A.

For the purpose of this title, certain terms and words are defined as follows in this chapter.

B.

Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural, and words in the plural number include the singular; the word "building" includes the word "structure;" and the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory. Words not defined shall be interpreted in accordance with definitions in Webster's New World Dictionary Third College Edition.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Abutting" means to border directly upon, or sharing the same property boundary, and without intervening streets.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Supporting accessory building or use" means a building or use customarily incidental or subordinate to the principal building or use and located on the same lot with the principal building or use. A mobile home, automobile, trailer, or other vehicle, or part thereof, or building on wheels used as a temporary or permanent dwelling or lodging place shall not be considered an accessory building or use.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1517, adopted July 12, 2022, changed the title of § 20.04.020 from "Accessory building or use" to read as herein set out.

"Accessory dwelling unit" means a small (floor area of no more than eight hundred square feet) second residence on the same lot as an existing principal residence.

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

"Agricultural use" means the raising of field crops, horticulture and animal husbandry.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Alley" means a public thoroughfare, which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Apartment" means a room or suite of rooms rented or leased, with cooking facilities available within the suite of rooms, which is occupied as a residence by a single family. This includes any unit in buildings with two or more dwelling units.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Aquifer" means a saturated, permeable, geologic formation that contains, and will yield, significant quantities of water.

(Ord. No. 1431, 7-22-2013)

"Automobile repair garage" means any premises used for supplying gasoline and oil, tires, accessories or services for automobiles directly to the motorist, consumer, including the making of minor repairs and such major repairs as spray painting, body, fender, clutch, transmission, differential, axle, spring and frame repairs; major overhauling of engines requiring the removal of the cylinder head or crankcase pan; repairs of radiator requiring the removal thereof; and the complete recapping or retreading of tires.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Automobile service station" (gas filling station) means any premises used for supplying gasoline and oil, tires, accessories and services for automobiles directly to the motorist consumer, including the making of minor repairs, but not including such major repairs as spray painting, body, fender, clutch, transmission, differential, axle, spring and frame repairs; major overhauling of engines requiring the removal of the cylinder head or crankcase pan; repairs of radiator requiring the removal thereof; or the complete recapping or retreading of tires.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Basement" means the lowest level of a building partly or wholly underground.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Bed and breakfast" shall mean any place of lodging that provides eight or fewer rooms for rent for more than ten nights in a twelve-month period, is the owner's personal residence, is occupied by the owner at the time of rental, and in which the only meal served is breakfast. Notwithstanding this section, a bed and breakfast is required to be licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Or, shall share the definition of "boardinghouse."

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

"Berm" means earthen material landscaped and placed in a mound along a property line, right-of-way, or other feature to function as an aesthetic or sound barrier.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Boardinghouse" means a house in which lodgers or tenants rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months, and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as dining and laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. This structure shall have no more than ten boarders.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

"Buffer" means use of land, topography, difference in elevation, space, fences or landscape planting to screen or partially screen a use or property from another use or property, and thus reduce undesirable influences, such as sight, glare, noise, dust, or other external effects.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Buildable area of a lot" means that portion of a lot remaining available for development after minimum setback or open space requirements have been met.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Building" means any structure designed or built for the support, enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Building coverage" means the percentage of a residential lot, which may be covered by main buildings and accessory buildings.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Building fascia" means the most external point of any building appurtenances, e.g., eaves, porch, roof edge, etc.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Building height" means the vertical distance from the main elevation of the finished grade along the front of the building to the highest point.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Building setback line" means a building line establishing the minimum allowable distance between a street right-of-way line and any building. Building line shall constitute the outer limits of the building fascia.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Carport" means a private garage not completely enclosed by walls or doors. For the purpose of this title, a carport shall be subject to all the regulations prescribed for a private garage.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Cemetery" means a plot of land designated for the underground burial of the deceased. However, this plot of land may also include an area, which contains crypts or a mausoleum for above-ground burial.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Certificate of occupancy" means the permit issued by the building official or other authorized official of the city authorizing occupancy of a building or site in accordance with the provisions of this title.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Clinic" means an establishment where patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination and treatment by a group of physicians, dentists or allied practitioners practicing together.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

A "community-based residential facility" or "CBRF" means a place where five or more adults reside in which care, treatment, or services above the level of room and board, and not including skilled nursing care is provided to residents, and as further defined in Wisconsin Statutes Section 50.01(1g).

