Schulenburg City Zoning Code
§ 1
ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRICTS, PROVISIONS FOR AN OFFICIAL ZONING MAP, AND DEFINITIONS.
1.1
Division of city into use districts.
The several districts into which the City of Schulenburg is divided are hereby designated as follows:
District A-O | Agriculture-open space. |
District R-1 | Single-family residential. |
[District] R-2 | Two-family. |
District R-3 | Multiple-family residential. |
District R-4 | Townhouse-rowhouse residential. |
District R-5 | Mobile home residential. |
District C-1 | Neighborhood business. |
District C-2 | General commercial. |
District M-1 | Light industrial. |
District M-2 | Planned industrial. |
District M-3 | Heavy industrial. |
District PUD | Planned unit development. |
1.2
Official zoning map.
The city is hereby divided into the above zones, or districts, as shown on the official zoning map, which together with all explanatory matter thereon, is hereby adopted by reference and declared to be a part of this ordinance. The official zoning map shall be identified by the signature of the mayor attested by the city secretary and bearing the seal of the City of Schulenburg under the following words:
1.3
“This is to certify that this is the Official Zoning Map referred to in section 1 of Ordinance No. __________ of the City of Schulenburg, Texas dated June 15, 1973.” If, in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance and Articles 1011d and 1011e, V.A.C.S., changes are made in the district boundaries or other matter portrayed on the official zoning map, such changes shall be entered on the official zoning map, promptly after the amendment has been approved by the city council.
1.4
Approved zoning changes shall be entered on the official zoning map by the city building official and each change shall be identified on the map with the date and number of the ordinance making the change. No amendment to this ordinance which involves matter portrayed on the official zoning map shall become effective until after such change and entry has been made on the said map.
1.5
No change of any nature shall be made on the official zoning map or matter shown thereon except in conformity with the procedures set forth in this ordinance. Any unauthorized change of whatever kind by any person or persons shall be considered a violation of this ordinance and punishable as provided under section 14.
1.6
Regardless of the existence of purported copies of the official zoning map which may from time to time be made or published, the official zoning map, which shall be located in the office of the city secretary, shall be the final authority as to the current zoning status of land and water areas, buildings and other structures in the city. The official zoning map shall be available to the public at all hours when the city hall is open to the public.
1.7
Replacement of official zoning map.
1.8
In the event that the official zoning map becomes damaged, destroyed, lost or difficult to interpret because of the nature and/or number of changes and additions, the city council may, by resolution, adopt a new official zoning map, which shall supersede the prior official zoning map. The new official zoning map may correct drafting or other errors or omissions in the prior official zoning map, but no such correction shall have the effect of amending the original official zoning map or any subsequent amendment thereof. The new official zoning map shall be identified by the signature of the mayor, attested by the city secretary, and bearing the seal of the city and date under the following words:
1.9
“This is to certify that this Official Zoning Map supersedes and replaces the Official Zoning Map adopted (date of adoption of map being replaced) as part of Ordinance No. __________ of the City of Schulenburg, Texas.”
1.10
Unless the prior official zoning map has been lost or has been totally destroyed, the prior map or any significant parts thereof remaining, shall be preserved, together with all available records pertaining to its adoption or amendment.
1.11 Accessory use of structure, or building. Alternative housing. Alternative housing community. Alternative housing park. Alternative housing unit . Antique shop. Apartment. Apartment building. Apartment hotel. Attendant building. Art studio or gallery. Automobile repair shop. Bed and breakfast. Board of adjustment. Boarding house. Building. Building area. Building official. Building plot. Carport. Cafe, restaurant or cafeteria. City. Clinic. Cold storage plant. Commercial amusement. Common property. Conditional use. Commission. Convalescent home. Corner lot. Child care or development facilities.(a) (b) Dormitory. Drive-in eating establishment. Dwelling. Exterior side yard. Family. Floodplain.(a) (b) Fraternity, sorority, or group student house. Filling, retail service station. Garage, commercial. Homes association. Home occupations. Hospital, sanitarium, nursing or convalescent homes. Hotel. Kindergarten. Lot. Motel. Multiple building complex. Pasturage. Permitted use. Personal service shop. Planned unit. Planned unit development. Plot plan. Prohibited alternative housing. Retail food store. Rooming house. Rooming and boarding house. Setback line. Shopping center. Storage garage. Structure. Structure, principal. Townhouse or rowhouse. Variety store. Variance. Yard.
Definitions. For the purpose of this ordinance, certain words as used therein are defined as follows:
An “accessory use or [of] structure” is one customarily a part thereof, which is clearly incidental and secondary to permitted use and which does not change the character thereof, including, but not limited to garages, living quarters for servants, bathhouses, greenhouses, or tool sheds.
City building code compliant tiny homes, cottage homes or similar residential housing that is constructed for single-family residential purposes off site and later moved and set up at a different location from the manufacturing location and which structures are not licensed as a modular home or HUD home. Additionally, the definition does not include recreational vehicles ("RVs").
