The purpose of this chapter is to describe the specific uses and restrictions that apply to the land use districts established in the land use element of the town comprehensive plan. These regulations are intended to allow development and use of property only in compliance with the goals, objectives and policies of the town as expressed in the town comprehensive plan.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.00.01, 4-29-1991)

Land use districts for the town are established in the future land use element of the comprehensive plan, including the future land use map. The land use districts defined in the future land use element of the town comprehensive plan and delineated on the future land use map shall be the determinants of permissible activities on any parcel inside the corporate limits of the town.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.01.01, 4-29-1991)

All land within the corporate limits of the town has a designated land use district described in the town comprehensive plan. All development must comply with the development standards applicable to the land use district within which that parcel is located. Refer to the future land use element of the town comprehensive plan for the definitions of each land use district. Allowable uses are shown in section 70-59 to correlate individual land uses with land use districts. The land use districts are:

(1)

Residential - RES

(2)

Agricultural - AGR

(3)

Commercial - COM

(4)

Industrial - IND

(5)

Recreation - REC

(6)

Conservation - CON

(7)

Public - PUB

(8)

Historic - HIS

(9)

Rural - RUR

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.01.02, 4-29-1991)

If the communication tower is 150 feet or lower, collocation shall be provided for at least one other communication provider or service. No towers shall be permitted that are over 150 feet in height above grade, unless collocation is provided for at least two other services or providers in the tower's design. Communication towers with collocation provisions for two or more communication provider or service shall not exceed 180 feet in height above grade. Antennas mounted on buildings shall not exceed 30 feet above the height of the building.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(A), 12-1-1997)

Proposed communication towers shall be separated from all other existing communication towers by a minimum of 1,000 feet, as measured from the center base of the communication towers.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(B), 12-1-1997)

Towers shall not be illuminated by artificial means and shall not display strobe lights unless such lighting is specifically required by the Federal Aviation Administration or other federal or state authority for a particular tower. When incorporated into the approved design of the tower, light fixtures used to illuminate ball fields, parking lots, or similar areas may be attached to the tower.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(C), 12-1-1997)

Landscaping and buffering shall be addressed through section 86-101 et seq., pertaining to landscaping. In addition to the requirements of section 86-101 et seq., a minimum six-foot fence, other than chain link, or a wall shall be required all around the communication tower site. Access shall be through a locked gate. Communication towers are classified as a medium impact under the description in section 86-125.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(D), 12-1-1997)

All communication towers not requiring Federal Aviation Administration painting/markings shall have either a galvanized finish or a painted dull blue, grey, or black finish as to minimize its visual impact. Stealth design, or blending the structure into the surrounding environment, of a communication tower is also permissible.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(E), 12-1-1997)

Neither the communication tower or the tower site shall be used for advertising purposes and shall not contain any signs for the purpose of advertising.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(F), 12-1-1997)

It is important to provide service required by the market while limiting unnecessary commercial communication towers. If the applicant is not collocating on the proposed communication tower of another provider, evidence that it has made diligent but unsuccessful efforts to collocate its antenna and associated equipment in an existing structure is required. The causes of unsuccessful efforts to collocate shall be:

(1)

There are no towers or structures within the geographic area required;

(2)

Existing towers or structures are not of sufficient height or strength to meet the applicant's engineering requirements;

(3)

Impermissible electromagnetic interference between the existing antenna or equipment and the applicant's proposed antenna or equipment exists;

(4)

Costs of collocation would exceed costs of the applicant's proposed new communication tower; or

(5)

The applicant demonstrates that there are other limiting factors that render existing towers and structures unsuitable.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(G), 12-1-1997)

Preexisting towers shall be allowed to continue their usage. Routine maintenance, including replacement with a new tower of similar height, shall be permitted on preexisting towers. Additional antennas and other communication devices may be, and are encouraged to be, collocated on preexisting towers, if towers are structurally designed to accommodate them and the new combined height does not exceed the height allowed.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(H), 12-1-1997)

All accessory buildings or structures shall meet all applicable town and county building codes and shall be designed to blend in with the surrounding area. Accessory buildings shall not be staffed or used for permanent or longterm vehicle or equipment storage.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(I), 12-1-1997)

