This ordinance shall be known as the "Zoning Ordinance of the City of Selma, Alabama," and the map herein referred to, identified by the title "Zoning Map of the City of Selma, Alabama," shall be further identified by the signature of the mayor of the City of Selma and attested by the city clerk [treasurer]. The zoning map of the City of Selma and all explanatory matter thereon is hereby adopted and made a part of this ordinance. Such map shall be filed in the office of the city clerk [treasurer] and shall show thereon the date of adoption of this ordinance. The zoning map prepared by Urban Consultant Associates shall be known as the "Zoning Map of the City of Selma, Alabama," and all explanatory matter thereon is hereby adopted by reference as full and to the same extent as if set out in length herein.

(Code 1954, App'x I, § 11; Ord. No. 119, § 1, 4-14-69)

In the interpretation and application, the provisions of this ordinance shall be considered minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare of the community. Where other ordinances or regulations which may be adopted hereafter impose greater restrictions than those specified herein, compliance with such other ordinances or regulations is mandatory. This ordinance shall not lower the restrictions of plats, deeds, or private contracts if such are greater than the provisions of this ordinance.

(Code 1954, App'x I, § 171)

If any section, subsection, clause, provision, or portion of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect any other section, subsection, clause, provision, or portion of this ordinance which is not in and of itself invalid or unconstitutional.

(Code 1954, App'x I, § 171)

All zoning ordinances heretofore adopted are hereby repealed.

(Code 1954, App'x I, § 173)

For the purpose of this ordinance, words used in the present tense include the future, the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular. Words and terms are defined as follows:

Accessory structure: Any detached minor building consisting of masonry or frame walls and roof, one (1) or two (2) stories in height, necessary as an adjunct to the use or occupancy of a principal or main structure, except open structures such as pergolas, arbors, and other garden houses of similar character.

Alley: A narrow public or private way less in size than a street, designed for the special accommodation of the property it reaches, and not intended for general travel.

Apartment house: A building containing three (3) or more family dwelling units.

Automobile filling and service station: Any place of business having pumps and storage tanks at which fuels or oils for the use of motor vehicles are dispensed, sold, or offered for sale at retail and where minor repairs, services, and inspections may be carried on and rendered incidental to the sale of such fuels and oils.

Block: That portion on either side of the street, upon which the building is proposed, bounded by the nearest intersecting streets.

Boarding house: A building other than a hotel, cafe, or restaurant where, for compensation, meals are provided for three (3) or more persons.

Building: Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls, including tents, lunch wagons, dining cars, trailers, and similar structures whether stationary or moving.

Building area: The portion of the lot occupied by the main building, accessory buildings, and other structures.

Building line: A line showing the nearest distance to the street property line or lines that it is permissible to build a structure, either to be in compliance with this ordinance, or in compliance with a plat, deed, or private contract.

Cabin: Any building or structure, whether separate or multiple, located in or as part of a tourist camp, and used or intended for use as living, eating, or sleeping quarters.

Domestic employees: One whose principal income is derived from employment on the premises.

Drive-in restaurant: A restaurant or public eating business so conducted that food, meals, or refreshments are brought to the motor vehicles for consumption by the consumer or patron.

Drive-in theater: A theater so arranged and conducted that the customer or patron may view the performance while being seated in a motor vehicle.

Dry cleaners: Cleaning plants using nonflammable, nonexplosive cleaning solvent, occupying not more than one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet of floor space, operating not more than two (2) delivery and pickup trucks and employing not more than four (4) persons, exclusive of sales clerks and truck drivers.

Dwelling: A house or other building used primarily as an abode for one (1) or two (2) families except that the word "dwelling" shall not include boarding or rooming houses, tents, tourist camps, hotels, trailers, trailer camps, or other structure designed or used primarily for transient residents.

Dwelling unit: Any portion of a building used, intended, or designed as a separate abode for a family.

Family: Any number of individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit and doing their cooking on the premises.

Height of building: The vertical distances measured from the level of the curb or the established street grade opposite the center of the front wall of the building to the highest point of the roof if a flat roof; to the deck line of a mansard roof; and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for a gable, hip, or gambrel roof; for buildings set back fifteen (15) feet or more from the street line, the height may be measured from the finished ground surface at the center of the front wall of the building.

