In accordance with the provisions of Title 33, Sections 4721 through 4732, Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, it is the purpose of this chapter and map to provide for harmonious development within the Town of Vivian in accordance with the comprehensive master plan. It is also the purpose of this chapter to lessen congestion in public streets, secure safety from fire, provide adequate light and air, avoid undue concentration of population, and to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the community.

This chapter applies to all areas within the corporate limits of the Town of Vivian, Louisiana, as they exist now or in the future.

(Ord. No. 483, § I, 10-8-01)

[The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:]

Accessory building shall mean a subordinate building or a portion of the main building on a lot, the use of which is customarily incidental to that of the main or principal building.

Accessory use shall mean a use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or building and located on the same lot with such principal use or building.

Agriculture shall mean a use that means the science or art of cultivating the soil, producing crops, raising livestock and in varying degrees, the preparation of these products and their disposal for personal use.

Alley shall mean a public thoroughfare which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Alteration shall mean the structural change in the supporting or load bearing members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

Amendment shall mean any and all changes to this chapter that occur in the future.

Apartment shall mean a room or suite of rooms with culinary facilities designed for or used as living quarters for a single-family.

Apartment hotel shall mean a building designed for or containing both apartments and individual guest rooms or suites of rooms and apartments, wherein is maintained an inner lobby through which all tenants must pass to gain access to the apartments and catering to permanent and transient tenants and which may furnish services ordinarily furnished by hotels, such as gift shops and newsstands, dining rooms, when such uses are located entirely within the building with no entrance from the street visible from any sidewalk and having no sign display visible from the outside of the building, indicating the existence of such use.

Apartment house: See "dwelling, multiple."

Automotive vehicle wrecking, dismantling or salvage yard shall mean any building site or tract of land or contiguous tracts of land in the same ownership, where two (2) or more wrecked, junked, burned, salvaged, disassembled or inoperative motor vehicles, not stored within a completely enclosed structure or collected accumulated or stored.

Bed and breakfast lodging shall mean the overnight sleeping and breakfast accommodations subject to the following limitations:

(1)

Business is to be conducted as a family business and conducted in a dwelling by a resident-owner family;

(2)

No more than eight (8) registered overnight guests;

(3)

Serving of one (1) meal limited to breakfast for registered guests only;

(4)

No sale of other goods and/or services;

(5)

Shall not be advertised as a hotel, motel, inn, boardinghouse, rooming house, or the like;

(6)

One (1) off-street parking space shall be provided per guest room in addition to the two (2) required parking spaces for the resident owner family.

Boardinghouse shall mean Any dwelling in which more than three (3) persons either individually or as families are housed or lodged for hire with or without meals. A rooming house, a lodging house, or a furnished room house shall be deemed a boardinghouse.

Borrow pit shall mean a place or premises where dirt, soil, sand, gravel or other natural material is removed by excavation for use at another location and which leaves a depression or pit.

Building shall mean any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals, or chattels.

Building area shall mean the total of areas taken on a horizontal plane at the main grade level of the principal building and all accessory buildings exclusive of uncovered porches, terraces and steps.

Buildable area shall mean the area or that part of the lot included within the yards or open space herein required.

Building site shall mean the land area occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings and including open spaces, yards, and off-street parking facilities as are required by this chapter; every building site shall abut upon a street.

Building site boundary shall mean any line separating a building site from a street, alley, another building site or any other land not part of the building site.

Building, height of shall mean the vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deck line of mansard roofs, and to the main height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.

Cafeteria shall mean a restaurant at which patrons serve themselves at a counter and take the food to the tables to eat.

Carport shall mean a canopy or shed open on two (2) or more sides and for the purpose of providing shelter for one (1) or more motor vehicles.

Church shall mean a building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where persons regularly assemble for religious worship.

Clinic shall mean a building or portion thereof designed for, constructed, or under construction or alteration for, or used by two (2) or more physicians, surgeons, dentists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists, or practitioners in related specialties or a combination of persons in these professions where patients who are not lodged overnight are admitted for examination and treatment.

Clubs shall mean private recreational buildings and areas operated by membership organizations for the benefit of their membership and not for gain. The term shall include country clubs and lodges. In conjunction with such a club, a dining room may be operated, provided it is incidental to the activities of said club and is conducted for the benefit of the members thereof only, and further provided no sign is displayed advertising the dining room activity.

Community home shall mean a facility certified, licensed or monitored by the department of health and hospitals to provide resident services and supervision to six (6) or fewer handicapped persons; such facility shall provide supervisory personnel in order to function as a single-family unit but shall not exceed two (2) live-in supervisory persons.

