Rawlins City Zoning Code

Certain words and terms are used in this zoning ordinance for the purposes of this title and are defined as follows:

A.

Unless the context clearly indicates the contrary, words used in the present tense include the future; the singular numbers include the plural, and the plural the singular.

B.

The word "person" includes a profit or nonprofit corporation, company, partnership or individual.

C.

The word "shall" is mandatory, and not directory; and the word "may" is permissive.

D.

The word "lot" includes the word "plot."

E.

The word "structure" includes the word "building."

F.

The word "use" and the word "used" refer to any purpose for which a lot of land or part thereof is arranged, intended or designed to be used, occupied, maintained, made available or offered for use; and to any purpose for which a building or structure or part thereof is arranged, intended or designed to be used, occupied, maintained, made available or offered for use, or erected reconstructed, altered, enlarged, moved or rebuilt with the intention or design of using the same.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Animal Grooming Service" means any place or establishment, public or private, where animals are bathed, clipped, or combed for the purpose of enhancing their aesthetics value or health and for which a fee is charged.

"Accessory Dwelling Unit" means a separate, complete dwelling unit with a kitchen, sleeping area, and full bathroom facilities, such as a granny flat or mother-in-law apartment, within the property boundary of the primary residential structure that provides privacy through either an alternate entrance with a separation wall, if attached to the primary residential structure, or a detached structure for the residing of no more than three (3) persons at a time if accommodating or being rented to general public.

"Accessory Use or Building" means a subordinate use or building customarily incidental to and located on the same lot occupied by the main use or building. The term "Accessory building" may include a private garage, garden shed, a private playhouse, a private greenhouse and a swimming pool in accordance with the provisions of this title.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part); Amd. of 6-17-2014)

"Accessory Building Separation" means a building that is separated from the principal building on the same lot following the table listed in Section 19.24.050 iii.

"Agricultural Uses" means lands including necessary buildings and structures, which are used for agriculture, including, but not limited to, farming, grazing, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, horticulture and animal and poultry husbandry, as well as the necessary accessory uses; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal agricultural activities.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Airport" means any area of land or water designed and set aside for the landing and take-off of aircraft, including all necessary facilities for the housing and maintenance of aircraft.

"Animal Husbandry" means a branch of agriculture for the raising or nurturing and management of animals, including breeding, pasturing, ranching, and sales of animals.

"Art Gallery" meaning a room or structure in which works of art are bought, sold, loaned, appraised, or exhibited to the general public.

"Asphalt Plant" means a plant for the manufacturing or mixing of asphalt, macadam and other forms of coated roadstone. Blacktop or asphalt concrete.

"Assisted Living Facility" means a living arrangement in which people with special needs, especially senior, live in a facility that provides help with everyday task such as bathing, dressing, and taking medication.

"Attached" means connected or joined having two components tied together.

"Automobile Care" meaning any establishment or structure designed solely for the purpose of washing, vacuuming or detailing of any automobile that doesn't include the alteration of any exterior or interior part of the vehicle.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Automobile Dealer New/Used" meaning any business establishment whose principal use of the site shall be the marketing of new or used automobiles, trucks, vans, trailers, recreational vehicles, boats, or motorcycles or other similar motorized transportation vehicles, whether by sale, rent, lease, or other commercial or financial means. Secondary supporting uses may also exist upon the same site, such as maintenance, repair and service areas, parts storage areas, and financial service areas.

New: The use of any building, land area, or other premises or portion thereof, for the display, sale, or lease of new automobiles, panel trucks or vans, trailers, or recreational vehicles and including any warranty repair work and other repair service conducted as an accessory use.

Used: The use of any building, land area, or other premises or portion thereof, for the display or sale of used automobiles, panel trucks or vans, trailers, or recreational vehicles.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Bakery Shop" meaning an establishment primarily engaged in preparing, cooking, baking, and selling of products for consumption. The products may be prepared either on or off site. Such use may include incidental food service.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Bank/Financial Service" meaning a freestanding building or institution with or without a drive-up window, that is open to the public for the custody, loan, investment or exchange of currency, for the extension of credit; and for facilitating the transmission of funds.

"Bed & Breakfast" means a residential dwelling which has a maximum of five (5) guest units within a single-family dwelling, in which breakfast is served to guest(s) for compensation.

"Benefaction" means the dressing or processing of ores for the purpose of regulating the size of a desired product; removing unwanted constituents; and improving the quality, purity or assay grade of a desired product.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Block" means a tract of land or a lot or group of lots, bounded by streets, public parks, or parkways, railroad rights-of-way, watercourse or body of water, or a boundary line or lines of the county or any combination thereof.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Block frontage" means that portion of a block which abuts a single street.

As defined in Chapter 2.60.

"Boarding or lodging house" means a building with more than two but not more than ten guest rooms where lodging with or without meals is provided for compensation.

"Bookstore" meaning a retail establishment that, as its primary business, engages in the sale, rental, or other charge-for-use of books, magazines, newspapers, greeting cards, postcards, videotapes, computer software, or any other printed or electronically conveyed information or media, excluding any "adult bookstore," "adult theater," "theater," or "studio theater."

