Rock Hall City Zoning Code

Except within an area defined as an airport approach zone by the Federal Aviation Agency, the height limitations of this chapter shall not apply to:

If the owner of a lot in any district does not own a parcel or tract of land immediately adjacent to such lot and if such lot was of record prior to the application of any zoning regulations and restrictions to the premises and if such lot does not conform to the requirements of such regulations and restrictions as to width of lots and lot area, the provisions of such lot area and lot width regulations and restrictions shall not prevent the owner of such lot from erecting a single-family dwelling or making other improvements on the lot, provided that such improvements conform in all other respects to applicable zoning regulations and restrictions.

Whenever a lot abuts upon a public alley, 1/2 of the alley width may be considered as a portion of the required yard.

Where these regulations refer to side streets, the Administrator shall be guided by the pattern of development in the vicinity of the lot in question in determining which of two streets, if any, is the side street. If the Administrator decides that both streets are main streets, the front yard setback shall apply to both streets.

Every part of a required yard shall be open to the sky, except as authorized by this chapter, and excepting ordinary projections of sills, belt courses, window air conditioning units, chimneys, cornices and ornamental features which may project to a distance not to exceed 24 inches into a required yard.

Plural main structures.

In the event that a lot is to be occupied by a group of two or more related structures to be used for residential purposes, there may be more than one main structure on the lot when such structures are arranged around a court, provided that said court, between structures that are parallel or within 45° of being parallel, shall have a minimum width of 30 feet for one-story structures, 40 feet for two-story structures and 50 feet for structures of three stories or more, and in no case may such structures be closer to each other than 20 feet.

Where a court is more than 50% surrounded by a structure, the minimum width of the court shall be at least 30 feet for one-story structures, 40 feet for two-story structures and 50 feet for three-story structures.

Where an official right-of-way line has been established for an existing street or for the future widening or opening of a street upon which a lot abuts, the depth of a front or side yard shall be measured from such official line to the nearest line of the structure.

On through lots, the required front yard shall be provided on each street.

There shall be a front yard of at least 15 feet on the side street of a corner lot in any district.

Open, unenclosed porches, platforms or paved terraces, not covered by a roof or canopy and which do not extend above the level of the first floor of the structure, may extend or project into the front or side yard not more than six feet.

Where 25% or more of the street frontage, or where 25% or more of the street frontage within 400 feet of the property in question, is improved with structures that have a front yard (with a variation of six feet or less) that is greater or less than the required front yard in the district, no structure shall project beyond the average front yard so established; provided, however, that a depth of front yard of more than 50% in excess of the depth of the required front yard in the district in which the lot is located shall not be required. Where 40% or more of the street frontage is improved with structures that have no front yard, no front yard shall be required for the remainder of the street frontage.

Where a structure in a commercial district other than the C-3 District is subject to the height, area and bulk requirements applicable to residential development under § 225-9-2 of this article, the side yard requirements for residential development shall be applied only to the lowest floor and all floors above it which contain more than 25% of its area used for dwelling purposes. All floors shall be subject to side yards required by these regulations for commercial structures adjacent to residential districts.

For the purpose of the side yard regulations, a group of business or industrial structures separated by common or party walls shall be considered as one structure occupying one lot.

The minimum width of side yards for schools, libraries, churches, community houses and other public and semipublic structures in residential districts shall be 25 feet, except where a side yard is adjacent to a business or industrial district, in which case the width of that yard shall be as required for the district in which the structure is located.