Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions shall be used in the interpretation and construction of the Ordinance, and words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; the word “building” shall include the word “structure”, the word “used” shall include arranged, designed, constructed, altered, converted, rented, leased, or intended to be used, and the word “shall” is mandatory and not optional.

ABUTTING: This term or the words “adjacent to” shall in this Ordinance refer to property actually side-to-side, back-to-back, whether separated by an alley or not, and back-to-side, but not property separated by a street right-of-way of forty (40) feet or more in width.

ACCESSORY USE or STRUCTURE: A use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building on the same lot and serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building.

AGENT or OWNER: Any person who can show written proof that he is acting for the property owner.

AGRICULTURE: The use of the land for agricultural purposes, including farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry, and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities and provided further that the above uses shall not include the commercial feeding of garbage or offal to swine or other animals.

ALLEY or LANE: A public or private way not more than thirty (30) feet wide affording only secondary means of access to abutting property.

APARTMENT, EFFICIENCY: A dwelling unit in a multi-family building, consisting of not more than one (1) habitable room, together with kitchen or kitchenette and sanitary facilities.

AUTOMOBILE REPAIR, MAJOR: General repair, rebuilding or reconditioning of engines, motor vehicles or trailers; collision service including body, frame, or fender straightening or repair; over-all painting or paint shop.

AUTOMOBILE REPAIR, MINOR: Incidental body or fender work, other minor repairs, painting and upholstering, replacement of parts and motor service to passenger cars and trucks not exceeding one and one-half (1-1/2) tons capacity, but not including any operation named under “Automobile Repair, Major” or any other similar thereto.

AUTOMOBILE or TRAILER SALES AREA: An open area, other than a street, used for the display, sale or rental of new or used motor vehicles or trailers in operable condition and where no repair work is done.

AUTOMOBILE SERVICE STATION or FILLING STATION: A place where gasoline, kerosene or any other motor fuel or lubricating oil or grease for operating motor vehicles is offered for sale to the public and deliveries are made directly into motor vehicles, including greasing and oiling on the premises.

AUTOMOBILE WRECKING: The dismantling or disassembling of used motor vehicle or trailers, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled, partially dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles.

BASEMENT: The lowest portion of a building whose floor is more than one-half its story height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A basement shall be counted as a story for purposes of height measurement and side yard determination when its ceiling level is more than three (3) feet above the average level of the adjoining ground.

BEGINNING OF CONSTRUCTION: The incorporation of labor and material within the existing or proposed walls of the building or buildings.

BILLBOARD or SIGNBOARD: Any structure or portion thereof, situated on private premises, on which lettered, figured or pictorial matter is displayed for advertising purposes, other than the name and occupation of the user of the premises of the nature of the business conducted thereon or the products primarily sold or manufactured thereon, or any structure or portion thereof the area of which, devoted to any advertising purpose, exceeds one hundred (100) square feet. This definition shall not be held to include any board, sign or surface used to display any official notice issued by any court or public office, or posted by a public officer in the performance of a public duty, or bulletin boards used to display announcement of meetings to be held on premises wherein such bulletin boards are located, nor shall it be held to include a real estate sign advertising for sale or rent the property upon which it stands.

BOARDING or LODGING HOUSE: A dwelling or part thereof where meals and/or lodging are provided for compensation, for five (5) or more persons not transients.

BUILDING: Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals or property. When such a structure is divided into separate parts by one or more unpierced walls extending from the ground up, each part is deemed a separate building, except as regards minimum sideyard requirements as hereinafter provided.

BUILDING, HEIGHT OF: The average vertical distance from the average contact ground level at the highest and lowest wall faces of the building and to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip or gambrel roofs.

BUILDING, MAIN: A building in which is conducted the principal use of the building site on which it is situated. In any residential district, any dwelling shall be deemed to be a main building on the building site on which the same is located.

CRAWL SPACE: The lower portion of a building whose ceiling is not more than three (3) feet above and whose floor is not more than three (3) feet below the average level of the adjoining ground. For the purposes of height measurement and side yard, a crawl space shall not be counted as a story.

TOWN COUNCIL: The Town Council of the Town of Ravenswood, West Virginia.

COMMISSION, PLANNING COMMISSION: The Town Planning Commission of the Town of Ravenswood, West Virginia.

COURT. An opened unoccupied and unobstructed space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a building or group of buildings.

SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION: The Secretary of the Planning Commission of the Town of Ravenswood of Ravenswood, West Virginia.

DISTRICT: A portion of the territory of the Town of Ravenswood and within one mile of its limits within which certain uniform regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of this Ordinance. The term “R District” shall mean any R-A, R-20, R-10, R-8, R-7, R-3, or R-2 District.

1. Where certain uses are required to be a specified distance from “any R District”, as provided in this Ordinance, the term “any R District” shall include any R District or A District or portion thereof designated for future residential uses in the Ravenswood GENERAL PLAN.

