In the interpretation of this chapter the definitions in this section shall be applied, except when the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1.   Words beginning with “A”

   A.   “Accessory use or structure,” means a use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building or land on the same lot or parcel of ground and serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or use of land.

   B.   “Agriculture” means farms and general farming, including horticulture, floriculture, dairying, livestock and poultry raising, farm forestry and other similar enterprises or uses, but no farms shall be operated as piggeries, or for the disposal of garbage, sewage, rubbish, offal or rendering plants or for the slaughtering of animals, except such animals as have been raised on the premises or have been maintained on the premises for the use and consumption of persons residing on the premises.

   C.   “Alley” means any dedicated public way affording a secondary means of vehicular access to abutting property, and not intended for general traffic circulation.

   D.   “Alterations, structural” means any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.

   E.   “Apartment” means a room or suite of rooms used as the dwelling of a family, including bath and culinary accommodations, located in a building in which there is a multiple of these units.

   F.   “Apartment house” means a building arranged, intended, and designed to be occupied by three or more families living independently of each other.

2.   Words beginning with “B”

   A.   “Basement” means that portion of a building which is partly below grade but having more than one-half its height above the average grade of the adjoining ground. For the purpose of this chapter, a basement shall not be considered a story unless designed or used for habitable space or business purposes.

   B.   “Bed and breakfast” or “Air B and B” means a building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by arrangement, lodging is provided.

   C.   “Board” means the Board of Adjustment.

   D.   “Building” means any structure designed or built for the support, enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind.

   E.   “Building, height of” means the vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the average height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

   F.   “Building, main, principal or primary structure” means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.

3.   Words beginning with “C”

   A.   “Care facility” means a State licensed facility with specially qualified staff providing 24-hour room, board, and nursing services under the direction of a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse.

4.   Words beginning with “D”

   A.   “Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof which is designed for and used exclusively for residential purposes.

   B.   “Dwelling, multiple” means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by more than two families living independently of each other.

   C.   “Dwelling, single-family” means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.

   D.   “Dwelling, two-family” means a building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.

5.   Words beginning with “E”

6.   Words beginning with “F”

   A.   “Family” means one or two persons or parents, with their direct lineal descendants and adopted children (and including the domestic employees thereof) together with not more than two persons not so related, living together in the whole or part of a dwelling comprising a single housekeeping unit. Every additional group of two or fewer persons living in such housekeeping unit shall be considered a separate family for the purpose of this chapter.

   B.   “Family home” means a residential facility having 15 beds or less providing 24-hour room, board, personal assistance, and a program of services designed to meet the special needs of mentally or physically disabled persons. The home must be duly approved and licensed as required by applicable State and local regulations.

   C.   “Farm” means an area which is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruits and grain, and their storage on the area, as well as for the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals.

   D.   “Floor area” means the total area of all floors of a building as measured to the outside surfaces of exterior walls and including halls, stairways, elevator shafts, attached garages, porches, and balconies.

   E.   “Frontage” means all the property on one side of a street between two intersecting streets (crossing or terminating), measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead end of the street.

7.   Words beginning with “G”

   A.   “Garage, private” means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of not more than four motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is attached. Not more than one of the vehicles may be a commercial vehicle of not more than two-ton capacity.

   B.   “Garage, public” means a building or portion thereof other than a private or storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, hiring, selling, or storing motor- driven vehicles.

   C.   “Garage, storage” means a building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for term storage by pre-arrangement of motor-driven vehicles, as distinguished from daily storage furnished transients and personal belongings, and at which motor fuels and oils are not sold, and motor-driven vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired, or sold.

   D.   “Garden house” means an accessory structure of not more than 140 square feet in area and having a height of eight feet or less constructed primarily for storage.

   E.   “Grade” means the average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building except when any wall approximately parallels and is not more than five feet from a street line, then the elevation of the street shall be grade. The purpose is to regulate the number of stories and height of a structure.

8.   Words beginning with “H”

   A.   “Home occupation” means an accessory use consisting of an occupation or profession carried on by a person residing on the premises.

9.   Words beginning with “I”

   A.   “Institution” means a building occupied by a non-profit corporation or a non-profit establishment for public use.

10.   Words beginning with “J”

11.   Words beginning with “K”

12.   Words beginning with “L”

   A.   “Loading space” means an off-street space within the main building or on the same lot providing for the standing, loading, or unloading of commercial vehicles, having a minimum dimension of 12 by 35 feet and a vertical clearance of at least 14 feet.

   B.   “Lot” means a parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by one main building together with its accessory buildings officially approved and having its principal frontage upon a dedicated street. The boundaries of the lot shall be determined by its lot lines.

   C.   “Lot, corner” means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersections.

   D.   “Lot, depth of” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

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

   F.   “Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot.

   G.   “Lot lines” means the lines bounding a lot as defined herein:

      (1)   “Front lot line” means, in the case of an interior lot, that line separating said lot from the street. In the case of a corner lot, or double frontage lot, “front lot line” means that line separating said lot from that street which is designated as the front street in the plat and in the application for a zoning compliance permit.

      (2)   “Rear lot line” means that lot line opposite the front lot line. In the case of a lot pointed at the rear, the rear lot line shall be an imaginary line parallel to the front lot line not less than 10 feet long farthest from the lot line and wholly within the lot.

      (3)   “Side lot line” means any lot line other than the front lot line or rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street is a side street lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from another lot or lots is an interior side lot line.

   H.   “Lot of record” means a lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the County Recorder.

   I.   “Lot, reversed corner” means a corner lot, the side street line of which is substantially a continuation of the front line of the first lot to its rear.

