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:

Accessory building or structure means a subordinate building or structure detached from but located on the same lot as the principal building or structure, the use of which is incidental and accessory to that of the principal building or structure.

Accessory use means a use that:

(a)

Is clearly incidental to and customarily found in connection with a principal building, structure or use;

(b)

Is subordinate to and serves a principal building, structure; or

(c)

Is subordinate in area, extent, or purpose to the principal building, structure or use served;

(d)

Contributes to the comfort, convenience, or necessity of occupants, business, or industry in the principal building, structure or use served;

(e)

Is located on the same lot as the principal building, structure or use served.

Alley means a passage or way open to public travel, affording generally a secondary means of vehicular access to abutting lots and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Amusement arcade means a commercial building or part of a commercial building in which more than five (5) pinball machines, video games, or other similar player-operated amusement devices are maintained.

Approximated floodplain means that area of the floodplain where a detailed study has not been performed, but where 100-year floodplain boundary has been approximated by the city's Type 15 Flood Study.

Automobile wrecking yard means the dismantling or wrecking of used motor vehicles or trailers, or the storage, sale, or dumping of dismantled or wrecked vehicles or their parts. The presence on any lot or parcel of land of two (2) or more motor vehicles, which, for a period exceeding thirty (30) days, have not been capable of operating under their own power and from which parts have been or are to be removed for re-use or sale, shall constitute prima facie evidence of an automobile wrecking yard. An automobile wrecking yard is also considered a junkyard. (See definition of junkyard contained in this section.)

Base flood means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Base flood elevation means the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated one hundred (100)-year water surface elevation. The water surface elevation of the base flood in relation to the datum specified on the community's flood insurance rate map. For the purposes of this ordinance, the one hundred (100)-year flood or one-percent annual chance flood.

Basement means any area of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.

Building means any structure that has a roof that is supported by columns or walls.

Building height means the vertical distance to the level of the highest point of the roof surface, if the roof is flat or inclines not more than one (1) inch vertical in one (1) foot horizontal, or to the mean level between the eaves and the highest point of the roof if the roof is of any other type, measured as follows:

(a)

If the building joins the front property line or is not more than fifteen (15) feet distant therefrom, then measured at the center of the front wall of the building from the established grade from the curb; or if no grade has been officially established, from the elevation of the existing curb; or if no grade has been officially established and no curb exists, measured from the average level of the existing grade across the front of the building.

(b)

If the building is more than fifteen (15) feet distant from the property line, then measured from the average level of the finished ground surface adjacent to the exterior walls of the building.

(c)

Where the finished ground level is made by filling, such finished ground level shall not be deemed to be more than five (5) feet above the established grade of the sidewalk, or if no grade is established, more than five (5) feet above the existing grade of the street.

Building, main, means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated. In any residential district any dwelling shall be deemed to be the main building on the lot on which the same is situated. (See definition of principal building or structure contained in this section.)

Commercial use means an occupation, employment, or enterprise that is carried on for profit by the owner, lessee, or licensee.

Construction office means a building or industrialized office building located on the development site wherein administrative, professional or clerical activities are performed that are directly related to the on-going development activities (See definition of development contained in this section).

Development means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.

Disability means:

(a)

The physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one (1) or more of the major life activities of such an individual;

(b)

A record of such impairment; or

(c)

Being regarded as having such an impairment.

Dwelling, multi-family, means a detached residential building containing three (3) or more dwelling units, including what is commonly known as an apartment building, but not including hotels, motels or group, row or townhouses.

Dwelling, one-family, means a detached building containing one (1) family dwelling unit but not including manufactured homes or mobile homes.

Dwelling, single-family, attached (group, row or townhouses), means a building containing dwelling units, each of which has primary ground floor access to the outside and which are attached to each other by party walls without openings. The term is intended primarily for such dwelling types as townhouses and duplexes.

