This ordinance shall be construed liberally to affect the purposes thereof, and the rules of this section shall be observed except when the context clearly requires otherwise:

(1)

Words used or defined in one (1) tense or form shall include other tenses or derivative forms.

(2)

Words in the singular shall include the plural and words in the plural shall include the singular.

(3)

The masculine gender shall include the feminine and the feminine shall include the masculine.

(4)

The particular shall control the general.

(5)

The words "should" or "shall" or "will" are mandatory.

(6)

The word "may" is permissive.

(7)

In the event of a conflict between the text of this ordinance and any caption, illustration, table, or map, the text shall control.

(8)

The word "includes" shall not limit a term to the specified examples, but is intended to extend its meaning to all other instances or circumstances of life kind or character.

(9)

The word "erected" also includes constructed, reconstructed, altered, placed, or relocated.

When used in this ordinance, the following terms shall have the meanings herein ascribed to them.

(1)

Accessory use: A structure or use that:

(a)

Is subordinate to and serves an existing principal building or principal use;

(b)

Is subordinate in area, extent, and purpose to the principal structure or principal use served;

(c)

Contributes to the comfort, convenience, or necessity of the occupant, business, or industry in the principal structure or use; and,

(d)

Is located on the same lot or parcel as the principal structure or use.

(2)

Agricultural land: Land with soil, climate, water, and topography so interrelated that, if prudently managed to protect its natural qualities, is favorable for the production of adapted crops or livestock.

(3)

Apartment house: A residential structure containing three (3) or more apartments (independent dwelling units).

(4)

Area of special flood hazard: The land within the flood plain that is subject to a one (1) percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

(5)

Arterial road: A route providing service that is relatively continuous and of a relatively high traffic volume, long average trip length, and high operating speed.

(6)

Base flood: The flood having a one (1) percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The "base flood" is synonymous with the "100-year flood."

(7)

Best management practices (BMP's): A collection of structural practices and vegetative measures which, when properly designed, installed and maintained, will provide effective erosion and sedimentation control. The term "properly designed" means designed in accordance with the hydraulic design specifications contained in the "Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia" specified in O.C.G.A. 12- 7-6 subsection (b).

(8)

Board of Commissioners: The Thomas County Board of Commissioners.

(9)

Boarding house: A dwelling where meals or lodging and meals, are provided for compensation to three (3) or more persons by pre-arrangement for definite periods. A boarding house is to be distinguished from a hotel, motel or a nursing home.

(10)

Buffer: A natural and/or landscaped area intended to visibly separate uses through distance to shield or block noise, light, glare, or other nuisances, or to protect natural features such as streams or wetlands.

(11)

Buffer, State waters: The area of land immediately adjacent to the banks of state waters in its natural state of vegetation, which facilitates the protection of water quality and aquatic habitat.

(12)

Building: Any structure, including a roof supported by walls, designed or built for the support, enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind, that is erected for permanent location on the ground. A manufactured building or home shall be considered a building for the purposes of this ordinance. A mobile home shall not be considered a building for the purposes of this Ordinance.

(13)

Building Official: The head of the Office of Building Inspection.

(14)

Carport: A canopy, roof like structure, or shed, open on two (2) sides or more, the purpose of which is to provide shelter for one (1) or more motor vehicles.

(15)

Certificate of occupancy: A document issued by the building official indicating the use of a particular building or land conforms to the requirements of this Land Use Standards Ordinance and is ready to be occupied.

(16)

Church: A building in which persons regularly assemble for religious worship, and that is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship.

(17)

Collector road: A route providing service that is of relatively moderate average traffic volume, moderately average trip length, and moderately average operating speed.

(18)

Common area: A parcel 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 the development.

(19)

Comprehensive Plan, Thomas County: The adopted Thomas County Comprehensive Plan.

(20)

Conditional use: A use that is generally compatible with the use characteristics of a Land Use Standards District, but that requires individual review of its location, design, and configuration in accordance with Section 4.300 to determine the appropriateness of the use on any particular site in the district.

(21)

Conditional zoning: Any additional zoning restrictions or requirements placed on the use of property for the purpose of mitigating adverse impacts.

(22)

Condominium: A form of ownership of less than the whole of a building or system of buildings under a statue which provides the mechanics and facilities for formal filing and recording of divided interest in real property, whether the division is vertical or horizontal.

