Ranchester City Zoning Code

15-5 Title

Interpretation, Scope And Definitions

15-5-100 Short Title

This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Zoning Ordinance.” (Ord. 73 § 1, 1975)

15-5-110 Definitions

For the purpose of this Chapter, certain terms and words are herewith defined as follows:
1. “Accessory Building” means a building separate from the main building or residence.
2. “Accessory Use” means a use such as storage of main buildings or residence items or other items requiring storage for the purpose of storage only.
3. “Alley” means a public way which affords only secondary access to abutting property.
4. “Apartment Court” means a group of three or more housekeeping units or apartments used for permanent occupancy and not for transients which occupy a parcel of land in one ownership and have any yard or court in common. The term “apartment court” shall include also “bungalow court” or “dwelling court.”
5. “Apartment House” (See Multiple Dwelling)
6. “Basement” means that part of a building which is wholly or partly below grade, the ceiling of which is less than 4 feet above grade. A basement shall be deemed a story if the vertical distance from the grade to its ceiling is 4 feet or more.
7. “Boarding House” means a building where for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods of time, table board is provided for five or more persons.
8. “Building” means a structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the shelter, support or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels.
9. “Building Height” means the vertical distance at the center of a building’s principal front measured from the established grade to the highest point in the copying of a flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height between eaves and ridge for a gable, hip or gambrel roof; provided that where a building is set back from the street line, the building height may be measured from the average finished grade along the front of the building.
10. “Corner Lot” means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.
11. “Dwelling” means a building, or portion thereof, which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes.
12. “Family” means one individual, or a group of two or more persons related by birth or marriage, who occupy a single housekeeping unit, or a group of not more than four unrelated persons who occupy a single housekeeping unit.
13. “Frontage” means the length of a property abutting on one side of a street measured along the street line.
14. “Front Yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and situated between the front line of the building and the property line at the street.
15. “Home Occupation” means any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the occupants thereof, which use is clearly incidental to the residential use and in connection with which there is no advertising sign other than one identification sign not more than one square foot in area, and no display visible from the exterior indicating that the building is used for any purpose other than a dwelling.
16. “Hotel” means a building which provides a common entrance, lobby, halls, and stairways, and in which lodging is provided with or without meals to transient guests.
17. “Interior Lot” means a lot other than a corner lot.
18. “Lodging House” means a building other than a hotel or boardinghouse where lodging is provided for compensation for five or more persons. For the purposes of this Chapter, the term “lodging house” includes the term “rooming house.”
19. “Lot” means land occupied or intended to be occupied by a main building and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces as are required by this Chapter, and having its principal frontage on a public street or officially approved place. A lot may or may not be the land shown as a lot on a recorded subdivision plat.
20. "Lot Depth” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
21. “Mobile Home” means a portable unit designed and built to be towed on this own chassis, comprised of frame and wheels, connected to utilities, and designed without a permanent foundation for year-around living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded, collapsed or telescoped when towed and expanded later to provide additional living space.
22. “Mobile Home Park” means a parcel of land which has been planned and improved for the placement of three or more mobile homes utilized for living purposes.
23. “Multiple Dwelling” means a building or portion thereof, occupied by three or more families living independently of each other in separate housekeeping units or apartments. For the purposes of this Chapter the term “multiple dwelling” shall include the terms “row house,” “apartment house,” “apartment hotel,” and “apartment court.”
24. “Nonconforming Use” means a building or land occupied by a use that does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated as established by this Chapter.
25. “One-family Dwelling” means a detached building occupied by one family, which may include not to exceed four boarders or lodgers.
26. "Parking Lot” means a parcel of land devoted to the parking of motor vehicles and available for use by the public.
27. “Parking Space” means an area for the purpose of parking one automobile, having a minimum width of ten feet, and a minimum length of 22 feet, surfaced with concrete or asphalt, with access to a public street or alley.
28. “Private Garage” means a detached building or part of a main building designed or used for the storage of not more than three privately owned motor vehicles, with no provision for repairing or equipping such vehicles for a business type purpose.
29. “Public Garage” means a building other than a private or storage garage used for the housing of motor vehicles, or where such vehicles are equipped for operation, repaired or kept for remuneration, hire or sale.
30. “Rear Yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot.
31. “Side Yard” means a yard between the building and the adjacent side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.
32. “Storage Garage” means a building or portion thereof used exclusively for housing four or more motor vehicles.
33. “Story” means that portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of a floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
34. “Street” means a public thoroughfare not less than 25 feet in width which provides the principal means of access to abutting property.
35. “Street Line” means the boundary line between a street and the abutting lot of land.
36. “Structural Alteration” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girder
37. “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, or any substantial change in the roof or exterior walls.
38. “Through Lot” means an interior lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets.
39. “Tourist Court” means a building or group of buildings, other than a hotel, designed or used for temporary occupancy by motorists or travelers and containing guest rooms having separate outside entrances for each room or suite of rooms. For the purposes of this Chapter the term “tourist court” shall include the terms “tourist camp,” “cottage camp,” and “motel.”
40. “Two-family Dwelling” means a detached building occupied by two families living independently of each other, each of which may include not to exceed four boarders or lodgers.
41. “Yard” means an open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise permitted herein, and located between the building and the adjoining lot lines. Yard measurements shall be the minimum horizontal distances between the lot lines and the building, provided that a rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the building and the center line of the alley in the rear of the lot where such an alley is platted.
Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular; the word “building” includes the word “structure”; the word “shall” is mandatory and not directory. (Ord. 265, 2014; Ord. 174, 1994; Ord. 135 § 1, 1980; Ord. 73 § 2, 1975)