Communication towers shall be designed and constructed to ensure the structural failure or collapse of the tower will not create a safety hazard to adjoining properties. All communication towers shall be constructed in accordance with EIA/TIA 222-F Standards, as published by the Electronic Industries Association, as it may be amended, and all applicable town building codes.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(J), 12-1-1997)

All abandoned or unused towers and associated facilities shall be removed within 12 months of the cessation of operations at the site unless a time extension is approved by the town council. A copy of relevant portions of a signed agreement which requires the applicant to remove the tower and associated facilities upon cessation of operations at the site shall be submitted at the time of application. In the event that a tower is not removed within 12 months of the cessation of operations at the site, the tower and associated facilities may be removed by the town and the costs of removal assessed against the property.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(K), 12-1-1997)

Applications for the siting and construction of communication towers shall be considered a minor development for review processes and shall be regulated by the provisions of section 58-9. The following elements of the optional review requirements of subsection 58-10(4) shall be required:

(1)

Soils map;

(2)

Topographic map;

(3)

Existing surface water bodies, wetlands, or streams;

(4)

Location of utilities; and

(5)

Erosion and sedimentation control plan.

In addition, an FCC/NEPA Environmental Compliance Checklist, proof of compliance with FCC, FAA, and County Emergency Management Services requirements, geographic coverage maps for the tower, and collocation capability information shall be submitted with the application.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 5(L), 12-1-1997)

This article defines and prescribes the specific uses allowed within each land use district described in the comprehensive plan and the Land Development Code.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.01(A), 4-29-1991)

Accessory structures and uses are allowed in any land use district in connection with any lawfully existing principal use, subject to the requirements of chapter 90. All accessory structures or uses shall meet the requirements for the character and land use district in which the structure or use is located, as provided in section 86-35.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.01(B), 4-29-1991)

Whenever a use is not specifically mentioned in sections 70-51—70-58, the town shall make a determination as to whether the proposed use is of the same general type as the uses specifically allowed in the land use district. In making such a determination, the town shall be guided by the goals, objectives and policies of the town comprehensive plan and sections 70-51—70-58.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.01(C), 4-29-1991)

(a)

The category of residential uses includes single-family dwellings, accessory apartments, multifamily dwellings in a variety of housing types, modular and manufactured housing, family residential care homes, community residential care homes but specifically excludes recreational vehicles. Recreational vehicle parks are considered commercial uses.

(b)

While land may be designated for residential use, it does not follow that any housing type single-family, apartment, townhouse, etc., is allowed. Certain areas are limited to one or more housing types in order to preserve the established character of the area. Refer to section 70-81 for regulations on manufactured housing types.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(A), 4-29-1991)

This type of use includes educational facilities public or private, preschool and day care facilities public or private, churches, cemeteries without funeral homes, nursing home facilities, institutional residential homes and all other similar institutional uses.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(B), 4-29-1991)

These uses include areas for outdoor recreational activities such as picnicking, jogging, cycling, arboretums, hiking, golf courses, playgrounds, ball fields, outdoor ball courts, stables, outdoor swimming pools and water related or water dependent uses such as boat ramps, fishing docks and piers and all similar outdoor recreational uses, whether public or private. Specifically excluded from this group of uses are firing ranges, marinas, miniature golf courses, batting cages, race tracks and similar recreational or quasi-recreational activities that are more intensive, as measured by factors including, but not limited to, trip generation rates and impervious surface coverage, than the allowable outdoor recreational uses described.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(C), 4-29-1991)

This group of uses includes business and professional offices, medical offices or clinics, government offices, financial institutions without drive-up facilities, and personal service businesses where the service is performed on an individual-to-individual basis as opposed to services which are performed on objects or personal property. Examples of personal service businesses are barber-shops, beauty shops, or photography studios. This group of uses may include a dispatching, communications, office center for the distribution of goods, but specifically excludes the warehousing or actual distribution of goods.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(D), 4-29-1991)

This group of uses includes limited commercial activities of a convenience nature and professional offices predominantly serving residential neighborhoods within a two-mile radius. Examples include the following specific uses, and all substantially similar types of uses:

(1)

Convenience commercial retail establishments including convenience stores, gasoline sales and service, combination gasoline sale and food marts, and similar facilities.