(23)

Conservation easement: An agreement between a land owner and a governmental agency or land trust that permanently protects the land by limiting the amount and type of development that is permissible, while leaving the remainder of the fee interest in private ownership.

(24)

Conservation subdivision: A residential development designed within a master plan in a rural setting that is characterized by clustered lots and common green space.

(25)

Congregate personal care home: A home for adults which offers care to sixteen (16) or more persons.

(26)

Critical area buffer: The areas which are permitted by Federal (Corps of Engineer) or State of Georgia EPD Agencies.

(27)

Construction office: A building used on a temporary basis on the site of a construction project, as an office for the contractor.

(28)

DRI - Development of Regional Impacts: The Georgia Planning Act of 1989 authorized the Department of Community Affairs to establish procedures for regional review of development projects that are of sufficient size that they are likely to impacts beyond the jurisdiction in which the project will be located. The D.R.I. review process involves the local government, the reviewing Regional Development Center (RDC) and other potentially affected local governments, RDC's and agencies.

(29)

DBH (Forestry Diameter At Breast Height): The diameter of a tree at breast height.

(30)

Day care facility: There are two (2) types of daycare:

(a)

Family daycare home—A facility located in a One Family Dwelling which receives not more than six (6) children under seventeen (17) years of age without the transfer of custody, including the family's natural or adopted children residing in the dwelling, for more than four (4) hours and less than twenty four (24) hours per day.

(b)

Day care center facilities—Facilities used to provide care for children on a regular or non-recurring basis for seven (7) or more children under eighteen (18) years of age for group care, without the transfer of custody, for more than four (4) hours and less than twenty four (24) hours per day.

(31)

Day care centers (nineteen (19) or more children): Any place operated as day care for nineteen (19) or more children. Day care centers are normally located in schools and churches.

(32)

Density, gross: The number of dwelling units located on an area of land, divided by the entire area of the development including lots, streets, and other development associated with the dwelling units.

(33)

Drainage easement: An agreement allowing the owner of adjacent tracts or other persons to discharge stormwater runoff onto the tract or parcel of land subject to the drainage easement.

(34)

Dwelling or dwelling unit: Any building, or part thereof, constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment for no more than one (1) family, and physically separated from any other rooms or housekeeping establishments which may be in the same structure. A dwelling unit contains sleeping facilities, sanitary facilities, and a kitchen.

(35)

Developed area: That portion of a lot or parcel upon which a building, structure, pavement, gravel, landscaping, or other improvements have been placed.

(36)

Developer: Any person, including a governmental agency, undertaking any development as defined in this ordinance.

(37)

Development: The carrying out of any building or mining operation or the making of any material change in the use or appearance of any structure or land.

(38)

Directional sign, public: A sign erected by a governmental agency, to denote the name of any thoroughfare; to point out the route to any city, educational institution, public building, public place, historic place, hospital, or park; to direct and regulate traffic; or to denote any railroad crossing, bridge, or other transportation facility.

(39)

District: A portion of the territory of the county, exclusive or inclusive of streets, alleys, and other public ways within which certain uses of land, premises, and buildings are permitted and for which a uniform set of regulations apply.

(40)

Drive-through service: A structure in which a customer is permitted or encouraged, either by design of physical facilities or by service or packaging, to enter into the service area when seated in a motor vehicle.

(41)

Dwelling: Any building or structure or portion thereof that is designed for or used for residential purposes.

(42)

Dwelling, duplex or two-family: A building containing two (2) dwelling units, designed for occupancy by not more than two (2) families living independently of each other.

(43)

Dwelling, multi-family: A building either designed, constructed, altered, or used for more than two (2) adjoining dwelling units, with each dwelling unit having a party wall or party floor ceiling connecting it to at least one (1) other dwelling unit in the building.

(44)

Dwelling, single family: A detached building used and either designed or constructed for one (1) dwelling unit.

(45)

Dwelling unit: A self-sufficient dwelling that is designed for or used as a residence by a single housekeeping unit.

(46)

Easement: A grant of one (1) or more property rights by a property owner to the general public, a public utility, a governmental unit, or a private individual or corporation for the use of a portion of the owner's land for a specific purpose, or use as a means of access to other property. Easements shall be designated "public" or "private" depending upon the nature of the usage.

(47)

Equipment shed: A structure erected on a construction site to shelter equipment and tools used in construction activities on that specific construction site.

