Words used in the present tense include the future. All words in the singular include the plural, and all words in the plural include the singular. The word "shall" is mandatory and not directory. The word "used" shall be deemed to include "designed, intended, or arranged to be used". (Ord. 2004-26, 9-22-2004, eff. 9-22-2004)

For the purpose of this title, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows:

ACCESSORY BUILDING: A separate building customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal building and located on the same lot with such principal building.

ACCESSORY USE: A use incidental and subordinate to the principal use and located on the same zoning lot as the principal use.

ADULT ORIENTED BUSINESS: Any use which contains a substantial or significant portion occupied by the sale, rental, lease, inspection, or viewing of media (whether print, electronic, magnetic or other) depicting or describing sexual activities, sale of materials used for sexual activities, the provision of live entertainment which depicts, describes, or characterizes sexual activities, or any combination thereof. An adult oriented business further includes any premises to which the public patrons or members are invited or admitted and which are so physically arranged as to provide booths, cubicles, rooms, compartments, or stalls separate from the common areas of the premises for the purpose of viewing adult oriented motion pictures, or wherein an entertainer provides adult entertainment to a member of the public, a patron, or a member, when such adult entertainment is held, conducted, operated or maintained for a profit, direct or indirect. The term "substantial or significant portion" shall mean at least thirty percent (30%) of the floor space of the establishment.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS ESTABLISHMENT: An adult-use cannabis cultivation center, craft grower, processing organization, infuser organization, dispensing organization or transporting organization.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS CRAFT GROWER: A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to cultivate, dry, cure and package cannabis and perform other necessary activities to make cannabis available for sale at a dispensing organization or use at a processing organization, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (P.A. 101-0027), as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS CULTIVATION CENTER: A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to cultivate, process, transport and perform necessary activities to provide cannabis and cannabis-infused products to licensed cannabis business establishments, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (P.A. 101-0027), as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS DISPENSING ORGANIZATION: A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to acquire cannabis from licensed cannabis business establishments for the purpose of selling or dispensing cannabis, cannabis-infused products, cannabis seeds, paraphernalia or related supplies to purchasers or to qualified registered medical cannabis patients and caregivers, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (P.A. 101-0027), as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS INFUSER ORGANIZATION OR INFUSER: A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to directly incorporate cannabis or cannabis concentrated into a product formulation to produce a cannabis-infused product, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (P.A. 101-0027), as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS PROCESSING ORGANIZATION OR PROCESSOR: A facility operated by an organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to either extract constituent chemicals or compounds to produce cannabis concentrate or incorporate cannabis or cannabis concentrate into a product formulation to produce a cannabis product, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (P.A. 101-0027), as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.

ADULT-USE CANNABIS TRANSPORTING ORGANIZATION OR TRANSPORTER: An organization or business that is licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture to transport cannabis on behalf of a cannabis business establishment or a community college licensed under the Community College Cannabis Vocational Training Pilot Program, per the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (P.A. 101-0027), as it may be amended from time-to-time, and regulations promulgated thereunder.

AGRICULTURE: The use of land for agricultural purposes, including farming, dairying, pasturage, apiculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry, and the necessary accessory uses for packing and treating of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal agricultural activities. Agriculture shall not include the commercial feeding of garbage or offal to swine or other animals, the commercial feeding of animals on open lots where no feed is raised on the premises, or the commercial feeding of furbearing animals, poultry broilers, or laboratory animals such as mice, rabbits, rats, etc.

AIRPORT (LANDING STRIP, HELIPORT, OR AIRCRAFT STOP): Any premises that are used or intended for use for the landing and take off of aircraft; and any rights of way, approach zones, and appurtenant areas that are used or intended for use for buildings incidental to aircraft services, together with all buildings and structures thereon.

ALLEY: A public or private way dedicated to public travel generally characterized by providing a secondary access to lots and being less than twenty feet (20') in width of right of way.

ANIMAL EXPERIENCE ATTRACTION: A business that exhibits domesticated and/or common farm animals, that does not include exotic animals, in a safe and healthy environment, that may include petting or other limited customer contact, provided that adequate safety and health requirements are in effect.

APARTMENT: A room or suite of rooms, with toilet and culinary accommodations, used or designed for use as a residence by a family, located in a building containing two (2) or more such rooms or suites or located in a building devoted primarily to nonresidential use.

