(a)

These regulations implement the comprehensive plan and ensure the public health, safety, and general welfare. They govern use of land, heights of structures, placement and construction of fences and screening, provisions of yards, provision of off-street parking, placement and kinds of permitted exterior signs, access from public rights-of-way and development of uses to conserve the value of land and buildings.

(b)

Other regulations also govern the use and development of land. When other regulations conflict with these regulations, the strictest regulations shall apply. When other regulations are supplementary to these regulations, the supplementary regulations also apply.

(c)

These regulations do not abrogate or annul any public or private easements or private covenants. It is the responsibility of the citizen to acquaint himself with all regulations that apply to his circumstances.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 2, 6-13-1983)

(a)

In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this chapter shall be held to be the minimum regulations and standards and shall apply uniformly for the promotion of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the citizens of the city.

(b)

No building, structure, land or premises shall be used or occupied and no building or structure shall be erected, constructed, moved, or altered unless in conformity with all the regulations and standards herein specified for the district in which it is located.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 3, 6-13-1983)

The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall, for the purposes of this chapter, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except where the context otherwise requires.

Accessory structure or use means a structure or use clearly subordinate to or incidental to, and customarily associated with the main permitted use of the premises.

Agriculture means one of the following types:

(1)

Type 1. Land, the use of which is for the raising or growing of crops and other vegetative products and foodstuffs in the open.

(2)

Type 2. Land, the main or principal use of which is the raising or growing of crops, livestock, poultry, and other farm products and foodstuffs in the open, and any structure or facility on such land necessary for the day to day operation of such activities and for the storage or preservation of such products and foodstuffs until consumed thereon or until moved to a place of distribution or processing.

Alley means a minor way which is used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.

Alteration means any addition, removal, extension, or change in the location of any exterior surface of a main building or accessory building.

Apartment house means a building or portion thereof, arranged, intended, or designed for more than two families.

Basement means a story having more than one-half its height below grade.

Building means an enclosed structure anchored to a permanent foundation and having exterior or party walls and a roof, designed for the shelter of persons, animals or property.

Building accessory means a subordinate building, the use of which is incidental or secondary to that of the principal building and customary in connection with that use.

Building line means the interior line of any required yard.

Building, principal, means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated. In a residential district, the largest dwelling shall be deemed to be the principal building.

Camp means any of the following, other than a hospital, place of detention, or school offering general instruction:

(1)

Type 1. A camp having located on it a structure used for any assembly of persons for what is commonly called "day camp" purposes whether occupied by adults or children, either as individuals, families, or groups.

(2)

Type 2. A tract of land, having on it two or more cabins, tents, or shelters suitable for seasonal, recreational, and other similar living purposes.

Day nursery means a place where ten or more children are left for care a part of the day.

Dog kennel means any premises where three or more dogs over the age of four months are owned, boarded, bred or offered for sale.

Dwelling means a building designed for residential living purposes and containing one or more dwelling unit or lodging units.

Dwelling unit means one or more rooms constituting all or part of a dwelling and which are arranged, designed, used, or intended for use exclusively as a single housekeeping unit for one family, and which include cooking, living, sanitation, and sleeping facilities.

Family means an individual or two or more persons related by blood or marriage or a group of not more than five persons (excluding servants) who need not be related by blood or marriage living together in a dwelling unit.

Garden apartment means an apartment building consisting of more than two dwelling units and not exceeding 2½ stories in height.

Grade means the average of the elevations of the surface of the ground measured at all corners of a building.

Height of building means the vertical distance above grade, as defined herein, to the highest point of the roof.

Height of structure other than a building means the vertical distance from the average ground level at the base of the structure to the highest part thereof.

Impervious cover means the surface area which does not permit the absorption of stormwater into the ground. For purposes of this chapter, the term "impervious cover" excludes natural rock outcroppings.

Landfills (waste disposal areas) means any of the following:

Demolition landfill means a solid waste disposal area used for the controlled disposal of demolition wastes, construction materials, brush, wood wastes, soil, rock, concrete and inert solids insoluble in water.