Home occupation: A use conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on solely by the inhabitant thereof, using no more than twenty-five per cent (25%) of total floor area, and which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling purposes, and does not change the character thereof, and in which any signs advertising said home occupation are limited to one sign, not over two (2) square feet in area, and also in which there is no public display of goods. Examples of home occupation are: Dressmaking, the taking of boarders and the leasing and renting of rooms, tutoring, and teaching the fine arts. (Not to include beauty parlor, furniture upholstering, office for any professional).

Hotel: Any building or portion thereof which contains at least ten (10) guest rooms intended for occupancy by individuals, for compensation whether paid directly or indirectly.

House trailer: Any structure intended for or capable of human habitation, mounted upon wheels and capable of being driven, propelled, or towed from place to place without change in structure or design, by whatsoever name or title it is colloquially or commercially known; provided, this definition shall not include transport trucks or vans equipped with sleeping space for a driver.

Junk yard: Any lot or parcel of land on which is kept, stored, bought or sold, articles commonly known as junk, including scrap paper, scrap metal, and used automobile bodies or parts.

Living quarters: Housing providing facilities for sleeping and bathing.

Living space: The floor space in a dwelling to be calculated on the basis of total habitable room area.

Lot: A piece, parcel, or plot of land occupied or intended to be occupied by one main building, accessory buildings, uses customarily incidental to such main building and such open spaces as are provided in this ordinance, or as are intended to be used with such piece, parcel, or plot of land.

Motor court: A building or group of buildings containing one (1) or more guest rooms having separate outside entrances for each such room or suite of rooms and for each which room or suite of rooms automobile parking space is provided.

Nonconforming use: A use of any structure or land which though originally lawful does not conform with the provisions of this ordinance or any subsequent amendments thereto for the district in which it is located.

Office building: A building whose predominant use is for offices.

Offices: Space or rooms used for professional, administrative, clerical, and similar uses.

Parking space: The space necessary to park an automobile; not less than an area nine (9) feet wide and eighteen (18) feet long shall be provided for each parking space, and all parking spaces required shall be provided with necessary lanes for maneuvering areas.

Public land use: Any land use operated by or through a unit or level of government, either through lease or ownership, such as municipal administration and operation, county buildings and activities, state highway offices and similar land uses; and federal uses such as post offices, bureau of public roads and internal revenue offices, military installations, et cetera.

Roadside stand: A place where home-raised produce or homemade objects are offered for sale.

Rooming house: Any building or portion thereof which contains not less than three (3) or more than nine (9) guest rooms which are designed or intended to be used, let, or hired out for occupancy by individuals for compensation whether paid directly or indirectly.

Self-service laundry: A structure containing washing machines and usually drying machines, which are coin-operated by the customer. It may or may not have an attendant.

Semi-public buildings: Structures for the use of a group, the membership of which is open to the public, such as churches, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. facilities, private schools, hospitals and nursing homes, colleges and health clubs, country clubs, tennis clubs, et cetera, but not including profit-making making organizations.

Shelter, fall-out: A structure or portion of a structure intended to provide protection to human life during periods of danger to human life from nuclear fall-out, air raids, storms, or other emergencies.

Story: That portion of a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above; or any portion of a building between the topmost floor and the roof, in which the floor area with eight (8) feet or more of head clearance is equivalent to fifty per cent (50%) or more of the floor area of the story next below. A top floor in which the floor area with eight (8) feet or more of head clearance is less than fifty per cent (50%) of the floor area of the story next below shall be a "half-story". A basement shall be considered as a story if its ceiling is more than five (5) feet above the level from which the "height of building" is measured or if it is used for residential purposes other than for a janitor or domestic servant including the families of the same employed in the building.

Street: Any public or private way set aside for common travel more than twenty-one (21) feet in right-of-way width if such existed at the time of enactment of this ordinance, or such right-of-way forty (40) feet or more in width if established thereafter.