APARTMENT BUILDING: A single building comprised of three (3) or more dwelling units with shared entrance facilities, where none of the dwelling units are rented or are available for rent or occupation for periods of less than thirty (30) days.

AUTOMOBILE DEALERSHIP: Any business establishment that sells or leases new or used automobiles, trucks, vans, trailers, recreational vehicles, boats, or motorcycles or other similar motorized transportation vehicles. An automobile dealership may maintain an inventory of the vehicles for sale or lease either on site or at a nearby location and may provide on site facilities for the repair and service of the vehicles sold or leased by the dealership.

AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION: Any building or premises used for the dispensing, sale, or offering for sale at retail to the public, automobile fuels stored only in underground tanks and located wholly within the lot lines; lubricating oil or grease for the operation of automobiles; and the sale and installation of tires, batteries, other minor accessories, and minor auto repair, but not including major auto repairs, automobile wrecking, automobile sales, or automobile laundries; provided, however, that the washing of individual automobiles where no chain conveyor is employed may be included. When the dispensing, sale, or offering for sale of motor fuels or oil is incidental to the conduct of a public garage, the premises shall be classified as a public garage. Automobile service station shall not include the sale or storage of inoperable vehicles as defined herein, except trucks used in the operation of the service station, and shall not include a bulk plant.

BASEMENT: The portion of a building having up to one-half (½) its floor to ceiling ground floor height below grade.

   A.   A residence providing overnight guestroom accommodations for a charge to the public operations.

   C.   No restaurant facility shall take place in such an establishment for the general public.

BOARD: The village of North Utica board of appeals as authorized by this title.

BOARDING HOUSE: A building or premises where meals are regularly served by prearrangement for definite periods of compensation for three (3) or more persons, not a family, but not exceeding twelve (12) persons, not open to transient guests, in contrast to hotels or restaurants which are open to transients.

BUILDABLE AREA: The space remaining on a zoning lot after the minimum yard and open space requirements of this title have been complied with.

BUILDING: Any structure built for use of persons or animals or for storage of inanimate objects.

BUILDING AREA: The horizontal area measured within the outside of the exterior walls of the ground floor of all principal and accessory buildings on the lot.

BULK STORAGE: Bulk storage of flammable liquids in containers of forty two (42) gallons or more; not, however, to include underground storage incidental to a garage or filling station or the storage of fuel incidental to other uses.

BUSINESS: Any lawful commercial endeavor to engage in the manufacturing, purchase, sale, lease, or exchange of goods and/or the provision of services.

CAMPING TRAILER: A vehicle intended only for seasonal use but not for living purposes within the village. A camping trailer shall not exceed seventeen feet (17') in length.

CAR WASH: A building, or portion thereof, containing facilities for washing more than two (2) automobiles, using a blower, steam cleaning device, or other mechanical devices. This definition may also include a self-service car wash.

CBD BUSINESS: A business that is engaged in the sale and/or manufacturing of products containing Cannabidiol ("CBD") and/or Tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC"), at levels that are not regulated by the State of Illinois.

CELLAR: The portion of a building having more than one-half (1/2) its floor to ceiling ground floor height below grade. A cellar shall not be counted as a story for the purpose of height measurement.

COMMISSION: The village of North Utica, Illinois, planning commission.

CONDITIONAL USE: A use that is authorized in a particular zoning district only if certain requirements are met and after review by the planning commission and approval by the village board.

CONVENIENCE STORE: A retail store with a floor area of less than two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet that sells a limited line of groceries and may also sell gasoline, but does not include automobile service stations or vehicle repair shops.

CRAFT DISTILLERY: A distillery in which operations produce no more than thirty five thousand (35,000) gallons of alcoholic spirits per calendar year.

CUL-DE-SAC: A street having one open end and being permanently terminated by a vehicle turnaround.

DAYCARE CENTER: Any child or adult care facility which regularly provides daycare for less than twenty four (24) hours per day for more than eight (8) children or adults in a family home, or more than three (3) children or adults in a facility other than a family home, including senior citizen buildings.

DAYCARE HOME: Family homes which receive more than three (3), up to a maximum of eight (8), children or adults, for less than twenty four (24) hours a day. The number includes the natural or adopted children and all persons under the age of twelve (12). Such daycare homes shall be licensed by the Illinois department of children and family services under the Illinois child care act of 1969 1 and allowed as a home occupation.

DISTRICT: A portion of the incorporated area of the village within which certain regulations and requirements apply under the provisions of this title.