Elevated building means a non-basement building built to have the lowest floor elevated above the ground level by means of fill, solid foundation perimeter walls, pilings, or columns (posts and piers).

Encroachment means the advance or infringement of uses, plant growth, fill, excavation, buildings, permanent structures or development into a floodplain, which may impede or alter the flow capacity of a floodplain.

Family means any number of individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit and doing their cooking on the premises, as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding or rooming house or hotel.

Family dwelling unit means a group of rooms including cooking accommodations occupied exclusively by one (1) or more persons living as a single, nonprofit housekeeping unit.

Flood or flooding means:

(1)

A general or temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

a.

The overflow of inland or tidal waters; or

b.

The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

c.

Mudflows which are proximately caused by flooding as defined in paragraph (1)(b) of this definition and are akin to a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.

(2)

The collapse or subsistence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusually high water level in a natural body of water, accompanied by a severe storm, or by an unanticipated force of nature such as flash flood or an abnormal tidal surge, or by some similarly unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in paragraph (1)a. of this definition.

Flood insurance rate map (FIRM) means an official map of a community, on which the administrator has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. A FIRM that has made available digitally is called a digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM).

Flood insurance study (FIS) means an examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation and determination of mudflow and/or flood-related erosion hazards.

Floodplain or flood-prone area means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.

Flood proofing means any combination of structural and non-structural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures and their contents.

Floodway means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one (1) foot.

Floor area, gross, means the sum of areas of the several floors of a building, including areas used for human occupancy in basements, attics, and penthouses, as measured from the exterior faces of the walls. It does not include cellars, unenclosed porches, attics or accessory buildings not used for human occupancy, or any floor space in accessory buildings or in the principal building intended and designed for the parking of motor vehicles in order to meet the parking requirements of this chapter, or any such floor space intended and designed for accessory heating and ventilating equipment. It shall include the horizontal area to each floor level devoted to stairwells, elevator shafts and atriums.

Freeboard. A factor of safety usually expressed in feet above a flood level for purposes of floodplain management. "Freeboard" tends to compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave action, bridge openings, and the hydrological effect of urbanization in the watershed. When a freeboard is included in the height of a structure, the flood insurance premiums will be significantly cheaper.

Highest adjacent grade means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

Historic structure means any structure that is:

(1)

Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;

(2)

Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;

(3)

Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or

(4)

Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:

a.

By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; or

b.

Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

Garage, private, means an accessory building for only the storage of self-propelled vehicles, provided that such storage space does not exceed that required for three (3) vehicles plus one (1) additional vehicle for each family more than one (1) housed on the lot.

Hospital, unless otherwise specified, shall include sanatorium, preventorium, clinic and rest home and shall be limited to a place for the treatment or other care of human ailments.

Hotel means a building, or group of buildings, which contains ten (10) or more guest rooms designed or occupied as a temporary abiding place for individuals who are lodged, with our without meals, for compensation. Provision is not generally made for cooking in individual rooms or suites.

Industrialized building means a combination of one (1) or more sections or modules, subject to the Virginia Uniform Standards Building Code regulations and including the necessary electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating and other service systems, manufactured off-site and transported to the point of use for installation or erection, with or without other specified components to comprise a permanent finished building. All industrialized office buildings must display a registration seal issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development in accordance with 13 VAC5-91-10-270 of the 2006 Virginia Industrialized Building Safety Regulations, as amended. Manufactured homes certified under the provisions of the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards promulgated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shall not be considered industrialized office buildings. (See definition of temporary use contained in this section.)

Junkyard means an open area where wastes or used or secondhand materials are brought, sold, exchanged, stored, processed, or handled. Materials shall include but are not limited to, scrap iron and other metals, paper, rags, rubber tires and bottles. An automobile wrecking yard is also considered a junkyard. (See definition of automobile wrecking yard contained in this section.)

Kennel means an establishment licensed to operate a facility housing dogs, cats or other household pets and where grooming, breeding, boarding, training or selling of animals is conducted as a business.