District shall mean the various zoning districts of the Town of Vivian as defined in this chapter.

Dwelling shall mean any building which is designed for or used exclusively for residential purposes.

Dwelling, single-family shall mean a detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one (1) family.

Dwelling, two-family shall mean a building designed for or occupied exclusively by two (2) families.

Dwelling, multiple-family shall mean a building used or designed as a residence for three (3) or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking therein, including apartment houses, apartment hotels and group houses.

Extraction shall mean the removal from the premises of sand, gravel, shells, top-soil, minerals, or other natural resources from a lot or a part thereof.

Factory built housing shall mean a pre-fabricated structure designed for long-term residential purposes. For the purpose of this chapter, factory built housing shall include manufactured homes, modular homes, and mobile homes.

Family shall mean one (1) or more persons who are related by blood or marriage, living together and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities or a group of not more than four (4) persons living together by joint agreement and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities on a nonprofit, cost-sharing basis. The usual domestic servants residing on the premises shall not be considered as a separate family for purposes of this chapter.

Farm shall mean any parcel of land which is used for gain in the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry, and dairy products. It includes necessary farm structures within the prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used. It excludes the raising of fur-bearing animals, riding academies, livery, or boarding stables and dog kennels.

Filling station shall mean any building or land used principally for the dispensing, sale, or offering for sale at retail of any automobile fuels, lubricants, or tires. The procurement of incidental food and drink items, car washing, minor motor adjustment, and tire repair may be performed when incidental to the conduct of a filling station.

Floor area shall mean The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of the main building, but not including the area of roofed porches, terraces, or breeze ways. All dimensions shall be measured between exterior faces of the walls.

Frontage shall mean all the property on one (1) side of a street between two (2) intersection streets (crossing or terminating) or if the street is dead-end, then all of the property abutting on one (1) side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.

Gambling or gaming establishment shall mean a building in which one (1) or more gaming tables, wagering devices or machines, or other games of chance are present and available for persons to wager money or something of value on an uncertain outcome, with an unassured prospect of winning money or other stakes, prizes, or something of value, including by way of illustration, but not limitation: bingo, keno, raffles, video poker, roulette, parimutuels, blackjack and other card games; excluding those gambling or gaming establishments whose location and/or right to operate is preempted by state law.

Garage, parking shall mean a building, land, or portion thereof designed or used for the temporary storage of motor-driven vehicles, with or without the retail dispensing, sale, or offering for sale of motor fuels, lubricants, and tires, or indoor car washing, minor motor adjustment, and tire repair when such operations are incidental to the storage of motor-driven vehicles.

Garage, private shall mean an enclosed space for the storage of not more than three (3) motor vehicles, provided that no business, occupation, or service is conducted for profit therein, nor space therein for more than one (1) car is leased to a non-resident of the premises, provided further that not more than one (1) of the vehicles stored shall be a commercial vehicle of not more than two (2) ton capacity.

Garage, public shall mean a building, land, or portion thereof other than a private or storage garage, designed or used for equipping, servicing, repairing, hiring, selling, or storing motor-driven vehicles.

Garage sale shall mean the exchange for money or other consideration of household goods, clothing, merchandise or other tangible personal property belonging to the owner or lessee of a dwelling, within the dwelling building site or on an infrequent and temporary basis (no more than two (2) events per year); sale items may not be brought to the site from other locations nor include merchandise acquired solely for the purpose of resale; includes estate sales, carport sales, yard sales and similar occasional sales at a dwelling.

Garage, storage shall mean an enclosed space for the storage of three (3) or more motor vehicles pursuant to previous arrangement and not to transients and at which automobile fuels and oils are not sold and motor vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired, or sold.

Garden shall mean a parcel or piece of land used for growing vegetables, herbs, flowers or fruit.

Grade finished shall mean the completed surfaces of lawns, walks, and roads brought to grades as shown on official plans or designs relating thereto.

Heliport shall mean a landing and takeoff facility for rotary wing aircraft subject to use at a frequency of once a week or more, but not including fueling or servicing facilities for such aircraft and subject to FAA Safety and Airspace Utilization Requirements.

Home occupation shall mean an accessory use of a service character customarily conducted within a dwelling or accessory building by the residents thereof, which is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of such secondary use other than a name plate not exceeding two (2) square feet and in connection therewith there is not involved the keeping of a stock in trade or of merchandise. The office of a physician, surgeon, dentist, or other professional person, who offers skilled services to clients and is not professionally engaged in the purchase or sale of economic goods, including violin, piano, or other individual musical instrument instruction limited to a single pupil at a time, shall be deemed to be home occupations; and the occupation of beautician, dressmaker, milliner, or seamstress each with not more than one (1) paid assistant shall also be deemed to be home occupations.