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Brewery" means an industrial use that brews ales, beers, meads, and/or similar beverages on site. Breweries are classified as a use that manufactures more than stores or microbrewery operated in conjunction with a bar or restaurant.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Broadcasting Station" means an establishment containing one or more broadcasting studios for over-the-air, cable or satellite delivery of radio, internet or television programs, or studios for the audio or video recording or filming of musical performances, radio or television programs or motion pictures. This term does not include a transmission tower.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Buffer" means a combination of physical space and vertical elements, such as plants, berms, fences and /or walls, the purpose of which is to separate and screen the boundaries of different zone uses from each other or reduce the visual impact of large structures or parking areas along high traffic streets.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Area of Building" means the horizontal area measured around the outside of the foundation walls and of the floors or roofed porches and roofed terraces inclusive, and including the area of accessory buildings, if any. In the case of split-level dwellings, the "first floor area" shall be deemed to include floor areas on two non-overlapping levels, separated by a half story, or less, of height.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Bus Station" means any location or area for the sole purpose of providing a designated drop off or pickup point, which may or may not provide any shelter or seating, for the convenience of passengers.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Bus Terminal" means any premises for the transient housing or parking of motor driven buses, and the loading and unloading of passengers. A place where the transfer of people between modes of transportation takes place.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Business Center Development" means a tract of land, buildings or structures planned as a whole and intended for one or more establishments for a commercial purpose on a site, whether built at one time as a unit, or in two or more construction stages.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Car Title Loan" means any structure in which a business provides currency, as a loan, to any individual or company by way of holding the title of the borrower's vehicle as collateral.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Caretaker Dwelling" means any attached or detached dwelling in which an individual(s) live whose sole responsibility is the care, maintenance, or security of a property or building that houses a business that the dwelling is incidental to. The dwelling shall be located on the same property as the business and be listed with its own address and utilities. The dwelling shall also conform to the design standards of the zone.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Cellar" means an accessory structure having more than one-half its height below the average curb level of the street abutting the front of the lot, or below the average finished grade level of the ground immediately adjacent to the building. A cellar shall not be used for residential purposes.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Check Cashing" means a person or business that for compensation engages, in whole or in part, in the business of cashing checks, warrants, drafts, money orders, or other commercial paper serving the same purpose.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Church/Religious Establishment" means a building wherein persons regularly assemble for religious worship, and which is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship, together with all accessory buildings and uses customarily associated with such primary purpose. Includes synagogue, temple, mosque, or other such place for worship and religious activities.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"City" means The City of Rawlins, Wyoming.

"Clinic" means a facility operated by one or more physicians, dentist, chiropractors or other licensed practitioners of the healing arts for the examination and treatment of persons solely on an outpatient basis.

"Communication Tower" means a tower, pole, or similar structure that supports a telecommunications antenna operated for a commercial or non-commercial purpose above ground in a fixed location, freestanding, guyed, or on a building or other structures.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Community Development Department" means a city department for the purpose of promoting and accommodating growth while preserving the community values.

"Community Use" means a place, structure, area or other facility used as a place of meeting, recreation, or social activity and is generally open to the public and designed to accommodate and serve significant segments of the community.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Concert Venue/Hall" means a structure or facility for the presentation of the performing arts, including indoor motion picture theaters, theaters for live performances, and indoor and outdoor concert hall. Use does not include adult motion picture theaters or establishments featuring burlesque.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Congregate Living Facility" means a building or part thereof that contains sleeping units where residents share bathroom and/or kitchen facilities.

See "Shipping Container."

"Consignment Store" means a store that sells secondhand items on behalf of the original owner, who receives a percentage of the selling price.

"Convenience Store" means a retail store that sells groceries and may also sell gasoline; does not include automotive service stations or vehicle repair shops.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Cosmetic Salon" means a fixed establishment or place where cosmetology services are provided by one or more persons engaged in the practice of hair care, nail care, and skin care on a regular basis for compensation.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Day Care Center" means supervised daytime care for preschool children, the elderly, or those with chronic disabilities provided at a center outside the home.

"Detention Facilities or Jail" means a facility established in conjunction with a law enforcement or public safety building, established for the temporary detention of adult or juvenile persons while being processed for arrest or detention by law enforcement. Holding facilities do not include detention, correctional, or release facilities.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Drive Up/Through Service" means a building opening, including windows, doors, or mechanical devices, through which occupants of a motor vehicle receive or obtain a product or service.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Driveway Access" means the area within a public street right-of-way extending to the common right-of-way/property line, which provides an ingress/egress point for a vehicle (recreation vehicles including), to access private property from a public street whether for short term parking or long-term storage. The driveway access is the only area within which the property can be accessed from the public street. Gaining access into private property from a public street is allowed only through an approved driveway access.

See Section 19.08.300. See also Landfill.

"Duplex/Townhouse" means a duplex house has two living units attached to each other, as townhouse condominiums are above each other like apartments.