(48)

Family: One (1) or more persons related by blood or marriage occupying a single housekeeping unit. Provided that unless all members are related by blood or marriage, no such family shall contain over six (6) persons, and provided further that such family may include gratuitous guests and domestic servants.

(49)

Family personal care home: A home for adults in a family type residence, non-institutional in character, which offers care to between two (2) and six (6) persons.

(50)

Family farm: A provisional exemption from conventional subdivision development standards. This section will apply to land divisions in the rural residential, agricultural, and conservation agricultural boundaries.

(51)

Flood hazard boundary map (FHBM): An official map of a community, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard have been defined as Zone A.

(52)

Flood insurance rate map (FIRM): An official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

(53)

Flood insurance study: The official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the flood boundary/floodway map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

(54)

Frontage: The length of a lot that fronts on a public or approved private street.

(55)

Garage, private: An accessory building designed or used for the storage of not more than three (3) motor driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.

(56)

Garage, public: Any premises used for the storage or care of motor driven vehicles, or place where any such vehicles are equipped for operation, repaired or kept for remuneration, hire or sale.

(57)

Governmental agency:

(a)

The United States or any department, commission, agency, or other instrumentality thereof;

(b)

The State of Georgia or any department, commission, agency, or other instrumentality thereof;

(c)

Any county or municipality; or

(d)

Any school board or other special district.

(58)

Grade: The average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior wall of a building or structure.

(59)

Ground cover: Low growing plants planted in such a manner as to form a continuous cover over the ground.

(60)

Group personal care home: A home for adults in a residence or other type building(s), non-institutional in character, which offers care to between seven (7) and fifteen (15) persons.

(61)

Hardship manufactured home/travel trailer: One (1) manufactured home or travel trailer that may be placed on a residential lot if it is established that a genuine hardship exists only by reason of medical disability or age. The Planning Commission and the County Commission must determine if the eligibility criteria are met prior to granting this hardship variance. A hardship manufactured home or travel trailer shall be allowed for a one (1) year period after which an additional application must be submitted to request an extension. See Section 3.250 for the General Provisions relating to the use of this hardship variance.

(62)

Height: The vertical distance between grade and the highest finished main roof surface in the case of flat roofs or a point at the average height of roofs having a pitch of more than one (1) foot in four and one-half (4 ½) feet.

(63)

Home occupation: A business, profession, occupation, or trade conducted within a residential building for gain or support by a resident of the dwelling that is incidental and secondary to the residential use of the building and does not change the essential residential character of the use. Home occupations are not restricted or related to Table Four of this ordinance.

(64)

Hospital: Any building housing a medical institution designed, equipped, and staffed to receive two (2) or more persons for diagnosis, treatment and other health services under the supervision of a medical doctor for periods continuing twenty-four (24) hours of a day.

(65)

Hotel/motel: A building in which lodging is provided or offered to the public for compensation.

(66)

Illuminated sign: Any sign designed to emit artificial light or designed to reflect light from one (1) or more sources of artificial light.

(67)

Impermeable surface: Any material applied to the surface of land that inhibits the natural infiltration or passage of water into the ground.

(68)

Industrialized building: A structure or component which is wholly or in substantial part made, fabricated, formed or assembled in or at a manufacturing facility and delivered to a building site for fabrication and installation of such assemblies. All parts or processes can- not be inspected by the County Building Official except by disassembly. In lieu of such inspection the structure shall be accepted if it bears an insignia, label, or decal issued by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to certify the unit as to construction and safety standards.

(69)

Junk yard: Use of property for outdoor storage, keeping, abandonment, sales, or resale of junk including scrap metal, rags, paper or other scrap materials, used lumber, salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment, or for the dismantling demolition, or abandonment of automobiles or other vehicles or machinery or parts thereof.

(70)

Jurisdictional wetland: An area that meets the definitional requirements for wetlands as determined by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

(71)

Kennels: Any facility located within the unincorporated area of Thomas County where six (6) or more adult dogs, cats, rabbits, or other domestic animals are kept for commercial purposes such as boarding, caring for, raising, grooming, breeding, training or sale.

(72)

Land: The earth, water, and air above or on the surface, including any improvement or structure customarily regarded as land.

(73)

Land disturbing activity: Any activity which may result in soil erosion from water or wind and the movement of sediments into state waters or onto lands within the state, including, but not limited to, clearing, dredging, grading, excavating, transporting, and filling of land but not including agricultural practices.

