Council finds that the City Planning Commission has certified to Council a plan for the districting or zoning of the City according to the use, height, bulk, location, percentage of lot occupancy, setback building lines, areas of yards, courts and other open spaces of buildings and other structures and the uses of premises. Council further finds that the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity and general welfare will be promoted by the regulations and restrictions hereinafter enacted, and the division of the City into districts hereinafter created, which districts are deemed best suited to carry out the purposes for which they are authorized by law to be created.

(Ord. 1963-59. Passed 11-20-63.)

   The provisions of this Zoning Code shall be held to be minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare.

   This Zoning Code shall not interfere with, repeal, abrogate or annul any existing provisions of law or ordinance or any rules or regulations previously adopted or issued or which may hereinafter be adopted and issued pursuant to law relating to the use of buildings or premises, nor shall this Zoning Code interfere with, abrogate or annul any private easements, covenants, agreements or restrictions. However, where this Zoning Code imposes greater restrictions on use or heights, or requires larger lots or yards than are otherwise imposed or required, the terms of this Zoning Code shall prevail.

(Ord. 1963-59. Passed 11-20-63.)

   Nothing contained in this Zoning Code shall require any change in the plans, construction or designated use of a building completed at the time of passage of this Zoning Code (Ordinance 1963-59, passed November 20, 1959), and all amendments thereto, codified herein as Title Six of this Planning and Zoning Code, or for which a permit has been issued before the passage of this Zoning Code, and construction of which is begun within thirty days of the issuance of such permit, diligently prosecuted to its completion and completed according to the plans and descriptions on which the permit was issued, within one year of the issuance of the permit.

(Ord. 1963-59. Passed 11-20-63.)

   (a)   Council may, on its own motion or on petition, after the public notice and hearing required by Section 1260.07 hereof, amend this Zoning Code, provided that no such amendment shall be passed unless the ordinance enacting such amendment:

      (1)   Has first been submitted to the Planning Commission for its consideration, and until the Commission has been allowed a reasonable time, not less than thirty (30) days, for report; except that any amendment ordinance submitted to Council by the Commission may be passed without further reference to such Commission;

      (2)   Is not passed as an emergency measure and does not take effect until at least thirty (30) days after its final passage by Council; and

      (3)   Receives the affirmative vote of at least five (5) members of Council.

   (b)   No ordinance or resolution which lessens the use, height, or area restrictions to which a zoning district is subject under this Zoning Code or which amends the Zone Map of the City of Pepper Pike shall go into effect unless first submitted to a vote of the electors upon referendum and approved by a majority of the electors voting on such issued.

   Should any section or provision of this Zoning Code, or any district or building line or portion thereof, be declared unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause, the validity of such Zoning Code as a whole, or of any part thereof, shall not be affected by such declaration.

(Ord. 1963-59. Passed 11-20-63.)

   As used in this Zoning Code, words used in the present tense include the future, the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular. In addition:

   (a)   "Accessory use or building" means:

      (1)   "Accessory building" means a building that is:

         A.   Subordinate in purpose to the principal building;

         B.   Customarily incident to the use of the principal building;

         C.   Located on the same lot or parcel with the principal building; and

         D.   Approved as an accessory building by the Planning Commission.

      (2)   "Accessory use" means a use that is:

         A.   Subordinate in purpose to and primarily services the principal use;

         B.   Customarily incident to the principal use;

         C.   Located on the same lot or parcel as the principal use; and

         D.   Approved as an accessory use by the Planning Commission.

   (b)   "Building" includes "structure."

   (c)   "Building line," also referred to as "front yard line" and "setback line" means a line parallel with and measured from the right-of-way line of the street defining the limits of the front yard within which no building, structure, or portion thereof may be erected above the established grade except as otherwise expressly provided herein.

   (d)   "Church" see "places of worship."

   (e)   "Clubhouse" means a building or buildings operated by a private membership organization primarily to provide social and recreational services for its members, and where the principal use and operation is not for the purpose of conducting any trade or business.