The following shall not be interpreted to be home occupations or permitted uses by property owner consent: Tea rooms, tourist homes, real estate offices, convalescent homes, mortuary establishments, auto repair shops, welding shops, junkyards and stores, trades or businesses of any kind or any such similar uses not herein excepted.

Hospital shall mean a building or portion thereof designed or used for the diagnosis, therapeutic treatment, or other care of ailments of patients who are physically or mentally ill. Said facility may include related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient departments, training facilities, central service areas and staff offices.

Hotel shall mean a building containing rooms intended or designed to be used or which are used, rented, or hired out to be occupied or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and transients and where only a general kitchen and dining room are provided within the building or in an accessory building.

Inoperative motor vehicle shall mean a motor vehicle which is unable to travel under its own power and/or one (1) which does not have a current valid state inspection sticker.

Institution shall mean a building or group of buildings designed or used for the nonprofit, charitable, or public-service purposes of providing board, lodging, and health care for persons aged, indigent, or infirm or a building or group of buildings for the purpose of performing educational or religious services and offering board and lodging to persons enrolled for training.

Junkyard or wrecking yard shall means the use of more than one hundred (100) square feet of the area of any lot, whether inside or outside a building or the use of any portion of that half of any lot that joins any street, for the storage, keeping, or abandonment of junk, including scrap metals or other scrap materials or the dismantling, demolition, or abandonment of automobiles, other vehicles, equipment, machinery or parts thereof.

Kennel shall mean the keeping of multiple dogs or other animals intended for resale.

Laundromat shall mean business premises equipped with individual clothes washing machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an apartment house or an apartment hotel.

Light manufacturing shall mean the manufacturing or processing of materials employing electricity or other unobjectionable motive power utilizing hand labor or unobjectionable machinery or processes and free from any objectionable odors, fumes, dirt, vibration, or noise.

Line, street shall mean the dividing line between the street and the lot or any alley and a lot.

Loading space shall mean a space within the main building or on the same lot, providing for the standing (parking), loading, or unloading of trucks.

Lot shall mean a parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by one (1) building and the accessory building or uses customarily incident to it, including such open spaces as are required by this chapter.

Lot, corner shall mean a lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersection.

Lot, depth of shall mean a mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines, measured in the general direction of its side lot lines.

Lot, interior shall mean a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot, through shall mean an interior lot having frontage on two (2) parallel or approximately parallel streets.

Lot, width of shall mean the average horizontal distance between side lot lines.

Lot lines shall mean the lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

Lot of record shall mean a lot which is part of a subdivision, the map of which has been recorded in the office of the parish clerk of court or a parcel of land which becomes legally established and defined by deed or act of sale; the description of which has been recorded in the office of the parish clerk of court.

Manufactured home shall mean a dwelling unit fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility for installation or assembly at the building site, bearing a seal certifying it is built in compliance with the Federal Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Code.

Manufactured home park shall mean a unified development of two (2) or more manufactured home sites, plots or stands arranged on a large tract usually under single ownership meeting the area and yard requirements of this chapter and designed to accommodate manufactured homes for more or less permanent duration; may include travel trailer accommodations provided that no more than twenty-five (25) percent of the park is used for this purpose.

Manufactured housing construction and safety standards code shall mean refers to Title VI of the 1974 Housing and Community Development Acts (42 USC 5401 et seq.), as amended (previously known as the Federal Mobile Home Construction and Safety Act), rules and regulations adopted thereunder (including information supplied by the home manufacturer, which has been stamped and approved by a design approval primary inspection agency, an agent of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to HUD Rules), all of which became effective for mobile/manufactured home construction on June 15, 1976.

Mobile home shall mean a transportable structure, designed to be used as a year round residential dwelling, built prior to the enactment of the Federal Mobile Home Construction and Safety Act of 1974.

Mobile recycling unit/collection center shall mean a manned facility usually a trailer/truck body used for the collection and temporary storage of empty aluminum cans and other discarded recyclable products. The use is subject to the following limitations.

(1)

The unit shall be attended during all hours of operation;

(2)

Exterior of unit is not to be used for advertising purposes;

(3)

Unit shall not be located on required parking spaces for the principal use of a building site and shall not impair traffic flow;

(4)

The unit shall not be placed within one hundred (100) feet of residentially zoned property;

(5)

Only one (1) mobile collection center is permitted on a building site;

(6)

A certificate of occupancy is required.

Modular home shall mean a prefabricated dwelling which can be certified as being constructed in accordance with the Standard Building Code, as published by the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. and the town's comprehensive building code and constructed on site.