A development community containing multiple tiny homes, cottage homes or other alternative housing which are located on a single tract of land that is not subdivided and which development includes amenities as described in this ordinance.
A development park containing multiple tiny homes, cottage homes or other alternative housing within a subdivision where each alternative housing unit is located on its own legal lot and which development includes amenities as described in this ordinance.
A single alternative housing structure.
A business which sells items whose value is greater than original purchase price because of age or intrinsic value.
An “apartment” is a room or group of rooms used as a dwelling for one (1) family unit which does its cooking therein.
A building or portion thereof used or intended to be used as a home for three (3) or more families or households living independently of each other and equipped for preparation of food.
A building used or intended to be used as a home of twelve (12) or more families, who are permanent residents, living independently of each other, in which building shall be located on the first floor living units for transient guests, and/or retail sales and services.
A building used to house the manager or attendant of a public or private parking lot.
Where objects of art are created or displayed for the public enrichment or where said objects of art are displayed for sale (including the teaching of both painting and sculpting).
Any premises and structures when used primarily for the servicing and/or repair of motor vehicles, including paint and body work, engine rebuilding and minor maintenance activities.
A residential dwelling which provides tourist lodging services for an overnight stay and a morning meal.
The zoning board of adjustment of the City of Schulenburg (See section 11).
A building, built and/or used for residential purposes, where meals for five (5) or more persons are served for compensation.
A “building” is any structure built for the support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, chattels or movable property of any kind and which is affixed to the land.
The “building area” of the lot is the gross area covered by the structure when placed on the lot.
The designated “building official” of the City of Schulenburg or his or her designated representative.
The land (lot, lots, or tract of land) upon which a building or buildings are located, or upon which they are to be constructed, including yards, and bounded by the property line.
A structure with one (1) or more sides, covered with a roof and constructed specifically for the storage of one (1) or more motor vehicles.
A commercial eating establishment where snacks or meals are vended for consumption indoors on the premises.
The City of Schulenburg, Texas.
An institution, public or private, or a station for the examination and treatment of outpatients by an individual or group of doctors, dentists, opticians, veterinarians, or other similar medical professionals.
A commercial establishment where food or other commodities are stored either in lockers, rented or leased, or in vaults in bulk for distribution to the home or other commercial businesses. No slaughtering of animals or fowls is allowed on the premises.
Any enterprise whose main purpose is to provide the general public with an amusing or entertaining activity, where tickets are, sold or fees collected at the gates of the activity. Commercial amusements include zoos, carnivals, expositions, miniature golf courses, driving ranges, arcades, fairs, exhibitions, athletic contests, rodeos, tent shows, Ferris wheels, children’s rides, roller coasters, skating rinks, ice rinks, traveling shows, bowling alleys, pool parlors, and similar enterprises.
A parcel or parcels of land, together with the improvements thereon, the use and enjoyment of which are shared by the owners and occupants of the individual building sites in a planned unit.
A use which may be permitted in a district, subject to meeting certain conditions or procedures set forth in this ordinance.
The planning and zoning commission of the City of Schulenburg, Texas.
Any structure used or occupied by three (3) or more persons recovering from illness or receiving geriatric care for compensation.
A lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersections.
Any children’s home, orphanage, institution, private home, residence or other place, whether public, parochial or private, operated for profit or not, which keeps, cares for, has custody of or is attended by four (4) or more children under sixteen (16) years of age, at any one time, who are not members of the immediate family or any natural person operating any such place, during any part or all of the twenty-four (24) hour day.
Any institution, home or other place, whether public, parochial or private, conducted for profit or not, which keeps, cares for, has custody of or is attended by any number of children, under sixteen (16) years of age, who are not members of the immediate family of any natural person operating such a place, who are mentally or physically handicapped, under medical or social supervision, and not within a hospital, twenty-four (24) hours a day.
Any structure specifically designed to house student tenants associated with a university, college or school.
Any structure and premises specifically designed for the preparation and dispensing of food and meals for consumption either indoors or in a vehicle parked on the premises or taken away for consumption at other places.
A “dwelling” is any building or portion thereof which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes.
A yard which faces and is parallel to a side street.
A “family” is any number of related persons or not more than four (4) unrelated persons living as a single housekeeping unit.
Floodplain, intermediate.That land which lies within a stream channel or adjacent to a stream channel within which flooding frequently occurs, the elevation above sea level of which shall be as established by the city and made of record. It is land which is required to be kept open and non-urbanized in order to maintain upstream floodplain characteristics and insure continued adequate drainage of adjacent land.
Floodplain, standard.That land which includes the intermediate floodplain and that land which lies immediately outside of and adjacent to the intermediate floodplain in which flooding only occasionally occurs, the elevation above sea level of which shall be as established by the city and made of record.