   (f)   "Commission" means the City Planning Commission and all officers, boards or commissions succeeding by law or ordinance to any of its powers or duties.

   (g)   "Community center" means a building open to the public and used for community events of an educational, recreational, or public service nature but not for the principal purpose of conducting any trade or business.

   (h)   "Day school" means buildings used for educational purposes by either:

      (1)   An institution of higher learning, such as a college or university, providing recognized academic degrees and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges or successor organization for undergraduate or graduate students. Degree programs may include associate's degrees, bachelor degrees, master's degrees and doctorates; or

      (2)   An educational institution chartered by the Ohio Board of Regents or conforming to the minimum standards prescribed by the State Board of Education and any private or parochial educational institution certified by the Ohio Department of Education that offers state approved courses of instruction. It does not include commercial schools intended to provide students job training for a trade or business or training in specialized athletic or physical skills.

   (i)   "Dwelling unit" means one or more connected rooms constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment containing independent cooking, bathing, toilet, and sleeping facilities for an individual or group of individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit, and which is physically separated and inaccessible from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure.

   (j)   "Established grade" means the elevation of the street curb as fixed by the City.

   (k)   "Gross floor area" means the horizontal area of all floors contained within the interior wall faces of the perimeter walls of a building excluding basements and garages.

   (l)   "Height of a building" means the vertical distance measured from the established grade, or the natural grade if higher than the established grade, to the highest point of the coping of the street wall for flat roofs, to the deck line for mansard roofs, and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, gambrel or hip roofs.

   (m)   "Inspector of Buildings" includes all persons succeeding him or her, by whatever title known, in the duties and powers provided for him or her in this Zoning Code.

   (n)   "Least dimension of a yard" means the least of the horizontal dimensions of such yard. If two opposite sides of a yard are not parallel, the horizontal dimensions between them shall be deemed to be the mean distance between them.

   (o)   "Library" means a building with a curated collection of sources of information and similar resources made accessible either physically or digitally for reference or borrowing.

   (p)   "Livable area" means the horizontal area of usable and habitable space within a dwelling unit and is measured from the interior wall faces of the dwelling unit. In order to qualify as livable floor area, the sidewalls shall have a minimum height of seven feet on the first floor and five feet on the second floor and the window area shall be a minimum of ten percent of the livable floor area.

   (q)   "Lot" includes "plot" and means a parcel of land occupied by one building and the accessory buildings or uses customarily incident to it, including such open spaces as are required by this Code and such open spaces as are arranged and designed to be used in connection with such building.

   (r)   "Main building" means the building or space occupied by the principal use or activity on the premises.

   (s)   "Multi-family dwelling" means a building consisting of three or more dwelling units with varying arrangements of entrances and party walls.

   (t)   "Natural grade" means the elevation of the undisturbed natural surface of the ground adjoining the building.

   (u)   "Nonconforming use" means a use of a building that does not comply with the regulations of the use district in which it is located.

   (v)   "Notice" means a written announcement to the person left at his or her usual residence, including delivery by registered mail, a reasonable time, not less than five days, before the event or action to which it refers.

   (w)   "Open space" means areas of land and/or water that are not improved with structures or pavement. "Open space" includes:

      (1)   Natural areas that are, or which are left to become and remain undisturbed and unimproved;

      (2)   Landscaped and lawn areas which are completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs, or other vegetation or which contain plazas, fountains, ponds, trails, and similar features designed for passive enjoyment or recreation including some hardscape improvements and/or furnishings such as walkways, benches, picnic tables, or unenclosed gazebos or shelters;

      (3)   Landscape buffers, which may include areas of natural land, fencing, walls, mounding, and screening vegetation; and

      (4)   Areas designed for active recreation such as playing fields, playgrounds, and community gardens, but not including stadiums or similar structures designed to accommodate spectators.

      "Open space" shall not include streets, driveways, parking areas, de minimis or isolated strips of land, or required minimum setbacks between buildings and street rights-of-way.

   (x)   "Places of worship" means buildings or land, including, but not limited to, churches, synagogues, mosques, or temples, and designed and used for religious worship.