"Dwelling" means a building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied by one or more families living independently of each other upon the premises. (See also "Multiple Dwelling" and "Single-Family Detached Dwelling.")

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Educational Use" means use of land or a building or buildings as or for an institution not for profit but for the establishment and maintenance of a public or private college, secondary, elementary, or preschool or other educational institution for the academic instruction and cultivation of the mind and or the inculcation of clearer sense of moral and spiritual values and including an institution or organization directed primarily to the physical training or development of physical or manipulative skills.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Emergency Service" means the conduct of publicly owned safety and emergency services, such as, but not limited to, fire stations, police stations, and emergency medical and ambulance service. This may also include the use of any equipment, machinery, vehicle, or other activity in a short-term effort to protect or restore safe conditions in the city, or work by private or public utilities when restoring utility service.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Employee" means any person employed by a firm, business, educational institution, non-profit agency, corporation, government agency, or other entity.

"Family" means one or more individuals living independently as a single housekeeping unit who are related by blood or marriage and using cooking facilities and certain rooms in common. A family may include two persons not related by blood or marriage. A family shall not be deemed to include the occupants of a college dormitory or residential club.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Farming" means the growing of crops, plants, and trees. The term also includes the maintaining of horses, livestock, or poultry for the residents needs or use and the sale of agricultural products grown on the premises.

"Fast Food Establishment" means an establishment that sells food already prepared for consumption, packaged in paper, Styrofoam or similar materials, and may include drive-in or drive-up facilities for ordering. It may provide food for on or off premises consumption.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Fence" means a tangible barrier constructed of any allowable material erected for the purpose of providing a boundary or as a means of protection, or to prevent uncontrolled access, or for decorative purposes (such as an ornamental fence or ornamental gates), to enclose, separate or screen from viewers in or on adjoining properties and streets, materials stored and operations conducted behind it.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Filling and Charging Station" means a building or lot or part thereof supplying and selling gasoline or other equipment fuel for motor vehicles at retail direct from pumps or storage tanks. A filling station may include accessory facilities for rendering services such as lubrication, washing and minor repairs with hand tools. "Charging station is an apparatus or facility with one or more electrical outlets for recharging the batteries of electric vehicles."

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Floodplain" means the relatively flat area of land area that may be inundated by flood, as designated by the federal government, which can be found at www.fema.gov/flood-zones.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Floor Area Ratio" means the relationship between the total amount of usable floor area that a building has and the total area of the lot on which the building stands.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Fraternal/Social Club" means a club or social activity officially associated with, recognized and supervised by an institution for higher education whose membership is limited exclusively to students of a college or university for the purpose of sharing social, cultural and scholarly interests.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Frostline" means the depth to which frost penetrates the soil. Refer to the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) 1809.5 frost protection and 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) 403.1.4.1 and table 311.2(1). Climate for frost free footers is 48" from the bottom of footer to top of stem wall.

"Funeral Parlor/Mortuary" means a building or part thereof used for human funeral services. Such building may contain space and facilities for embalming and the performance of other services used in the preparation of the dead for burial; the performance of autopsies and other surgical procedures; the storage of caskets, funeral urns, and other related funeral supplies; the storage of funeral vehicles; and facilities for cremation. Where a funeral home is permitted, a funeral chapel shall also be permitted.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Garage" means a building or part thereof used for the storage or parking of one or more vehicles.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Parking Garage" means a garage for the convenience of the general public in which no servicing, repairs, washing or reconditioning of motor vehicles is carried on.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Repair Garage" means any garage other than a private garage or parking garage. A repair garage may include servicing, repairs, washing or reconditioning of motor vehicles, and filling station facilities.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Garden" means a parcel used for the growing of vegetables, flowers, etc., used for human consumption but not for commercial use.

"General Repair Service" means establishments primarily engaged in the provision of repair services to individuals and households, rather than businesses, but excluding automotive and equipment repair use types. Typical uses include appliance repair shops, shoe repair, watch or jewelry repair shops, or repair of musical instruments.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Greenhouse" means a retail business whose principal activity is the selling of plants shipped to or grown on the site and having outside storage, growing, or display.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Hardware Store; Home Improvement Center" means a facility with a total gross floor area of 30,000 square feet or less, primarily engaged in the retail sale of various basic hardware lines, such as tools, builders' hardware, plumbing and electrical supplies, paint and glass, housewares and household appliances, garden supplies, and cutlery; if greater than 30,000 square feet, such a facility is a home improvement center.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Height of a Structure" means the vertical distance derived from the average finished grade at the foundation corners of the building or structure, to the highest point of the building or structure excluding a chimney or other similar structure listed in Section 19.40.040.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Home Occupation" means an incidental or secondary use of a residence in a residential zone for business purposes or ventures. Such may be classified as "major" or "minor" or "unauthorized" home occupations.

A.

Major home occupation. A home occupation which is owned and operated by the inhabitant of the residence and employs at least one, but not more than two persons who do not inhabit the residence.

B.