(74)

Land use: The development, activity, or use that has occurred on the land, or the development that is proposed by a developer on the land.

(75)

Lot: A parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by a use that includes or will include at least one (1) structure together with any accessory structure, yard, open space, buffer area, or parking spaces required by this ordinance.

(76)

Lot, corner: A lot situated at the junction of two (2) or more public rights-of-way.

(77)

Lot, coverage: The total horizontal ground area of a lot covered by all buildings or structures on the lot not open to the sky.

(78)

Lot, depth of: The distance measured from the front lot line to the rear lot line. For lots where the front and rear lot lines are not parallel, the lot depth should be measured by drawing lines from the front to rear lot lines, at right angles to the front lot line, every ten feet and averaging the length of these lines.

(79)

Lot line: The boundary of a lot.

(80)

Lot, platted: A lot platted in accordance with the subdivision regulations of Thomas County after the effective date of this Ordinance.

(81)

Lot, width: The horizontal distance between the side lines of a lot measured at right angles to its depth along a straight line parallel to the front lot line at the minimum required building setback line.

(82)

Lot of record: A lot that is part of a subdivision recorded in the office of the County Clerk, or a lot or parcel whose boundaries are definitely described, the description of which has been so recorded prior to the effective date of this Ordinance.

(83)

Manufactured home: A structure defined by and constructed in accordance with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5401. et seq. (These standards became effective June 15, 1976.) Manufactured Home means a structure, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight (8) body feet or more in width or forty body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is three hundred twenty or more square feet, 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 contained therein: except that such term shall include any structure which meets all the requirements of this paragraph except the size requirements and with respect to which the manufacturer voluntarily files a certification required by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and complies with the standards established under this title.

(84)

Manufactured home parks: Manufactured home park shall mean a licensed business operation which leases spaces for permanent or for temporary occupancy for periods exceeding thirty (30) days for manufactured homes and, under some conditions, travel trailers.

(85)

Mixed use: Development or a development project that incorporates more than one (1) land use or activity, such as residential, commercial, office, and/or industrial.

(86)

Mobile home: Same as manufactured home except that the date of manufacture is prior to June 15, 1976, and does not meet 1976 construction and safety standards. No mobile homes are permitted to be brought into Thomas County which does not meet 1976 construction and safety standards. Pre-1976 mobile homes which display the current Thomas County ad valorem tax sticker may remain at the same lot/site within Thomas County.

(87)

Modular home or industrialized building: Certain manufactured buildings which are regulated by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Georgia law defines an industrialized building as "any structure or component thereof which is wholly or in substantial part made, fabricated, formed, or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly on a building site and has been manufactured in such a manner that all parts or processes cannot be inspected at the installation site without disassembly, damage to, or destruction thereof." Industrialized buildings are constructed and regulated in accordance with the "Industrialized Buildings Act", Georgia Law 1982 (OCGA Title 8, Chapter 2, Article 2, Part 1).

(88)

Mulch: Non-living small aggregate materials such as gravel, rock, pebbles, bark, or pine needles, used as a ground cover.

(89)

Nameplate: A sign indicating the name or address of the occupant or resident of the dwelling unit to which it is attached.

(90)

Natural vegetative buffer: A river corridor containing the flora native to that area. The natural floras for specific areas are described in Georgia Geologic Survey Bulletin 114, "the Natural Environments of Georgia." Habitats for endangered and threatened species may require human management of the river corridor in order to maintain those species.

(91)

Newspaper of general circulation: A newspaper published at least on a weekly basis; it does not include a newspaper intended primarily for members of a particular professional or occupational group, a newspaper whose primary function is to carry legal notices, or a newspaper that is given away primarily to distribute advertising.

(92)

Non-conforming lot of record: A platted lot or lot of record that does not comply with the lot size requirements of this ordinance.

(93)

Non-conforming structure: Any lawfully existing structure or building on the effective date of this ordinance that does not comply with all of the provisions of this ordinance, provided however, that the failure to meet minimum lot size, width, or setback requirements shall not render a structure non-conforming.

(94)

Non-conforming use: Any use lawfully being made of any land, building, or structure on the effective date of this ordinance that does not comply with the provisions of this ordinance.

(95)

Nursing home: An institution, public or private, that provides twenty-four (24) hours of nursing care for three (3) or more unrelated individuals.