(2)

Professional and office uses listed in section 70-54.

(3)

Restaurants without drive-up facilities.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(E), 4-29-1991)

A wide variety of general commercial, commercial recreational, entertainment, and related activities is included in this group of uses. Examples include professional and office uses listed in section 70-54, as well as the following specific uses, and all substantially similar types of uses:

(1)

Arcades, billiards/pool parlors, bowling alleys, indoor recreation centers and gymnasiums, spas, health clubs.

(2)

Communication towers in accordance with the regulations and requirements in this Land Development Code.

(3)

Community centers and fraternal lodges.

(4)

Commercial or trade schools such as dance and martial arts studios.

(5)

Department stores and other retail stores, such as shoe stores, clothing stores, pharmacies, florists, and book stores.

(6)

Farm and garden supply, building supply and vehicle parts and accessories but specifically excluding vehicle sales, service, and repair.

(7)

Financial institutions with drive-up facilities.

(8)

Flea markets or similar outdoor or indoor/outdoor sales complexes.

(9)

Funeral homes, cemeteries and mortuaries.

(10)

Gasoline sales and service, combination gasoline sale and food marts and similar facilities.

(11)

Grocery stores, supermarkets and specialty food stores such as meat markets and bakeries.

(12)

Hospitals.

(13)

Hotels or motels.

(14)

Marinas.

(15)

Miniature golf, golf driving ranges.

(16)

Outdoor arenas, rodeo ground, livestock auction facilities, auto, dog, go-kart, horse, and motorcycle race tracks, shooting and firing ranges and similar activities.

(17)

Plant nurseries.

(18)

Recreational vehicle and travel trailer parks.

(19)

Restaurants; standard sit-down and high-turnover sit-down and restaurants with drive-up facilities.

(20)

Roadside produce stands, temporary or permanent.

(21)

Service businesses such as blueprint, printing, catering, tailoring, travel agencies, upholstery shops, laundries, dry cleaners and light mechanical repair stores such as camera, TV or bicycle repair shops.

(22)

Shopping centers.

(23)

Storage yards for equipment, machinery and supplies for building and trades contractors, garbage haulers.

(24)

Taverns, bars, lounges, night clubs and dance halls.

(25)

Theaters and auditoriums.

(26)

Vehicle sales, rental, service and repair, including truck stops, body shops, road services, car wash facilities and the sales, rental, repair and service of new or used automobiles, boats, buses, farm equipment, motorcycles, trucks, recreational vehicles and mobile homes.

(27)

Veterinary offices and animal hospitals.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(F), 4-29-1991; Ord. No. 3-97, § 2, 12-1-1997)

This group of activities includes those uses which provide essential or important public services and utilities. Uses include the following, and substantially similar activities, based upon similarity of characteristics:

(1)

Emergency service activities such as buildings, garages, parking and/or dispatch centers for ambulances, fire, police and rescue, but specifically excluding maintenance of service vehicles.

(2)

Broadcasting stations, transmission and communication towers.

(3)

Utility facilities, such as water plants, wastewater treatment plants, electricity substations.

(4)

Maintenance facilities and storage yards for schools, government agencies and telephone and cable companies.

(5)

LP gas storage and/or distribution facility for up to 1,000 gallons. LP gas storage and/or distribution facility for over 1,000 gallons is an industrial use.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(G), 4-29-1991; Ord. No. 3-97 § 2, 12-1-1997)

Utility uses include essential utility facilities, such as utility rights-of-way, electricity substations serving less than 230 KV and associated with the local distribution of electricity and private water and wastewater treatment plants provided that they are for the sole use of the particular private development and are not intended to serve a subregional or regional system.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(H), 4-29-1991)

Agricultural uses include croplands, pastures, forestry, agriculture, feed lots, and buildings which are an accessory to these agricultural uses. This category of uses does not include processing or distribution plants for agricultural products and supplies.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(H), 4-29-1991)

Industrial uses include those wholesale and retail businesses for manufacturing, processing, storing or distributing goods. LP gas storage and/or distribution facility for over 1,000 gallons is an industrial use.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.02(I), 4-29-1991)

_____

The allowable uses in each land use district are as follows:

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.03, 4-29-1991)

_____

(a)

Housing in compliance. Manufactured homes built in compliance with the HUD Code or built under the Florida Manufactured Building Act and certified by the Florida Department of Community Affairs as complying with the structural requirements of the Standard Building Code shall be allowed to locate in all residential land use districts. All manufactured homes that are not located in a mobile home park designed exclusively for manufactured housing shall comply with the standards in section 86-411.

