The regulations contained herein are necessary to encourage the most appropriate uses of land; to maintain and stabilize the value of property; to reduce fire hazards and improve public safety and safeguard the public health; to decrease traffic congestion and its accompanying hazards; to prevent undue concentration of population; and to create a comprehensive and stable pattern of land uses upon which to plan for transportation, water supply, sewerage, schools, parks, public utilities and other facilities. In interpreting and applying the provisions of this chapter they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare.

(Ord. No. 2429, § 1(8.101), 11-13-2000)

State Law reference— Similar language, RSMo 89.040.

This chapter classifies and regulates the use of land, buildings and structures within the city limits. The regulations contained herein are necessary to promote the health, safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants by dividing the city into zones and regulating therein the use of the land and the use and size of buildings as to height and number of stories, the coverage of the land by buildings, the size of yards and open spaces, density of population and location of buildings.

(Ord. No. 2429, § 1(8.102), 11-13-2000)

This chapter shall be a part of the comprehensive plan for the city.

(Ord. No. 2429, § 1(8.100), 11-13-2000)

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 means a building customarily incidental and subordinate to the main building and located on the same lot with the main building.

Accessory use means a use customarily incidental, appropriate and subordinate to the principal use of land or buildings located upon the same premises.

Advertising sign or structure means any cloth, card, paper, metal, painted, glass, wooden, plastic, plaster, stone sign or other sign, device or structure of any character whatsoever, including statuary, placed for outdoor advertising purposes on the ground or on any tree, wall, bush, rock, post, fence, building or structure.

(1)

The term "placed" includes erecting, constructing, posting, painting, printing, tacking, nailing, gluing, sticking, carving or otherwise fastening, affixing or making visible in any manner whatsoever.

(2)

The area of an advertising structure other than a sign shall be determined as the area of the largest cross-section of such structure.

(3)

Neither directional, warning nor other signs posted by public officials in the course of their public duties nor merchandise or materials being offered for sale shall be construed as advertising signs for the purpose of this definition.

Alley means a public passage or way affording a secondary means of vehicular access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Apartment house or multiple-family dwelling means a single detached dwelling designed for and occupied by three or more families living independently of each other as separate housekeeping units, including apartment houses, apartment hotels and flats but not including auto or trailer courts or camps, hotels or resort-type hotels.

Banking institution means a business licensed by the state or federal government to receive deposits, make loans or market securities.

Basement means a story partly or wholly underground. For purposes of height measurement, a basement shall be counted as a story when more than one-half of its height is above the average level of the adjoining ground or when subdivided and used for commercial or dwelling purposes by other than a janitor employed on the premises.

Bed and breakfast facilities means a home occupation wherein a maximum of four guest rooms are let for transient guests to stay for a period of time not to exceed 31 days each.

Boardinghouse means a dwelling other than a hotel where, for compensation and by pre-arrangement for definite periods, meals or lodging and meals are provided for three or more persons.

Building means any structure intended for shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattel. When separated by dividing walls without openings, each portion of such structure so separated, shall be deemed a separate structure.

Building height means the vertical distance from the average line of the highest and lowest points of that portion of the lot covered by the building to the highest point of coping of a flat roof or the deckline of a mansard roof or to the average height of the highest gable of a pitch or hip roof.

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 a main building on the lot on which it is situated.

Building site means a single parcel of land under one ownership, occupied or intended to be occupied by a building or structure.

Child care center means any place, home or institution which receives five or more children under the age of 16 years and not of common parentage, for care apart from their natural parents, legal guardians or custodians, when received for regular periods of time for compensation; provided, however, the term "child care center" shall not include public and private schools organized, operated or approved under the law of the state, custody or children fixed by a court of competent jurisdiction, children related by blood or marriage within the third degree to the custodial person or to churches or other religious or public institutions caring for children within the institutional building while their parents or legal guardians are attending services or meetings or classes or engaged in church activities.

Convenience store means a retail store with a limited selection of packaged food, drugstore and household items, open more than 12 hours per day to shoppers.

Coverage means the percentage of the lot area covered by the building. The building area shall include all overhanging roofs.

Day care means a use that provides care, protection and supervision for individuals on a regular basis away from their primary residence for less than 24 hours per day.

