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Reeseville City Zoning Code

ARTICLE XVI

Terminology

§ 480-109 Definitions and word usage.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall be used, unless a different definition is specifically provided for a section. Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number includes the plural number; and the plural number includes the singular number. The word "shall" is mandatory and not permissive.[1]
Have a common property line or district line.
A use or detached structure subordinate to the principal use of a structure, parcel of land or water and located on the same lot or parcel serving a purpose incidental to the principal use or the principal structure, including, but not limited to, a garage, prefabricated metal buildings for storage, carport, greenhouse, screened enclosure, swimming pool, bathhouse and filter equipment shed, playhouse and gazebo.
The actual land devoted to the land use, excluding public streets, public lands or unusable lands, and school sites contained within 43,560 square feet.
A public way not more than 21 feet wide which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.
A room or suite of rooms in a multiple-family structure which is arranged, designed, used or intended to be used as a single housekeeping unit. Complete kitchen facilities, permanently installed, must always be included for each apartment.
A public street or highway used or intended to be used primarily for large volume or heavy through traffic. Arterial streets shall include freeways and expressways as well as arterial streets, highways and parkways.
That portion of any structure located partly below the average adjoining lot grade which is not designed or used primarily for year-round living accommodations. Space partly below grade which is designed and finished as habitable space is not defined as basement space.
A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of streets and public parks or other recognized lines of demarcation.
A building other than a hotel or restaurant where meals or lodging are regularly furnished by prearrangement for compensation for three or more persons not members of a family, but not exceeding 12 persons and not open to transient customers.
The portion of a lot remaining after required yards have been provided.
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, equipment, machinery or materials. When a building is divided into separate parts by unpierced walls extending from the ground up, each part shall be deemed a separate building.
A line parallel to the lot line at a distance parallel to it, regulated by the yard requirements set up in this code.
A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
The vertical distance from the average curb level in front of the lot or the finished grade at the building line, whichever is higher, to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, to the deckline of a mansard roof or to the average height of the highest gable of a gambrel, hip or pitch roof.
A building in which the principal use of the lot on which it is located is conducted.
An occupation, employment or enterprise which occupies time, labor and materials, or wherein merchandise is exhibited or sold, or where services are offered.
A privately or municipally owned parcel or tract of land, maintained, intended or used for the purposes of supplying temporary or overnight living accommodations to the public by providing designated areas for the placement of trailers, tents, buses, automobiles, or sleeping bags, and may include structures to provide services to the patrons, such as restrooms, bathing and laundry facilities.
The following facilities licensed or operated or permitted under the authority of the Wisconsin State Statutes: child welfare agencies under § 48.60, Wis. Stats.; group homes under § 48.02(7) and community-based residential facilities under § 50.01, Wis. Stats., but does not include day-care centers, nursing homes, general hospitals, special hospitals, prisons and jails. The establishment of a community living arrangement shall be in conformance with applicable sections of the Wisconsin State Statutes, including §§ 46.03(22), 62.23(7)(i) and 62.23(7a), and amendments thereto, and also the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
Uses of a special nature as to make impractical their predetermination as a principal use in a district.
Guidelines and specifications for soil and water conservation practices and management enumerated in the Technical Guide, prepared by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for Dodge County, adopted by the County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisors, and containing suitable alternatives for the use and treatment of land based upon its capabilities from which the landowner selects that alternative which best meets his needs in developing his soil and water conservation.
The condition in which the right of owners or occupants of abutting land or other persons to access, light, air or view in connection with an arterial street is fully or partially controlled by public authority.
On corner lots, the setback shall be measured from the street line on which the lot fronts. The setback from the side street shall be equal to 75% of the setback required on residences fronting on the side street, but the side yard setback shall in no case restrict the buildable width to less than 30 feet. Said corner lots shall be consisting of a parcel of property abutting on two or more streets at their intersection, providing that the interior angle of such intersection is less than 135°.
Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to construction of or additions or substantial improvements to buildings, other structures, or accessory uses, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or disposition of materials.