Motel shall mean a group of attached or detached buildings designed, constructed or under construction or alteration for guest rooms or dwelling units intended primarily for vehicular travelers. Each unit shall have a separate entrance opening out of doors or into a foyer with a parking space appropriately located on the lot for use by guests of the motel. The operation of the motel shall be supervised by a person who is in charge at all hours. Motels shall include auto courts, motels, motor courts, motor hotels and motor inns.

Non-conforming building site shall mean a building site lawfully existing on the effective date of this chapter or any amendment thereto and which does not conform to all of the regulations for open space, lot width, site coverage, minimum area, off-street parking and loading facilities, lighting, fencing, lot access and other building site regulations of the district in which it is located.

Non-conforming structure shall mean a building or part thereof lawfully existing on the effective date of this chapter or any amendment thereof and which does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.

Non-conforming use shall mean a structure or land lawfully occupied by a use that does not conform to the regulations of the district in which it is situated/located.

Nursery, day care or kindergarten shall mean a facility used primarily for the care of pre-school children.

Nursery shall mean a facility that is used for the sale and/or storage of plants and related materials.

Nursing or convalescent home shall mean a building used in whole or in part or to provide for compensation, for the care of the ill, senile, or otherwise infirm persons resident on the premises.

Official map shall mean map established by the planning and zoning commission and the board of aldermen, on adoption of this zoning ordinance and map.

Outdoor advertising signs shall mean an attached or free-standing structure constructed and maintained for the purpose of conveying information to the public.

Parking lot shall mean an open area which is used for the temporary parking of motor vehicles but is not a required off-street parking facility.

Parking space shall mean a concrete, asphalt, or gravel surfaced area, enclosed in the main building or in an accessory building or unenclosed having a rectangular area of not less than two hundred (200) square feet, with a minimum width of ten (10) feet when unenclosed, or two hundred twenty (220) square feet with a minimum width of eleven (11) feet when individually enclosed on two (2) or more sides, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the storage of one (1) automobile.

Permitted structure shall mean a structure meeting all the requirements established by this chapter for the district in which the structure is located.

Personal service shops shall mean business establishments such as barber shop, beauty parlors, massage, or similar personal service shops.

Processing facility shall mean a business or undertaking which stores, keeps, dismantles or salvages scrap or discarded materials or equipment wholly inside a building. Scrap or discarded material includes, but is not limited to, metal, paper, cloth, plastic or glass. The use is subject to the following limitations: a minimum distance of five hundred (500) feet is required between a processing facility and a residential district.

Recycling collection center shall mean a manned facility used for the collection and temporary storage of empty aluminum cans and other discarded recyclable products wholly inside a building. No flattening equipment or trailer/truck bodies are allowed on-site. Said center shall handle only recyclable materials which mean clean, source separated recyclable materials including aluminum, steel cans, copper, plastics, glass, paper, cloth and/or similar materials.

Recycling service center shall mean a facility used for the flattening and storage of empty aluminum cans and other discarded recyclable materials wholly inside a building. No trailer/truck body shall be used as an accessory structure.

Restaurant shall mean a retail establishment offering food or beverages, or both, for consumption on the premises. Restaurants do not include barrooms, night clubs, or lounges.

Retail manufacturing shall mean baking, confectionery, dressmaking, dyeing, laundry, dry cleaning, printing, tailoring, upholstering, and similar establishments and business of a similar and no more objectionable character subject to the following provisions:

(1)

All goods or products manufactured or processed shall be sold at retail on the premises.

(2)

All such manufacturing or processing shall be done on the premises and not more than five (5) persons shall be so employed in such manufacturing or processing at any one (1) time.

Rooming house shall mean any dwelling in which more than three (3) persons either individually or as families are housed or lodge for hire with or without meals. A boardinghouse, a lodging house or a furnished room house shall be deemed a rooming house.

School, business shall mean privately owned schools offering instruction in accounting, secretarial work, business administration, the fine or illustrated arts, trades, dancing, music, and similar subjects.

School, private shall mean privately owned schools having a curriculum essentially the same as ordinarily given in a public elementary or high school. The term includes day nurseries and kindergartens.

School, trade or industrial shall mean an establishment, public or private, offering training to students in skills required for the practice of trades and in industry.

Service dependent person shall mean any person who has a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits one (1) or more of the following major life activities.

(1)

Self care;

(2)

Receptive or expressive language;

(3)

Learning;

(4)

Mobility;

(5)

Self direction;

(6)

Capacity for independent living;

(7)

Economic self-sufficiency.