Hazardous waste landfill/treatment facility means a facility to be licensed for the treatment of any waste or combination of wastes, as determined to be hazardous by the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Law, RSMo 260.350 et seq. and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto.

Sanitary landfill means a permitted solid waste disposal area for the disposal of municipal wastes including residential waste and commercial, agricultural, governmental, industrial and institutional wastes which have chemical and physical characteristics similar to those of residential waste; employing an engineered method of disposing of solid wastes on land in a manner that minimizes environmental hazards by spreading the solid wastes in thin layers, compacting the solid wastes to the smallest practical volume and applying cover at the end of each operating day.

Special waste landfill means a solid waste disposal area permitted specifically for the disposal of one or more special wastes which are not regulated hazardous wastes, which have physical or chemical characteristics that are different from municipal, demolition, construction and wood wastes, and which potentially require special handling.

Utility waste landfill means a solid waste disposal area used for fly ash waste, bottom ash waste, slag waste and flue gas emission control waste generated from the combustion of coal or other fossil fuels including incinerator residue wastes that remain after combustion.

Lot means a parcel of land occupied by, or intended for occupancy by, one principal building, unified groups of buildings or principal use, and having access to a public street. A lot may consist of one or more platted lots, or tract or tracts as conveyed, or parts thereof.

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

Lot, interior, means a lot whose side lot lines do not abut upon any street.

Lot line, front, means the boundary between a lot and a street on which it fronts.

Lot line, rear, means the boundary line which is opposite the front street line, except that in the case of uncertainty the building official shall determine the rear lot line.

Lot line, side, means any boundary line not a front or rear line thereof. A side line may be a party lot line or a line bordering on an alley or a side street.

Lot in separate ownership means a lot whose boundary lines, along their entire length, touched lands under other ownership as shown by plat or deed recorded in office of county recorder of deeds on or before date of adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived and conforming with previous zoning regulations of the city.

Lot of record means a lot, as herein defined, described by plat or deed and recorded in the office of the county recorder of deeds.

Mine stabilization means the use of Class C fly ash slurried with water and injected into previously mined or subsided areas for the purpose of preventing or remedying subsidence of mined areas.

Pawn shops means businesses that lend money on the security of pledged goods or are engaged in the business of purchasing tangible personal property on condition that it may be redeemed or repurchased by a seller for a fixed price within a fixed period of time. Pawn shops are further governed by RSMo ch. 367.

Salvaging facility means a facility for the controlled removal of materials for utilization.

Short-term loan services means businesses that loan money on a short-term basis to the general public as an element of its operation, including businesses offering title loans, payday loans, signature loans, and small loans under RSMo ch. 367 or RSMo 408.500 and other similar businesses, but not including banks, savings and loan associations or credit unions that are licensed by appropriate state and federal agencies, or retail credit financing institutions that are licensed under RSMo ch. 364 or 365 or pawnbrokers governed by RSMo ch. 367 or retail merchants governed by RSMo 400.2.

Sign means any words, numerals, figures, devices, designs or trademarks by which information is made known to the public outside a building.

Small recreational vehicle means two-wheeled vehicles of 500 cc or less, four-wheeled and all-terrain vehicles of 900 cc or less, 16 feet or less boats without motors, boat motors, and wave runners (jet skis).

Story means that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there is no floor above, then the space between any floor and the ceiling next above it.

Street means a public right of way which affords a primary means of access to abutting property.

Structure means anything erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground or attached to something having permanent location on the ground.

Townhouse means a building designed for more than two dwelling units that has one or more common walls with adjoining units.

Use means the purpose or activity for which the land or building thereon is designed, arranged, or intended, or for which it is occupies or maintained.

Use, accessory, means a subordinate or secondary use which is clearly and customarily incidental to the principal use of a building or premises, and which is located on the same lot as the principal building or use.

Waste processing terms used in this chapter include the following:

Compost plant means a solid waste processing facility using a controlled process of microbial degradation of organic material into a stable, nuisance free humus-like product.

Incinerator means a solid waste processing facility consisting of any device or structure resulting in weight or volume reduction of solid waste by combustion.