Structure: Any combination of materials, including buildings, constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to anything having location on the ground, including among other things signs, billboards, and fences, but not including telephone poles and overhead wires, wire fences, fences less than three (3) feet high, retaining walls or terraces.

Total floor area: The area of all floors of a building including finished attics and basements when considered as a story under the terms of this ordinance.

Tourist camp: Any site, lot, field, or tract of land privately or publicly owned or operated, upon which two (2) or more cabins or similar structures, used for living, eating or sleeping quarters are, or are intended to be, located; such establishments being open and designated to the public as places where temporary residential accommodations are available, whether operated for or without compensation, by whatsoever name or title they are colloquially or commercially termed.

Tourist court: A building or group of buildings containing one (1) or more guest rooms having separate outside entrances for each such room or suite of rooms and for each of which rooms or suites of rooms automobile parking space is provided.

Tourist home: A dwelling in a residential district in which the permitted area for business use under this ordinance consists of rooms for the accommodation of paying transient guests.

Trailer camp: Any site, lot, field, or tract of land privately or publicly owned or operated, upon which two (2) or more house trailers used for living, eating, or sleeping quarters are, or are intended to be, located; such establishments being open and designated to the public as places where temporary residential accommodations are available, whether operated for or without compensation, by whatsoever name or title they are colloquially or commercially termed.

Use: The purpose for which land or a building or other structure is designed, arranged, or intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.

Yard: An open space, on the lot with the main building, left open, unoccupied and unobstructed by buildings from the ground to the sky except as otherwise provided in this ordinance.

Yard, front: The yard extending across the entire width of the lot between the main building including covered porches, and the front lot line, or, if an official future street right-of-way line has been established, between the main building, including covered porches and the right-of-way line.

Yard, rear: The yard extending across the entire width of the lot between the main building, including covered porches, and the rear lot line.

Yard, side: The yard extending along a side lot line, from the front yard to the rear yard, between the main building, including covered porches, and such lot line.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 131; Ord. No. 118, 4-14-69)

For the purpose of this ordinance, the area of the city is hereby divided into twelve (12) districts, designated as follows:

(1)

Residence "R-100" District.

(2)

Residence "R-75" district.

(3)

Residence "R-60" district.

(4)

Residence "R-50" district.

(5)

Residence "R-50A" district.

(6)

General residence "R-50B" district.

(6.1)

Planned residential "R-50P" district.

(7)

Mobile homes—M.H. district.

(8)

General business B-1 district.

(9)

Local business B-2 district.

(10)

Light industrial M-1 district.

(11)

Industrial park M-2 district.

(12)

Heavy industrial M-3 district.

(Code 1954, App'x I, § 12; Ord. of 12-11-61; Ord. of 1-22-62; Ord. of 8-26-63; Ord. No. 32, § 1, 5-9-66; Ord. No. 118, 4-14-69; Ord. No. 169, § 2, 3-27-72)

The boundaries of the above districts are hereby established as shown on the [latest] zoning map of the City of Selma, which is adopted as a part of this ordinance.

Unless otherwise specifically shown on the zoning map of the City of Selma the boundaries of districts are lot lines, the center lines of streets or alleys or such lines extended, railroad right-of-way lines, natural boundary lines such as natural or artificial watercourses, the corporate limit lines as they existed at the time of enactment of this ordinance. Questions concerning the exact location of district boundary lines shall be decided by the board of adjustment constituted as provided in section 8 hereof.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 13)

A board of adjustment is hereby established. The appointment, procedure, powers, and actions of said board of adjustment shall be governed and controlled by Title 37, Chapter 16, Article 2, Section 781, Code of Alabama, 1940, as the same may be amended.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 151)

The regulations and the number, area, and boundaries of districts established by this ordinance may be amended, supplemented, changed, modified, or repealed by the city council of the City of Selma, but no amendment shall become effective unless it is first submitted to the planning commission of the City of Selma for its recommendation. The planning commission of the City of Selma upon its own initiative may hold public hearings, public notice of which shall be given, for the consideration of any proposed amendment to the provisions of this ordinance or to the zoning maps of the City of Selma, and report its recommendation to the city council of the City of Selma. The provisions of Title 37, Chapter 16, Article 2, Sections 778 and 779, Code of Alabama, 1940, as the same may be amended, shall apply to all changes and amendments.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 161)