Ranchester City Zoning Code

15-5 Title

Interpretation, Scope And Definitions

15-5-100 Short Title

This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Zoning Ordinance.” (Ord. 73 § 1, 1975)

15-5-110 Definitions

For the purpose of this Chapter, certain terms and words are herewith defined as follows:
1. “Accessory Building” means a building separate from the main building or residence.
2. “Accessory Use” means a use such as storage of main buildings or residence items or other items requiring storage for the purpose of storage only.
3. “Alley” means a public way which affords only secondary access to abutting property.
4. “Apartment Court” means a group of three or more housekeeping units or apartments used for permanent occupancy and not for transients which occupy a parcel of land in one ownership and have any yard or court in common. The term “apartment court” shall include also “bungalow court” or “dwelling court.”
5. “Apartment House” (See Multiple Dwelling)
6. “Basement” means that part of a building which is wholly or partly below grade, the ceiling of which is less than 4 feet above grade. A basement shall be deemed a story if the vertical distance from the grade to its ceiling is 4 feet or more.
7. “Boarding House” means a building where for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods of time, table board is provided for five or more persons.
8. “Building” means a structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the shelter, support or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels.
9. “Building Height” means the vertical distance at the center of a building’s principal front measured from the established grade to the highest point in the copying of a flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height between eaves and ridge for a gable, hip or gambrel roof; provided that where a building is set back from the street line, the building height may be measured from the average finished grade along the front of the building.
10. “Corner Lot” means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.
11. “Dwelling” means a building, or portion thereof, which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes.
12. “Family” means one individual, or a group of two or more persons related by birth or marriage, who occupy a single housekeeping unit, or a group of not more than four unrelated persons who occupy a single housekeeping unit.
13. “Frontage” means the length of a property abutting on one side of a street measured along the street line.
14. “Front Yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and situated between the front line of the building and the property line at the street.
15. “Home Occupation” means any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the occupants thereof, which use is clearly incidental to the residential use and in connection with which there is no advertising sign other than one identification sign not more than one square foot in area, and no display visible from the exterior indicating that the building is used for any purpose other than a dwelling.
16. “Hotel” means a building which provides a common entrance, lobby, halls, and stairways, and in which lodging is provided with or without meals to transient guests.
17. “Interior Lot” means a lot other than a corner lot.
18. “Lodging House” means a building other than a hotel or boardinghouse where lodging is provided for compensation for five or more persons. For the purposes of this Chapter, the term “lodging house” includes the term “rooming house.”
19. “Lot” means land occupied or intended to be occupied by a main building and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces as are required by this Chapter, and having its principal frontage on a public street or officially approved place. A lot may or may not be the land shown as a lot on a recorded subdivision plat.
20. "Lot Depth” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
21. “Mobile Home” means a portable unit designed and built to be towed on this own chassis, comprised of frame and wheels, connected to utilities, and designed without a permanent foundation for year-around living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded, collapsed or telescoped when towed and expanded later to provide additional living space.