Minor home occupation. A home occupation which is owned and operated by the inhabitant of the residence and does not employ any outside persons.

C.

Unauthorized home occupation. All other home occupations which do not qualify as a "major home occupation" or a "minor home occupation."

(Ord. No. 2-91(part); Ord. No. 9-89(part))

See "Residential Professional Office."

(Ord. No. 2-91(part); Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Hospital" means a building used for the diagnosis, treatment, or other care of human ailments, unless otherwise specified. A hospital shall be deemed to include a sanitarium, clinic, convalescent home, nursing home, rest home or other building with an equivalent appellation. A hospital shall not include care and treatment of mental patients, liquor or drug addicts, except for emergency detention and/or care.

"Hotel" means a building or part thereof which has a common entrance, common heating systems and general dining room, and which contains seven or more living and sleeping rooms designed to be occupied by individuals or groups of individuals for compensation.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Impound" means the seizure and legal process of placing a vehicle into an impound lot or tow yard.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.265), 12-2-2025)

"Impound Yard" means the holding place for vehicles until they are placed back in the control of the owner. An impound yard is not a junk yard.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.266), 12-2-2025)

"Industrial Park" means a group of non-nuisance industrial plants on a single parcel of land, or on separate parcels contiguously arranged, so as to form a planned development of industrial sites, building or buildings.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Non-nuisance industry" means any industry which is not detrimental to the environment in which it is located by reason of the emission of smoke, noise, odor, dust, vibration or excessive light, beyond the limits of its lot, or by reason of generating excessive traffic with attendant hazards and which does not include any open storage yards or outdoor processing of materials.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Junk" means waste or junked, dismantled or wrecked automobiles or parts thereof, old or scrap copper, brass, metal, wire, glass, weeds, lumber, stumps, grass, trash, straw, hedge trimmings, cut branches, paper, cordage, cloth, construction debris, building materials not intended for immediate use or other waste or discarded material of any nature or substance whatsoever or any scrap or salvage materials, which in general may or may not be turned into some other use.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.285), 12-2-2025)

"Junk Yard" means a business which engages in buying, collecting, acquiring, selling, or disposing of junk. This includes any accessory structure or lot, which is used for buying, selling, storing, baling, packing, disassembling, or handling junk, waste, salvage, or scrap materials. A lot on which three or more inoperable vehicles are stored shall be deemed a junk yard. A junk yard includes a salvage yard and wrecking yard. Junk yards exclude Impound Yards.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part); Ord. No. 6-93, 6-1-1993; Amd. of 6-17-2014; Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.290), 12-2-2025)

"Kennel, Business" means any lot, building, structure or premises where more than four (4) animals are kept or maintained for boarding, training, or selling, exclusive of medical or surgical care, or for quarantine purposes. See also Breeder Kennel 6.02.010 #6 and /or Hobby Kennel 6.02.010 # 12.

"Labor Camp" means a camp established for transient labor or a place, area, or piece of land where housing is provided for five or more employees or prospective employees of another by any individual, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, that, for a fee, employs persons to render personal services for, or under the direction of, a third person, or that recruits, solicits, supplies, or hires persons on behalf of an employer, and that, for a fee, provides in connection therewith one or more of the following services: furnishes board, lodging, or transportation for such employees or prospective employees; supervises, times, checks, counts, weighs, or otherwise directs or measures the work of such employees; disburses wage payments to such employees.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Landfill" means a lot or parcel of land, or portion thereof, used primarily for disposal by abandonment, dumping, burial, burning, incineration, or other means of garbage, offal, sewage, trash, refuse, junk, discarded machinery, vehicles, or parts thereof, or waste materials of any kind.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Landscaping" means the area within the boundaries of a given lot that consists of planting materials, including but not limited to trees, shrubs, ground covers, grass, flowers, decorative rock, bark, mulch, and other similar materials for an aesthetic or functional purpose. It includes the preservation of existing vegetation and the continued maintenance thereof together with grading and installation of minor structures and appurtenances which covers seventy-five (75%) percent of front yard.

"Laundromat/Dry Cleaning Facilities" means a facility where patrons wash, dry, or dry clean clothing or other fabrics in machines operated by the patron; Dry cleaning facilities are an establishment or business maintained for the pickup and delivery of dry cleaning and/or laundry with or without the maintenance or operation of any laundry or dry-cleaning equipment or machinery on the premises.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Library" means a public, nonprofit facility, room or building containing printed information, electronic information, and pictorial material such as books, manuscripts, computers, recordings or films are kept for use by or loaning to patrons of the facility but are not normally officered for sale.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Light Manufacturing" means an area that accommodates low impact industrial development where little or no nuisance effects are generated, such as research and development activities, the manufacturing, compounding, processing, packaging, storage, assembly, and/or treatment of finished or semi-finished products from previously prepared materials, which activities are conducted wholly within an enclosed building. Finished or semi-finished products may be temporarily stored outdoors pending shipment.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Lot" means a parcel of land used or designed to be used by one use or structure, or by a related group of uses or structures, and the accessory uses or structures customarily incidental thereto, including such open spaces as are arranged or designed and required in connection with the structure or group of structures. A lot may be or may not be the land shown as a single lot on a duly recorded plat or other official record.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Lot Area" means the total horizontal area included within lot lines.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Corner Lot" means a lot at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting streets, the angle of intersection being not more than one hundred thirty-five degrees (135).