Except as otherwise provided, no structure or land shall be used hereafter and no structure or part thereof shall be erected, altered, or moved unless in conformity with the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 101[111])

Except as provided in sections 13 and 14, any structure or use existing or under construction at the time of the enactment of this ordinance, or at the time this ordinance is changed by amendment hereafter, may continue even though such structure or use is not in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance; and subsequently another or different use of such structure may be made even though such other or different use of such structure is not in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance, provided such other or different use of such structure is permitted by the board of adjustment upon proper application and provided further that such other or different use, in the opinion of the board of adjustment, is not more objectionable than the previous nonconforming use.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 112.1; Ord. of 11-23-59)

No nonconforming use or structure shall hereafter be extended unless such extension conforms with the provisions of this ordinance for the district in which it is located.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 112.2)

Any nonconforming structure other than a dwelling or apartment house which has been damaged by fire or other causes to the extent of one hundred per cent (100%) of the assessed value of the structure and land for tax purposes shall not be repaired or reconstructed except in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance for the district in which it is located.

Nonconforming dwellings and apartment houses may be restored or reconstructed to provide for the number of dwelling units in the structure before becoming damaged, but shall not occupy a greater area of the lot than before becoming damaged.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 112.3)

Whenever a nonconforming use of any structure other than a dwelling or apartment house has been discontinued for a period of one (1) year, it shall not be reestablished or changed to any use not in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 112.4)

Repairs to structures other than dwellings or apartment houses shall not be construed as including improvements which render buildings more permanent.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 112.5)

(1)

No dwelling shall be erected on a lot which does not abut on at least one (1) street for at least twenty-five (25) feet.

(2)

No building in the rear of a main building on the same lot may be used for residential purposes.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 113)

No lot shall be reduced in area so that yards and other open spaces less than the minimum required under this ordinance shall result.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 114)

In a residence or local business district, no fence, wall, shrubbery, sign, marquee, or other obstruction to vision between the heights of three and one-half (3½) feet and fifteen (15) feet above street level shall be permitted within twenty (20) feet of the intersection of the right-of-way lines of two (2) streets or railroads or of a street and a railroad right-of-way line.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 115)

Accessory structures in residential districts and on any lot used primarily for residential purposes shall conform to the following regulations:

(1)

No accessory structure shall be erected in any required front or side yard. Accessory structures shall not exceed two (2) stories in height except as provided in section 59 hereof, and shall not cover more than thirty per cent (30%) of any required rear yard and shall be at least five (5) feet from all lot lines and ten (10) feet from any other structures on the same lot.

(2)

On any lot adjoining along its side lot line another lot which is in a residential district, no part of any accessory building which is not an integral part of the main building shall be located within sixty (60) feet of any front lot line.

(3)

On any corner lot adjoining in the rear another lot which is in a residential district, no part of any structure within twenty-five (25) feet of the common lot line shall be nearer the side street lot line than the least depth of any front yard required for a dwelling on such adjoining lot along such side street.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 116)

Off-street automobile storage or standing spaces shall be provided on any lot in any district other than the general business area, on which any of the following uses are hereafter established; such space to be provided with vehicular access to a street or alley and to be equal in area to at least the minimum requirements for the specific uses as set forth below:

(1)

All dwellings and apartments shall have not less than two hundred (200) square feet for each family unit.

(2)

Tourist court, tourist home, boardinghouse, and rooming house, not less than two hundred (200) square feet shall be provided for each room or unit offered for rent.

(3)

Any church, theater, auditorium, hospital, stadium, or other use designed to draw an assembly of persons at scheduled times, not less than two hundred (200) square feet for each ten (10) seats or hospital beds in such place of use.

(4)

Offices and/or office buildings, not less than two hundred (200) square feet for each seven hundred and fifty (750) square feet or fraction thereof of net space designed for office use.