22. “Mobile Home Park” means a parcel of land which has been planned and improved for the placement of three or more mobile homes utilized for living purposes.
23. “Multiple Dwelling” means a building or portion thereof, occupied by three or more families living independently of each other in separate housekeeping units or apartments. For the purposes of this Chapter the term “multiple dwelling” shall include the terms “row house,” “apartment house,” “apartment hotel,” and “apartment court.”
24. “Nonconforming Use” means a building or land occupied by a use that does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated as established by this Chapter.
25. “One-family Dwelling” means a detached building occupied by one family, which may include not to exceed four boarders or lodgers.
26. "Parking Lot” means a parcel of land devoted to the parking of motor vehicles and available for use by the public.
27. “Parking Space” means an area for the purpose of parking one automobile, having a minimum width of ten feet, and a minimum length of 22 feet, surfaced with concrete or asphalt, with access to a public street or alley.
28. “Private Garage” means a detached building or part of a main building designed or used for the storage of not more than three privately owned motor vehicles, with no provision for repairing or equipping such vehicles for a business type purpose.
29. “Public Garage” means a building other than a private or storage garage used for the housing of motor vehicles, or where such vehicles are equipped for operation, repaired or kept for remuneration, hire or sale.
30. “Rear Yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot.
31. “Side Yard” means a yard between the building and the adjacent side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.
32. “Storage Garage” means a building or portion thereof used exclusively for housing four or more motor vehicles.
33. “Story” means that portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of a floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
34. “Street” means a public thoroughfare not less than 25 feet in width which provides the principal means of access to abutting property.
35. “Street Line” means the boundary line between a street and the abutting lot of land.
36. “Structural Alteration” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girder
37. “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, or any substantial change in the roof or exterior walls.
38. “Through Lot” means an interior lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets.
39. “Tourist Court” means a building or group of buildings, other than a hotel, designed or used for temporary occupancy by motorists or travelers and containing guest rooms having separate outside entrances for each room or suite of rooms. For the purposes of this Chapter the term “tourist court” shall include the terms “tourist camp,” “cottage camp,” and “motel.”
40. “Two-family Dwelling” means a detached building occupied by two families living independently of each other, each of which may include not to exceed four boarders or lodgers.
41. “Yard” means an open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise permitted herein, and located between the building and the adjoining lot lines. Yard measurements shall be the minimum horizontal distances between the lot lines and the building, provided that a rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the building and the center line of the alley in the rear of the lot where such an alley is platted.
Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular; the word “building” includes the word “structure”; the word “shall” is mandatory and not directory. (Ord. 265, 2014; Ord. 174, 1994; Ord. 135 § 1, 1980; Ord. 73 § 2, 1975)

Ranchester City Zoning Code

15-5 Title

Interpretation, Scope And Definitions

15-5-100 Short Title

This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Zoning Ordinance.” (Ord. 73 § 1, 1975)