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

A "community living arrangement" means a facility licensed and operated under license by the State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services including: child welfare agency, group foster homes for children and community-based residential facilities, and as further defined in Wisconsin Statutes Section 46.03(22)(a). No community living arrangement may be established closer than two thousand five hundred feet of another such facility without granting of a conditional use permit.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Conditional use" means a use, either public or private, which because of its unique characteristics cannot be properly classified as a use permitted by right in any particular district or districts. After due consideration in each case by the plan commission of the impact of such use on the neighboring land and of the public need for the particular use at the particular location, such conditional use may or may not be granted by the plan commission.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

A "convenience store" means a retail establishment offering packaged food, beverages and convenience items for sale, and offering gasoline or any other motor fuel for sale, but not including automotive maintenance services.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Adult day care" means a center, not a private residence, that provides care and supervision for adults including meals but not including overnight residence, which may or may not be licensed by the State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Family day care" means a dwelling licensed as a day care center by the State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services under Chapter 48.65 of Wisconsin Statutes where care is provided by a resident of the dwelling for at least four but not more than eight children.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Child care, group" means a center that provides care and supervision for nine or more children and which is licensed by the State of Wisconsin, Department of Health and Family Services pursuant to HFS 46. A group child care facility may include dwelling quarters for an on-site manager.

(Ord. 1192, 2004: Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Duplex" means a building designed for and containing two single family dwelling units entirely under one roof that are completely separated from each other by one dividing partition. Duplexes can be the "conversion duplexes" meaning the conversion of an existing structure into two units, or newly constructed duplexes.

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

"Mobile home dwelling" means a building transportable in one or more sections, built on a permanent chassis, with a body width exceeding eight feet and a body length exceeding thirty-two feet, designed to be used as a single dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities.

"Double-wide" or "triple-wide mobile home dwelling" means a mobile home consisting, respectively, of two or three sections combined horizontally at the site while still retaining its individual chassis for possible future movement.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Modular home dwelling" means a building made up of two or more modular sections transported to the home site, put on a permanent foundation and joined to make a single dwelling.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Multiple dwelling" means a building used as a residence for three or more families or individuals living independently of each other, including apartments, and apartment hotels.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"One family dwelling" means a detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Family" means an individual or a group of two or more persons related by blood or marriage, adoption or foster care arrangement living together as a single housekeeping unit; or a group of not more than four adults not so related, maintaining a common household, and using common kitchen facilities.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Floor area" means the sum of the gross floor area for each of the several stories under a roof measured from the exterior limits or faces of a building. Areas below average ground elevation and attached accessory structures are not included, unless used as a part of a dwelling unit or nonprofit organization or business.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Frontage" means that side of a lot abutting on a public street.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Private garage" means an accessory building or portion of the principal building designed and used for the storage of motor vehicles by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Grade" means the elevation of the finished surface of the ground abutting the building, structure or feature after final grading and normal settlement.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Greenhouse" means an enclosed glass and wood or metal frame building, climatically controlled and devoted to the protection or cultivation of tender plants. This structure usually includes office and/or business space for the wholesale or retail sale of plants. The structure usually has an adjacent outdoor area for the storage of young trees, bushes and flowering plants. The outdoor area also includes space for parking.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Group housing" means a building occupied by individuals not living together as a single-family unit and includes fraternities, sororities, and dormitories; it does not include community living arrangements.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Arterial" means a main city street, designated on the official map, which carries substantial traffic in and through the city. Such a street is subject to the access restrictions in Section 15.18.080 (D). A major arterial is a multilane roadway for high volume traffic, which typically requires additional right-of-way.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Home occupation" means an occupation conducted in a dwelling unit, provided:

A.

A home occupation shall be clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the premises as a dwelling, and shall be carried on wholly within the dwelling by members of the family residing on the premises. No person other than members of the family residing on the premises shall be engaged in such occupation.

B.

No internal or external alterations or special construction of the premises are permitted, including the creation of a separate or exclusive business entrance.

C.

There shall be no change in the outside appearance of the building other than one sign limited to five square feet in area and mounted flat against the building.

D.

No equipment or process shall be used which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical interference detectable outside the dwelling unit.

E.

Storing of materials and equipment related to the home occupation shall be permitted only inside the dwelling provided that such materials are not hazardous as defined by Wisconsin DNR explosive, highly flammable or radioactive.

F.

No generation of substantial volumes of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or parking demand may be created. Visitors (customers, pupils, etc.) shall be limited to no more than eight during any twenty-four hour period. Sale or rental of products is permitted on an appointment basis only. Parking may be permitted in the driveway only and no yard areas of the dwelling may be used for parking.

G.

The total area, including storage, used for a home occupation shall not exceed two hundred fifty square feet or twenty-five percent of the habitable area of the dwelling, whichever is less. (See Residential Business Activity.)