(5)

Manufacturing or other industrial building or use, not less than two hundred (200) square feet for each five (5) persons employed or intended to be employed on such lot. Also, in addition to the above, adequate off-street loading and unloading space for trucks shall be provided.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 117.1)

On any lot on which a hotel is hereafter established, there shall be provided vehicle standing space or parking area equal to not less than two hundred (200) square feet for each two (2) guest rooms for the first twenty (20) rooms in the hotel and two hundred (200) square feet for each four (4) guest rooms in excess of the initial twenty (20) rooms.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 117.2)

If vehicle storage space or standing space required by subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 20, and section 21 cannot be reasonably provided on the same lot on which the principal use is conducted, the board of adjustment may permit such space to be provided on other off-street property provided such space lies within four hundred (400) feet of the main entrance to such principal use measured on the nearest traveled way. Such vehicle storage or standing space shall be specifically dedicated for space associated with the permitted use and shall not thereafter be reduced or encroached upon in any manner.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 117.3)

When in its judgment, the public convenience and welfare will be substantially served and the appropriate use of neighboring property will not be substantially or permanently injured, the board of adjustment may, in specific cases, permit the use of a lot or lots in a residential district immediately adjacent to any business or industrial district even if separated therefrom by an alley for the parking of passenger cars, provided no fee is charged and under such safeguards and conditions as the board of adjustment may require for the adequate protection of the more restricted property.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 117.4)

On any lot accessible to or which adjoins a public or private alley less than twenty (20) feet wide or on any lot greater than fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet in area on which a business structure or use is hereafter established, there shall be provided space off the street adequate for loading and unloading of vehicles with vehicular access to said alley or to a public street.

(Ord. No. 118, 4-14-69)

On any lot which, at the time of adoption of this ordinance or at the time this ordinance is changed by amendment hereafter, may be reduced in area by widening a public street to a future street line as indicated on the duly adopted "Major Street Plan," or as same may be hereafter amended, the minimum required yards, the minimum required lot area, the minimum required lot width, and the maximum building area shall be measured by considering the future street lines as the lot line of such lot.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 118)

The board of adjustment may require the conduct of any use, conforming or nonconforming, which results in unreasonable noise, smoke, gas, vibration, fumes, dust, fire, radio interference or explosion hazard or nuisance to surrounding property to be modified or changed to abate such hazard to health, comfort, and convenience. The board of adjustment may direct the building inspector to issue an abatement order, but such order may be directed only after a public hearing by the board, notice of which shall be sent by registered mail to the owners and/or operators of the property on which the use is conducted in addition to due notice by advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation. A hearing to consider issuance of an abatement order shall be held by the board of adjustment either upon petition signed by any person affected by the hazard or nuisance or upon the initiative of the board. An abatement order shall be directed by the board of adjustment only upon reasonable evidence of hazard or nuisance and such order shall specify the date by which the hazard or nuisance shall be abated.

(Code 1954, App'x. I, § 119)

Fences or walls may be erected, placed, maintained or grown along a lot line on residentially zoned property or adjacent thereto to a height not exceeding six (6) feet above the ground, except that no such fence or wall located in a required front yard shall exceed a height of three (3) feet. Walls in a back yard next to a street shall enclose only the back yard. Where such lot line is adjacent to a nonresidentially zoned property, fences or walls may be maintained at a height not exceeding eight (8) feet.

(Ord. No. 118, 4-14-69)

Private swimming pools constructed in a residence district as an accessory structure to a residence shall be located in the rear yard only, and shall be constructed no closer than ten (10) feet to any property line, and shall be enclosed by a protective wall or fence which can be secured against children or pets.

(Ord. No. 118, 4-14-69)

(1)

A real estate sign advertising the sale, rental or lease of the premises on which it is maintained is permitted; provided, such sign does not exceed eight (8) square feet in area for each one-quarter (¼) acre in the lot or tract; provided further that such signs shall be located at least twenty (20) feet from all property lines.

(2)

In "B-2" local business districts, signs are permitted which are customarily incidental to the permitted uses. However, such signs shall be flush with the face or side of the building and extend not more than twelve (12) inches beyond said face or side of the building.

(3)

No rotating lights or flashing signs are permitted within the corporate limits of the city.

(Ord. No. 118, 4-14-69)

Cross reference— Additional regulations, § 6-79 et seq.