Day care, commercial, means a facility other than a residence designed for the care of more than ten individuals, whether children or adults. The term "commercial day care" includes nursery schools, preschools, day care centers for children or adults and similar uses but excludes public and private or secondary educational facilities.

Day care, general, means a day care establishment conducted in a private residence that provides care, protection and supervision for seven to ten individuals at any one time, excluding those persons related to and residing in the home of the day care provider.

Day care, limited, means a day care establishment conducted in a private residence that provides care, protection and supervision for six or fewer individuals at any one time, excluding those persons related to and residing in the home of the day care provider.

District means any section for which regulations governing the use of buildings and premises or the height and area of buildings are uniform.

Dwelling means any building or portion thereof, which is designated or used as living quarters for one or more families but not including house trailers.

Dwelling, multiple, means a dwelling designed for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other, exclusive of auto or trailer courts or camps, hotels or resort-type hotels.

Dwelling, single-family, means a dwelling designed to be occupied by one family.

Dwelling, two-family, means a dwelling designed to be occupied by two families living independently of each other.

Easement means a grant by the property owner to the public, a corporation or persons, for the use of a strip of land for specific purposes which shall be maintained free of buildings, structures or fences (unless such fences are constructed with a gate so as to permit free access to such easement).

Essential services means underground, surface or overhead electrical, gas, water or waste water transmission and collection systems, together with equipment directly connected to the transmission or collection system.

Family means one or more persons related by blood or marriage, including adopted children or a group of not to exceed five persons (excluding servants) not all related by blood or marriage, occupying premises and living as a single nonprofit housekeeping unit as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse or lodginghouse, hotel, club or similar dwelling for group use. The term "family" includes domestic servants employed by the family.

Family day care home means a family home, occupied by the day care provider, in which family-like care is given to four persons or less, not related to the day care provider, for any part of the 24-hour day.

Garage apartment means a dwelling unit for one family erected above a private garage.

Garage, private, means an accessory building or part of a main building used for storage purposes only for not more than three automobiles or for a number of automobiles which does not exceed 1.5 times the number of families occupying the dwelling unit to which such garage is accessory, whichever number is the greater. Such space shall not be used for storage of more than one commercial vehicle which does not exceed 1.5 tons rated capacity, per family living on the premises and not to exceed two spaces shall be rented to persons not residing on the premises for storage of noncommercial passenger vehicles only.

Garage, public, means any garage other than a private garage, available to the public, used for the care, servicing, repair or equipping of automobiles or where such vehicles are parked or stored for remuneration, hire or sale.

Gasoline or automobile service station means any area of land, including structures thereon, that is used for the sale of gasoline or oil fuels but not butane or propane fuels or other automobile accessories and which may or may not include facilities for lubricating, washing, cleaning or otherwise servicing automobiles but not including the painting thereof.

Group home means any home in which eight or fewer residents plus two additional individuals acting as house parents reside in accordance with RSMo 89.020.2 and 89.020.6.

Guest room means any room or unit where sleeping accommodations are regularly furnished to the public.

Help-yourself laundry means a laundry providing home type washing, drying and ironing machines for hire to be used by the customers on the premises.

Home occupation means any occupation or profession carried on by the inhabitants which is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes, which does not change the character thereof and which is conducted entirely within the main or accessory buildings, provided that no trading in merchandise is carried on and in connection with which there is no display of merchandise or sign other than one non-illuminated nameplate not more than two square feet in area attached to the main or accessory building and no mechanical equipment is used or activity is conducted which creates any noise, dust, odor or electrical disturbance beyond the confines of the lot on which the occupation is conducted. The conducting of a beauty or barbershop, tea room or restaurant, rest home, clinic, doctor or dentist office, child care center or cabinet, metal or auto repair shop shall not be deemed a home occupation.

Hotel means a building or group of buildings under one ownership containing six or more sleeping rooms occupied, intended or designed to be occupied as the more or less temporary abiding place of persons who are lodged with or without meals for compensation but not including an auto or trailer court or camp, sanitarium, hospital, asylum orphanage or building where persons are housed under restraint.

Kennel means any lot or premises on which four or more dogs, more than six months of age are kept.

Land development plan means a scaled graphical depiction of a proposed project, bearing all requirements of this chapter and including boundary lines and setbacks.