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Hotel" or "motel" means a building occupied as the more-or-less temporary abiding place of individuals who are lodged, with or without meals, for daily compensation, and in which there are more than four sleeping rooms.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Junkyard" means the use of more than two hundred square feet of the area of any lot outside a completely enclosed building, or the use of any portion of that half of any lot that joins any street for the storage, keeping, sale or abandonment of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal, scrap lumber or other discarded material; or for the collecting, dismantling, storage and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition and for the sale of parts thereof, and not including salvaged materials incidental to manufacturing operations.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

A "kennel" means any premises where a person engages in the business of boarding, breeding, buying, letting for hire, training for a fee, or selling of three or more small animals

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

(Ord. No. 1492, 11-23-2020)

"Lot" means a parcel of land occupied or to be occupied by one main building or use, with its accessories and including the open spaces accessory to it. No area shall be counted as accessory to more than one main building or use, and no area necessary for compliance with the open-space requirements for one main building or use shall be included or counted in the calculation of the open space accessory to any other main building or use.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Corner lot" means a lot situated at the junction of and abutting on two or more intersecting streets.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Lot coverage" means total ground covered by a building or structure expressed as a percentage of lot area.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Lot depth" means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Interior lot" means a lot other than a corner lot.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Lot line" means a line separating one lot from another or from a street or alley.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Through lot" means a lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets, also known as a double-frontage lot.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Lot width" means the maximum horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at or along the building setback line.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Mobile home or trailer" means that which is, or was as originally constructed, designed to be transported by any motor vehicle upon a public highway, and designed and equipped and used primarily for sleeping, eating and living quarters, or is intended to be so used; and includes any additions, attachments, annexes, foundations and appurtenances.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Mobile home park" means any plot or plots of ground upon which two or more mobile home units occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes are located, regardless of whether or not a charge is made for such accommodation.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

See Hotel.

"Nonconforming use" means a building or land occupied by a use that does not conform with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated, or a use of land, building or structures permitted and legally existing at the time of adoption of this chapter, or any amendments hereto, governing the zoning district in which such use is located.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Nursery" means a place where young trees, plants or bushes are raised for transplanting or for sale.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Nursing home" means a place which provides twenty-four hour services including room and board for three or more unrelated residents, who, because of their mental or physical condition, require nursing care or personal care in excess of seven hours a week. A hospital, clinic or similar institution shall not be construed to be included in this definition.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Obscene" means objectionable or offensive to accepted standards of decency. Such a determination shall take into account whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the material taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, whether the material depicts or describes in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and whether the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Occupancy" means the purpose for which a building or property is used or intended to be used. The term shall also include rooms or portions of buildings.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Parking space" means an area one hundred eighty square feet in area and not less than nine feet wide used for parking vehicles and connected to a street or alley by a driveway which provides ingress and egress for a motor vehicle without requiring another vehicle to be moved. A parking space may be perpendicular, parallel or angular to the curb edge. All parking areas shall be paved.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Planned unit development" means a land development of at least two acres, or more with construction, and often a use, differing from that permitted under the strict terms of the applicable zoning classification, but conforming to a detailed plan submitted by the developer and administratively approved. The PUD is a zoning device designed to permit flexibility in large-scale development which otherwise could not be developed under the applicable zoning classification. In many instances, the PUD combines what would otherwise be applications for multiple variations and special uses into one plan. The ultimate development might combine several different use types, such as a park, shopping center, multiple residential and single-family residential. All of these diverse uses and any variations needed to cluster them are submitted to the plan commission of the municipality as one complete package.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

"Mobile recycling center" means a vehicle with a permanent chassis designed to be hauled by a motor vehicle, i.e., a semitrailer, which when parked is used for the collection and stockpiling of usable portions of solid waste.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Residential business activity" means a business activity conducted in a dwelling unit, provided:

A.

The business activity may employ one full-time or two part-time employees who are not members of the family residing on the premises.

B.

The use of the dwelling unit for the home occupation shall be clearly incidental and subordinate to its use as a residence.

C.

There shall be no change in the outside appearance of the building other than one sign limited to five square feet in area and mounted flat against the building.

D.

No equipment or process shall be used which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical interference detectable outside of the dwelling unit.

E.

Storing of materials shall be wholly contained within a permitted structure and shall be limited to those used by the resident on the premises related to the home business activity.

F.

It is shown that adequate parking is available in the area or that adequate off-street parking will be provided.

G.

