Robstown City Zoning Code
§ 12
Additional use, height, and area regulations and exceptions.
A.
Use Regulations:
1.
ACCESSORY BUILDINGS: No accessory building shall be constructed upon a lot until the construction of the main use building has been actually commenced. No accessory building shall be used unless the main use building on the lot is also being used.
2.
RAILROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY: On all existing rights-of-way of railroad companies, regardless of the zoning district in which such rights-of-way are located, railroad trackage and accessories to railroad movement may be constructed or maintained.
B.
Height Regulations:
1.
Public, semi-public or public service buildings, hospitals, institutions or schools, when permitted in a district, may be erected to a height not exceeding sixty (60) feet, and churches and temples may be erected to a height not exceeding seventy-five (75) feet if the building is set back from each yard line at least one (1) foot for each two (2) feet additional height above the height limit otherwise provided in the district in which the building is located.
2.
Chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, fire towers, grain elevators, flour mills, monuments, stacks, or scenery lofts, tanks, water towers, ornamental towers and spired church steeples, radio or television towers, or necessary mechanical appurtenances, may be erected to a height in accordance with existing or hereafter adopted ordinances of the City of Robstown, Texas, provided that in the absence of any such ordinance there shall be no height limitation of these structures.
C.
Area and Density Regulations:
1.
In a district in which commercial or industrial buildings are built with one or more stories for residential purposes above the commercial or industrial uses, no side yards will be required for the residential portions of the building, provided that the part of the building intended for residential use is not more than two (2) rooms deep from front to rear.
2.
No yard or other open space provided about any building for the purposes of complying with the provisions of these regulations shall again be used as a yard or an open space for another building. Every part of a required yard shall be open to the sky and unobstructed by buildings except for accessory buildings in the rear yard and except the ordinary projections of skylights, sills, belt courses, cornices, and other ornamental features which may project into such yards a distance of not more than two (2) feet.
3.
Open, unenclosed porches, platforms, or landing places not covered by a roof or canopy may extend or project into the front yard for a distance not exceeding six (6) feet.
4.
Terraces, uncovered porches, platforms, and ornamental features which do not extend more than three (3) feet above the floor level of the ground (first) story may project into a required side yard, provided these projections be distant at least two (2) feet from the adjacent side lot line.
5.
FRONT YARD:
a.
Where forty (40) percent or more of the frontage on one side of a street between two (2) intersecting streets is developed with buildings that have observed (with a variation of five (5) feet or less) a front yard greater in depth than herein required, new buildings shall not be erected closer to the street than the front yard so established by the existing buildings.
b.
Where forty (40) percent or more of the frontage on one side of a street between two (2) intersecting streets is developed with buildings that have not observed a front yard as described above, then
(1)
Where a building is to be erected on a parcel of land that is within one hundred (100) feet of existing buildings on both sides, the minimum front yard shall be a line drawn between the two (2) closest front corners of the adjacent buildings on the two (2) sides, or
(2)
Where a building is to be erected on a parcel of land that is within one hundred (100) feet of an existing building on one side only, such building may be erected as close to the street as the existing adjacent building.
(3)
In determining such front yard depth, buildings located entirely on the rear one-half (1/2) of a lot shall not be counted.
c.
Vision Clearance. On any corner lot on which a front or side yard is required, no wall, fence, sign, or other structure, or any plant growth shall be permitted or maintained higher than two (2) feet above the curb level within fifteen (15) feet of the intersection of the property lines.
6.
SIDE YARDS:
a.
The minimum width of a required side yard of a corner lot in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 Districts shall be not less than ten (10) feet provided that if the street side line of a corner lot is in the same block frontage with a lot or lots, whose street line is a front line of such lot or lots, the side yard shall extend to the average alignment of the buildings along the same side of the street, unless such buildings are more than twenty-five (25) feet back from the street line, in which case the side yard need not be more than twenty-five (25) feet.
b.
A side yard of not less than twenty-five (25) feet on the side of the lot adjoining an R-1, R-2 or R-3 District shall be provided for all schools, libraries, churches, community houses, clubs, and other public or semi-public buildings hereafter erected or structurally altered.
c.
Where a lot in the “B-2”, “B-3”, or “I” districts and not used for residential purposes abuts upon an “R-1”, “R-2”, or “R-3” district shall provide a side or rear yard of not less than five (5) feet.
d.
Garages detached or attached to the main use building entering on the side street of a corner lot, shall maintain a side yard of ten (10) feet in front of the garage.
7.
REAR YARD:
a.
In the R-1, R-2, or R-3 Districts accessory buildings shall not occupy more than thirty (30) percent of the required minimum rear yard area. Accessory buildings shall be a minimum of twelve (12) feet from the main use buildings. In the R-1, R-2, and R-3 districts no accessory building shall be more than one (1) story in height.
b.
In computing the depth of a rear yard where such yard opens into an alley, one-half (1/2) of the width of such alley may be assumed to be a portion of the required rear yard.
(Ordinance 478, sec. 1, adopted 4/13/70; Ordinance 771, sec. I, adopted 7/14/86; Ordinance 827, sec. I, adopted 12/11/89)