DWELLING: Any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence or sleeping place of one or more persons, but not including a tent, trailer or trailer coach.

1. DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY: A building designed for or used exclusively for residence purposes by one family or housekeeping unit.
2. DWELLING, MULTIPLE: A building or portion thereof designed for or used by two or more families or housekeeping units.

DWELLING UNIT: One room or a suite of two or more rooms, designed for or used by one family for living and sleeping purposes and having only one (1) kitchen or kitchenette.

DWELLING GROUP: A group of two (2) or more detached dwellings located on a parcel of land in one ownership and having any yard or court in common.

EFFICIENCY APARTMENTS: See APARTMENT, EFFICIENCY.

ESSENTIAL SERVICES: The erection, construction, alteration, or maintenance, by public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies, of underground or overhead gas, electrical, steam or water transmission or distribution systems, collection, communication, supply or disposal systems, including poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, and other similar equipment and accessories in connection therewith; reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal or other governmental agencies or for the public health or safety or general welfare, but not including buildings.

FAMILY: A person living alone, or two or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit, in a dwelling unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house, lodging house, motel or hotel, fraternity or sorority house.

FILLING STATION: A building or lot having pumps and storage tanks where fuels, oils, or accessories for motor vehicles are dispensed, sold, or offered for sale at retail only, and repair service is incidental.

RAVENSWOOD GENERAL PLAN: The Official GENERAL PLAN for the Ravenswood Area, as adopted by the Town Council, July 9, 1957, as amended.

GARAGE, PRIVATE: A detached accessory building or a portion of the principal building used only for the storage of self-propelled passenger vehicles or a trailer by the families resident upon the premises; provided, that not more than one-half (1/2) of the space may be rented for the private passenger vehicles of persons not resident on the premises, except that all of the space in a garage of one or two car capacity may be so rented; and provided that, except on farms, such garage shall not be used for the storage of more than one (1) commercial vehicle of greater than one and one-half (1-1/2) ton rated capacity per family resident upon the premises.

GARAGE, PUBLIC: A structure or portion thereof, other than a private garage, used for the storage, sale, hire, care, repair or refinishing of self-propelled vehicles or trailers; except that a structure or part thereof used only for storage or display of self-propelled passenger vehicles, but not for transients, and at which automobile fuels and oils are not sold and motor driven vehicles are not equipped, repaired, or hired, shall be deemed to be a public garage.

HOME OCCUPATION: Any use conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and does not change the character thereof or adversely affect the uses permitted in the residential district of which it is a part, which creates no additional traffic, requires no additional parking space, where no persons are employed other than necessary for domestic purposes, and there is no indoor or outdoor storage of materials, equipment and/or supplies other than that necessary for domestic purposes.

JUNK YARD: A place where waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought, sold, exchanged, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including auto wrecking yards, 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 such places where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building, and not including pawn shops and establishments for the sale, purchase or storage of used furniture and household equipment, used cars in operable condition or salvaged materials incidental to manufacturing operations.

KENNEL: Any premises, except where accessory to an agricultural use, where five (5) or more dogs, ten (10) weeks in age or older are kept.

LOT: A piece or parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal building or a group of such buildings and accessory buildings, or utilized for a principal use and uses accessory thereto, together with such open spaces as required by this Ordinance, and having frontage on a public street.

1. LOT, CORNER: A lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersection or upon two parts of the same street, such streets or parts of the same street forming an interior angle of less than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees. The point of intersection of the street lines is the “corner”.
2. LOT, INTERIOR: A lot other than a corner lot.
3. LOT DEPTH: The mean horizontal distance between the front and the rear lot lines.
4. LOT LINES: The property lines bounding the lot.
   1. Lot Line, Front: The line separating the lot from a street.
   2. Lot Line, Rear: The lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.
   3. Lot Line, Side: Any lot line other than a front or rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street is called a side street lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from another lot or lots is called an interior side lot line.
   4. Lot Line, Street Or Alley: A lot line separating the lot from a street or alley.

LOT WIDTH: This means width of the lot measured at right angles to its depth.

LOT AREA: The computed area contained within the lot lines.

MOTEL, INCLUDING MOTOR HOTEL: A building or group of buildings comprising individual sleeping or living units for the accommodation of transient guests.

NON-CONFORMING USE: A building, structure or premises legally existing and/or used at the time of adoption of this Ordinance, or any amendment thereto, and which does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which located.

NURSING HOME: Any premises less than fifteen (15) sleeping rooms where persons are lodged and furnished with meals and nursing care.

PARKING AREA, PRIVATE: An open area for the same uses as a private garage.

PARKING AREA, PUBLIC: An open area, other than a street or other public way, used for the parking of automobiles and available to the public whether for a fee, free, or as an accommodation for clients or customers.

