The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Abate means to eliminate by removal, repair, rehabilitation or demolition.

Above ground swimming pool A pool that sits completely (or almost completely) on top of the ground, and in which both the pool walls and water line of the pool are above ground level.

Accessory building or use means a subordinate building or use, the use of which is incidental to and customarily found in connection with the principal or use, and located on the same lot with the principal building or use.

Adult business includes, but is not limited to: adult arcade, adult bookstore, adult cabaret, adult drive-in theater, adult mini motion picture theater, adult model studio, adult motel, adult motion picture theater, adult theater, body painting studio, massage parlor, or any other commercial enterprise, the primary business of which is the offering of a service or the selling, renting or exhibiting of devices or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer.

Alley means a right-of-way that affords only a secondary means of access to adjacent property.

Amusement enterprise (temporary) means a commercially operated amusement facility park or enterprise, which is located on one site for less than 90 days.

Amusement park or enterprise means a profit-oriented, commercially operated business with various devices for entertainment whether permanent or temporary.

Apartment means a dwelling unit used exclusively for lease or rent as a residence.

Arterial street means a street that accommodates large volume of comparatively high-speed traffic from one area of the city to another and is labeled as such on the city's future land use plan or streets and highways plan.

Artificial obstruction means any obstruction, other than a natural one, that is capable of reducing the flood-carrying stream or may accumulate debris and thereby reduce the flood carrying stream.

Attached means any structure or building having a common wall with another structure or building.

Base flood, also known as the 100-year flood, is the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Basement means the lowest habitable story of a building below ground level.

Billboard means a freestanding pole sign at least 128 square feet in size, and eight feet above the ground surface, which advertises or directs attention to a business, product, service, or event, not appurtenant to the uses of the property on which it is located.

Boardinghouse means a residence consisting of at least one dwelling unit with more than two rooms that are rented or intended to be rented to longer term residents on a monthly basis, as distinct for transient residents staying overnight or on a weekly basis.

Body shop means a shop where vehicle exteriors are replaced and reconditioned. Waxing, prefabrication, stripping, or similar activity shall not be considered bodywork.

Build means to erect, convert, enlarge, reconstruct, or structurally alter a building.

Buildable depth means the depth of the lot remaining to be built upon after the required front and rear yards are provided.

Buildable width means the width of the lot remaining to be built upon after the required front and rear yards are provided.

Building means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the shelter or enclosure of persons or property.

Building area means that area of a lot that is or may be occupied by buildings or structures pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.

Building height means the height of a building measured from the ground surface level to the highest point of the building.

Business means any nonresidential locations where any commerce or transactions takes place; nonprofit organization are also included in this description.

Centerline means the line halfway between the street lines.

Child care group home means a home providing 24-hour care for seven to 12 orphaned, abandoned, dependent, abused, or neglected children under the age of 18.

Child care home means a home providing 24-hour care for not more than six orphaned, abandoned, dependent, abused, or neglected children under the age of 18 with not more than two adults who supervise such children, all of whom live together as a single housekeeping unit.

Child care institution means an institutional facility housing 13 or more orphaned, abandoned, dependent, abused or neglected children under the age of 18.

Church means a building in which persons regularly assemble for religious worship and instruction.

Clear sight triangle means that area of unobstructed vision at street intersections, entrances and exits, permitting a vehicle driver to see approaching vehicles to the right or left. Nothing over 2.5 feet in height measured from the street at the point where the pavement meets the curb-stone shall be permitted to obstruct a sight line which shall be the front street and side street lines of a corner lot and a line connecting points 50 feet from the intersection of the property line of such lot. Any existing trees located within the clear sight triangle will be allowed to remain if all branches are trimmed from a height between three feet and eight feet. No single post or column within the designated triangle shall exceed 12 inches in thickness at its greatest cross sectional.

Clinic means an institution, public or private, or a station for the examination and treatment of patients who are not lodged overnight, but are admitted for outpatient services by an individual or group of doctors, dentists or other licensed members of the human health care profession.

Club means a building or use catering exclusively to club members and their guests for recreational or social purposes, and not operated primarily for profit, includes lodges.

Collector street means a street which carries moderate volumes of traffic from local or minor residential streets to the major arterial streets and highways, and is labeled as such on the city's future land use plan or streets and highways plan.

Community home means a community-based residential home that contains not more than eight disabled persons and two nonresident supervisor personnel and which otherwise meets the requirement of the Community Homes for Disabled Persons Location Act, V.T.C.A., Human Resources Code § 123.001.