   (y)   "Public notice" means notice given by publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City and posting on the City's web site, not less than thirty days before the event or action to which it refers.

   (z)   "Single-family attached dwelling" means a building containing more than one dwelling unit where each dwelling unit has a separate access directly to the outside and where the dwelling units in the building are located side by side and are physically separated and inaccessible from each other by means of one or more common walls extending from the ground to the roof.

   (aa)   "Single family dwelling" or "single-family detached dwelling" means a free-standing building containing a single dwelling unit designed for or used for residence purposes by a single housekeeping unit.

   (bb)   "Single housekeeping unit" means:

      (1)   An individual or group of individuals related by blood, marriage or adoption; or

      (2)   A group of individuals who live as the "functional equivalent of a family." In determining whether a group of individuals constitutes the functional equivalent of a family, the Building Inspector shall consider whether:

         A.   The individuals live as a single, cohesive household sharing full access to the entire premises of the dwelling;

         B.   The individuals have previously resided together as a single cohesive household on a continuing basis, which fact may be demonstrated by proof of co-residency by the individuals at one or more locations prior to residing at the current location;

         C.   The individuals have established the dwelling as their permanent residence.

      (3)   "Single housekeeping unit" does not include:

         A.   Occupancy in any boarding house, hotel, lodging house, dormitory, fraternity house, sorority house or similar occupancy arrangement that customarily provides commercial, institutional or social housing for individuals who are not related by blood, marriage or adoption or are not the functional equivalent of a family as defined in this section; or

         B.   Occupancy in any dwelling by more than four unrelated adults; or

         C.   Occupancy by one or more individuals who have a right to occupy the dwelling or a portion of the dwelling as a boarder, lodger, room renter, sublessee or any other right of occupancy which is separate and not as part of a single cohesive household.

   (cc)   "Street" includes all public highways and all privately owned streets on which any sublot in a recorded subdivision has a frontage.

   (dd)   "Street line" means the lot line dividing the lot from the street.

   (ee)   "Yard" means an existing or required space on the same lot with the main building and lying along the adjacent lot line open and unobstructed from the ground to the sky, except as otherwise provided herein.

      (1)   "Front yard" means a yard across the full width of the lot extending from a building or front yard line to the street line.

      (2)   "Side yard" means the yard along the sideline of a lot and extending from the front yard or lot line to the rear or lot line.

      (3)   "Rear yard" means a yard across the full width of the lot immediately in the rear of the main building.

   (ff)   "Zone Map" means the map of the City herein adopted and made a part of this Code, and all additions, corrections or substitutions hereafter made.

   (gg)   "Zoning Code" means Ordinance 1963-59, passed November 20, 1963, as amended, codified herein as Title Six of this Part Twelve - the Planning and Zoning Code.

(Ord. 2020-25. Passed 12-23-20.)

   (a)   Before any ordinance or amendment thereto authorized by Chapters 1260 to 1272, inclusive, may be passed, Council shall hold a public hearing thereon, and shall give at least thirty (30) days’ notice of the time and place thereof in a newspaper of general circulation in the City and by ordinary mail, electronic communication or such other method as is reasonably likely to provide actual notice to persons who have requested such notice.

   (b)   If the ordinance, measure or regulation intends to rezone or redistrict land, written notice of the hearing shall be mailed by the Clerk of Council by first-class, certified mail, return receipt requested, at least twenty (20) days before the date of the public hearing, to the owners of property within and contiguous to and directly across the street from such parcel or parcels, to the addresses of such owners appearing on the County Auditor’s current tax list or the Treasurer’s mailing list, and to such other list or lists as may be specified by Council. The failure of delivery of such notice shall not invalidate any such ordinance, measure or regulation.

   (c)   During the applicable notice period, the text or a copy of the text of such ordinance, together with maps or plans, or copies thereof, forming part of or referred to in such ordinance, and the maps, plans and reports submitted by the Planning Commission, shall be on file for public examination in the office of the Clerk of Council or in such office as is designated by Council.

(Ord. 2013-10. Passed 9-25-13.)