A building occupied by and maintained exclusively for students affiliated with an academic or vocational institution.
An establishment where gasoline, oil and grease, or automobile accessories are sold, supplied or dispensed to the motor vehicle trade or where motor vehicles receive limited repair, are equipped for service, or where electric storage batteries are charged and cared for, or a place where any two (2) or more such activities are carried on or conducted as the principal use of the establishment.
A “commercial garage” is any premises and structure used for housing more than five (5) motor vehicles or where any vehicles are repaired for operation or kept for remuneration, hire, or sale and where a retail service station may be maintained as a secondary use.
An incorporated, nonprofit organization operating under recorded land agreements through which each lot and/or home owner in a planned unit or other described land area is automatically a member, each lot is automatically subject to charge for a proportionate share of the expenses for the organization’s activities, such as maintaining a common property, and the charge, if unpaid, becomes a lien against the property.
A “home occupation” is a commercial use customarily carried on in the home by members of the occupant family without structural alterations in the principal building or any of its rooms, without the installation of machinery or additional equipment other than that customary to normal household operations, without the employment of additional persons, and which does not cause the generation of other than normal noise, pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
A building or portion thereof, used or designed for the housing or treatment of the sick, aged, mentally ill, injured, convalescent or infirm persons; provided that this definition shall not include rooms in any residential dwelling, hotel, [or] apartment hotel not ordinarily intended to be occupied by said persons.
A building used or intended to be used as living quarters for transient guests, but not excluding permanent guests, and may include a cafe, drugstore, clothes pressing shop, barbershop or other service facilities for the guests for compensation.
Any school, private or parochial, operated for profit or not, attended by four (4) or more children at any one time during part of a twenty-four-hour day, which provides a program of instruction for children below the first grade level in which constructive endeavors, object lessons and helpful games are prominent features of the curriculum.
As used herein, a “lot” is the physical and undivided tract or parcel of land as shown on a duly recorded plat.
A building or group of two (2) or more detached, semi-detached or attached buildings containing guest rooms or apartments with automobile storage space provided in connection therewith, which building or group is designed, intended or used primarily for the accommodation of automobile travelers; including groups designated as auto cabins, motor courts, motels and similar designations.
More than one (1) principal building on a building plot.
Land used primarily for the grazing of animal stock.
A use specifically allowed in one (1) or more of the various districts without the necessity of obtaining a use permit.
An establishment for the purpose of supplying limited personal services such as, but not limited to, barber, shoe, boot, or “beauty” shops.
A land area which has individual building sites and common property such as a park, and is designed to be capable of satisfactory use and operation as a separate entity without necessarily having the participation of other building sites or other common property. The ownership of the common property may be either public or private.
A single planned unit as initially designed; or such as a unit as expanded by annexation of additional land area; or a group of contiguous planned units, as separate entities or merged into a single consolidated entity.
A plan showing the use of the land, to include locations of buildings, drives, sidewalks, parking areas, drainage facilities and other structures to be constructed.
Structures or facilities constructed for a purpose not originally intended for a residential purpose and repurposed for residential use. Such structures may include but are not limited to boilers, silos, tanks, storage buildings, PODs, converted boats, converted buses or other converted transportation vehicles or aircraft. The term also includes structures or facilities such as tents, cardboard housing, bubble housing, eco housing and any structure or facility that does not or cannot meet city building code requirements or the terms and conditions of this ordinance.
A retail establishment selling meats, fruits, vegetables, bakery products, dairy products, light hardware and other similar items which are purchased for use and/or consumption off the premises (may be a drive-in or supermarket type).
A group of rooms provided for compensation either in a converted single-family home or in a structure specifically designed for such purpose. No cooking facilities are provided in individual living units.
Where both rooms and meals are provided for compensation for more than four (4) persons.
A line which marks the setback distance from the property line, and establishes the minimum required front, side or rear yard space of a building plot.
A composite arrangement of shops and stores which provides a variety of goods and services to the general public, when developed as an integral unit.
A “storage garage” is any premises and structure used exclusively for the storage of more than five (5) automobiles.
Anything constructed, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground.
The principal structure which fulfills the purpose for which the building plot is intended.
One (1) of a group of no less than three (3) nor more than twelve (12) attached dwelling units, each dwelling unit located on a separate lot. No single group shall exceed two hundred forty (240) feet in length.
A retail commercial establishment which supplies a variety of household goods, toys, limited light hardware items, candy, some clothing and other general merchandise.
A legal modification of the district provisions such as yard, lot width and yard depth, signs, setback and off-street parking and loading regulations granted due to the peculiar conditions existing within a single piece of property.
See section 6.7.
Definitions not expressly prescribed herein are to be construed in accordance with customary usage in municipal planning and engineering practices. |
(Ordinance adopted 6/15/73; Ordinance adopted 6/20/95; Ordinance 05152023 adopted 5/15/2023)