Livestock means animals that may be harbored or raised to provide various types of labor, food or fiber (e.g., feathers, fur, hides, wool) for the benefit of humans or other animals. Livestock species include, but are not limited to, horses, mares, mules, jacks, jennies, colts, cows, calves, yearlings, bulls, oxen, sheep, goats, lambs, kids, hogs, shoats, pigs and poultry.

Lot means any plot of land occupied or intended to be occupied by one building or a group of buildings and its accessory buildings and uses, including such open spaces as required by this chapter and other laws or ordinances and having its principal frontage on a street.

Lot area means the total horizontal area included within lot lines.

Lot, corner, means a lot of which at least two adjacent sides abut for their full lengths on a street, provided that the interior angle at the intersection of such two sides is less than 135 degrees.

Lot depth means the average distance from the street line of the lot to its rear line, measured in the general direction of the side lines of the lot.

Lot, double frontage, means a lot having a frontage on two non-intersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.

Lot frontage means that dimension of a lot or portion of a lot abutting on a street, excluding the side dimension of a corner lot.

Lot, interior, means a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot lines means the lines bounding a lot.

Manufactured home means a factory-built structure which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length or when erected on site, contains 320 or more square feet, equipped with the necessary service connections and made so as to be readily movable as a unit on its own running gear and designed to be used as a dwelling unit with or without a permanent foundation. The phrase "without a permanent foundation" indicates that the support system is constructed with the intent that the manufactured home placed thereon may be moved from time to time at the convenience of the owner.

Medical facilities.

(1)

Convalescent, rest or nursing home means a health facility where persons are housed and furnished with meals and continuing nursing care for compensation.

(2)

Dental clinic or medical clinic means a facility for the examination and treatment of ill and afflicted human outpatients; provided, however, that patients are not kept overnight except under emergency conditions.

(3)

Dental office or doctor's office means the same as dental or medical clinic.

(4)

Hospital means an institution providing health services primarily for human inpatient medical or surgical care for the sick or injured and including related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient departments, training facilities, central service facilities and staff offices which are an integral part of the facilities.

(5)

Public health center means a facility primarily utilized by a health unit for the provisions of public health services, including related facilities such as laboratories, clinics and administrative offices operated in connection therewith.

(6)

Sanitarium means an institution providing health facilities for inpatient medical treatment or treatment and recuperation using natural therapeutic agents.

Mobile home means a transportable, factory-built home designed to be used as a residential dwelling and built prior to the enactment of the Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, 42 USC 5401 et seq.

Mobile home park means any development, site, parcel or tract of land designed, maintained or intended to be used for the purpose of providing long term accommodation of more than 30 days for placement of two or more mobile homes and shall include all buildings used or maintained for the use of the residents of the development.

Modular unit means a transportable building unit designed to be used by itself or to be incorporated with similar units at a point-of-use into a modular structure to be used for residential, commercial, educational or industrial purposes. The term "modular unit" shall not apply to structures under 650 square feet used temporarily and exclusively for construction site office purposes.

Motel or motor hotel means an area containing one or more structures designed or intended to be used as temporary sleeping facilities of one or more transient families and intended primarily for automobile transients.

Municipal building means a structure used for commercial activity that consists of administrative, clerical or professional activities.

Nonconforming use means a structure or land lawfully occupied by a use that does not conform to the regulations of the district in which it is situated.

Nursinghome means a structure licensed by the state to provide full time skilled nursing, convalescent or rehabilitation care to individuals who are unable to care for themselves.

Office building means a structure used for commercial activity that consists of administrative, clerical or professional activities.

Parking lot means a site used for parking more than six vehicles to include driveways, maneuvering space, loading berths and similar spaces but not a driveway approach as defined in the most recent edition of the American Public Works Association standards.

Parking space means an area within a parking lot designated for parking a single vehicle and does not include maneuvering space, driveway or approach.

Restaurant means a structure where food or meals are prepared on the premises for consumption on the premises.

Roominghouse means a building where lodging only is provided for compensation to three or more but not exceeding 40 persons all in excess of this number shall be defined as a hotel under the terms of this chapter.