(96)

Official Land Use Standards Atlas: A set of maps covering unincorporated areas of Thomas County and showing the boundaries of the various land use standards districts.

(97)

Off-street parking: Any area except a public right-of-way, used for the purpose of parking, storing, or display of vehicles, boats, trailers, and mobile homes, including used car lots and other open lot uses.

(98)

Open space: Any parcel or area of land or water that is set aside, open and unobstructed to the sky, and designated or reserved for public or private use or enjoyment.

(99)

Ordinance: The Thomas County Land Use Standards Ordinance.

(100)

Overlay district: A defined geographic area that encompasses one (1) or more underlying zoning districts and that imposes additional requirements above those required by the underlying zoning district. An overlay district can be coterminous with existing zoning districts or containing only parts of one (1) or more such districts.

(101)

Parcel of land: Any contiguous quantity of land capable of being described with such definiteness that its locations and boundaries may be established, that is designated by its owner or developer as land to be used or developed as a unit, or that has been used or developed as a unit. If such a parcel of land is divided by a right-of-way or land use standards district boundary it may be considered to be one (1) parcel by the owner.

(102)

Parking area: All property used for off-street parking including but not limited to vehicular aisles and access ways, loading zones, interior and perimeter landscaping, and other outdoor vehicular use areas.

(103)

Parking space: An area designated for temporary storage of a motor vehicle.

(104)

Permanently attached: Affixed by foundations, poles, braces or other immovable structural means to the ground or to a building or structure. Signs manufactured or intended for portable use and affixed to the ground by ropes, chains, cables, weights, or other means deemed non-structural by the Planning Director shall not be deemed to be permanently attached.

(105)

Person: An individual, corporation, governmental agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal entity.

(106)

Personal care home: A building or group of buildings, a facility, or place in which is provided beds and other facilities and services including room, meals and personal care for non-family ambulatory adults for compensation. Personal care homes are categorized as follows:

(a)

Personal care home, family: A home for adults in a family type residence, non-institutional in character, which offers care to two (2) through six (6) persons.

(b)

Personal care home, group: A home for adult persons in a residence or other type building(s), non-institutional in character, which offers care to seven (7) through fifteen (15) persons.

(c)

Personal care home, congregate: A home for adults which offers care to sixteen (16) or more persons.

(107)

Photovoltaic (PV) System: A solar energy system that produces electricity by the use of semiconductor devices, called photovoltaic cells that generate electricity whenever light strikes them. Included in a PV system are the solar energy generation mechanisms (e.g. panels or other assemblies of solar electric cells), inverters (devices that convert direct current electricity produced by the system to usable alternating current), batteries and battery systems that store electrical energy from the PV system for future use, meters, and electric transmission wires and conduits that facilitate connections with users and/or the local power grid.

(108)

Planning director: The head of the Office of the Planning Department, who shall be appointed to serve at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners.

(109)

Planned development district: Commercial planned development consisting of commercial limited (CL), commercial general (CG), or both that may have mixed uses businesses that are appropriate and compatible in a "planned center design" and requires approval by the Thomas County Board of Commissioners and the Thomas County Technical Review Committee. The planned development (PD) shall allow for multiple businesses within a parcel or combination of parcels and provide connectivity to adjoining tracts.

(110)

Planned unit development (P.U.D.): Development intended to encourage both residential and non-residential land uses according to a master development plan, with related covenants and restrictions. Developments within a P. U. D. project may have flexibility in the application of development standards when approved according to a master development plan, which promotes the conservation of natural resources, more efficient use of land, and, efficiency in the extension of streets and utilities.

(111)

Property owner's association: A formally constituted non-profit association or corporation made up of the property owners and/or residents of a subdivision or development area that may take permanent responsibility for cost and upkeep of semi-private or common community facilities.

(112)

Recreational vehicle: Any vehicle-type unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use and that either has its own mode of power or is mounted on or propelled by another vehicle.

(113)

Regulated activity: Any activity, which will, or which may reasonably be expected to, result in the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. excepting those activities exempted in Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act.

(114)

Retail sales and service establishments: A business whose primary activity is the sale of consumer goods and commodities to ultimate consumers.

(115)

Right-of-way: Land dedicated or deeded on which facilities such as roads, railroads, canals, utilities, and other similar uses exist or may be constructed.