A part or parts of the Village for which the regulations of this chapter governing the use and location of land and building are uniform.
Overlay districts, also referred to herein as "regulatory areas," provide for the possibility of superimposing certain additional requirements upon a basic zoning district without disturbing the requirements of the basic district. In the instance of conflicting requirements, the more strict of the conflicting requirements shall apply.
A building designed or used exclusively as a residence or sleeping place, but does not include boardinghouses or lodging houses, motels, hotels, tents, cabins or mobile homes.
A group of rooms constituting all or part of a dwelling, which are arranged, designed, used or intended for use exclusively as living quarters for one family.
A dwelling unit consisting of one principal room with no separate sleeping rooms.
A residential building designed for or occupied by three or more families, with the number of families in residence not to exceed the number of dwelling units provided.
A detached building designed for or occupied by one family.
A detached building containing two separate dwelling (or living) units, designed for occupancy by not more than two families.
Services provided by public and private utilities, necessary for the exercise of the principal use or service of the principal structure. These services include underground, surface or overhead gas, electrical, steam, water, sanitary sewerage, stormwater drainage, and communication systems and accessories thereto, such as poles, towers, wires, mains, drains, vaults, culverts, laterals, sewers, pipes, catch basins, water storage tanks, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes, traffic signals, pumps, lift stations and hydrants, but not including buildings.
One or more persons, related by blood, adoption or marriage, living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, or a number of persons living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit though not related by blood, adoption or marriage.
Exceptions: Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit, under the definition of "family," priests, laybrothers, nurses or such other collective body of persons living together in one house under the same management and care, subsisting in common, and directing their attention to a common object or the promotion of their mutual interest and social happiness as set forth by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSallette vs. Village of Whitefish Bay Board of Zoning Appeals, 267 Wis. 609, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
A single-family residential structure located on a parcel of land, which primary land use is associated with agriculture.
For the purpose of determining off-street parking and off-street loading requirements, the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the floors of the building, or portion thereof, devoted to a use requiring off-street parking or loading. This area shall include accessory storage areas located within selling or working space occupied by counters, racks or closets and any basement floor area devoted to retailing activities, to the production or processing of goods, or to business or professional offices. However, floor area, for the purposes of determining off-street parking spaces, shall not include floor area devoted primarily to storage purposes except as otherwise noted herein.
The primary domicile of a foster parent which has four or fewer foster children and which is licensed under § 48.62, Wis. Stats., and amendments thereto.
All the property butting on one side of a street between two intersecting streets or all of the property abutting on one side of a street between an intersecting street and the dead end of a street.
A detached accessory building or portion of the principal building, designed, arranged, used or intended to be used for storage of automobiles of the occupant of the premises.
Any building or portion thereof, not accessory to a residential building or structure, used for equipping, servicing, repairing, leasing or public parking of motor vehicles.
Any facility operated by a person required to be licensed by the State of Wisconsin under § 48.62, Wis. Stats., for the care and maintenance of five to eight foster children.
A gainful occupation conducted by members of the family only, within their place of residence, provided that the area used does not exceed 25% of the total floor area, excluding attached garage, and that no article or service is sold or offered for sale on the premises except such as is produced by such occupation, that no stock-in-trade is kept or sold, that no mechanical equipment is used other than such as is permissible for purely domestic purposes, and that no sign other than one unlighted nameplate not more than one square foot is installed. The use is to be clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes and shall not endanger the public health or safety. No articles shall be sold or offered for sale on the premises except such as is produced by the occupation on the premises, and no mechanical or electrical equipment shall be installed or maintained other than such as is customarily incidental to domestic use. Persons operating a home occupation shall employ no more than one nonresident employee. No material or equipment shall be stored outside the confines of the home. No mechanical equipment may be used which creates a disturbance such as noise, dust, odor or electrical disturbance. The home may not be altered to attract business. No motors shall be utilized which exceed one horsepower each and not exceeding five horsepower in total, such activity being deemed a public nuisance. Repairing of motor bicycles, motorcycles and motor-driven cycles, other than those licensed and owned by the occupants of a home in a residential area, is strictly prohibited. For the purpose of this definition, the definitions of the above-mentioned vehicles shall be as set forth in Chapter 340 of the Vehicle Code of the Wisconsin State Statutes. Such repairing is deemed a public nuisance. It is immaterial for the purpose of this definition whether or not such repairing is done in return for remuneration.