DWELLING: A permanent building used primarily for human habitation but not including facilities for the housing of transient residents nor to include mobile homes; a building or structure, or portion thereof, designed for occupancy by one family for residential purposes as a single housekeeping unit. In no case shall a motor home, trailer coach, automobile chassis, tent, or portable building be considered a dwelling.

DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY: A permanent building or portion thereof providing separate living accommodations for three (3) or more families, consisting of at least five hundred (500) square feet per dwelling unit, and containing one dwelling unit for each family.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY: A permanent building, separate, and freestanding, in itself providing living accommodations for one family.

DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY: A permanent building designed exclusively for occupancy by two (2) families, consisting of at least one thousand (1,000) square feet per dwelling unit, and containing two (2) dwelling units.

DWELLING UNIT: Room or rooms occupied having a kitchen, sleeping, and plumbing facilities, including a bathroom.

FAMILY: One or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption occupying a dwelling unit as an individual housekeeping organization.

FARM: Land used for the tillage of soil and the growing of vegetables, fruits, grains, and other staple crops including livestock raising, dairying, or woodlots. The term includes such principal buildings or structures as a barn or silo, as well as accessory buildings and structures that are incidental to the operation of the farm.

FARM DWELLING: The principal dwelling unit on a parcel of land used for agriculture. This dwelling shall be occupied by the owner or his tenant who is actively engaged in agriculture as the primary source of income.

FLOOD: See section 10-12-2 of this title.

FLOOD FRINGE: See section 10-12-2 of this title.

FLOODPLAIN AND SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA (SFHA): See section 10-12-2 of this title.

FLOODPROOFING: See section 10-12-2 of this title.

FLOODWAY: See section 10-12-2 of this title.

FLOOR AREA (For The Purpose Of Determining The Floor Area Ratio): Finished square feet of floor space within the outside line of walls and includes the total of all space on all floors of a building at or above grade. The term does not include porches, garages, or space in a basement or cellar when such basement or cellar space is used for storage or incidental uses.

FLOOR AREA RATIO (FAR): The "floor area ratio" of the building or buildings on any zoning lot is the floor area of the building or buildings on that zoning lot divided by the area of such zoning lot, or planned developments, by the net site area. The "floor area ratio" requirements, as set forth under each zoning district, shall determine the maximum floor area allowable for the building or buildings (total floor area of both principal and accessory buildings) in direct ratio to the gross area of the zoning lot.

FRONTAGE: All the property fronting on one side of a street between the two (2) nearest intersecting streets, measured along the line of the street, or if dead ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead end of the street.

FUNERAL HOME: A building or part thereof used for human funeral services. Such building may contain space and facilities for:

   A.   Embalming and the performance of other services used in the preparation of the dead for burial;

   B.   The performance of autopsies and other surgical procedures;

   C.   The storage of caskets, funeral urns, and other related funeral supplies; and

   D.   The storage of funeral vehicles.

GARAGE, PRIVATE: A detached accessory building, or portion of the main building, designed, arranged, used, or intended to be used for the storage of passenger automobiles of the occupants of the premises.

GARAGE, PUBLIC: A building, other than a private garage, used for the care, incidental servicing, and sale of automobile supplies, or where motor vehicles are parked or stored for remuneration, hire, or sale within the structure.

GRADE: Average level of the finished surface of the ground for buildings more than five feet (5') from a street line. For buildings closer than five feet (5') to a street, the grade is the sidewalk elevation at the center of the building. If there is more than one street, an average sidewalk elevation is to be used.

HEIGHT: Vertical distance from the grade to:

   A.   The highest point of a flat roof;

   B.   The deck line of a mansard roof; or

   C.   The average height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

HISTORIC SITE: A parcel of land that marks or is associated with some event or person of historical importance.

HOME OCCUPATION: Any use conducted by the occupant of the dwelling and as a secondary use that is clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling for residential purposes.

HOTEL: A building in which lodging or board and lodging are provided and offered to the public for compensation and in which access 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 contrast to an “apartment”, which is separately defined in this section.

IMPERVIOUS COVERAGE: A measure of the percentage of lot coverage for principal and accessory structures irrespective of the height or floor area. For the purposes of this definition, impervious coverage only includes the structures on the lot and does not include other impervious amenities such as roads, driveways, sidewalks, or parking lots.