Comprehensive plan means a compilation of policy statements, goals and objectives, standards, maps and statistical data for the physical, social, and economic development, both public and private, of this community.

Conditional use means a use that may be permitted in a district, subject to the requirements of this chapter as well as any additional requirement imposed by the city planning and zoning commission.

Condominium means one or more structures containing two or more dwelling units each that are sold to and held under individual ownership by the occupants, and which may or may not include ownership of the land upon which the dwelling units are situated.

Cul-de-sac means a minor street with one outlet, the end of which provides a circular turnaround.

Day care center means a facility that provides non-medical care and supervision for more than six children, elderly persons or persons with physical or mental disabilities less than 24-hours a day. This definition does not include those uses defined as a child care home, group home, or institution.

Detached means a unit, building, or structure that is apart or separate from another.

District means any zone of the city within which certain zoning and land use requirements are specified and are uniform, and which are designated on the official zoning district map.

Dwelling, multiple-family, means a building or buildings designed for three or more families occupying separate, attached, or detached dwelling units.

Dwelling, single-family, means a dwelling designed for and occupied exclusively by one family.

Dwelling, two-family, means a building or buildings designed for two families occupying separate, attached, or detached living units, including duplexes.

Dwelling unit means any building or portion thereof that contains living facilities, including provision for sleeping, eating, and cooking and sanitation purposes.

Exotic animals means animals such as monkeys, llamas, boa constrictors, and wild animals that are not indigenous to the southwestern United States.

Family means one or more persons related by blood or marriage, or a group of not more than five persons who need not be related by blood or marriage, living together as a single housekeeping unit.

Farm means an area that is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruit, fodder, trees and grain, and their storage on the area.

Filling station or service station means establishments where gasoline is sold and dispensed into motor vehicle tanks. Such establishment may also have accessory facilities for washing cars, minor maintenance, oil and grease, battery charging, tire repair and sale of auto accessories. Such establishment shall not perform body repair, engine or transmission over haul and shall not display vehicles for sale except in districts allowing such sales. No inoperative motor vehicles shall remain outside the business building for more than 24 hours.

Flea or open market means an open air market in which spaces are rented or leased for the purpose of selling articles and home crafts.

Floodplain means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water for the base flood. The term "floodplain" refers to that area designated as subject to flooding from the base flood on the latest flood insurance rate map (FIRM) available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A copy of the latest FIRM is on file at city hall. This area will comprise the floodplain overlay district and will be designated by FP on the official zoning map.

Floodway means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land area that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot. The term "floodway" refers to that area designated as a floodway on the latest flood insurance rate map (FIRM) available from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).) A copy of the latest FIRM is on file at city hall. This area will comprise the floodway overlay district and will be designated by FW on the official zoning map.

Floor area means the total gross area of all floors of a building.

Floor area ratio means the relationship of the floor area to the lot area computed by dividing the floor area by the lot area.

Fraternity or sorority means a dwelling with sleeping rooms or a dormitory used for occupancy by individuals in a recognized organization, and in which kitchen facilities are for the common use of all occupants.

Frontage means a specified distance measured along a street line or front property line.

Garage means a building or portion thereof, other than a private storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, selling, storing or parking motor driven vehicles, the term repairing shall not include an automotive body repair shop nor the rebuilding, dismantling or storage of wrecked or junked vehicles.

Grade means the average of the finished ground level at the center of all walls of a building.

Ground surface level means that surface of a yard which directly abuts a wall, fence, building, or structure, or the average grade level, whichever is more appropriate.

Halfway house means a residential facility located in a building or dwelling unit designed, used, or intended to be used as human habilitation which principal use is to serve as a place for persons seeking rehabilitation, recovery, or counseling from any physical, mental, emotional, penal or legal infirmity, in a family setting as part of a group rehabilitation or recovery program.

Home occupation means an occupation conducted in a dwelling unit or accessory building which is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for residential purposes and subject to the regulations of this chapter.

Hospice means a temporary residence for patients and their families receiving medical or psychological care from a licensed institution, which may include family counseling, group therapy, psychiatric treatment and training of family members by authorized practitioners in the provision of a caring environment for supplying the physical and emotional needs of the ill and their families. The term "hospice" includes homes for alcoholic, narcotic, or psychiatric patients, and institutions for patients with a contagious disease, such as tuberculosis sanitariums.