No generation of substantial volumes of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or parking demand may be created. Visitors (customers, pupils, etc.) shall be limited to no more than twenty during any twenty-four hour period. Sale or rental of products is permitted on an appointment basis only. Parking on the property may be permitted in the driveway only and no yard areas of the dwelling may be used for parking.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

Editor's note— Ord. No. 1517, adopted July 12, 2022, repealed § 20.04.520, which pertained to rooming house and derived from Ord. 1127 (part), adopted 1998.

"Self-service facility" means real property containing space that a lessee or licensee is entitled to use for the storage of personal property on a self-service basis pursuant to a rental agreement. This definition does not include storage space provided to a lessee in conjunction with or as a part of property for residential use under the zoning ordinances of the City of Ripon. The units licensed or leased must be "non-climate controlled" in that no unit can have any temporary or permanent heating or cooling device, fixture or feature that affects the climate within a unit.

(Ord. No. 1435, 10-8-2013)

"Setback" means the minimum horizontal distance measured between the most external portion of a building, e.g., eaves edge, and the right-of-way line of a street, alley, stream or railroad right-of-way. Such measurements will be the minimum distances measured perpendicular to the centerlines of rights-of-way.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Shopping center" means a group of more than two commercial establishments planned, developed and managed as a unit, located on a lot of at least five acres, with off-street parking provided on the property.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"A site plan" means a map or graphics prepared to scale depicting a development of a tract of land, including the location and relationship of structures, streets, driveways, recreation areas, parking areas, signage, utilities, drainage, landscaping, grading, and other site development information.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Story" means that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there is no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above it.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Half story" means a story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than two feet above the floor of such story.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Street" means a public thoroughfare, which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Collector street" means a street, designated on the zoning map, and which connects with highways or arterials to serve several streets in the area as a means of access to the highway.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Local street" means a street, designated on the zoning map, which only serves the immediate neighborhood in which it is located and which has a low volume of traffic.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Structure" means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

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

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Tavern" means a place where alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Time of travel" means the amount of time it takes groundwater to travel through the sub surface aquifer.

(Ord. No. 1431, 7-22-2013)

"Tourist rooming houses (TRH)" are places of lodging, other than commercial indoor lodging, boarding houses, or bed and breakfast establishments, in which sleeping accommodations are offered for pay to tourists or transients for short-term stays.

(Ord. No. 1517, 7-12-2022)

"Trailer" means a vehicle with a permanent chassis, designed to be hauled by a motor vehicle. A trailer does not exceed eight feet in width or thirty-two feet in length.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

An "undue hardship" means a condition existing in connection with a single property which justifies granting a variance due to the unique circumstances of the property and such condition is not created by the property owner, and which if permitted by variance will not alter the essential character of the locality. Economic considerations alone shall not constitute an undue hardship if any reasonable use for the property exists under the terms of this title.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Use" means the purpose or activity for which the land, or any structure thereon, is designed, arranged or intended, or for which it is occupied or maintained, and shall include any manner or performance of such activity with respect to the performance standards of this code.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Accessory use" means a use subordinate to the principal use, and located on the premises, serving a purpose customarily incidental to the principal use.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

A "variance" is a modification or variation of the provisions of this chapter where it is determined that by reason of special and unusual circumstances relating to the specific lot, that strict application of this chapter would cause an undue hardship.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

The "wellhead" is the well that provided the source of water along with the structures built on top of and around the well.

(Ord. No. 1431, 7-22-2013)

"Yard" means an open space on the same lot with a principal building or group of buildings which is unoccupied and unobstructed from its lowest level upward, except as otherwise permitted in this title, and which extends along a lot line and at right angles thereto to a depth or width specified in the yard regulations for the district in which the lot is located.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Front yard" means the distance between the building line or actual building fascia, whichever is less than the front property line, adjacent to a street right-of-way.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Rear yard" means an open space on the same lot as the main building, unoccupied except as permitted in this title, and including accessory buildings, which may occupy the rear yard as permitted in the residence districts. The rear yard is situated between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the building, projected to the sidelines of the lot.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Side yard" means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with the main building, situated between the side of the building and the adjacent side line of the lot, and extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard. If there is no front yard, the front boundary of the side yard shall be the front line of the lot, and if there is no rear yard, the rear boundary of the side yard shall be the rear line of the lot.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

"Zone of contribution" means the land area above the groundwater aquifer found by hydrologic study to contribute the groundwater pumped from the well. The zone of contribution is based on the maximum pumping capacity of a well.

(Ord. No. 1431, 7-22-2013)

"Zoning district" means any area of the city delineated on the zoning map, and subject to a specific set of regulations established in this code.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).

The "zoning "officer is the public official charged with enforcing the zoning ordinance. The city administrator or his appointee shall be the zoning officer in accordance with Chapter 20.06.050 of this title.

(Ord. 1127 (part), 1998).