For the purpose of this Zoning Code, certain words and terms used herein are defined as hereinafter set forth in this chapter.

(1982 Code, § 1101.01) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular, unless the natural construction of the wording indicates otherwise. The word "building" includes the word "structure". The words "occupied" or "used" as applied to any building or premises shall be deemed to be followed by the words "or intended, arranged or designed to be occupied or used". The word "shall" is mandatory. All distances refer to measurements in a horizontal plane unless otherwise clearly indicated.

   (b)   The phrase "this Zoning Code" means Zoning Ordinance 56-53, as amended, and the phrase "this ordinance" includes all ordinances amending or supplementing the same. The word "City" means the City of University Heights, Ohio. The terms "City Council", "the Board of Appeals" and "Planning Commission" mean, respectively, the City Council, the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Planning Commission of the City of University Heights.

(1982 Code, § 1101.02) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   "Accessory building" or "accessory use" means a subordinate building or use located on the same lot with and customarily incidental to the main use or main building, and shall include open parking structures.

(1982 Code, § 1101.03) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956; Ord. 92-02. Passed 6-15-1992.)

   "Block" means the property on one side of a street which lies between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, or nearest intersecting or intercepting street and any unsubdivided acreage over 500 feet in frontage, or any City limit line.

(1982 Code, § 1101.04) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Boarding house" or "lodging house" means any building or part of a building other than a tourist home, hotel or motel, in which lodging or meals or both are available for compensation to more than two persons, or any dwelling advertised as a boarding house or a lodging house.

   (b)   "Tourist home" means a dwelling unit in which sleeping accommodations in less than ten rooms are available for rent, primarily to automobile travelers.

   (c)   "Hotel" means a building or part of building operated as a public inn and containing ten or more guest rooms without provision for cooking in any guest room.

   (d)   "Motel" means a building or part of a building containing ten or more guest rooms or suites for hire, primarily for sleeping accommodations to automobile travelers and including accommodations for their automobiles as part of the service.

(1982 Code, § 1101.05) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Building" means a structure designed or used for the shelter of persons, animals, chattel or property of any kind.

   (b)   "Main building" means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.

   (c)   "Structure" means any thing constructed or erected, the use of which requires either location on the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground.

   (d)   "Structural alteration" means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as supporting walls, columns, beams or girders.

(Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (e)    "Open parking structure" means a structure containing levels used for parking passenger motor vehicles designed to carry not more than nine persons, and for no other use. All open parking structures shall be screened with landscaping.

(1982 Code, § 1101.06) (Ord. 92-02. Passed 6-15-1992.)

   In the following list, each district shall be deemed to be more restricted than the district succeeding it: One-Family Residence District, Two-Family Residence District, Automobile Parking District, Multi-Family Residence District, Office Building District, Local Retail District, Shopping Center District.

(1982 Code, § 1101.08) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Dwelling" means a building other than a camp car or trailer or other car on or off wheels which contains one or more dwelling units.

   (b)   "Dwelling unit" means a building or part of a building consisting of a room, or a suite of rooms, arranged, intended or designed for occupancy by one family for living, sleeping and cooking purposes.

   (c)   "Main dwelling" means a dwelling arranged, intended or designed for occupancy by owners or by tenants under an oral or written tenancy.

   (d)   "Dwelling group" means a group of two or more dwellings, each containing one or more dwelling units, occupying a lot in one ownership and having a yard in common.

   (e)   "One-family dwelling" means a detached dwelling arranged, intended or designed to consist of one dwelling unit.

   (f)   "Two-family dwelling" means a detached dwelling arranged, intended or designed to consist of two dwelling units.

   (g)   "Multi-family dwelling" or "apartment house" means a dwelling arranged, intended or designed to consist of three or more dwelling units.

(Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (h)   "Town house" means a multi-family dwelling comprised of dwelling units attached in a row or group, having party walls, and each unit having at least two separate outside entrances.

(Ord. 64-18. Passed 4-20-1964.)