"Depth of Lot" means the mean distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line. The greater frontage of a corner lot is its depth, and the lesser frontage is its width.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Lot Line" means any boundary of a lot. Any lot line not a rear lot line nor a front line shall be deemed a side lot line or a corner lot line.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Corner Lot Line" means, on a corner lot, the frontage line which is not designated a front lot line.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Front Lot Line" means the street line at the front of a lot. On a corner lot, the owner may specify the front lot line on the plot plan.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Rear Lot Line" means the lot line opposite to the front lot line.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Through Lot" means a lot extending from one street to another, uninterrupted by public right-of-way.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Width of Lot" means the mean dimension measured at substantially right angles to the depth of the lot.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Lumber Yard" means a lot or facility where building materials such as lumber, plywood, drywall, paneling, cement blocks and other cement products, and other building products are stored and sold. Lumberyards may also process lumber by performing millwork, planning, cutting, and other customizing processes. Lumberyards may provide for the sale of associated products including tools and fasteners.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Main Use or Building" means the principal or most important use or building on a lot.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Manufactured Home" means a structure, transportable in one or more dependent sections, constructed in conformance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a single-family residential dwelling unit.

(Amd. No. 09-2000, 9-5-2000)

"Medical Office Building" means a building used exclusively by licensed healthcare provider for treatment and examination of patients; provided that no overnight patients shall be kept on the premises.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Membership Club Facilities" means a permanent, headquarters-type, and meeting facilities for organizations operating on a membership basis for the promotion of interest of the members, including facilities for business associations, Civic, Social, and fraternal organizations; country clubs, golf courses, labor unions and similar organizations, political organizations, professional membership organizations and other membership organizations.

"Mental Health Facility" means a facility or institution for diagnosing, treating, caring, for, or counseling people requiring mental health services in confinement.

"Micro-Brew Restaurant/Brewer" means a facility for the production and packaging of malt beverages of low alcoholic content for distribution, retail, or wholesale, on or off premise, with a capacity of not more than 50,000 barrels per year and no less than 50 per year. The development may include other uses such as a standard restaurant, bar or live entertainment as otherwise permitted in the zoning district.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Mill" means a place that processes things in a mechanical way.

"Milling" means the processing of raw materials. The term may include the operating of removing valueless or harmful constituents and preparation for market.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Mine" means an opening or excavation in the earth for the purpose of extracting minerals.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Mineral Exploration" means the search for coal, mineral or ore by geological surveys, geophysical prospecting, boreholes and trial pits, surface or underground headings, drifts or tunnels.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Mining" means the process of obtaining useful minerals from the earth's crust, including both underground excavations and surface workings.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Mixed Use" means a single building containing more than one type of land use or a single development of more than one building and use, where the different types of land uses are in close physical proximity, planned as a unified complementary whole, and functionally integrated to the use of shared vehicular and pedestrian access and parking areas.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Mobile Home" means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, designed for use as a single-family residential dwelling unit, built on a permanent chassis, that cannot provide certification of compliance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act. Such a structure shall be considered to be a mobile home, whether or not the wheels originally mounted have been removed, whether or not the structure has been placed upon a permanent foundation.

"Mobile Home Park" means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land which has been so designed and improved that it contains two or more manufactured home lots available for rent and the placement thereon of manufactured home for residential occupancy.

"Modular home" means a structure, transportable in one or more dependent sections, designed for use as a single family residential dwelling unit, not built on a permanent chassis, capable of being transported from the place of fabrication to the site on which it is to be erected, where it is placed on a permanent foundation and, when assembled, meets all of the provisions of the Uniform Building Code for residential dwelling units.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part); Ord. No. 09-00, 9-5-2000; Amd. No. 09-2000, 9-5-2000)

"Motel" means a building, or group of buildings, whether detached or in connected units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling units with direct outside access, designed primarily for transient automobile travelers, and provided with accessory off-street parking facilities. The term "motel" includes buildings designed as tourist courts, motor lodges, auto courts and other similar appellations, but shall not be construed to include mobile or immobile trailers.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Multiple Dwelling" means a building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied by three or more families living independently of each other with separate cooking and toilet facilities.

"Multiple Dwelling Development" means one or more multiple dwelling buildings planned as a single unit.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Museum" means a building having public significance by reason of its architecture or former use or occupancy or a building serving as a repository for a collection of natural scientific, or literary curiosities or objects of interest, or works of art, and arranged, intended, and designed to be used by members of the public for viewing, with or without an admission charge, and which may include as an accessory use the sale of goods to the public as gifts or for their own use.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"National Register Historic District" means a property or area that has been added to the official list of National Historic Registry properties significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, or culture for use in local preservation planning efforts.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Neighborhood" means an area where people live and interact with one another; these areas have their own identity.