A building in which lodging, with or without meals, is offered to transient guests for compensation and in which there are more than five sleeping rooms with no cooking facilities in any individual room or apartment.
An area or structure for breeding, rearing, boarding or training of three or more dogs over the age of five months.
A completely off-street space or berth on the same lot for the loading or unloading of freight carriers, having adequate ingress and egress to a public street or alley.
A building where lodging only is provided for compensation for not more than three persons not members of the family.
A parcel of land having frontage on a public street, or other officially approved means of access, occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal structure or use and sufficient in size to meet the lot width, lot frontage, lot area and other open space provisions of this code as pertaining to the district wherein located.
A lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection, provided that the corner of such intersection shall have an angle of 135° or less, measured on the lot side.
The area of a lot occupied by the principal building or buildings and accessory buildings, including any driveways, parking areas, loading areas, storage areas and walkways.
The area of a lot occupied by the principal building or buildings and accessory building.
A property boundary line of any lot held in single or separate ownership, except that where any portion of the lot extends into the abutting street or alley, the lot line shall be deemed to be the abutting street or alley right-of-way line.
The peripheral boundaries of a parcel of land and the total area lying within such boundaries.
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at the building setback line.
A lot situated on a single street which is bounded by adjacent lots along each of its other lines and is not a corner lot.
A parcel of land held in separate ownership having frontage on a public street, or other approved means of access, occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal building or structure, together with accessory buildings and uses, having insufficient size to meet the lot width, lot area, yard, off-street parking areas or other open space provisions of this code as pertaining to the district wherein located.
A lot which has a pair of opposite lot lines along two substantially parallel streets and which is not a corner lot. On a through lot, both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines.
Any small, movable accessory erection or construction such as birdhouses, toolhouses, pet houses, play equipment, arbors and walls and fences under four feet in height.
A manufactured home that is HUD-certified and labeled under the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974.[2] A "mobile home" is a transportable structure, being eight feet or more in width (not including the overhang of the roof), built on a chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities.
A parcel of land for the placement of a single mobile home and the exclusive use of its occupants.
A parcel of land which has been developed for the placement of mobile homes and is owned by an individual, a firm, trust, partnership, public or private association, or corporation. Individual lots within a mobile home park are rented to individual mobile home users.
A land subdivision, as defined by Chapter 236 of the Wisconsin Statutes and any Village land division ordinance,[3] with lots intended for the placement of individual mobile home units. Individual homesites are in separate ownership as opposed to the rental arrangements in mobile home parks.
A factory-fabricated, transportable building unit designed to be used by itself or to be incorporated with similar units at a building site into a modular structure to be used for residential, commercial, educational or industrial purposes.
Any structure, use of land, use of land and structure in combination or characteristic of use (such as yard requirement or lot size) which was existing at the time of the effective date of this code or amendments thereto and which is not in conformance with this code. Any such structure conforming in respect to use but not in respect to frontage, width, height, area, yard, parking, loading or distance requirements shall not be considered a nonconforming use, but shall be considered nonconforming with respect to those characteristics.
A structure or premises containing five or more parking spaces open to the public.
A graded and surfaced area of not less than 180 square feet in area, either enclosed or open, for the parking of a motor vehicle, having adequate ingress and egress to a public street or alley.
Includes all abutting property owners, all property owners within 100 feet, and all property owners of opposite frontages.
The office of a doctor, practitioner, dentist, minister, architect, landscape architect, engineer, lawyer, author, musician or other recognized trade. When established in a residential district, a professional office shall be incidental to the residential occupation, not more than 25% of the floor area of one story of a dwelling unit shall be occupied by such office and only one unlighted nameplate, not exceeding one square foot in area, containing the name and profession of the occupant of the premises shall be exhibited.