   (i)   "Attached one-family dwelling" means a dwelling unit attached to other dwelling units in contiguous side-by-side groupings, which are physically attached to one another by common or adjoining vertical walls without openings extending from the basement floor to the roof, which have individual heating and plumbing systems, individual attached garages, and separate ground floor entrances.

   (j)   "Cluster one-family dwelling" means a dwelling unit with attached garage that is designed for and used exclusively by one family and separated from all other dwelling units by air space from ground to sky, which is grouped with other dwelling units in a planned residential area.

   (k)   "Senior housing and care facilities" means independent or congregate care residential facilities for seniors which include dwelling units designed specifically for the elderly or handicapped and/or provision of non-acute personal or health care assistance. Congregate care means that the residential dwellings have common social, recreational, dining and food preparation facilities.

   (l)   "Residential behavioral health care facility" means a facility that provides 24-hour behavioral health care and related services, including accommodations, supervision and personal or custodial care, for three or more unrelated individuals who are dependent on the services of others by reason of age and/or physical or mental impairment. This facility shall not include acute care hospitals that provide general physical medical care or surgical services, urgent, ambulatory or acute care centers or other similar facilities, unless those receiving such services are within the care of the residential behavioral care facility, and acute care services are not otherwise readily obtainable elsewhere, without threatening the health of the service recipient. Services provided by a residential behavioral care facility shall not require the regular use of ambulances and/or police cars for emergency purposes. A residential behavioral health care facility shall not include conventional prisons, jails or correctional/penal institutions involving 24-hour locked incarceration with little or no freedom or movement unless residential behavioral health care services are provided, as described above.

(1982 Code, § 1101.08) (Ord. 99-45. Passed 12-20-1999.)

   "Established street grade" means the roadway elevation established by the City, measured at the roadway centerline in front of the lot.

(1982 Code, § 1101.09) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   "Family" means:

   (a)   One individual; or

   (b)   A number of individuals related to the nominal head of the household, living as a single housekeeping unit in a single dwelling unit, but not including persons other than the following:

      (1)   Husband or wife of the nominal head of the household; or

      (2)   Son or daughter of the nominal head of the household or of the spouse of the nominal head of the household, and the spouse and dependent children of such son or daughter; or

      (3)   Father or mother or grandfather or grandmother of the nominal head of the household, or of the spouse of the nominal head of the household; or

      (4)   Dependent, as construed by the United States Internal Revenue Service, brother or sister of the nominal head of the household or of the spouse of the nominal head of the household, which brother or sister is not living with his or her spouse, and his or her dependent children.

(Ord. 73-7. Passed 2-19-1973.)

      (5)   In a non-owner occupied dwelling unit, apartment or condominium unit, no person shall be a head of the household without first providing written authority from the owner(s) designating such head of the household by name as the owners' agent on the premises. The owners and such designated agent shall be jointly and severally responsible for compliance with the Housing and Zoning Code.

(Ord. 97-16. Passed 3-18-1997.)

   (c)   Federally protected classes of handicapped persons treated as meeting definition of family: Unrelated persons, who use and occupy a residential dwelling unit as a family who conform to Section 1248.04 and the square footage occupancy requirements for residential dwelling units in Section 1480.08, and who demonstrate they are each and continue to be members of a protected class of handicapped persons under applicable Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 [42 USC 3601 et seq.] shall be treated as meeting the definition of "family".

(1982 Code, § 1101.10) (Ord. 93-27. Passed 6-7-1993.)

   (a)   "Private garage" means an accessory building for the storage of passenger automobiles and for not more than one truck rated for not over a half-ton load-carrying capacity, and in which no occupation, business or service for profit is carried on.

   (b)   "Community garage" means a building or part of a building used for the storage of passenger automobiles of residents of the vicinity, with or without ordinary maintenance services on such vehicles.

   (c)   "Repair garage" means a building or part of a building used for general repairs to motor vehicles.