Hospital means an institution providing in-patient medical or surgical care for the acutely sick, chronically ill, or injured, included as an integral part of the institutional such related facilities as laboratories, outpatient departments, educational facilities, food services and staff offices. The term "hospital" includes homes for alcoholic, narcotic, contagious disease, such as tuberculosis sanitariums.

Hotel means a building in which lodging or boarding is offered to the public and in which room assignments are made for compensation and in which entrance to and exit from all rooms is made through an inside lobby or office supervised by a person in charge at all times. Hotels have one or more buildings containing individual living or sleeping units specially designed as temporary quarters for transient guest, including provisions for meals and personal services.

Inground swimming pool a swimming pool where the walls and water line are at or below ground level.

Institution means a building housing an organization dedicated to public or nonprofit service.

Junkyard means the use of a premises of any size for the storage, handling, dismantling, wrecking, keeping, or sale of wrecked or discarded automobiles and other vehicles and parts thereof, or for the storage of wood, plastic, fiber, or any other tangible scrap materials, including, without limitation, an automobile graveyard, a garbage dump or sanitary fill, or an establishment maintained, used, or operated for storing, buying, or selling junk or processing scrap metal.

Kennel, commercial, means any premises on which eight or more dogs, and eight or more cats, four months of age or older, are kept; and where the business of buying, selling, breeding, training, or boarding of small animals and household pets is conducted. The term "commercial kennel" does not include veterinary hospitals, or the humane societies, or animal shelters or pounds approved by a governmental agency.

Kennel, private residential, means any premises on which more than two dogs or two cats or any combination thereof in excess of two but not more than seven in number, four months of age or older, are kept and on which premises the business of buying, selling, breeding, training, or boarding of small animals and household pets is not carried on with the exception that the sale of not more than two litters per year shall be permitted.

Large animals means those animals that include equine, bovine, and swine and other such animals described and assumed by their size, weight, and appearance to be large animals.

Loading and unloading area means the area required for delivery of goods, merchandise, people or equipment.

Lot means a portion of a legally platted subdivision that is shown as a lot, tract, or parcel of land and can be held in separate ownership, as shown on the record of the county assessor. A legal lot is a parcel that has been divided in accordance with present or past zoning and subdivision requirements.

Lot, corner, means a lot abutting two or more streets at their intersection.

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

Lot, double frontage, means an interior lot fronting on two streets. Both frontages shall be construed as front yards.

Lot, interior, means a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot, triple frontage, means a lot fronting on three streets.

Lot of record means a legal lot, tract, or parcel, the map or deed of which has been recorded in the office of the county clerk.

Lot splits means the subdivision or division of a lot, tract, or parcel of land into separate lots, tracts, or parcels.

Lot width means the width of a lot at the front property line.

Manufactured home means a structure, constructed on or after June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the Federal Department of Urban Development, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or when erected on site is 320 square feet or more, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems. The term "manufactured home" does not include a recreational vehicle as that term is defined by 24 CFR 3282 8(g).

Mini-storage unit means small storage units, each used for the sole purpose of storage and strictly prohibiting the use for a business activity.

Mobile home means a structure that was constructed before June 15, 1976, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is eight body feet or more in width or 40 body feet or more in length, or when erected on site is 320 square feet or more, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems.

Mobile or manufactured home park means a parcel of land on which space is leased for terms of 12 months or less, or rented for occupancy for 30 days or more by mobile homes, and which contains permanent facilities for the use of mobile or manufactured homes, and their occupants

Mobile or manufactured home subdivision means a parcel of land equal to one city block or its equivalent, subdivided into lots individually owned and utilized at the site for placement of a single mobile or manufactured home.

Modular home or housing unit (MDH) means a standardized factory-fabricated transportable building module not having a chassis or wheels of its own, designed and constructed in accordance with all applicable local building codes and intended to be placed on a permanent foundation, meeting all local zoning codes and to be used by itself or incorporated with similar units at a building site. Modular homes can be used for residential or commercial uses when located in appropriate zoning districts.

Motel means any building or portion thereof or group of buildings containing five or more guest rooms or suites where such rooms or suites are directly accessible from an outdoor parking area and where each is used, designed of intended to be used, let or hired out for occupancy by transient guests for compensation or profit.

Nonconforming lot means a lot, the area, dimension or location of which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but now fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment (Black's Law Dictionary).

