St Joseph City Zoning Code

25.1.1.

Violations Continue. This ordinance shall not impair or affect any act done, offense committed or right accruing, accrued, or acquired; or liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred prior to the time this ordinance takes effect, but the same may be enjoyed, asserted, enforced, prosecuted or inflicted as fully and to the same extent as if this ordinance had not been adopted. Such proceedings may be consummated under and according to the ordinance in force at the time such proceedings are or were commenced. All prosecution, or other actions, pending at the effective date of this ordinance and all prosecution, or other proceedings, instituted after the effective date of this ordinance, or offenses or acts committed prior to the effective date of this ordinance, may be continued or instituted under and in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance in force at the time of such offense. Any violation occurring under the previous zoning ordinance (the city's zoning ordinance adopted on July 6, 1987 and repealed by Section 25.4 of this ordinance) will continue to be a violation under this ordinance and be subject to penalties and enforcement pursuant to Article XIV, Administration and Enforcement, unless the violation is brought into compliance with the provisions of this ordinance.

25.1.2.

Nonconformities Under Prior Ordinance. Any nonconformity under the previous zoning ordinance (the city's zoning ordinance adopted on July 6, 1987 and repealed by Section 25.4 of this ordinance) which is not otherwise permitted under this ordinance will also be a legal nonconformity under this ordinance.

25.1.3.

Approved Projects.

A.

Validity. Permits and approvals that are valid on the effective date of this ordinance shall remain valid until their expiration date. Projects with valid approvals or permits may be carried out in accordance with the development standards in effect at the time of approval.

B.

Extensions. The decision-making body that granted original approval may renew or extend the time of a previous approval if the required findings or standards for approval remain valid.

C.

Re-Application. Any re-application for an expired approval or permit shall meet the standards of this ordinance in effect at the time of re-application.

25.1.4.

Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) Approved Prior to Effective Date of this Ordinance. Any planned unit development (PUD), or phase of a PUD, which received final site plan approval prior to the effective date of this ordinance shall remain valid. Any PUD or phase of a PUD which received preliminary plan approval prior to the effective date of this ordinance but has not received final site plan approval within 12 months of the effective date of this ordinance shall expire.

25.1.5.

Applications in Progress. Applications for permits and other approvals, submitted, accepted as complete and pending approval as of the effective date of this ordinance may, at the applicant's option, be reviewed wholly under the terms of the previous ordinance. Any re-application for an expired permit shall meet the standards in effect at the time of re-application.

25.1.6.

Prior Construction Approval. The completion of construction and use of a nonconforming building for which a building permit has been issued and footings poured prior to the effective date of this ordinance is allowed, provided that construction is commenced within 90 days after the date of issuance of the permit; that construction is carried on diligently without interruption, as weather permits, for a continuous period; and that the entire building shall have been completed according to the plans filed with the permit application within two years after the issuance of the building permit. To avoid unnecessary hardship, nothing in this article shall be deemed to require a change in the plans, construction, or designated use of any building on which construction was lawfully begun prior to the effective date of adoption or amendment of this article, and upon which actual construction has been diligently carried on. Actual construction is defined to include the placing of construction materials in permanent position and fastened in a permanent manner, except where demolition or removal of an existing building has been substantially begun preparatory to rebuilding. The demolition or removal shall be deemed to be actual construction, provided that work shall be diligently carried on until completion of the building involved.

Nothing in this ordinance should be interpreted or construed to give vested rights in the continuance of any particular use or zoning district, and all lands and uses subject to this ordinance are subject to subsequent amendment, as may be necessary to preserve or protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

This ordinance and its various parts, articles, sections, and clauses thereof are severable. If any such part sentence, paragraph, section, clause or word is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, by any court, the remainder of the ordinance shall not be affected. If any such part is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid as applied to a particular property, structure or use, the application of that part of the ordinance to other properties, structures or uses shall not be affected. Where there is a conflict between the provisions of this ordinance and another ordinance, or within this ordinance, the more restrictive provisions shall apply. Whenever any condition or limitation is included in an approval or permit, it shall be conclusively presumed that the authorizing officer or body considered such condition or limitation to be lawful and necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this ordinance.

The existing zoning regulations of the City of St. Joseph, being Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of St. Joseph, Michigan, as amended, are hereby repealed.

This ordinance shall become effective on January 18, 2007.

Zoning Map

Table of Updates and Components of Current Ordinance

The following table of updates, summary of zoning map updates, and components of current ordinance are not parts of the ordinance, but are provided as informal aids to assist in tracking the history of the ordinance and to ensure that a particular copy of the ordinance is up-to-date. The date of city commission approval of an amendment is used for reference, rather than the effective date of an amendment.

Zoning map changes, such as rezonings and planned unit development approvals, are not necessarily immediately reflected on the map published with the ordinance. These changes are indicated on the date of approval with a small letter (such as "a," "b," "c," etc.) to indicate that a change has taken place, along with a number to identify the specific change, therefore the first change after the adoption of the map is change "a1." A capital letter ("A," "B," "C," etc.) is used to show when the change is reflected on the published map. For example, changes a1 and a2 would both be included in published map change A; the first change after published map change A would be change b1, which would be included in published map change B, and so forth. Map changes that have been approved but are not yet reflected on the published map are reflected on the official zoning map, which is available for review in the inspection department. The effective changes, whether or not incorporated into the published zoning map, are described in the summary of zoning map updates table.

The cover of the ordinance, and the tables in this section are updated with every amendment, and are therefore not included in the table of updates.

Abbreviations:

Ack = Acknowledgements

Pre = Preamble

TOC = Table of Contents

refs = change references to renumbered sections

Editor's note— Amendments to the Jan. 8, 2007 Zoning Ordinance through Oct. 12, 2015 are tracked in Table U-1. Amendments after Oct. 12, 2015 are tracked in the Code Comparative Table of the St. Joseph Code of Ordinances rather than Table U-1.

Table U-2

Table U-3

Editor's note— Amendments to the Jan. 8, 2007 Zoning Ordinance through Oct. 12, 2015 are tracked in Table U-3. Table U-3 will no longer be updated beginning with any amendments occuring after Oct. 12, 2015.