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 dwelling unit, a secondary dwelling unit, either in, added to, or detached from an existing single-family residence, for use as a complete, independent living, dwelling unit.

Accessory use or building means a use or building which is customarily and clearly incidental and secondary in aspects such as size, scale, and use, but is consistent with the main use to which the property is put.

Administrator shall be the city manager or his designated appointee.

Bar means a facility for the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages on premises and includes taverns, saloons, lounges, pubs.

Bed and breakfast means a house located in a short-term rental district, where no more than five (5) rooms or ten (10) guests are provided for short-term lodging, and where breakfast-only meals are provided but limited to the bed and breakfast's overnight guests.

Bedroom. See "sleeping room."

Bedroom unit is any room in a dwelling unit in which fixtures or furnishings are provided for sleeping. This shall not be interpreted to include a room in which furniture such as fold-down beds or convertible couches are provided on a permanent basis for regular accommodation of residents, temporary or otherwise.

Commercial use or establishment is an establishment or use offering for sale, rent or lease any type of consumer goods or services on a retail/wholesale basis.

Condominium means a real estate project, a plan or development created and governed under V.T.C.A., Property Code, ch. 81 and/or ch. 82, as a condominium regime or project.

Density is the quantity or number of units per ground area.

District is a section of the city for which regulations governing use of land and buildings are uniform.

Duplex (two-family dwelling) means a residential building containing two (2) dwelling units under a single roof and situated on a single lot.

Dwelling unit means one (1) room, or rooms within the same structure connected together, constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment containing living, kitchen, sleeping, and sanitation facilities, and physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure.

Full shielded light fixtures means light fixtures shielded or constructed so that no light rays are emitted by the installed fixture at angles above the horizontal plane as certified by a photometric test as defined by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), the bulb is not visible with a shielded light fixture, and no light is emitted from the sides of the fixture. Also considered a "full cut-off fixture."

Green space means open land area upon which there is no impermeable surface. Green space includes, by way of illustration and not limitation, land area which is bare, or planted in grass, bushes, trees, shrubs, flowers, ivies, cactus, or other living plant life, landscaped with rocks or gravel, xeriscaped, or sodded, and it may include ponds, provided the pond or ponds do not exceed twenty-five (25) percent of the required green space. No area which is impermeably surfaced may be included as part of green space, including, by way of illustration and not limitation, walk-ways, parking areas or drives, streets, roads, driveways, buildings, a gazebo with a bare ground floor but roof designed to shed water, etc.

Height is the vertical distance of a building, excluding chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, tanks, water towers, radio towers, ornamental cupolas, domes or spires and parapet walls not exceeding four (4) feet in height, measured from the average building site elevation to: the highest point of the roof's surface is a flat surface; or to the deck line of mansard roofs; or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for hip and gable roofs.

High rise building means a multi family dwelling which consists of four (4) or more liveable stories.

Home occupation is an occupation or profession which meets the following requirements: it is carried on inside and is limited to a building used as a residence; the activity is clearly incidental and secondary to the dwelling use; it is carried on by a person who lives on the premises; not more than one (1) person not residing on the premises may be engaged in the activity; no commodity may be sold at retail on the premises; no advertising signs or displays visible from outside the premises shall be allowed, except one (1) painted or printed, non-electrified, sign, not exceeding four (4) square feet in surface area and which must be affixed to a wall of the building; off-street parking must be provided; the business shall not generate any substantial volume of vehicular or pedestrian traffic; except for the single permitted sign, there shall be no indication visible from outside the premises that the premises is other than a residential dwelling; no equipment shall be used which creates noise, vibrations, smoke, heat, dust, glare, odors, electrical interference which is offensive to persons with ordinary sensibility in the neighborhood; it is limited to occupations such as art studios, professional offices such as those of a doctor, physician, dentist, lawyer, engineer, architect, accountant, real estate agent, barber shops, beauty parlors, massage therapy, physical therapy, or insurance agent, and teaching the playing of musical instruments, provided there are no more than two (2) pupils taught at the same time. The following are examples of occupations which may not be home occupations: commercial auto or boat repair, restaurants, businesses involving retail sales on premises, engine repair, and tattoo shops.

HUD-Code manufactured home means a structure, constructed on or after June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight (8) body feet or more in width or forty (40) body feet or more in length, or, when erected on-site, is three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, and electrical systems. The term does not include a recreational vehicle as that term is defined by 24 C.F.R. Section 3283.8(g) or as otherwise defined by V.A.T.S., Article 5221f, as now written and as hereafter amended.

Impermeable surface means a material laid over the ground through which water does not readily permeate, and includes, by way of illustration and not limitation, concrete, asphalt, caliche, wood and similar materials.

Long term rental means rentals in which the duration of occupancy is equal to or greater than thirty (30) days.

Lot means land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory building and including such open spaces as are required under this chapter and having its principal frontage upon a public street or officially approved place. In addition, as to lots and lots lines:

(1)

Lot, corner means a lot situated at the intersection of two (2) streets.

(2)

Lot line, front shall be the line which runs along the width of the lot. On irregularly shaped lots, the front lot line shall be the line which runs parallel to the street right-of-way line.

(3)

Lot line, rear means any lot line not a front or a side lot line.

(4)

Lot line, side shall be the line which runs along the depth of the lot. The side lot on corner lots shall be on the street which runs along the depth of the lot.

Low rise building means a multifamily dwelling which consists of no more than three (3) liveable stories.

Low voltage lighting means lighting of forty-eight (48) volts or less.

Luminaire means a complete lighting system including a lamp or lamps and a fixture.