Infectious waste treatment facility means a facility for the treatment of isolation wastes, cultures and stocks of etiologic agents, blood and blood products, pathological wastes, other wastes from surgery and autopsy, contaminated laboratory wastes, sharps, dialysis unit wastes, discarded biologicals known or suspected to be infectious, for the purpose of rendering the waste noninfectious.

Recycling center means any collection (not manufacturing) facility or system that accepts source-separated materials for resale to markets for resource recovery, for example, aluminum cans and scraps, tin, copper, glass, paper products, tires, plastics, bi-metal and steel containers, ferrous and nonferrous metals.

Resource recovery facility means any facility where recovery of materials, which might otherwise be disposed of as solid waste and which have not been separated at the point of generation, takes place.

Salvaging facility means a facility for the controlled removal of materials for utilization.

Storage facility means a facility for the storage of any type of waste with not intended purpose of treatment or processing, other than a transfer station, except the storage of waste generated on site awaiting timely removal.

Transfer station means a solid waste processing facility at which solid waste from collection trucks is placed in long haul carriers.

Treatment facility means a facility for the treatment of sewage, sludge, and contaminated surface or subsurface water or soil.

Yard means an open space at grade between a building and the adjoining lot lines, unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard or the depth of a rear yard, the least horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.

Yard, front, means a yard across the full width of the lot extending from the front line of the main building to the front line of the lot.

Yard, rear, means a yard between the rear lot line and the rear line of the main building and the side lot lines.

Yard, side, means a yard between the main building and the adjacent side line of the lot, and extending entirely from the front yard to the rear yard thereof.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 4, 6-13-1983; Ord. No. 2990, § 1, 8-22-2005; Ord. of 12-14-2009, § 1 (4); Ord. No. 08-61-15, § 1, 8-10-2015)

A nonconforming use of land, building or structure existing lawfully at the time of adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived may be continued indefinitely, subject to the following:

(1)

Discontinuance of use. When a nonconforming use of land or a building or structure, is discontinued or abandoned for 180 consecutive days, the land, building or structure, shall not thereafter be used except in conformance with the regulations and standards of the district in which it is located.

(2)

Change of use. A nonconforming use may be continued but may not be changed to another nonconforming use.

(3)

Failure to comply with off-street parking or loading requirements. A nonconforming use, building, or structure, which is nonconforming only because of failure to comply with off-street parking and loading requirements shall have all the rights of conforming uses.

(4)

Alteration and enlargement of buildings or structures. A building or structure that is conforming in use, but nonconforming to height or yard regulations of the district in which it is located, may be enlarged or structurally altered, provided such alteration is in conformance with the regulations of the district in which it is located. A building or structure containing a nonconforming use, except single-family dwellings, may not be enlarged or structurally altered unless such use is made to conform to the regulations of the district in which it is located.

(5)

Repair of buildings or structures. Ordinary repairs may be made to a nonconforming structure or building. Ordinary repairs shall be determined by the building official.

(6)

Restoration of buildings or structures. When a building or structure other than a dwelling, containing a nonconforming use is damaged or destroyed by fire, other casualty, or act of God:

a.

To the extent of more than 50 percent of its reasonable value, exclusive of foundations, it shall not be restored or rebuilt unless it is made to conform with all the regulations of the district in which it is located.

b.

To the extent of less than 50 percent of its reasonable value, it may be restored to its original size, provided such restoration is completed within 12 months of the date of destruction. Any litigation shall not be counted as part of the 12 months allowed for restoration.

(7)

Enlargement of use of land. A nonconforming use of land shall not be enlarged or extended to occupy a greater area of land than was under ownership on the effective date of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 5, 6-13-1983)

(a)

Applications for amendment of the city zoning map may be made by the city or by any person or his agent who owns the land sought to be rezoned. If such application is made by the owner's agent, documentation of the agency shall be submitted with the application.

(b)

An application for amendment, revision, or change of any rules, regulations, or provisions of the text of this chapter, other than the official city zoning map, or any application for a special use permit, or any presentation of a site plan for property zoned with a planned district designation may be made by any interested persons.