Kennel, private, means any building or land designed or arranged for the care of dogs or cats belonging to the owner of the principal use, kept for purposes of show, hunting or as pets.

Loading space and loading berth means a space within the main building or on the same lot, providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks.

Lot means land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings together with such open spaces as are required under the terms of this chapter, having its principal frontage on a street and having not less than the minimum area required by this chapter for a lot in the district in which it is situated.

Lowest floor means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access or storage in an area other than a basement area is not considered a building's lowest floor; provided, that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of Federal Code 44CFR §60.3.

Manufactured home means a dwelling unit fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly at the building site; bearing a label certifying that it is built in compliance with the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards promulgated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (see 24 CFR 3280 for legal definition). A manufactured home is not constructed with a permanent hitch or other device allowing transport of the unit other than for the purpose of delivery to a permanent site, and does not have wheels or axles permanently attached to its body or frame. For floodplain management purposes the term "manufactured home" also includes park trailers, travel trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for longer than one hundred eighty (180) consecutive days. Categories of manufactured home dwellings are as follows:

(a)

Conventional—A traditional single or multi-sectional manufactured home constructed after June 15, 1976, that meets or exceeds the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards.

(b)

Emergency—A conventional manufactured home used temporarily for the period of reconstruction or replacement of an uninhabited dwelling lost or destroyed by fire, flood, or act of God or used temporarily as housing relief to victims of a federally declared disaster.

Manufactured home park means a parcel of land under single or common ownership on which three (3) or more manufactured homes are located.

Mobile home means a transportable, factory-built home, designed to be used as a year-round residential dwelling and built prior to enactment of the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, which became effective June 15, 1976. In many cases, mobile homes were built to voluntary industry standards of the American National Standards (ANSI)—A119.1 Standards for Mobile Homes.

Modular home means a dwelling unit constructed on-site in accordance with the 2006 Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, as amended, and composed of components substantially assembled in a manufacturing plant and transported to the building site for final assembly on a permanent foundation. (See definition of industrialized building in this section.)

Motel means a building or group of buildings containing rooming units, each of which maintains a separate entrance. Such building or group of buildings is designed, intended, or used primarily for the accommodation of automobile travelers and provides automobile parking conveniently located on the premises. (See definition of hotel contained within this section.)

New construction.For the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after February 16, 1977 and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management purposes, new construction means structures for which the start of construction commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

100-year flood means a flood that, on the average, is likely to occur once every one hundred (100) years [i.e., that has a one (1) percent chance of occurring each year, although the flood may occur in any year].

Parking space means an all-weather surfaced area not in a street or alley and having an area of not less than one hundred eighty (180) square feet, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one (1) vehicle and connected with a street or alley by a surfaced driveway which affords ingress and egress for an automobile without requiring another automobile to be moved.

Principal building or structure means a building or structure in or on which the primary use of the lot or which the building or structure is located is conducted.

Principal use means the main use of land, buildings or structures as distinguished from a secondary or accessory use.

Recreational vehicle means a vehicle which is:

(a)

Built on a single chassis;

(b)

Four hundred (400) square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;

(c)

Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and

(d)

Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational camping, travel, or seasonal use.

Satellite antenna means a device incorporating a reflective surface that is solid, open mesh, or bar configured and is in the shape of a shallow dish, cone, horn, or cornucopia. Such device shall be used to transmit and/or receive radio or electromagnetic waves between terrestrially and/or orbitally based uses. This definition is meant to include but not be limited to what are commonly referred to as satellite earth stations, TVROs (television reception only satellite dish antennas), and satellite microwave antennas.

Screening means the method by which a view of one site from another adjacent site is shielded, concealed or hidden. Screening techniques include fences, walls, hedges, berms or other features.

Setback means the distance between the right-of-way line of the street and the nearest line of the building.

Shallow flooding area means a special flood hazard area with base flood depths from one to three (3) feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate, and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.