Any airport which complies with the definition contained in § 114.002, Wisconsin Statutes, or any airport which serves or offers to serve common carriers engaged in air transport.
Governmental and cultural uses, such as administrative offices; fire and police stations; community centers; libraries; public emergency shelters; parks, playgrounds and museums; public, private and parochial preschool, elementary and secondary schools, and churches; cemeteries; private clubs and lodges and storage garages.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure. This yard shall be opposite the street yard or one of the street yards on a corner lot.
The sale of goods or merchandise in small quantities to the consumer.
Site used for the storage or sale of salvageable materials or for the purposes of salvage, wrecking, dismantling, or demolition of salvageable materials. This includes the collection and/or dismantling of automobiles or other objects for transportation, reuse or resale.
The minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line and the nearest point of the foundation of that portion of the building to be enclosed. The overhang cornices shall not exceed 24 inches. Any overhang of the cornice in excess of 24 inches shall be compensated by increasing the setback by an amount equal to the excess of cornice over 24 inches. Uncovered steps shall not be included in measuring the setback.
A yard extending from the street yard to the rear yard of the lot, the width of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure.
Any medium, including its structure, words, letters, figures, numerals, phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names or trademarks, by which anything is made known and which are used to advertise or promote an individual, firm, association, corporation, profession, business, commodity or product and which is visible from any public street or highway.
That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor above it or, if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it. Any portion of a story exceeding 14 feet in height shall be considered as an additional story for each 14 feet or fraction thereof. A basement having 1/2 or more of its height above grade shall be deemed a story for purposes of height regulation.
That portion of a building under a gable, hip or mansard roof, the wall plates of which, on at least two opposite exterior walls, are not more than 4 1/2 feet above the finished floor of such story. In the case of one-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and multifamily dwellings less than three stories in height, a half story in a sloping roof shall not be counted as a story for the purposes of this code.
Property other than an alley or private thoroughfare or travelway which is subject to public easement or right-of-way for use as a thoroughfare and which is 21 feet or more in width.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depot of which shall be the minimum horizontal distance between the existing street or highway right-of-way line and a line parallel thereto through the nearest point of the principal structure. Corner lots shall have two street yards.
Any change in the supporting members of a structure, such as foundations, bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires a permanent location on the ground or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground.
A movable structure not designed for human occupancy nor for the protection of goods or chattels and not forming an enclosure, such as billboards.
The purpose or activity for which the land or building thereof is designed, arranged or intended, or for which it is occupied or maintained.
A subordinate building or use which is located on the same lot on which the principal building or use is situated and which is reasonably necessary and incidental to the conduct of the primary use of such building or main use, when permitted by district regulations.
The main use of land or building as distinguished from subordinate or accessory use.
Public and private facilities, such as water wells, water and sewage pumping stations, water storage tanks, electrical power substations, static transformer stations, telephone and telegraph exchanges, microwave radio relays and gas regulation stations, inclusive of associated transmission facilities, but not including sewage disposal plants, municipal incinerators, warehouses, shops, storage yards and power plants.
An unoccupied triangular space at the street corner of a corner lot which is bounded by the street lines and a setback line connecting points specified by measurement from the corner on each street line.
An open space on the same lot with a structure, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except the vegetation. The street and rear yards extend the full width of the lot.
The concept whereby two respective dwelling units within a building shall be on separate and abutting lots and shall meet on the common property line between them, thereby having zero space between said units.
A permit issued by the Zoning Administrator to certify that the use of lands, structures, air and waters subject to this chapter are or shall be used in accordance with the provisions of said chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: The following definitions of the 1992 Code were repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II): "A Zones," "channel," "equal degree of hydraulic encroachment," "flood," "flood insurance study," "flood profile," "flood protection elevation," "flood stage," "floodlands," "floodplain fringe," "floodproofing," "floodway," "official letter of map amendment," and "regional flood."
[2]
Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 5401 et seq.
[3]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 472, Subdivision of Land.