(c)

Recommendation for amendment of this chapter, including the official city zoning map, may also be made by the planning commission upon its own motion for final determination by the city council. The city council may amend this article, including the official city zoning map, upon its own motion, provided that proposed changes shall first be submitted to the planning commission for recommendations. In either case, final action shall be taken only after notice and hearing as provided herein.

(d)

Each application for an amendment, special use permit, or site plan approval, except that initiated by the city council or by the planning commission, shall be accompanied by a fee as set forth by the city council by ordinance from time to time.

(e)

No application shall be received by the building official for advertisement and public hearing if the application is filed within one year of any previous zoning application on the same parcel of land or any part thereof. The one-year period will be computed from the date of the last action of the planning commission on an application. However, an applicant may submit to the planning commission for their consideration an affidavit of new evidence for the commission's determination of whether a public hearing should be granted within the one-year period of prohibition. The planning commission is to use the following standards to determine whether there is in fact new evidence to be considered. New evidence is first presented to the building official and his staff for recommendation to the commission on whether the facts as submitted by the applicant do constitute new evidence. New evidence for these purposes is that evidence which was not available to the applicant or not obtainable by the applicant at the time of the filing of his original application. If the commission determines that the submittal is in fact new evidence, then it may allow the applicant to submit a rezoning application within the one-year period of prohibition.

(f)

All such applications shall be set for hearing before the planning commission not later than 45 days from the date of filing. Any hearing may for good cause at the request of the applicant or the discretion of the commission be continued. At least 15 days' notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the city.

(g)

After hearing the application, the commission shall make a report of its action, setting forth the commission's findings of fact, together with a recommendation for final approval or denial.

(h)

After the conclusion of the hearing, the commission secretary will cause to have reduced to writing the entire proceedings of the commission in the case, which shall be forwarded to the city council forthwith.

(i)

The city council shall set a time and place for a hearing of only new evidence that was not presented at the public hearing before the commission and was not reasonably available at the time of the hearing before the city council.

(j)

Each councilmember voting on a proposed zoning amendment, special use permit, or site plan approval shall review the transcript of the public hearing before the planning commission, the commission's findings of fact and conclusion of law, and the staff report to the commission.

(k)

New evidence proposed to be presented to the city council at its hearing must be submitted in writing to the building official at least seven days before such hearing by the city council for a determination of whether such proposed evidence is both new evidence and was not reasonably available at the time of the hearing before the commission.

(l)

A protest against any amendment, special use permit, or site plan approval bearing the notarized signatures of the owners of 30 percent or more, either the areas of land (exclusive of streets and alleys) included in such proposed change, or within an area determined by lines drawn parallel to and 185 feet distant from the boundaries of the district proposed to be changed, shall be presented to the city clerk. Such revisions or amendment shall not become effective except by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all the members of the city council.

(Ord. No. 3548, § 1, 10-10-2011)

The city council may grant on resolution special exceptions to the requirements of this chapter for temporary uses. The city council may impose any conditions it may deem necessary to protect the public health and safety. Special exceptions include, but are not limited to, carnivals in C-3 district only, fireworks sales or displays, and sale of alcoholic beverages at athletic events. Fees for special exceptions shall be as provided from time to time by the city council.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 33, 6-13-1983)

Whenever any land is annexed to the city after the adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived, the land so annexed is automatically subject to the provisions of this chapter, and is classified as the most comparable district specified in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 35, 6-13-1983)

(a)

Minimum and maximum fine; continuing violations. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter is subject, upon conviction thereof, to a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more than $100.00 for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist constitutes a separate offense.

(b)

Restraining orders and abatement. The city may institute any appropriate action to prevent any unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, maintenance or use to restrain, correct or abate any violation of this chapter or to prevent the occupancy of any building to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business, or use in or about such premises.

(c)

Civil penalty for failure to obey order to remove violation. Any person who after service of an order to remove a violation of this chapter fails to comply with the order within ten days after such service, or who continues to violate any provisions of this chapter after notice or order, is subject to civil penalty of $250.00.

(Ord. No. 1874, § 36, 6-13-1983)