15-5-110 Definitions

For the purpose of this Chapter, certain terms and words are herewith defined as follows:
1. “Accessory Building” means a building separate from the main building or residence.
2. “Accessory Use” means a use such as storage of main buildings or residence items or other items requiring storage for the purpose of storage only.
3. “Alley” means a public way which affords only secondary access to abutting property.
4. “Apartment Court” means a group of three or more housekeeping units or apartments used for permanent occupancy and not for transients which occupy a parcel of land in one ownership and have any yard or court in common. The term “apartment court” shall include also “bungalow court” or “dwelling court.”
5. “Apartment House” (See Multiple Dwelling)
6. “Basement” means that part of a building which is wholly or partly below grade, the ceiling of which is less than 4 feet above grade. A basement shall be deemed a story if the vertical distance from the grade to its ceiling is 4 feet or more.
7. “Boarding House” means a building where for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods of time, table board is provided for five or more persons.
8. “Building” means a structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the shelter, support or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels.
9. “Building Height” means the vertical distance at the center of a building’s principal front measured from the established grade to the highest point in the copying of a flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height between eaves and ridge for a gable, hip or gambrel roof; provided that where a building is set back from the street line, the building height may be measured from the average finished grade along the front of the building.
10. “Corner Lot” means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.
11. “Dwelling” means a building, or portion thereof, which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes.
12. “Family” means one individual, or a group of two or more persons related by birth or marriage, who occupy a single housekeeping unit, or a group of not more than four unrelated persons who occupy a single housekeeping unit.
13. “Frontage” means the length of a property abutting on one side of a street measured along the street line.
14. “Front Yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and situated between the front line of the building and the property line at the street.
15. “Home Occupation” means any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the occupants thereof, which use is clearly incidental to the residential use and in connection with which there is no advertising sign other than one identification sign not more than one square foot in area, and no display visible from the exterior indicating that the building is used for any purpose other than a dwelling.
16. “Hotel” means a building which provides a common entrance, lobby, halls, and stairways, and in which lodging is provided with or without meals to transient guests.
17. “Interior Lot” means a lot other than a corner lot.
18. “Lodging House” means a building other than a hotel or boardinghouse where lodging is provided for compensation for five or more persons. For the purposes of this Chapter, the term “lodging house” includes the term “rooming house.”
19. “Lot” means land occupied or intended to be occupied by a main building and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces as are required by this Chapter, and having its principal frontage on a public street or officially approved place. A lot may or may not be the land shown as a lot on a recorded subdivision plat.
20. "Lot Depth” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
21. “Mobile Home” means a portable unit designed and built to be towed on this own chassis, comprised of frame and wheels, connected to utilities, and designed without a permanent foundation for year-around living. A unit may contain parts that may be folded, collapsed or telescoped when towed and expanded later to provide additional living space.
22. “Mobile Home Park” means a parcel of land which has been planned and improved for the placement of three or more mobile homes utilized for living purposes.
23. “Multiple Dwelling” means a building or portion thereof, occupied by three or more families living independently of each other in separate housekeeping units or apartments. For the purposes of this Chapter the term “multiple dwelling” shall include the terms “row house,” “apartment house,” “apartment hotel,” and “apartment court.”
24. “Nonconforming Use” means a building or land occupied by a use that does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated as established by this Chapter.
25. “One-family Dwelling” means a detached building occupied by one family, which may include not to exceed four boarders or lodgers.
26. "Parking Lot” means a parcel of land devoted to the parking of motor vehicles and available for use by the public.
27. “Parking Space” means an area for the purpose of parking one automobile, having a minimum width of ten feet, and a minimum length of 22 feet, surfaced with concrete or asphalt, with access to a public street or alley.
28. “Private Garage” means a detached building or part of a main building designed or used for the storage of not more than three privately owned motor vehicles, with no provision for repairing or equipping such vehicles for a business type purpose.
29. “Public Garage” means a building other than a private or storage garage used for the housing of motor vehicles, or where such vehicles are equipped for operation, repaired or kept for remuneration, hire or sale.
30. “Rear Yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot.
31. “Side Yard” means a yard between the building and the adjacent side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard.
32. “Storage Garage” means a building or portion thereof used exclusively for housing four or more motor vehicles.
33. “Story” means that portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of a floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
34. “Street” means a public thoroughfare not less than 25 feet in width which provides the principal means of access to abutting property.
35. “Street Line” means the boundary line between a street and the abutting lot of land.
36. “Structural Alteration” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girder
37. “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, or any substantial change in the roof or exterior walls.
38. “Through Lot” means an interior lot having frontage on two nonintersecting streets.
39. “Tourist Court” means a building or group of buildings, other than a hotel, designed or used for temporary occupancy by motorists or travelers and containing guest rooms having separate outside entrances for each room or suite of rooms. For the purposes of this Chapter the term “tourist court” shall include the terms “tourist camp,” “cottage camp,” and “motel.”
40. “Two-family Dwelling” means a detached building occupied by two families living independently of each other, each of which may include not to exceed four boarders or lodgers.
41. “Yard” means an open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise permitted herein, and located between the building and the adjoining lot lines. Yard measurements shall be the minimum horizontal distances between the lot lines and the building, provided that a rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the building and the center line of the alley in the rear of the lot where such an alley is platted.
Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular; the word “building” includes the word “structure”; the word “shall” is mandatory and not directory. (Ord. 265, 2014; Ord. 174, 1994; Ord. 135 § 1, 1980; Ord. 73 § 2, 1975)