"Neighborhood Services Establishment" means an establishment primarily engaged in the provision of frequently or recurrently needed goods for household consumption, such as prepackaged food and beverages and limited household supplies and hardware.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Net Residential Density" means the ratio obtained by dividing the number of dwelling units on a lot by the area (excluding drives, streets and required open space) of the lot expressed in units per acre.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Nonconforming Structure" means a structure lawfully existing at the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title or any amendment thereto affecting the structure, which does not conform to the building regulations of this title for the district in which it is situated, irrespective of the use to which the structure is put.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Nonconforming Use" means any use of a building, structure, lot or land, or part thereof, lawfully existing at the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title or any amendment thereto affecting the use, which does not conform to the use regulations of this title for the district in which it is situated.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Nuisance" means an offensive, annoying, unpleasant, or obnoxious thing, act, or practice, a cause or source of annoyance, especially a continual or repeated invasion of a use that endangers health and safety, or unreasonably offends the senses, or obstructs the free use and comfortable enjoyment of property, creating a hazard to, or having a detrimental effect on the property of another person or to the community or essentially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Nursing Home/Convalescent Center" means a facility that provides nursing services and custodial care on a 24-hour basis for three or more unrelated individuals who for reasons of illness, physical infirmity, mental memory afflictions or advanced age, require such services; which is not of sufficient severity to require hospitalization, or persons requiring further institutional care after being discharged from a hospital other than a mental hospital.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Office Building" means a building used primarily for offices that may include ancillary services for office workers such as a restaurant, coffee shop, newspaper, or candy stand.

"Parking Area" means a lot or part thereof used for the storage or parking of motor vehicles, with or without the payment of rent or charges in money or other consideration.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Parking Lot" means an area provided for self-parking by employees, visitors, and/or patrons of any office of state or local government, any public accommodations, commercial or industrial establishments, or any other business open to the general public. Also includes the area provided for self-parking by residents, visitors or employees of an apartment building available to the general public. Not for the storage or repair of inoperable vehicles, machinery, or materials that is not otherwise customary to the use.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Parking Structure" means an attached or detached building which is used for the parking or storing of motor and other vehicles, open to public use without charge or for a fee, and shall, without limiting the foregoing, include all real and personal property, driveways, roads, approaches, structures, garages, meters, mechanical equipment, and all appurtenances and facilities either on, above, or under the ground which are used or usable in connection with such parking or storing of such vehicles.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Pawnshop" means any business that loans money on deposit of personal property or deals in the purchase or possession of personal property on condition of selling the same back again to the pledger or depositor, or loans or advances money on personal property by taking chattel mortgage security thereon and takes or receives such personal property.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Planning & Zoning Commission" means the Planning & Zoning Commission of Rawlins.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Postal Service" means a commercial business which conducts the retail sale of stationery products, provides packaging and mail services (both U.S. Postal and private service), and provides mailboxes for lease.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Preschool" means providing day care with or without educational services for children not yet attending elementary school; includes nursery school and kindergarten.

"Processing" means perform a series of mechanical or chemical operations on (something) in order to change or preserve it.

"Professional Service" means a vocation, occupation or employment which involves labor, skill, education, special knowledge and compensation or profit, but the labor and skill involved is predominantly mental or intellectual, rather than physical or manual; e.g., legal, medical, real estate, insurance.

(Ord. No. 2-91(part))

"Public and Civic Use" means a nonprofit, religious, or public use, such as a church, library, public or private school, hospital, or government owned or operated building, structure, or land used for public purposes.

"Public Building "means a building owned by a governmental agency.

"Public Notice" means notice of the time and place of a hearing, meeting, or proceeding as required by Wyoming State Statutes.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Ranching" means a place where livestock is bred or raised.

"Reception Center" means a place, structure, area, or other facility used for and providing religious, fraternal, social, or recreational programs generally open to the public and designed to accommodate and serve significant segments of the community. May also be referred to as a convention center or civic center.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Recreation, Private" means a private recreational facility for use solely by the residents and guests of a particular residential development, planned unit development, or residential neighborhood, including indoor and outdoor facilities. These facilities are usually proposed or planned in association with development and are usually located within or adjacent to such development. Clubs or recreation facilities for which a membership charge may be made, and which are open only to bona fide members and their guests. A private recreational facility may not be open or available to members of the general public. For definition on Indoor and Outdoor facilities see Section 19.08.594 Recreation, Public.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Recreation, public" means a recreational facility that is open to the general public and available for use at dates and times specified by the city. A fee or charge may be imposed for events held within these facilities.

Indoor: Meaning recreational facility conducted entirely indoors, with or without seating for spectators, and providing accommodations for a variety of individual, organized, or franchised sports, including but not limited to basketball, ice hockey, wrestling, soccer, tennis, volleyball, racquetball, or handball. Such facility may also provide other regular organized or franchised events, health and fitness club facilities, swimming pool, snack bar, restaurant, and retail sales of related sports, health or fitness items, and other support facilities.

