other structure or any lot which existed lawfully, by variance or otherwise, on the date these regulations or any amendment hereto became effective, and fails to conform to one (1) or more of the provisions of these regulations or such amendment hereto, may be continued subject to the provisions and limitations of section 44.

3.6Interpretation of zoning regulations: When a question arises as to the exact intent of these regulations, the zoning commission shall by resolution determine the precise meaning giving due consideration among other factors to all applicable sections of these regulations and previous interpretations made by the commission. All interpretations, and reasons for adopting said interpretations, shall be maintained in perpetuity in the minutes of the zoning commission and shall be indexed in said minutes under the heading "interpretations" as well as under the heading of the specific item under interpretation. (See appeals [section] 51.2.1, regarding decision of zoning enforcement officer). (5-30-86)

4.1  General: Certain words used in these regulations are defined and explained in paragraphs which follow and the other words in these regulations shall have the meaning commonly attributed to them. Doubts as to the precise meaning of words in these regulations shall be determined by the zoning commission by resolution, giving due consideration to the express intent and purposes of the regulations.

4.2  Commission: The term "commission" shall mean the zoning commission of the Borough of Naugatuck.

4.3  Customary home occupation: The term "customary home occupation" shall mean one (1) or more of the following activities:

4.3.1 The preparation and sale of those products customarily produced in the home, garden or farm, including clothing, baked goods, needlework and preserved foods, provided such products are created entirely on the premises.

4.3.2 The preparation and sale of the products of arts and crafts activities, including painting, portrait photography, illustrating, woodcarving, ceramics, sculpture, ornamental glass and writing, provided that such products are created entirely on the premises.

4.4  Dwelling: A "dwelling" is a building containing one (1) or more "dwelling units."

4.5  Dwelling units: A "dwelling unit" is a building or a part of a building designed for occupancy, and so occupied, by one (1) "family." Accommodations occupied for transient lodging in a hotel or motel shall not be considered to be a "dwelling unit."

4.6  Family: A "family" is a person or a group of related persons, plus guest and domestic servants thereof, or a group of not more than six (6) persons who need not be so related who are living as a single housekeeping unit maintaining a common household. A roomer or boarder to whom rooms are let and/or board is furnished as permitted by these regulations shall not be considered a member of a "family" for the purpose of this definition.

4.7  Floor area, dwelling unit: In determining compliance with maximum floor area requirements for an office in a "dwelling unit" of a "customary home occupation" in a "dwelling unit," only finished livable floor area having a ceiling height of a least seven (7) feet shall be counted and shall exclude garages, terraces, outside vestibules, bay windows, any basement rooms except a basement "story" as defined in paragraph 4.23, utility rooms for heating apparatus, attics, open porches, enclosed porches not heated by a central heating system for the "dwelling," and hallways and other space designed for common use by occupants of two (2) or more "dwelling units." Measurements of floor area for any "dwelling" or "dwelling unit" shall be taken from the inside surfaces of exterior walls or partitions enclosing the floor area. Any floor other than a ground floor must have access thereto by a permanent inside stairway to be included in computing floor area.

4.8  Floor area, maximum: In computing the total floor area of all buildings and other structures on any lot to determine compliance with maximum floor area provisions of paragraph 24.5 and schedule B, measurements of floor area shall be taken to the outside surfaces of exterior walls enclosing the floor area.

4.9  Frontage: "Frontage" is defined as [a] property line that is also a "street line."

4.10  Height: In measuring the height of a building or other structure to determine compliance with maximum height provisions of paragraph 24.3 and schedule B, measurements shall be taken from the average ground level within ten (10) feet of the building or structure to the level of the highest roof of the building or highest feature of the structure.

4.11  Junk yard: The term "junk yard" shall be construed to include any "junk yard," "motor vehicle junk business" and "motor vehicle junk yard," as defined in the general statutes of the State of Connecticut. The term shall also include any place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with a business or not, for two (2) or more unregistered, used motor vehicles which are either no longer intended or in condition for legal use on the public highways and shall also include any place, lot or structure of storage or deposit of used parts of motor vehicles, old metals, iron, glass, paper, cordage and other waste materials which on any lot have an aggregate bulk equal to two (2) automobiles. (5-30-86)

4.12  Livestock: The term "livestock" shall include one (1) or more horses, ponies, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs or other large animals.

4.13  Lot: A "lot" is defined as a parcel of land which is either (1) owned separately from any contiguous parcel as evidenced by fee conveyance recorded in the land records of the Borough of Naugatuck, or (2) is a building lot shown on a subdivision map approved by the borough planning commission and filed in the office of the Naugatuck town clerk.