Specialty retail means an establishment devoted exclusively to the sale of high quality merchandise including one or more of the following: art and photography, antiques, books, boutique items, candies, cards and stationary, cut or dried flowers, handicrafts, homemade/gourmet foods, baked goods, ice cream, interior decorator items, leather goods, men's, women's or children's apparel, smoking products.

Story means that portion of a building, other than a basement, 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 above it.

Story, half, means a space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three feet above the top floor level and in which space not more than two-thirds of the floor area is finished off for use. A half-story containing independent apartment or living quarters shall be counted as a full story.

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

Street, intersecting, means any street that joins another street at an angle, whether or not it crosses the other.

Structural alterations mean any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls.

Structure means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attached to something having a location on the ground.

Travel trailer means a portable vehicular unit designed and intended to be used for temporary short-term occupancy and for frequent and extensive travel use. Examples of travel trailers would include campers, motor homes, converted buses and other similar units, whether they are self-propelled, pulled or can be hauled without a special permit.

Travel trailer camp means any development, site, parcel or tract of land designed, maintained or intended to be used for the purpose of providing short-term accommodation up to and including 30 days or less for placement of two or more travel trailer units and shall include all buildings used or maintained for the use of the occupants in the trailer camp.

Tree means any object of natural growth.

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 where otherwise specifically provided in this chapter that an accessory building may be located in a portion of a yard required for a main building. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of the side yard, the depth of a front yard or the depth of a rear yard, the least horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.

Yard, front, means a yard located in front of the front elevation of a building and extending across a lot between the side yard lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the front property line and the main building or any projection thereof, other than steps.

Yard, rear, means a yard extending across the rear of a lot measured between lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building or any projections other than steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches. On corner lots the rear yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension. On both corner lots and interior lots the rear yard shall in all cases be at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard.

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

(Ord. No. 2429, § 1(8.105), 11-13-2000; Ord. No. 2799, § 1, 10-12-2010; Ord. No. 2837, § 1, 1-9-2012; Ord. No. 2871, § 1(8.105), 11-25-2013)

RSMo 89.130 shall apply in the event of conflict in the standards and specifications provided under RSMo ch. 89 and in this chapter.

(a)

No building shall be erected, converted, enlarged, reconstructed or structurally altered, nor shall any building or land be used except for a purpose permitted in the district in which the building or land is located.

(b)

No building shall be erected, converted, enlarged, reconstructed or structurally altered to exceed the height limit herein established for the district in which the building is located.

(c)

No building shall be erected, converted, enlarged, reconstructed or structurally altered except in conformity with the area regulations of the district in which the building is located.

(d)

The density and yard regulations of this chapter are minimum regulations for every building existing at the effective date of this article and for any building hereafter erected or structurally altered. No land required for yards or other open spaces about an existing building hereafter erected or structurally altered shall be considered a yard or lot area for more than one primary building.

(e)

Every building hereafter erected or structurally altered shall be located on a lot, as herein defined, and in no case shall there be more than one primary building on a lot except as otherwise provided in this article.

(f)

No building shall be erected or structurally altered to the extent specifically provided hereinafter except in conformity with the off-street parking and loading regulations of this chapter.

(g)

Co-operations, condominiums and all other forms of property ownership do not affect the provisions of these regulations and all requirements shall be observed as though the property were under single ownership.

(h)

All mobile homes and manufactured homes without permanent foundation shall be located within a mobile home park that has received a conditional use permit. No mobile home or manufactured home without permanent foundation outside an approved mobile home park shall be connected to utilities except those being offered for sale and not inhabited or approved for temporary use. (Exception: Mobile homes of any installation or manufactured homes not placed upon a permanent foundation, legally placed outside an approved mobile home park and inhabited prior to the passage of this regulation.)

(i)

The building fronts of all new residential structures shall be oriented towards the front of the lot. Front of lot shall be considered to be that side of the lot which fronts on a street. In the case of a corner lot, unless specifically noted otherwise on the final plat, the narrowest side fronting on the street shall be considered the front of the lot. In case the corner lot has equal frontage on two or more streets, unless specifically noted otherwise on the final plat, the lot shall be considered to front on that street with the greatest number of lots fronting between the closest intersecting streets.

(Ord. No. 2429, § 1(8.103), 11-13-2000; Ord. No. 2634, § 1, 3-13-2006)