Outdoor: Meaning predominantly participant uses conducted in open or partially enclosed or screened facilities. Typical uses include driving ranges, miniature golf, swimming pools, tennis courts, outdoor racquetball courts, paintball, laser tag, geocaching, motorized cart and motorcycle tracks, and motorized model airplane flying facilities.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Recreational Vehicle" means a vehicle whether self-propelled, drawn or carried, used for recreation purposes, which may be used for temporary living quarters.

"Recreation Vehicle Park" means a commercial use providing space and facilities for motor homes or other recreational vehicles for recreational use or transient lodging. There is no minimum required stay in a recreational vehicle park, uses where unoccupied recreational vehicles are offered for sale, or lease, or are stored, are not included.

"Residential, Primary" means a separate, complete dwelling unit with one or more habitable rooms which are occupied, or which are intended or designed to be occupied as a residence by one family, with facilities for living, sleeping, cooking, and dining, that is the larger of the dwelling units when a single-family residential site development plan proposes or contains an accessory dwelling unit. Residential uses within the dwelling shall occupy more than 51% of the time and space within the unit over any other use.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Residential Professional Office" means an office in which professional services are offered or employed located in a residential zone utilizing an existing residential building, with no residential use or overnight occupancy in connection therewith, and which use does not detract from or detrimentally change the character of the neighborhood.

(Ord. No. 2-91(part))

"Residential Walk Up/Loft" means a single-family dwelling unit located on the uppermost story of a residential or commercial structure, usually found in mixed use structures, with a separate entrance that is accessed from either the interior or exterior of the structure.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Retail Store" means a commercial enterprise that provides goods and/or services directly to the consumer, where such goods are available for immediate purchase and removal from the premises by the purchaser.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Salvage Yard" see "Junk Yard" Section 19.08.290.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.603), 12-2-2025)

"Sand or Gravel Pit" means a lot or land, or part thereof, used for the purpose of extracting sand, gravel, soil for sale, as an industrial operation and exclusive of a lot preparatory to the construction of a building.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Scenic Corridor" means an area of land generally adjacent to and visible from a roadway that requires protective measures to ensure perpetuation of its scenic qualities, whether of an urban or rural setting.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Self-Service Storages" means a building or group of buildings or structures with controlled access and fenced compound that contains varying sizes of individual, compartmentalized, and controlled-access stalls or lockers for the storage of customers' goods or wares. Shipping containers are not considered appropriate self-storage units.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Sexually Oriented Business" means any adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult novelty store, adult video store, adult cabaret, adult motel, adult motion picture theater, adult theater, escort agency, nude model studio, sexual encounter center or any other business or establishment that offers its patrons services or entertainment characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, but not including those uses or activities, the regulation of which is preempted by state law.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Shipping Container" means a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes. If used shall be compatible with and complimentary to the surrounding area.

"Shopping center" means a group of stores planned and designed for the site on which it is built, functioning as a unit, with off-street parking, landscaped areas, and pedestrian malls or plazas provided on the property as an integral part of the unit.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Sign" means any device which visually imparts a message through the use of texts, pictures or models.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Advertising sign" means a sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service or entertainment conducted, sold or offered elsewhere than upon the property where the sign is displayed.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Announcement or professional sign" means a sign on a residential building which directs attention to a home professional office, home occupation or professional office in the residential building.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Business sign" means a sign which directs attention to a business or profession conducted upon the property where the sign is displayed.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Single Family Residence" means a dwelling designed for one (1) family occupancy. A manufactured or modular home, when constructed to the most current applicable building standards at the time of placing, placed on a permanent foundation, located in a residential zone and converted to real property prior to occupancy, shall be considered a single-family residence.

(Ord. No. 09-00, 9-5-2000)

"Single-Family Detached Dwelling" means a building, on a lot, designed and occupied exclusively as a residence for one family, and which has no part in common with an adjacent building. For purposes of this title, trailers, automobile trailers and mobile homes are not considered single-family detached dwellings.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Site Plan" means a map indicating the location and dimensions of prominent existing and proposed features and development of a tract and its surroundings and the general street layout.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Specialty Store" means retail operations that specialize in one type or line of merchandise. Such stores may include but are not limited to apparel stores, jewelry stores, bookstores, shoe stores, stationary stores, antique stores, and similar establishments.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Special Use Permit" (SUP) means a use specified in one or more zones, for which the Planning & Zoning Commission shall submit a certified recommendation to the City Council that a permit be granted, pursuant to the provisions of this title.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part); Amd. of 6-17-2014)

"Stick-Built Home" means-built piece-by-piece at the construction site, as opposed to a factory-built.

"Stock-in-Trade" means products, goods or merchandise kept by a merchant for sale or traffic which require no assembly or skill to bring to final salable condition.

