For the purposes of this chapter, certain words or terms are defined as follows:

Accessory use or building means a use or building customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or building and located on the same lot with such principal use or building.

Boardinghouse or roominghouse means any dwelling in which three or more persons either individually or as families are housed for hire with or without meals.

Buffer strip, planted, means a strip of land along a property line reserved for screening purposes from adjoining properties or public rights-of-way and planted with trees and/or shrubs in such a manner as to provide such screening.

Building means any structure attached to the ground and intended for shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels. The term "building" includes the term "structure."

Business sign means an attached or free-standing structure on which is announced the business use of the premises and/or the name of the operator of the business.

Centerline of street means the line surveyed and monumented by the council as such or, if a centerline has not been surveyed and monumented, it shall be that line running midway between the outside curbs or ditches of the streets.

Dwelling means a building designated or used for permanent living quarters for one or more families.

Dwelling unit means a dwelling or portion thereof providing permanent living quarters for one or more persons living as a single housekeeping unit.

Family means one or more persons occupying a dwelling unit and living as a single housekeeping unit.

Front yard means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a principal building, extending the full width of the lot and located between the street line and the front line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot.

Lot means a parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by one or more buildings and the accessory buildings or uses customarily incidental to it, including such open spaces as are required by this article. The term "lot" includes the term "parcel."

Lot area means the total area, measured on a horizontal plane, included within the lot lines.

Lot width means the distance between the side boundaries of the lot measured at the front building line.

Major street means a street designated as a major street on the Future Land Use Plan of the City of Oglethorpe, Georgia.

Map or zoning map refers to the Zoning Districts Map of the City of Oglethorpe, Georgia.

Mobile home. See Trailer home, Mobile home, or House trailer.

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

Outdoor advertising sign means an attached or freestanding structure conveying some information, knowledge, or idea to the public.

Rear yard means a yard extending across the rear of a lot measured between the lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the outside wall of the main building. 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.

Secondary street means a street or highway designated as a secondary street on the Future Land Use Plan of the City of Oglethorpe, Georgia.

Side yard means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a principal building located between the side of the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard.

Structure means anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to something located on the ground.

Trailer home, mobile home, orhouse trailer means a portable or mobile dwelling unit designed for longterm occupancy and mounted on wheels or designed to be so mounted and transported.

Trailer park means a lot, portion or parcel of land designed for or which is intended to be used commercially for accommodation of two or more residential trailers.

Used or occupied, as applied to any land or building, shall be construed to include the term "intended," or "arranged," or "designed to be used or occupied."

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, art. III)

This chapter is enacted for the purpose of:

(1)

Promoting the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and the general welfare of the city;

(2)

Lessening congestion in the streets, securing safety from fire, panic and other dangers;

(3)

Providing adequate light and air;

(4)

Preventing the overcrowding of land;

(5)

Avoiding undue concentration of population;

(6)

Facilitating the adequate provisions of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements;

(7)

Promoting desirable living conditions and the sustained stability of neighborhoods;

(8)

Protecting property against blight and depreciation;

(9)

Conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land and other buildings and structures throughout the municipality;

all in accordance with a comprehensive plan. The city council does ordain and enact into law this chapter.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, art. I)

Whenever the regulations of this chapter require more restrictive standards than are required in or under any other statute, the requirements of this chapter shall govern. Whenever the provisions of any other statute require more restrictive standards than are required by this chapter, the provisions of such statute shall govern.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, art. XV, § 151)

(a)

This zoning chapter may be amended from time to time, but no amendment shall become effective unless it shall have been proposed by or shall have first been submitted to the planning commission for review and recommendation. The planning commission shall have 30 days within which to submit a report. If the planning commission fails to submit a report within the 30-day period it shall be deemed to have approved the proposed amendment. These amendments should relate to the comprehensive plan and the general welfare of the community.

(b)

Before enacting an amendment to this chapter, the mayor and council shall hold a public hearing thereon, at least 15 days' notice of the time and place of which shall be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, art. XIV)

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

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, art. V, § 51)

No building or structure shall hereafter be erected, constructed, reconstructed, or altered to:

(1)

Exceed the height limits;

(2)

House a greater number of families or occupy a smaller lot area per family; or

(3)

Have narrower or smaller front, side, or rear yards than are herein required.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, art. V, § 52)

No lot, even though it may consist of one or more adjacent lots in the same ownership at the time of passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived shall be reduced in size so that lot width or size of yards or lot area per family or any other requirements of this chapter is not maintained. This section shall not apply when a portion of a lot is acquired for public use.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, § 53)

No part of a yard or other open space of the off-street parking or loading space required adjacent to any building, for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this chapter, shall be included as a part of the yard or off-street parking or loading space required for another building.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, § 54)

Only one principal building and its customary accessory buildings may hereafter be erected on any one lot.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, § 55)

No building shall be erected on a lot which does not abut for at least 25 feet on a public street.

(Ord. of 11-25-1974, § 56)

No structure which originated in manufacture as a portable or storage building or that of a similar descriptive term, and which leaves its original manufacturing facility devoid of those components such as, but not limited to, plumbing, wiring, sanitary fixtures, etc., the inclusion of which are required in order to meet standards set forth in local, state, Federal, or International building codes for dwelling structures, can be in any way changed, modified, adapted or otherwise amended in any manner, to be used at any time as a primary dwelling. Portable or mobile office buildings, manufactured with the inclusion of wiring, plumbing, sanitary fixtures, etc., shall fall under the same classification as house trailers, mobile homes, and double or triple-wide homes, and shall be subject to the same zoning restrictions.

(Ord. of 10-15-2020)