Manufactured housing or manufactured home means a HUD-Code manufactured home or a mobile home and collectively means and refers to both or as otherwise defined by V.A.T.S., Article 5221f as now written and as hereafter amended.

Mobile home means a structure that was constructed before June 15, 1976, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight (8) body feet or more in width or forty (40) body feet or more in length, or, when erected on-site, is three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems or as otherwise defined by V.A.T.S., Article 5221f as now written and as hereafter amended.

Motel-hotel means any establishment whose primary function is to provide a bedroom unit for patrons on a transient, temporary rental basis. Motel-hotel as used herein shall include any structure which meets this definition, regardless of the number of living or dwelling units or rooms contained within the structure.

Multifamily means a single lot containing two (2) or more dwelling units in either attached or detached structures. It may consist of detached single-family dwellings, duplexes, multifamily structures, apartments, townhomes, and condominiums.

Multi-story building means a building higher than a ground floor and two (2) other stories.

Multifamily structure or dwelling means a building containing two (2) or more dwelling units under a single roof.

Off-site parking means an area for the parking of a motor vehicle in which the parking space is located outside of a lots boundary for which the parking space is required.

Off-street (on site) parking means an area for the parking of a motor vehicle in which the parking space is located entirely within a lots boundary for which the parking space is required.

On-street parking means an area for the parking of a motor vehicle in which the parking space is located within the boundaries of a public or private right-of-way.

Open spaces means open land areas reserved in perpetuity of bare or planted ground without any building, vehicle roadways or parking areas thereon, provided that swimming pools, tennis courts, and similar recreational areas can be considered open space. The term open space shall include, up to defined limits, bodies of water owned or under riparian rights of the appropriate property owner.

Parking space means an area nine (9) feet wide by eighteen (18) feet in length for the parking of a motor vehicle.

Riparian right means a right, as access to or use of, the shore, bed and water of one (1) owning land located on the bank of a watercourse. When areas covered by riparian right are to be used to accommodate open space requirements, the owner shall demonstrate his ownership or right of access thereto.

Setback means the distance between a building and the lot line nearest thereto.

Sideyard means an open, unoccupied space or spaces on one (1) or two (2) sides of a main building and on the same lot with the building, situated between the building and a sideline of the lot and extending through from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not the rear line or a front line shall be deemed a sideline.

Single-family dwelling or residence is a residential building containing one (1) dwelling unit, under a single roof.

Sleeping room means any enclosed habitable space within a dwelling unit which complies with the minimum room dimension requirements of the adopted International Residential Code and has:

(1)

A closet; or

(2)

An area that is usable as a closet; or

(3)

An area that is readily convertible for use as a closet.

This shall not be interpreted to include living rooms, family rooms and other similar rooms in which furniture such as fold-down beds or convertible couches are provided on a permanent basis for regular accommodation or residents, temporary or otherwise. Occupancy loads to be determined by administrator.

Stacked parking means the arrangement of parked vehicles, where one (1) vehicle is parked behind another vehicle, in effect, blocking the first vehicles means of egress.

Story, in reference to a building, means a single level or floor of a building. Livable story, in reference to a building, means a single level or floor of a building in which human habitation can occur as part of a dwelling unit. The term livable story does not include a space enclosure just for the purpose of the parking of vehicles.

Street means any public or private thoroughfare not designated as an alley. (For street standards see, "The City of Port Aransas Design Specifications" guidelines, adopted by Resolution 89-24, April 13, 1989 and subsequent updates).

Structural alterations means any change in the supporting member of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

Townhouse is two (2) or more single-family dwelling units constructed in a series or group and connected by common fire resistant walls of exterior type construction extending from foundation to roof eve. The area of connectivity between units measured in square footage is at a minimum fifty (50) percent of the total area of the larger of the two (2) connected wall planes. Each group of units is a freestanding, separate building with the individual units owned, together with the land on which it is located, without side yards between the units, and where each is structurally independent of the other.

Townhouse development means a development which is a series of townhouse buildings and may include such things as common areas, maintenance buildings, office, recreational areas, and pool house, and may include single-family residences provided the single-family building structure is not less than thirty-five (35) feet wide and the lots on which said single-family residence is constructed meets the yard requirements of section 25-148.

Transient, temporary rental means rentals in which the duration of occupancy is less than thirty (30) days, but excluding rentals pending closing of sales contracts.

Vehicle means any conveyance in or by which people or objects are transported, especially one fitted with wheels, and propelled or drawn by mechanical power. This term includes but is not limited to motorcycles, recreational vehicles, motor homes, commercial vehicles, boats.

(Ord. No. 97-8, § 1, 7-17-97; Ord. No. 99-2, § 1, 2-18-99; Ord. No. 2002-09, § 1, 7-18-02; Ord. No. 2010-05, § 1, 3-18-10; Ord. No. 2015-04, § 1, 5-21-15; Ord. No. 2015-11, § 1, 9-10-15)

Cross reference— Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the City of Port Aransas' "Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance" or "zoning ordinance".

The zoning regulations and districts as herein established have been made pursuant to V.T.C.A., Local Government Code, ch. 211, and in accordance with a comprehensive master plan for the purpose of promoting the health, safety and welfare of the city and its inhabitants. They have been designed to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire and other dangers; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate adequate provisions for transportation, utilities and other public requirements and to promote the recreational use of beaches in the city. They have been made with consideration for the character of each district and its peculiar suitability for the particular uses of that district and with consideration for conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land within the city.

(Ord. No. 97-8, § 1, 7-17-97; Ord. No. 2010-05, § 1, 3-18-10)