(Ord. No. 2-91(part))

"Storage Lot" means a depository, stockpiling, or safekeeping of materials, products, vehicles, trailers, or equipment and any other similar item or objects not in service within a defined area. Storage lots shall not incorporate any other areas of a project development, parking area, landscaping or yard areas.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Street" means any road, highway, avenue, street, parkway, lane or other way, public or private, set aside and commonly used by the public for street purposes, and shown upon the city map or upon a file plat.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Street Line" means the dividing line between a lot and the outside boundary of a public street or street right-of-way, or between a lot and private street which serves two or more separately owned homes or buildings.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Structure" means anything constructed or erected on or under the ground or upon another structure, or building, but not including elements such as lean-tos, fences, pump houses, or other minor buildings accessory to any agriculture use.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Substance Abuse Facility" means a facility for the purpose of temporary or long-term inpatient/outpatient treatment of victims of alcohol or drug use or addiction.

"Private Swimming Pool" means any constructed body of water or structure to contain water, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 19.40.140 and any accessory equipment pertaining thereto, used or intended to be used for swimming or bathing by any family of persons residing on the premises and their guests. The term "private swimming pool" shall not include swimming pools located on a lot only as an accessory use to a hotel, motel or membership club.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Tattoo Establishment" means an establishment whose principal business activity, either in terms of operation or as held out to the public, is the practice of one or more of the following: (1) placing of designs, letters, figures, symbols, or other marks upon or under the skin of any person, using ink or other substances that result in the permanent coloration of the skin by means of the use of needles or other instruments designed to contact or puncture the skin; (2) creation of an opening in the body of a person for the purpose of inserting jewelry or other decoration.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Tavern" means any place in which fermented malt beverages, intoxicating liquors, packaged alcoholic beverages and food are sold to the general public for consumption upon said premises.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Temp Housing" means any structure for the primary use of housing or the dwelling of any individual by compensation of rent, payable in money or other consideration, for a limited residing time of less than a year but longer than 3 months.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Temporary Structure" means a building designed or constructed, erected, or placed on land and which is demolished or removed from the land within 6 months. One 6-month extension may be issued by the Community Development office.

"Temporary Uses" means a use established for a fixed period of time, with the intent to discontinue such use upon the expiration of such time, which does not involve the construction or alteration of any permanent structure. Such uses may be granted permission to conduct the use on a renewal basis.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

A).

"Theater/Cinema" means a structure that contains audience seating, one or more projection screens and auditoriums with a lobby; refreshments and restaurant services may accompany these facilities.

B).

"Drive In" means an outdoor movie theater where patrons view movies or any other form of entertainment on a screen or stage from their vehicles. This definition does not include an adult theater.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Thrift Store" means a store selling secondhand goods.

"Towing Business" means any individual or business that engages in the towing or removal of motor vehicles, trailers, or parts thereof, including cargo or loads, for compensation.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.721), 12-2-2025)

"Towing Yard" means the lot where a Towing Business maintains or uses for the temporary storage, of motor vehicles, trailers, or parts thereof, including cargo or loads thereof, regardless of condition. Temporary storage of any such motor vehicle, trailers, parts, or cargo shall not exceed six (6) months. Permission may be allowed at the City's discretion for the granting of a 48-hour grace period for emergency situations, such as during inclement weather, allowing overflow vehicles to be parked near the towing yard business on the roadway but shall not impede the flow of traffic to pass nor hinder traffic visibility.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.722), 12-2-2025)

See Sections 19.08.595 and 19.08.485.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

See Sections 19.08.597 and 19.08.487.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Truck Terminal" means any premises used by a motor freight company as a carrier of goods, which is the origin or destination point of goods being transported, for the purpose of storing, transferring, loading and unloading goods.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Variance" means a modification of the regulations of this title granted on grounds of practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship, not self-imposed, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 19.76 and the laws of the state.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Veterinary Hospital/Kennel" means a place where animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment and are cared for during the time of such treatment.

"Warehouse" means a building or premises in which goods, merchandise or equipment are stored for eventual distribution or use.

(Ord. No. 6-14(part))

"Wrecking Yard" see "Junk Yard" 19.08.290.

(Ord. No. 12-2025, § 1(19.08.759), 12-2-2025)

"Corner Yard" means, on a corner lot, the unoccupied space on the same lot with a building situated between the nearest roofed portion of the building and the corner lot line and extending from front yard to rear yard.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Front Yard" means an open unoccupied space on the same lot with a building situated between the nearest roofed portion of the building and the front line of the lot and extending from side lot line to side lot line.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Rear Yard" means a space on the same lot with a building situated between the nearest roofed portion of the building and the rear lot line of the lot and extending from side lot line to side lot line.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Side Yard" means an opened unoccupied space on the same lot with a building situated between the nearest roofed portion of the building or of any accessory building and the side lot line of the lot, and extending through from the front yard or from the front lot line where no front yard exists, to the rear yard, or to the rear lot line where no rear yard exists.

(Ord. No. 9-89(part))

"Zone" means an area of land having a particular purpose or use and subject to particular restrictions.

"Zoning Officer" means the person or persons designated by resolution by the City Manager to administer and enforce this zoning title.