(116)

River/stream bank: The rising ground, bordering a river or a stream, which serves to confine the water to the natural channel during the normal course of flow.

(117)

River corridor: All the land, inclusive of islands, not regulated under the Metropolitan River Protection Act (O.C.G.A 12-5-440 through 12-5-457), or the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act (O.C.G.A. 12-5-280 through 12-5-293), in areas of protected river and being within 150 feet horizontally on both sides of the river as measured from the river banks. The 150-foot buffer shall be measured horizontally from the uppermost part of the riverbanks, usually marked by a break in slope. Although not within the measured 150-foot wide buffer, the area between the top of the bank and the edge of the river shall be treated by the local governments in the same manner as the river corridor and shall be included within the River Corridor Protection District.

(118)

Road: See "Street."

(119)

Rooming house: Any dwelling in which more than two (2) persons are lodged on a continuing basis, without meals, for compensation.

(120)

Rural business: A rural business shall be a small office or small scale retail sales or service type business which shall be secondary or incidental to the primary use of property for agricultural or residential purposes. Such business shall be primarily directed toward providing local or neighborhood services to rural residential areas. Rural businesses shall be similar to home occupations, except that the activity can occur in an accessory structure detached from the principal residence.

(121)

Sensitive natural area: Any area, as identified now or hereafter by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which contains one (1) or more of the following:

(a)

Habitat, including nesting sites, occupied by rare or endangered species;

(b)

Rare or exemplary natural communities;

(c)

Significant landforms, hydro-forms, or geological features; or

(d)

Other areas so designated by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; and which are sensitive or vulnerable to physical or biological alteration.

(122)

Service station: Any building, structure or land used primarily for the sale of motor fuels or oil at retail direct to the customer, including the supplying of accessories, parts and services essential to the normal operation of automobiles.

(123)

Setback: The minimum horizontal distance between the street, rear or side lines of the lot, and the front, rear or side lines of a building. The term required setback means a line beyond which a building is not permitted to extend under the provisions of this ordinance establishing minimum depths and widths of yards.

(124)

Shopping center: Two (2) or more commercial establishments planned and managed as a single unit with common off-street parking and loading facilities provided on the property.

(125)

Shrubs: Any living self-supporting woody evergreen plants, other than trees, normally grown in Thomas County.

(126)

Solar access easement: A recorded easement, the purpose of which is to secure the right to receive sunlight across real property of another for continued access to sunlight necessary to operate a solar energy system.

(127)

Solar energy: Radiant energy received from the sun that can be collected in the form of heat or light by a solar collector or solar energy system.

(128)

Solar energy facility: the area of land devoted to solar energy system installation. A solar energy facility may include an interconnection with the local utility power grid for distribution to more than one (1) property or consumer in the electricity market as a commercial venture.

(129)

Solar energy system: The components and subsystems required to convert solar energy into electric or thermal energy suitable for use. The term applies, but is not limited to, photovoltaic (solar electric) systems and thermal solar energy systems.

(130)

Solar energy system, building mounted: A solar energy system, which may include solar thermal panels, solar hot water system panels, and photovoltaic panels, which are mounted to a building structure, to provide energy primarily for on-site use. Building mounted solar panels may be flush mounted (i.e. flush to the surface of a building roof or building facade in a manner that the panel cannot be angled or raised), or as one (1) of more modules fixed to frames which can be tilted or automatically adjusted at an optimal angle for sun exposure. A mounted solar energy system is accessory to the building or structure.

(131)

Solar energy system, ground mounted: A solar energy system that is directly installed to (mounted to) the ground and is not attached or affixed to any structure.

(132)

State general permit: The National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit or permits for storm-water runoff from construction activities as is now in effect or as may be amended or reissued in the future pursuant to the State's authority to implement the same through federal delegation under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq., and subsection (f) of Code Section 12-5-30.

(133)

Street: Public or private ways that have been set aside by dedication, deed, or condemnation for public use or that have become a public way by prescriptive use, without regard to maintenance responsibility, but not including easements. Refer to Subdivision ordinance for street types.

(134)

Stormwater management: The collection, conveyance, storage, treatment and disposal of stormwater runoff in a manner intended to prevent increased flood damage, stream bank channel erosion, habitat degradation and water quality degradation. The purpose of the storm water management is to enhance and promote the public health, safety and general welfare.