Nonconforming use means the use of land or a building, or a portion thereof, that does not conform to the current land use regulations of the zoning district in which it is located. Nonconforming uses include, without limitation, a structure, the size, dimension or location of which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails to conform to the requirement of the zoning district in which it is located by reasons of such adoption, revision or amendment and a use that does not comply with the present zoning provisions but existed lawfully and was created in good faith prior to the enactment of the zoning provision.

Nuisance means the use of property or land which creates unusual, unnecessary, or undue problems or situations for persons in the vicinity that would not have normally occurred otherwise. Nuisances include, without limitation:

(1)

Keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained in a closed receptacle.

(2)

Keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, furniture, tires, and cans, on premises for ten days or more, unless the rubbish or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible form a public street.

(3)

Maintaining premises in a manner that creates an unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, rodents, vermin, or disease carrying pests.

(4)

Allowing weeds to grow on premises.

(5)

Maintaining a building in a manner that is structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, maintenance, unsanitary conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage or abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard.

Nursing home means an institution providing meals and resident care and services for persons who are generally admitted for periods of time exceeding 30 days. Such service includes custodial or attendant care, and may or may not provide for routine and regular medical and nursing services. Nursing and care homes include homes for the aged, and convalescent and rest homes.

Open space means that area of a lot, tract, or parcel not devoted to any building or structure

Permanent accessory building means a building or structure which is permanently attached to a slab or foundation, the use of which is clearly incidental to the principal building and which is located on the same lot.

Public right-of-way means the land area deeded, reserved, or otherwise required by the city, the county, or the state for public use.

Public utility means a closely regulated enterprise existing under the provisions of V.T.C.A., Local Government Code Ch. 402 or Vernon's Ann. C.C.P. tit. 32, ch. 10, which provides to the public a utility service deemed necessary for the public health, safety, and general welfare. For purposes of this section. a municipality owning or operating a public utility system or an entity with a franchise with the municipality to provide a public utility system shall be considered a public utility.

Public utility facility means the buildings, structures and facilities relating to the furnishing of public utility services to the public. Public utility facilities shall be categorized as follows:

(1)

Minor utility facilities. Minor utility facilities shall include facilities which are necessary to support principal development including, but not limited to, lines, poles, pipes, drains, conduits, wires, meters, valves, hydrants, cross-connection control devices, transformers, gauges and other similar facilities which serve to distribute and transmit electrical power, gas, water and other essential public utilities; bus shelters, terminals and other similar facilities necessary for mass transportation service; bridges, catch basins, channels, culverts, detention ponds, ditches, flumes, pipes and other similar facilities which serve to carry, store, divert or collect storm drainage from land; and which minor utility facilities are customarily placed within a public right-of-way or public easement.

(2)

Water and wastewater utility facilities. Water and wastewater utility facilities shall include facilities providing service, maintenance or repair of essential public utilities to one or more developments including, but not limited to, wells, pumping stations, boosters, reservoirs, repeaters, water storage tanks, lift stations, regulators and other similar facilities; and which are not a minor or major utility facility.

(3)

Communication utility facilities. Communication utility facilities are not minor or major utility facilities and shall include facilities that provide for the transmission, transfer and distribution of telephone service and related activities. Facilities include, but shall not be limited to, communications exchanges, mini-huts, maxi-huts and other similar facilities.

(4)

Major utility facilities. Maior utility facilities shall include facilities which are used primarily for the storage, treatment, distribution or collection of an essential public utility service including, but not limited to, facilities for generation of energy, water and wastewater treatment plants, storage yards, switching facilities, primary substations and similar facilities.

Public utility service means a service essential to the health, safety and general welfare of the public, such as the generation, transmission and/or distribution of electricity, gas, steam, communications, and water; the collection and treatment of sewage and solid waste; the collection, storage or diversion of surface waters from land; and the provision of mass transportation.

Recreational vehicle, travel trailer, means a vehicular, portable structure built on a chassis, designed to be used as a temporary dwelling for travel and recreational purposes, and not designed to be permanently connected to utilities.

Recreational vehicle lodging facility (camper park) means a facility at least five acres in size, designed to accommodate overnight parking of recreational vehicles, campers, and travel trailers.

Recreational vehicle lodging facility or campground means a lot, tract, parcel of land or facility at least five acres in size which is licensed and used or offered for use, in whole or in part, for the parking of occupied travel trailers, pickup campers, converted buses, recreational vehicles, tent trailers, tents or similar devices used for temporary portable housing and used solely for living and/or sleeping purposes and which does not allow use for more than 30 consecutive days.