Sign means a structure, display or device that is arranged, intended, or designed or used as an advertisement, announcement, identification, description or direction. (For further definition, refer to Chapter 21 of the City of Norton Code—Signs.)

Sign, accessory. (refer to Chapter 21 of the City of Norton Code—Signs.)

Sign area. (refer to Chapter 21 of the City of Norton Code—Signs.)

Sign, wall. (refer to Chapter 21 of the City of Norton Code—Signs.)

Special exception means a use permissible on appeal that would not be appropriate generally without restriction throughout the zoning district but which, if controlled as to number, area, location, or relation to the neighborhood, would not be detrimental to the public health, safety or general welfare.

Special flood hazard area means the land in the floodplain subject to a one (1) percent or greater chance of being flooded in any given year as determined in Article IV, section 26.1-31-4 of this chapter.

Start of construction. For other than new construction and substantial improvement, under the Coastal Barriers Resource Act (P.L.—97-348), means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, substantial improvement or other improvement was within one hundred eighty (180) days of the permit date. The actual start means either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of the construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

Story means that portion of a building included between the surface of any flood 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. A mezzanine floor shall be counted as a story if it covers more than one-third of the distance from the floor next below it, or if the vertical distance from the floor next below it to the floor next above it is twenty-four (24) feet or more. A basement shall be counted as a story if its ceiling is over five (5) feet above the level from which the height of the building is measured or if it is used for business purposes or if it is used for dwelling purposes by other than a janitor or domestic servants employed in the same building, including the family of the same.

Street means a public or private thoroughfare, which affords the principal means of access to abutting property, including avenue, place, way, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, road and any other thoroughfare except an alley.

Structure means anything constructed or erected on the ground, or attached to the ground, including but not limited to fences, walls, manufactured homes, sheds, buildings and storage tanks.

Substantial damage means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

Substantial improvements means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure either before the improvement or repair or if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. For the purposes of this definition, substantial improvement is considered to occur when the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building commenced, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the structure. This term does not, however, include either:

(a)

Any project for improvement of a structure to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to ensure safe living conditions; or

(b)

Any alteration of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a state inventory of historic places.

Temporary use means a use located for a limited duration in a zoning district that permits such a use.

Trailer court means that area of land on which three (3) or more trailers or mobile homes being used for living purposes are parked.

Trailer mobile home means a vehicle used for living or sleeping purposes and standing or designed to stand on wheels or rigid supports. (See definition of manufactured homes and mobile homes contained in this section.)

Watercourse means any depression serving to give direction to a current of water, having a bed and well-defined banks, where the drainage area above the same is ten (10) acres or more in extent, provided that it shall, upon the rule of order of the planning commission, also include other generally or specifically designated areas where flooding may occur. The flow of water need not be on a continual basis but may be intermittent resulting from surface runoff or rainfall.

Yard means an open space of uniform width or depth on the same lot with a building or group of buildings, which open space lies between the building or group of buildings and the nearest lot line and is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except for certain architectural features specified in section 26.1-13. In measuring a yard or setback distance the line of a building shall be deemed to be a line parallel to the nearest lot line drawn through the point of a building or the point of a group of buildings nearest to such lot line, exclusive of the respective architectural features specified in section 26.1-13 as not to be considered in measuring yard dimensions or as being permitted to extend into any side or rear yard, respectively. The measurement shall be taken at right angles from the line of the building to the nearest lot line or to centerline of street.

Yard, front, means a clear unoccupied space on the same lot with a building, extending across the entire width of the lot and situated between the front line of the building and the front line of the lot.

Yard, rear, means a yard lying between the rear line of the lot and the nearest line of the building and extending across the full width of the lot.

Yard, side, means a yard lying between the side line of the lot and the nearest line of the building and extending from the front yard to the rear yard, or, in the absence of either of such yards, to the front or rear lot lines.

(Ord. of 1-5-16, § 1(Exh. A)