   (d)   "Storage garage" means a building or part of a building other than a private garage or a community garage, used for the storage of any kind of motor vehicles with or without ordinary maintenance services on such vehicles.

(1982 Code, § 1101.11) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   "Gasoline service station" means a building or part of a building, or structure or space used for retail sale of gasoline, lubricants and motor vehicle accessories, and for minor services conducted within buildings, including automobile washing and lubricating, but not services accompanied by objectionable noise, fumes, odor, nor the so-called minute-wash operation.

(1982 Code, § 1101.12) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   "Habitable room" means a room occupied by one or more persons for living, eating or sleeping, and kitchens of dwelling units, but not bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, serving and storage pantries, corridors, cellars and similar spaces.

(1982 Code, § 1101.13) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Height of building" means the vertical distance to the level of the highest point of the roof surface if the roof is flat or inclines not more than one foot vertical in one foot horizontal, or to the mean level between the eaves and the highest point of the roof if the roof is of any other type measured as follows:

      (1)   If the building is located at the front property line or is not more than ten feet distant therefrom, measured at the center of the front wall of the building from the established street grade; if no grade has been officially established, from the elevation of the existing curb; if no grade has been officially established and no curb exists, measured from the average level of the finished ground surface across the front of the building.

      (2)   If the building is more than ten feet from the front property line, measured from the average level of the finished ground surface adjacent to the exterior wall of the building.

   (b)   "Height of a structure" other than a building, means the vertical distance to the highest point of the structure, measured from the established street grade of the nearest street if the structure is located within ten feet of a street line; if farther from a street line, or if there is no established grade, then measured from the average level of the finished ground surface adjacent to the structure.

(1982 Code, § 1101.14) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Home occupation" is any professional or business activity conducted within, upon or about a dwelling unit as defined in Section 1240.08.

   (b)   "Professional" means professions licensed and regulated by the State of Ohio.

   (c)   "Business" means all uses defined or described in Sections 1262.02, 1264.02, and 1274.01, and any other trade or occupation engaged in for income or profit.

   (d)   "Services" means consultation, document preparation, telephone communications, individualized care and attention or treatment, and record keeping for such home occupation.

(See Section 1280.11 for specific regulations.) (1982 Code, § 1101.015) (Ord. 85-6. Passed 5-6-1985.)

   (a)   "Lot" means a parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a main building or use or by a dwelling group, together with accessory buildings and uses and the open spaces belonging to the same, and having frontages on a street.

   (b)   "Corner lot" means a lot abutting on two streets at their intersection, where the angle of intersection is not more than 135 degrees.

   (c)   "Interior lot" means a lot other than a corner lot.

   (d)   "Front lot line" means as follows: in the case of an interior lot, it is the street line of the lot; in the case of a corner lot for which the building zone map shows a setback building line on only one side, it is the street line on that side; in the case of a corner lot for which the building zone map show setback building lines on two sides or no setback building lines, it is that street line designated by the owner as the front line of the lot.

   (e)   "Rear lot line" means the lot line which is generally opposite the front lot line; if the rear lot line is less than ten feet in length, or if the lot comes to a point in the rear, the rear lot line shall be deemed to be a line parallel to the front lot line, not less than ten feet long, lying wholly within the lot and farthest from the front lot line.

   (f)   "Side lot line" means a lot line other than a front or rear lot line.

   (g)   "Depth of lot" means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines measured in the general direction of the side lot lines.

   (h)   "Width of lot" means the mean width measured at right angles to its depth at the setback line.

   (i)   "Area of lot" means the total horizontal area within lot lines.

(1982 Code, § 1101.16) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Parking lot" means any area used by the public, with or without a fee, for the standing or parking of vehicles, no part of which is in the public street or alley.

(Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (b)   "Off-street parking space" means a space available for the parking of one motor vehicle abutting on a driveway adequate in width for the angle of parking for which the parking lot is designed and clearly marked, and such parking space and driveway are both entirely off the right-of-way any public street or alley. Each "off-street parking space" shall be clearly marked and such marking for each vehicle shall not designate any space smaller than that recommended by the latest edition of the Institute of Transportation Engineer's Traffic Engineering Handbook, chapter on "Parking and Terminals".

(Ord. 2001-14. Passed 3-19-2001.)

   (c)   "Off-street loading space" means any off-street space available for the loading or unloading of goods, such space being not less than 15 feet wide, 30 feet long and 14 feet high and having direct usable access to a street or alley, except that any additional loading spaces alongside the first loading space need not be wider than 12 feet.

(1982 Code, § 1101.17) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   "Nonconforming use" means a lawful use of land or of a building which does not conform to the regulations relating to use for the district in which it is situated.

(1982 Code, § 1101.18) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Residence district" means any district in this Zoning Code other than an Automobile Parking District, Office Building District, a Local Retail District or Shopping Center District.

   (b)   "Nonresidence district" means an Automobile Parking District, an Office Building District, a Local Retail District or a Shopping Center District.

(1982 Code, § 1101.19) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Setback building line" means the closest line to the street line to which buildings or structures may be constructed, or vehicles or materials may be parked or stored, except as otherwise provided in this Zoning Code.

   (b)   "Street line" means the lot line which divides the lot from the street.

(1982 Code, § 1101.20) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Story" means that part of a building between any floor and the floor next above and, if there is no floor above, then the ceiling above. A basement is a story if its ceiling is over five feet from the level from which the height of the building is measured, or if it contains any dwelling units other than one dwelling unit for the caretaker of the premises.

   (b)   "Half-story" means the part of the building between the top floor and a sloping roof, with at least two opposite exterior walls meeting the sloping roof not over four feet above that floor level.

(1982 Code, § 1101.21) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Transitional use" means a use of land or building that creates a "buffer zone" between districts, as listed in Section 1107.01, that are not consecutive in their order of listing.

   (b)   Land situated within 150 feet of an adjoining district that is two or more districts above or below the district in which such land is situated. as listed in Section 1107.01, may be granted a use permitted in districts between the one in which it is located and such adjoining district.

(1982 Code, § 1101.22) (Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   "Yard" means an open space on the same lot with a building or group of buildings, lying between the building or group of buildings and the nearest lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except such encroachments of structures permitted herein. A yard shall be measured between a lot line and a line parallel to such lot line drawn through the point of a building or the point of a group of buildings nearest to such lot line, exclusive of the features permitted to extend into the required yard under this Zoning Code. The measurement of the yard shall be taken at right angles from the lot line to the line of the building.

   (b)   "Front yard" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the front line of the lot and the nearest line of the building.

   (c)   "Rear yard" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot between the rear line of the lot and the nearest line of the main building.

   (d)   "Side yard" means a yard between the side line of the lot and the nearest line of the building and extending from the front yard to the rear yard or, in the absence of either of such yards, to the front or rear lot line, as the case may be.

   (e)   "Least width of side yard" means the narrower of the two side yards.

(Ord. 56-53. Passed 10-1-1956.)

   (a)   A "patio" is a hard surface exterior floor installed at ground level or less than six inches above ground, which may abut or be placed in close proximity to or within twelve inches of the exterior of a residential structure. (See Section 1458.01.)

   (b)   A "deck" is a hard surface exterior floor elevated above ground level six inches or more and may have a safety railing. (See Sections 1250.06(a), 1240.09(a).)

   (c)   A deck that is partly enclosed with a roof or cover and/or with sides, open or closed, is hereby deemed a "porch" and therefore a structure or building for the purpose of calculating the building to land ratio. (See Sections 1240.06(c); 1250.06(a); 1252.06(a).)

   (d)   A hard surface exterior floor may consist of any combination of wood, metal, brick, stone, concrete, clay and/or ceramic tile.

(1982 Code, § 1101.24) (Ord. 92-10. Passed 6-15-1992.)