JUNKYARD: Any parcel of land where waste, scrap metal, paper, rags, or similar materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled, including auto and building wrecking yards, but excluding similar uses taking place entirely within a completely enclosed building. Junkyard shall be synonymous with "salvage yard". Any business and any place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with another business or not, that has stored or deposited two (2) or more unregistered motor vehicles that are no longer intended or in condition for legal use on the public highways, or used parts of motor vehicles, or old iron, metal, glass, paper, cordage, or other waste or discarded or secondhand material that has been a part, or intended to be a part, of any motor vehicle, the sum of which parts or material shall be equal in bulk to two (2) or more motor vehicles.

LOT: A piece, parcel, or plot of land occupied or to be occupied by one principal building and its accessory buildings and required open spaces.

LOT, CORNER: A lot located at the intersection of two (2) or more streets having an interior angle of at least one hundred thirty five degrees (135°) with a boundary line thereof bordering on two (2) of the streets.

LOT COVERAGE: The area of a zoning lot occupied by the principal building or buildings and accessory buildings.

LOT DEPTH: The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE OR THROUGH: A lot having frontage on two (2) nonintersecting streets as distinguished from a corner lot.

LOT, INTERIOR: A lot other than a corner lot.

LOT LINE, FRONT: For an interior lot, the property line of a zoning lot parallel to the street line of the lot; if a corner lot, it shall be the shortest property line parallel to a street line.

LOT LINE, INTERIOR: A side lot line common with another lot.

LOT LINE, REAR: The "rear lot line" is the lot line or lot lines most nearly parallel to and most remote from the front lot line.

LOT LINE, SIDE: Lot lines other than front or rear lot lines.

LOT OF RECORD: A lot that is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of LaSalle County, pursuant to statute.

LOT, THROUGH: A lot having its front and rear lot lines on adjacent and substantially parallel streets, otherwise known as a "double frontage lot".

LOT WIDTH: The horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at right angles to the lot depth at the established front building line.

MOBILE HOME OR TRAILER: A vehicle equipped for use as a dwelling and/or a commercial place of business and designed to be hauled along a highway. The terms mobile home and trailer shall be synonymous.

MOTEL:

   A.   An inn or group of cabins or rooms designed for occupancy by paying guests.

   B.   A building or group of buildings in which lodging is provided to transient guests, offered to the public for compensation, and in which access to and from each room or unit is through an exterior door.

MOTOR VEHICLE: Any passenger vehicle, truck, tractor, tractor- trailer, truck-trailer, trailer, or semitrailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power.

NONCONFORMING BUILDING: A use of building lawful at the effective date hereof that does not conform with the permitted use provisions of this title.

NONCONFORMING USE: A use that lawfully occupied a building or land at the effective date hereof and that does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

NURSERY SCHOOL OR PRESCHOOL: An institution providing daycare service and schooling for children from four (4) to six (6) years of age.

NURSING HOME: A home licensed by the state of Illinois for the aged or chronically or incurably ill persons in which five (5) or more such persons, not of the immediate family, are provided with food and shelter or care for compensation, but not including hospitals, clinics, or similar institutions devoted primarily to the diagnosis and treatment of the sick or injured.

OFF-ROAD RECREATIONAL RIDING PARK: Any property or part thereof used for driving, riding or racing of vehicles consisting of go-carts, motorcycles All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs), snowmobiles, bicycles, or any such similar vehicles, no matter how such vehicles are powered, which requires the participants in the driving, riding or racing to pay remuneration or admission for participation in said activities or a club or group that owns or maintains property or a part thereof for off-road riding park activities.

OFFICE BUILDING: A building designed for or used as the office of professional, commercial, industrial, religious, institutional, public, or semipublic persons or organizations, provided no goods, wares, or merchandise shall be prepared or sold on the premises; except, that a portion of the office building may be occupied and used for secondary services for office workers such as a restaurant, coffee shop, newspaper, or candy stand.

PARKING SPACE: An area on a lot sufficient in size (not less than 10 feet wide and 20 feet long) to store one automobile and connected to a public street or alley by a driveway not less than ten feet (10') wide. Such parking spaces shall be arranged so as to permit ingress and egress of the automobile at all times without moving any other automobile parked adjacent to the parking space. The parking space and parking areas shall be surfaced with a permanent, dustfree paving except in the R-1 and R-2 districts.

PERFORMANCE STANDARD: Zoning regulations that permit uses based on a particular set of standards of operation rather than on particular type of use. Performance standards provide specific criteria limiting noise, air pollution, emissions, odors, vibration, dust, dirt, glare, heat, fire hazards, wastes, traffic impacts, and visual impact of a use.