PARKING SPACE: A permanently surfaced area, the dimensions and area of which are required as herein, either within a structure or in the open, excluding driveways or access drives, for the parking of motor vehicles.

PORCH: A stoop or covered platform or entrance to a building, also used for sitting or other purposes.

POULTRY FARM: Any premises on which the primary use is the breeding, raising or maintaining of poultry for sale of eggs or poultry or where the primary income from the premises is derived from the aforesaid occupation.

RECREATION, COMMERCIAL: Recreation facilities operated as a business and open to the general public for a fee.

RECREATION, PRIVATE, NON-COMMERCIAL: Clubs or recreation facilities, operated by a nonprofit organization and open only to bona fide members of such nonprofit organization.

SIGN, AREA OF: The total exterior surface computed in square feet of a sign having but one exposed exterior surface; one-half (1/2) the total of the exposed exterior surface computed in square feet of a sign having more than one such surface.

ROADSIDE STAND: A temporary structure designed or used for the display or sale of agricultural products produced on the premises upon which such a stand is located.

STABLE, PRIVATE: A stable with a capacity of not more than two (2) horses, cows or similar animals.

STORY: That portion of a building, included between the surface of any 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.

1. STORY, HALF: A partial story which is either a basement whose ceiling is not more than four (4) feet above the average level of the adjoining ground or a partial story below the square of the wall and the roof whose exterior wall averages not more than four (4) feet above its floor level measured at the square of the wall and the roof.
2. STORY, FIRST: The first story above the ground of any building the floor of which is not more than four (4) feet below the average contact ground level at the exterior walls of the building; except that any basement or cellar used for residence purposes as a separate dwelling shall be deemed the first story.
3. STORY, MESSANINE: A story which covers one-third (1/3) or less of the area of the story directly underneath it. A mezzanine story shall be a full story in case it covers more than one-third (1/3) of the area of the story directly underneath said mezzanine story.

STREET: A public right-of-way fifty (50) feet or more in width which provides a public means of access to abutting property, or any such right-of-way more than thirty (30) feet and less than fifty (50) feet in width, provided it existed prior to the enactment of this Ordinance. The term “street” shall include avenue, drive, circle, road, parkway, boulevard, highway, thoroughfare, or any other similar term.

STRUCTURE: Anything constructed, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground, or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground.

STRUCTURAL ALTERATION: Any change in the structural members of a building, such as walls, columns, beams, or girders.

TRAILER: (including Automobile Trailer and Trailer Coach). Any vehicle or structure constructed in such a manner as to permit occupancy thereof as sleeping quarters or the conduct of any business, trade or occupation, or use as a selling or advertising device, or use for storage or conveyance for tools, equipment, or machinery, and so designed that it is or may be mounted on wheels and used as a conveyance on highways and streets, propelled or drawn by its own or other motor power.

TRAILER COURT, TRAILER PARK: Any lot or part thereof, or any parcel of land, which is used or offered as a location for two (2) or more trailers and used for any purpose set forth in RMC 16.12.040 paragraph D.

YARD, FRONT: An open space extending the full width of the lot between a building and the front lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the group upward except as specified elsewhere in this Ordinance.

1. FRONT YARD, LEAST DEPTH: The shortest distance, measured horizontally, between any part of a building, other than such parts hereinafter excepted, and the front lot line.
2. FRONT YARD, LEAST DEPTH, HOW MEASURED: Such depth shall be measured from the right-of-way line of the existing street on which the lot fronts (the front lot line); provided, however, that if the proposed location of the right-of-way line of such street as adopted by the Town of Ravenswood differs from that of the existing street, then the required front yard least depth shall be measured from the right-of-way line of such street as adopted; or said building shall comply with an official setback lines adopted.

YARD, REAR: An open space extending the full width of the lot between a building and the rear lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the group upward, except as specified elsewhere in this Ordinance.

1. REAR YARD, LEAST DEPTH: The shortest distance, measured horizontally, between any part of a building, other than such parts hereinafter excepted, and the rear lot line.

YARD, SIDE: An open space extending from the front yard to the rear yard between a building and the nearest side lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as specified elsewhere in this Ordinance.

1. SIDE YARD, LEAST WIDTH: The shortest distance, measured horizontally, between any part of a building, other than such parts hereinafter excepted, and the nearest side lot line.
2. SIDE YARD, LEAST WIDTH, HOW MEASURED: Such width shall be measured from the nearest side lot line and, in the case the nearest side lot line is a side street lot line, from the right-of-way of the existing street; provided, however, that if the proposed location of the right-of-way line of such street as established herein differs from that of the existing street, then the required side yard least width shall be measured from the right-of-way of such street as established.

ZONING MAP or LAND USE DISTRICT MAP: The zoning Map or Maps of the Town of Ravenswood, West Virginia, Dated December 17, 1957, together with all amendments subsequently adopted.