This definition shall not include persons impaired by reasons of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, nor shall it apply to persons currently under sentence or on parole from any criminal violation or those who have been found not guilty of a criminal charge by reason of insanity; or any person whose past threats or behavior creates a medically significant risk to others or to property, or any person who is currently a danger to themselves.

Single-family personal care home shall mean a dwelling that provides personal care service and supervision to six (6) or fewer service dependent persons; such home shall provide trained supervisory personnel in order to function as a single-family unit, but not to exceed two (2) supervisory live-in persons; such home shall insure that admission decisions for mentally handicapped persons are medically appropriate, based on the recommendation and approval of the admission by a state licensed clinical psychologist or psychiatrist; and such home shall be certified, licensed or monitored by the state and shall otherwise insure compliance with written state and federal placement and funding criteria.

Sign shall mean a name, identification, description, display, illustration, or device which is affixed to or represented directly or indirectly upon a building, structure, or land and which directs attention to a product, place, activity, person, institution, or business.

Sign, advertising shall mean a sign or structure which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, activity, or entertainment not necessarily conducted, sold, or offered upon the premises upon which such sign is located.

Sign, business shall mean a sign which directs attention to a business or profession or to a commodity, service, or entertainment sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located.

Sign, flashing shall mean a sign on which the illumination is intermittent or not maintained in intensity and color.

Sign, name plate shall mean a sign which states the name or address, or both, of the profession or business on the lot where the sign is located.

Sign, surface area of shall mean the entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of the actual sign surface. It does not include any structural elements outside the limits of such sign and not forming an integral part of the display. Only one (1) side of a double-face or V-type sign structure shall be used in computing total surface area.

Story shall mean that portion of a building, other than a cellar, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.

Street shall mean a public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

Street line: See "line, street."

Structural alterations shall mean any change or rearrangement in the bearing walls, partitions, columns, beams, girders, exit facilities, exterior walls, or roof of a building excepting such repair as may be required for the safety of the building, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or movement of the building from one (1) location or position to another.

Structure shall mean a combination of materials other than a building to form a construction that is safe and stable and includes among other things stadiums platforms, radio towers, shed, storage bins, fences, and display signs.

Tenant dwelling shall mean a residential structure located on a bona fide farm and occupied by a non-transient farm worker employed by the farm owner for work on the farm.

Theater drive in shall mean an open lot or part thereof, with its appurtenant facilities devoted primarily to the showing of moving pictures or theatrical productions, on a paid admission basis, to patrons seated in automobiles or on outdoor seats.

Tourist home shall mean a dwelling in which overnight accommodations are provided or offered for transient guest for compensation.

Tower shall mean any structure used, or intended to be used, for the purpose of wireless or other communication through the atmosphere.

Trailer shall mean any vehicle, covered or uncovered, used for living, sleeping, business, or storage purposes having no foundation other than wheels, blocks, skids, jacks, horses, or skirtings, and which is, has been, or reasonably may be equipped with wheels or other devices for transporting the vehicle from place to place, whether by motor power or other means.

Travel trailer park shall mean any area used or set apart for the purposes of supplying to the public parking space for two (2) or more trailers for living and sleeping purposes which includes any support buildings, structures or equipment intended for use by said park.

Truck farm shall mean a farm devoted to the production of vegetables for their intended use of marketing to the general public.

Truck stop shall mean a building site and structure where a business involving the maintenance, servicing, storage or repair of trucks, tractor/trailer rigs, buses and similar commercial or freight vehicles is conducted, including the sale or dispensing of motor fuels or other petroleum products and the sale of accessories or equipment for trucks and similar commercial vehicles. A truck stop may also include overnight sleeping, restroom accommodations and restaurant facilities that are incidental to its use thereto.

Variance shall mean a modification from the strict application of this zoning ordinance or any amendment thereto.

Yard, front shall mean an open unoccupied space at grade extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines, and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the main building. It extends the full width of the building site. On corner lots the front yard shall be provided facing the street upon which the lot has its lesser dimension.

Yard, rear shall mean an open unoccupied space at grade extending across the rear of a lot between the side lot lines and being the required minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building. It extends the full width of the building site. On both corner lots and interior lots, the rear yard shall, in all cases, be at the opposite end of the lot from the front yard.

Yard, side shall mean an open space at grade between the main building and the side lot lines and extending from the required front yard to the required rear yard, and being the required minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the side of the main building.

Zoning administrator shall mean the official person primarily responsible for the enforcement of this zoning ordinance and map including any and all zoning and site planning determinations and interpretations of this chapter.

Zoning map shall mean the official map adopted by the planning and zoning commission and the board of aldermen which is a part and portion of this zoning ordinance.

(Ord. No. 483, § II, 10-8-01)