PERMITTED USE: A use that may be lawfully established in a particular district or districts, provided it conforms with all requirements, regulations, and performance standards (if any) of such district.

PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT: A tract of land that is developed as a unit under single ownership or control, which includes two (2) or more principal buildings, and that is at least two (2) acres in area. In residential districts, said "planned unit development" includes a group housing project (whether separately located or separated only, but completely, by firewalls) where the existing or contemplated street or streets or lot layouts make it impractical to apply the bulk regulations of this title to the individual units in such housing project.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING: A nonaccessory building in which a principal use on the zoning lot on which it is located is conducted.

RAILROAD RIGHT OF WAY: A strip of land with tracks and auxiliary facilities for track operation, but not including depots, loading platforms, stations, train sheds, warehouses, car shops, car yards, locomotive shops, or water towers.

REMODELING OR REPAIR: Any change in a building that is not a structural alteration or enlargement, or new construction.

SCHOOL: A public or private institution that offers instructions in any of the branches of learning and study comparable to that taught in the public schools under the Illinois school code, including prekindergarten, kindergarten, elementary school, and junior and senior high schools, but excluding trade, business, or commercial schools.

SETBACK: The minimum horizontal distance between a building and any lot line as may be required by this title.

SIGN: An outdoor advertising that is a structure or that is attached to or painted on a building or that is leaned against a structure or displayed on a premises.

SPECIAL USE: A use of land or buildings specifically authorized by this title but not permitted unless certain stated conditions have been met.

STORY: Part of a building from one floor to the next floor above or to a ceiling above if there is no floor above. Half story is space under a sloping roof, all of which space must be at least three feet (3') high, but not more than sixty percent (60%) of that floor area may be finished for use.

STORY, HALF:

   A.   Space under a sloping roof, all of which space must be at least three feet (3') high, but not more than sixty percent (60%) of that floor area may be finished off for use.

   B.   The portion of a building:

      1.   Under a sloping roof, the wall plates of which, on at least two (2) opposite exterior walls, are not more than four and one-half feet (41/2') above the floor of such story; or

      2.   A "basement" but not a "cellar" as both terms are defined in this section.

STREET: Any public or private way twenty feet (20') or more in width dedicated to public travel. The word "street" shall be synonymous with the words "road", "highway", and "thoroughfare".

STRUCTURAL ALTERATION: Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams, or girders or any complete rebuilding of the roof or exterior walls.

STRUCTURE: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting the generality to, advertising signs, billboards, backstops for tennis courts, curbs, fences, pavements, sidewalks, and pergolas.

TATTOO AND PIERCING PARLOR: A use where the act or process of indelible marking or coloring the skin of any person by the insertion of pigment under or on the skin is conducted; and/or where body piercing can be obtained, excluding therefrom a beauty salon or cosmetology business involving ear piercing.

TEMPORARY USE: The use of land or building established for a fixed period of time with the intent to discontinue such use upon the expiration of the time period.

TRUSTEES: Trustees of the village of North Utica, Illinois.

USE: The purpose or activity for which a building, structure, or land is occupied or maintained.

VILLAGE: Village of North Utica, Illinois.

YARD: An open space on the same lot with a principal building, open, unoccupied, and obstructed by buildings, except as otherwise provided in this title.

YARD, FRONT: The yard extending across the entire width of the lot between the principal building and the right of way line or street line of the street that the building faces.

YARD, REAR: The yard extending across the entire width of the lot between the rear lot line and the nearest part of the principal building.

YARD, SIDE: The yard extending along the side lot line from the front yard to the rear yard and lying between the side lot line and the nearest part of the principal building.

ZONING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Official of the village charged with the primary responsibility for administering this title.

ZONING MAP: The map or maps incorporated into this title as a part hereof, designating zoning districts.

(Ord. 2004-26, 9-22-2004, eff. 9-22-2004; amd. Ord. 2007-24, 8-8-2007; Ord. 2010-09, 4-14-2010; 2013 Code; Ord. 2016-17, 8-17-2016; Ord. 2019-31, 11-12-2019; Ord. 2021-24, 7-8-2021; Ord. 2021-32, 9-30-2021; Ord. 2021-33, 9-30-2021; Ord. 2022-08, 3-10-2022; Ord. 2022-12, 2-24-2022; Ord. 2022-38, 12-15-2022; Ord. 2024-36, 10-17-2024)