Residential street means a street of relatively short length and width that provides direct access to a limited number of abutting residential properties, and is designed to discourage its use for through traffic.

Riding school or stable means any place which has available for hire, boarding, and riding instruction any horse, pony, donkey, mule, or burro.

Roof means an overhead structure used for protection or shielding from the sun, rain, or other elements of weather.

School, commercial, means a school, conservatory, or business operated for a profit, which is not approved by the state as a kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school and where the primary function is instruction or teaching.

School, public and private, means primary and secondary educational facilities providing education up through and including the 12th grade level. Schools providing education facilities as well as long-term treatment or rehabilitative services are not considered schools for the purposes of this definition.

School, vocational/technical, means a secondary or higher educational facility primarily teaching skills that prepare students for jobs in a trade and meeting the state requirement for a vocational facility such as a barber/beauty college, or electrical training.

Screening and buffering means the use of walls, thick shrubbery, or similar materials to minimize the potentially adverse impact of one land use on another.

Setback means the distance between a wall or any projection of a building and the property line excluding steps and unenclosed porches.

Small animals means goats, sheep, fowl, miniature horses, domestic animals, and other such comparably-sized animals distinguished from those described as large animals, and from domestic animals which live inside the dwelling.

Stall or parking space means the area set for parking one vehicle.

Story means a single-level area between a floor and its ceiling, excluding all subterranean building area.

Street means a public or private thoroughfare that affords principal means of access to adjacent property.

Street, arterial, means a street that accommodates a large volume of comparatively high-speed traffic from one area of the city to another.

Street, collector, means a street which carries moderate volumes of traffic from local to minor residential streets to the major arterial streets and highways.

Street, cul-de-sac, means a street that terminates in a vehicular turnaround.

Street, residential, means a street of relatively short length and width that provides direct access to a limited number of abutting residential properties, and is designed to discourage its use for through traffic.

Street line means the outermost boundary or property line of a street right-of-way.

Structure means anything constructed or erected.

Tower means any structure that is designed and constructed primarily for the purpose of supporting one or more antennas, including self-supporting lattice towers, guy towers or monopole towers. The term "tower" includes radio and television transmission and reception towers, microwave towers, common carrier towers, cellular telephone towers, and the like, but shall not include towers accessory to residential uses. The term "tower accessory to residential uses" means amateur radio equipment not used for commercial purposes, including ham radio and citizen's band radio (CB) equipment.

Townhouse means one of a group of attached dwelling units divided from each other by common walls and each having a separate entrance leading directly to the outdoors at ground level.

Use means the activity or function that actually takes place or is intended to take place on a lot.

Variance means a relaxation of the terms of this chapter where such variance will not be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of actions of the applicant, a literal enforcement of this chapter would result in unnecessary and undue hardship. As used in this chapter, a variance may be authorized only for area, height, dimension, distance, setback, off-street parking, and off-street loading requirements or as elsewhere specifically authorized by the chapter.

Vehicle accommodation area means the portions of a lot that are used by vehicles for access, circulation, parking, loading and unloading. The vehicle accommodation area comprises all circulation areas, loading and unloading area, and parking areas.

Veterinary hospital means any establishment maintained and operated by a licensed veterinarian for surgery, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries of animals.

Warehouse means a building used primarily for storage of products or wares, in conjunction with retail stores, not including accessory uses such as storerooms or stockrooms. Mini-storage or self-storage of household goods and similar uses shall not be construed as a warehouse use.

Weeds means all rack and uncultivated vegetation growth or matter that has grown to more than 36 inches in height or may create an unsanitary condition or become a harborage for rodents, vermin, or other disease carrying pets, regardless of the height of the weeds.

Wild animal means any living raccoon, skunk, fox, coyote, snake; or monkeys, llamas, boa constrictors or animals that are not indigenous to the southwestern United States and not normally domesticated.

Yard means the space on a lot unobstructed by buildings from the ground to the sky, including sidewalks, driveways, patios, and other ground level surfaces. The term "yard" includes the space on a lot, including sidewalks, driveways, patios, and other ground level surfaces, that is unobstructed by building from the ground to the sky.

Yard, front, means the required yard between a front property line and a building or structure.

Yard, rear, means the required yard between a rear property line and a building or structure.

Yard, side, means the required yard between a side property line and a building or structure.

(Ord. No. 76, § 17, 5-1-1989; Ord. of 11-7-2002, § 17; Ord. No. 508, § 2, 7-15-2021; Ord. No. 667, 3-20-2025)