(135)

Structure: Anything constructed or installed which requires a building permit and, the use of which requires location on a parcel of land. It does not include a movable structure even when it is located on land that can be used for housing, business, commercial, agricultural, or office purposes. "Structure" may include fences, billboards, swimming pools, pipelines, tracks, and signs. Structures shall meet International Residential Code and International Building Code requirements and be permanently affixed.

(136)

Subdivision: All divisions of a tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots, parcels, building sites, or other divisions for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of creating sites for development, the rearrangement of existing lot lines, or for the purpose of transfer of ownership.

(137)

Temporary use: A use that does not involve the construction or alteration of any permanent structure and that is established for a fixed period of time with the intent to discontinue such use upon the expiration of the established time period. (See Section 3.240.)

(138)

Townhouse: One of a group of two or more attached single family residences. Each townhouse unit is separated from the adjoining unit or units by an approved fire wall or walls. Fire walls shall be located on the lot line. Each town house has a front and rear ground level entrance. The town house is located on its own approved, recorded "lot".

(139)

Traditional Neighborhood Development (T.N.D.): A use which may be located within any residential district if it meets all of the required standards. Development of a TND may have flexibility in the application of development standards when approved according to a master development plan.

(140)

Travel trailer: A vehicular portable structure not exceeding thirty-six (36) feet in length designed for travel, recreational, and vacation uses.

(141)

Tree: Any living self-supporting woody plant or species that normally grows to an overall height of at least fifteen (15) feet having an average mature spread of crown of greater than fifteen (15) feet.

(142)

Use: The purpose for which land, structures, buildings, or signs are designed, arranged, and erected.

(143)

Utility: Any community service available to the public by means of an overhead or underground distribution or collection system such as electricity, telephone, water, gas, and sewerage disposal.

(144)

Utility easement: A grant in the form of a legal document by the property owner for the use by the public, a corporation, or an individual's use of a strip of land for specified purposes.

(145)

Variance: A mechanism that can mitigate special hardships created by the literal enforcement of the dimensional requirements of Section 3.000 of this Ordinance, if the applicant meets certain requirements set down in this Ordinance. See Section 4.500.

(146)

Watercourse: Any natural or artificial stream, river, creek, channel, ditch, canal, conduit, culvert, drain, waterway, gully, ravine, or wash in which water flows either continuously or intermittently and which has a definite channel, bed and banks, and including any area adjacent thereto subject to inundation by reason of overflow or floodwater.

(147)

Wetlands: Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. The ecological parameters for designating wetlands include hydric soils, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydrological conditions that involve a temporary or permanent source of water to cause soil saturation.

(148)

Yard: An open space at grade between a building and the property lines of the lot on which the building is located, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided herein. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the depth of a side yard, the depth of a front yard, or the depth of a rear yard, the minimum horizontal distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used.

(149)

Yard, front: A yard extending across the front of a lot, between the side lot lines and front property line, and being the minimum horizontal distance between the front property line and the front of the main building or any projections thereof. The front yard shall be measured from the front property line or base building line, whichever is greater.

(150)

Yard, rear: A yard extending across the rear of a lot between the side lot lines and the rear property line, and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear property line and the rear of the main building or any projections thereof. On all lots the rear yard shall be at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard.

(151)

Yard, side: A yard between the main building and the side line of the lot, extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard, and being the minimum horizontal distance between a side property line and the side of the main building or any projections thereof.

(152)

Zoning compliance form: written document used to determine if a structure or use existing or proposed for any property located within unincorporated Thomas County is or may be used or developed in compliance with this ordinance. The owner of the property or his agent may request a zoning compliance form from the Zoning Administrator or Asst. Zoning Administrator.

The compliance form is certification of the property owner or agent that all of the information is true and correct, and acknowledgement that such information is relied upon by the county. The compliance form may be void if any material information is untrue.

The Zoning Administrator or Asst. Zoning Administrator may require additional time to acquire information or complete an onsite evaluation to determine compliance before issuance of a compliance form.

Any zoning compliance form issued hereafter shall be valid for a period of twelve (12) months.

(153)

Zoning district boundaries: The use classification of parcels of land as generally defined under this land use ordinance.

(Ord. of 4-11-17(1))

Editor's note— Ord. of April 11, 2017, amended § 2.200 with the addition of several definitions. At the discretion of the editor, all subsections after (106) have been renumbered to accommodate the new definitions and preserve the sequential numbering of the subsections.