4.14  Lot, corner: A "corner lot" is a "lot" having lot lines formed by the intersection of two (2) streets, whether public or private, and where the interior angle of such intersection is less than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees. A "lot" fronting on a curved street shall also be considered a "corner lot" if the central angle of the curve is less than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.

4.15  Lot area and shape: In determining compliance with minimum lot area and shape requirements of these regulations land subject to easements for drainage facilities and underground public utilities may be included, but no street or highway, easement of vehicular access, private right-of-way for vehicles or easement for aboveground public utility transmission lines may be included. Area[s] consisting of ponds, lakes or marsh[es] shall not be used for compliance with more than twenty-five (25) percent of the minimum lot area requirement. Land in two (2) or more zoning districts may be used to satisfy a minimum lot area requirements provided that the requirement [sic] of the district requiring the largest lot area is met, but no land in a residence district shall be used to satisfy a lot area requirement in any other district.

4.16  Modular home: A manufactured dwelling which is assembled in one (1) or more sections on the site, is attached to a permanent foundation with living and sleeping accommodations for permanent occupancy.

4.17  Motor home: A self-propelled vehicle which is intended or designed primarily for office work, living quarters or recreational purposes and which is not fixed to a permanent foundation.

4.18  Multi-family dwellings: The term "multi-family dwelling" shall mean a dwelling containing three (3) or more dwelling units and shall include apartments, condominiums, cluster housing and all other attached dwellings. (5-30-86)

4.19  Nonconforming use, building, structure or lot: See paragraph 44.2 of section 44.

4.20  Off-street parking or loading space: See paragraph 42.2 of section 42.

4.21  Outside storage: See paragraph 24.6 of section 24.

4.22  Property line, rear: A "rear property line" is any property line which is parallel to or within forty-five (45) degrees of being parallel to a street line, except for a lot line that is itself a street line, and except that in the case of a "corner lot," only one (1) lot line shall be considered a "rear property line."

4.23  Property line, side: A "side property line" is any property line which is not a "rear property line" or a "street line."

4.24  Public water supply: The term "public water supply" shall mean a piped water supply system owned by a public utility or the Borough of Naugatuck.

4.25  Scale: Proportion in dimensions between a map and that area being represented. A "one (1) inch equals two hundred-foot" scale shall be less than one (1) inch equals forty-foot, etc.

4.26  Sign: See paragraph 43.2 of section 43.

4.27  Story: A "story" is that portion of a building between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor, ceiling or roof next above. Attics not used for human occupancy shall not be considered a story. When the ceiling of a basement is four (4) feet or more above the average ground level within ten (10) feet of the building, the basement shall be considered a "story."

4.28  Street: A "street" shall mean any borough street or state highway except limited access state highway, or any street shown on a subdivision map approved by the borough planning commission and filed in the office of the Naugatuck town clerk.

4.29  Street line: The term "street line" shall mean the right-of-way easement or taking line of any "street" or of any easement of vehicular access or private right-of-way twenty-five (25) feet or more in width.

4.30  Street width: The "width" of a "street" shall mean the distance between the "street lines."

4.31  Structure: Anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground, or is attached to something having a location on the ground.

4.32  Trailer: Any vehicle designed to be pulled by motor power and which is not permanently secured to a foundation or anchored to the ground. A trailer includes trailers used for human habitation for recreational purposes or as a place in which a person(s) may eat, sleep or congregate. A trailer shall include mobile homes, boat trailers, utility trailers, camping trailers and recreational vehicles.

4.33  Small water company: Any person, company or corporation owning, operating, managing, leasing or controlling water from a pond, lake, reservoir, stream, well or distribution system designed to provide water to fifteen (15) to two hundred fifty (250) service connections or twenty-five (25) to one thousand (1,000) persons on a regular basis. (5-30-86)

4.34  Watercourses: Rivers, streams, brooks, waterways, lakes, ponds, marshes, swamps, bogs and all other bodies of water, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon this state or any portion thereof, not regulated pursuant to sections 22a-28 to 22a-35, inclusive of the Connecticut General Statutes.

4.35  Wetlands: Land, including submerged land, not regulated pursuant to sections 22a-28 to 22a-35, inclusive of the Connecticut General Statutes, which consists of any of the soil types designated as poorly drained, very poorly drained, alluvial, and flood plain by the National Cooperative Soils Survey, as may be amended from time to time, of the Soil Conservation Service of the United Stated Department of Agriculture.