   J.   “Lot width” means the width of a lot measured at the building line and at right angles to its depth where the minimum building line or setback intersects the side lot lines.

13.   Words beginning with “M”

   A.   “Main use” means the principal use to which the premises is devoted and the principal purpose for which the premises exists.

   B.   “Manufactured homes” means a vehicle without motive power used, or so originally constructed as to permit it being used, as a conveyance upon the public streets or highways and duly licensed as such, and constructed in such a manner as will permit occupancy thereof for human habitation, dwellings, or sleeping quarters and which is capable of being moved, towed, or transported by another vehicle. This definition also includes and applies to such vehicles or structures that are located on a permanent or temporary foundation.

   C.   “Mobile home park” or “Manufactured home park” means any site, lot, field, or tract of land upon which two or more occupied mobile homes are harbored either free of charge or for revenue purposes and shall include any building, structure, tent, vehicle, or enclosure intended for use as part of the equipment of such mobile home park.

   D.   “Mobile home converted to real estate” means a mobile home which has been attached to a permanent foundation on real estate owned by the mobile homeowner, rendering it totally immobile, and which has been inspected by the assessor, the mobile home vehicle title, registration, and license plates collected from the owner, and the property entered upon the tax rolls of the County.

14.   Words beginning with “N”

   A.   “Nonconforming building” means a building or portion thereof that does not conform to the provisions of this chapter relative to height, bulk, area, or yards for the district in which it is located.

   B.   “Nonconforming use” means a use which lawfully occupied a building or land but does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

   C.   “Nursing home” – see “Care facility.”

15.   Words beginning with “O”

16.   Words beginning with “P”

   A.   “Parking space” means a surfaced area, enclosed in the main building or in an accessory building, or unenclosed, having an area of not less than 180 square feet exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one vehicle and connected with a street or alley by a hard surfaced driveway of which may be gravel meeting minimum requirements which affords satisfactory ingress and egress for vehicles.

   B.   “Place” means an open unoccupied space or a public or private thoroughfare other than a street or alley permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.

   C.   “Plan” means the Comprehensive Plan of the City.

   D.   “Principal use” means the main use of land or structures as distinguished from secondary or accessory use. For example, a house is a principal use in a residential area; a garage or pool is an accessory use.

17.   Words beginning with “Q”

18.   Words beginning with “R”

19.   Words beginning with “S”

   A.   “Salvage yard” means any area where waste, discarded, or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled, or packed, disassembled, or handled, including the dismantling or “wrecking” of automobiles or other machinery, house wrecking yards, used lumber yards and places or yards for storage of salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment; but not including areas where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building.

   B.   “Setback” means the distance required to obtain the front, side or rear yard open space provisions of this chapter.

   C.   “Sign” means any structure or part thereof or device attached thereto or painted, or represented thereon, which displays or includes any letter, word, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device, or representation used as, or which is in the nature of an announcement, direction, or advertisement. The word “sign” includes the word “billboard.”

   D.   “Story” means that portion of a building, other than a basement not having over 50 percent of its height below grade, 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 next above it.

   E.   “Story, half” means a partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than three feet above the floor of such story, except that any partial story used for residence purposes, other than for janitor or caretaker or their family, or by a family occupying the floor immediately below it, shall be deemed a full story.

   F.   “Street” means a public thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

   G.   “Structure” means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, advertising signs, billboards, backstops for tennis courts, gazebos, ground-based satellite dishes, and solar collectors.

20.   Words beginning with “T”

   A.   “Temporary sign” means signs advertising the lease or sale of the premises, the sale of items on the premises, or special events for no longer than 30 days.

   B.   “Travel trailer” or “motor home” means a vehicle with or without motive power used or so manufactured or constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets and highways and so designed to permit the vehicle to be used as a place of human habitation by one or more persons. Said vehicle may be up to eight feet in width and any length provided its length does not exceed 28 feet. If such vehicle shall be customarily or ordinarily used as a place of human habitation for more than 90 days in any 18-month period, it shall be classed as a mobile home, regardless of the size and weight limitation provided herein.

   C.   “Trailer camp” or “tourist camp ground” means an area providing spaces for two or more travel trailers, camping trailers, or tent sites for temporary occupancy, with necessary incidental services, sanitation, and recreation facilities to serve the traveling public.

21.   Words beginning with “U”

22.   Words beginning with “V”

   A.   “Variance” means a modification of the literal provisions of the Zoning Ordinance which would cause undue hardship owing to circumstances unique to the individual property on which the variance is granted. The crucial points of variance are (a) undue hardship, (b) unique circumstances and (c) due to the nature of the property. The authority to grant variances is vested in the Board of Adjustment pursuant to Chapter 414 of the Code of Iowa.

23.   Words beginning with “W”

24.   Words beginning with “X”

25.   Words beginning with “Y”

   A.   “Yard” means an open space between a building and the adjoining lot lines unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard or the depth of the rear yard, the minimum horizontal distance between the lot lines and the main building line shall be used.

   B.   “Yard, front” means a yard extending across the front of a lot and being the minimum horizontal distance between the street or place line and the main building or any projections thereof other than the projections of the usual uncovered steps. On corner lots the front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension, except where the owner elects to front the building on a street parallel to the lot line having the greater dimension.

   C.   “Yard, rear” means a yard extending across the rear of a lot and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building line or any projections thereof other than the projections of uncovered steps. On all lots the rear yard shall be in the rear of the front yard.

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

26.   Words beginning with “Z”