(b)

Housing not in compliance. Manufactured homes not meeting the standards of the Florida Manufactured Building Act or HUD Code are allowed only if in a mobile home park designed exclusively for such houses.

(Ord. No. 2-91, § 2.02.04, 4-29-1991)

(a)

During the rehabilitation or construction of a residence. When a natural or human-caused disaster has rendered a single-family residence unfit for human habitation, the temporary use of a mobile home or recreational vehicle located on the single-family lot during rehabilitation of the original residence or construction of a new residence may be permitted by the town, regardless of the generalized land use category. Appropriate development reviews must be completed and all building permits must be secured from the Escambia County Building Official. The maximum length of use will be 18 months or 540 days after the date of a disaster declaration by the President of the United States. The town may extend the 18-month period by six months on a case-by-case basis upon a showing that the rehabilitation or construction is proceeding in good faith and at a reasonable pace and that the residence will be habitable within a reasonable period of time. If no disaster declaration is issued, the maximum duration of use will be six months, with one six-month extension allowable by the town on a case-by-case basis upon a showing that the rehabilitation or construction is proceeding in good faith and at a reasonable pace and that the residence will be habitable within a reasonable period of time. The town council must implement this provision with a finding that such temporary housing is in the public interest.

(b)

Use of recreational vehicle and mobile home parks for residential housing. Rental recreational vehicle and mobile home parks having unoccupied pad sites may be asked to make such sites available to housing disaster victims having residence unfit for human habitation. Owners of recreational vehicle and mobile home parks will be compensated for use of each needed pad site based on fair market rental rates in effect for the Town of Century and/or Escambia County at the time of the declared disaster. The town council must implement this provision with a finding that such temporary housing measures are in the public interest.

(c)

During the rehabilitation or construction of business, commercial or industrial use structures. On a case-by-case basis, the town may allow business, commercial or industrial uses that have been damaged by a disaster and in need of temporary housing to use a department of community affairs approved modular home to carry out their activities during the rehabilitation of the original structure or construction of a new structure. The maximum duration of the temporary use is nine months or 270 days from the date of the declaration of disaster by the President of the United States. If no declaration has been issued, then the maximum duration of use is six months. The town may agree to request a one-time extension, not to exceed three months, on a showing that the rehabilitation or construction is proceeding in good faith and at a reasonable pace and that the structure under repair or the new structure will be available for use within a reasonable period of time. This provision must be implemented with a finding by the town council that these temporary use structures are in the public interest to allow for the rehabilitation of the area's economic base.

(d)

Conditions for use and limitations. For all temporary uses allowed by this section, the following apply:

(1)

Required water and sanitary facilities must be provided.

(2)

The mobile home, recreational vehicle or modular home must be removed from the property within ten days after the certificate of occupancy is issued for the new or rehabilitated residence, business, commercial or industrial use or upon expiration of the temporary use permit, whichever occurs first.

(3)

Placement or setting of the mobile home, recreational vehicle or modular home must comply with chapter 78, article V, Town of Century's Flood Damage and Prevention Ordinance.

(4)

For any business, commercial or industrial uses, there must be sufficient parking, including handicapped parking.

(5)

All applications for extensions of time must be filed prior to the expiration of the original permit.

(Ord. No. 05-04, § 1, 11-1-2004)

Communication towers, when built and operated according to specifications, are permitted uses in the following land use districts: agricultural, industrial, recreation, and public. Communication towers are prohibited in, and within 200 feet from the boundary demarcation line of residential, historic, rural, and conservation land use districts. Communication towers are prohibited within 200 feet from the lot line of any residence or school.

(Ord. No. 3-97, § 3, 12-1-1997)