The zoning ordinance is intended to promote the health, safety and general welfare of the public; to implement the adopted comprehensive plan, which supports the values of history and visual quality; to provide for the orderly and controlled development of the City; and to accomplish, where applicable, the purposes of Code of Virginia, § 15.2-2283.

(Ord. No. 862, 10-10-91; Ord. No. 18-08, 10-11-18)

For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and terms are defined as follows:

(1)

Words used in the present tense include the future tense, words used in the singular include the plural number, and words in the plural include the singular number, unless the obvious construction of the wording indicates otherwise.

(2)

The word "shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.

(3)

Unless otherwise specified, all distances shall be measured horizontally and at right angles to the line in relation to which the distance is specified.

(4)

The word "used" shall include the words "arranged, designed or intended to be used."

(5)

The word "occupied" shall include the words "arranged, designed or intended to be occupied."

(6)

The word "state" shall mean the Commonwealth of Virginia.

(7)

The word "city" shall mean the City of Williamsburg, Virginia.

(8)

The word "person" shall include the words "firm," "association," "organization," "partnership," "trust," "company," or "corporation" as well as "individual."

Accessory building means a building subordinate to the main building on a lot and used for purposes customarily incidental and subordinate to those of the main building.

Accessory use means any use in the same building or on the same lot customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use.

Alley means a secondary thoroughfare less than 30 feet in width dedicated for the public use of vehicles and pedestrians, affording access to abutting property.

Amusement arcade means any place of business containing more than two amusement devices. Amusement devices shall include any mechanical, electrical, electronic or video devices which may be used for games, entertainment or amusement, such as, but not to be limited to, video game machines, pinball machines, air hockey games and mechanical grab machines. A group of not more than eight such amusement devices located in a hotel/motel or timeshare development and maintained for the exclusive use of registered guests of such hotel/motel or timeshare development shall not be considered to be an amusement arcade.

Assisted living facility means any public or private assisted living facility, as defined in § 63.2-100 of the Virginia Code, that is required to be licensed as an assisted living facility by the Department of Social Services under the provisions of Subtitle IV (§ 63.2-1700 et seq.) of Title 63.2 of the Virginia Code.

Basement means that portion of a building which is partly or completely below grade (see "Story above grade").

Bed and breakfast establishment means a detached dwelling in which, for compensation, meals and overnight accommodations are provided for visitors. The detached dwelling shall be occupied by the owner-occupant and/or a full-time live-in manager. Activities such as weddings, receptions and other special events may be allowed with a supplemental special exception.

Best management practices means a practice, or combination of practices, that is determined by a state or designated areawide planning agency to be the most effective, practical means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by nonpoint sources to a level compatible with water quality goals.

Buffer area means an area of natural or established vegetation managed to protect other components of a resource protection area and state waters from significant degradation due to land disturbances.

Building means a combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed, that forms a structure for use or occupancy by persons or property. The word "building" shall be construed as though followed by the words "or part or parts and fixed equipment thereof" unless the context clearly requires a different meaning. The word "building" includes the word "structure."

Building line means a line parallel to the street line and separated from it by a distance equal to the depth of the required front yard, or at a distance greater than the required front yard and shown on an approved subdivision plat.

Building, main means a building which contains the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.

Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area (or CBPA) means any land designated by the City of Williamsburg pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations, 9 VAC 10-20 et seq., and the Code of Virginia, § 10.1-2107. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area shall consist of a Resource Protection Area and a Resource Management Area.

Convenience store means a store offering for sale a limited selection and quantity of groceries and other articles normally found in grocery stores, and which may also offer delicatessen or fast food items. A convenience store may also include gasoline sales.

Day care center means a facility operated for the purpose of providing care, protection and guidance to a group of children separated from their parents or guardians during a part of the day only, or for the purpose of providing care to adults during a part of the day only, and which includes personal supervision of the adults and promotes social, physical and emotional well-being through companionship, self-education and leisuretime activities.

Development means the construction or substantial alteration of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreation, transportation or utility facilities or structures.

Diameter at breast height or DBH means the diameter of a tree measured outside the bark at a point 4.5 feet above ground.

Dripline means a vertical projection to the ground surface from the furthest lateral extent of a tree's leaf canopy.

Dwelling means any building or portion thereof which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes, but not including hotels, motels, time-share units, travel trailers, recreational vehicles, or similar accommodations.

(1)

Single-family detached dwelling means a separate, detached building containing one dwelling unit.

(2)

Duplex dwelling means a separate, detached building containing two dwelling units, which dwelling units may be on separate lots.

(2.1)

Duplex dwelling, attached means a building containing two dwelling units, which building is attached by a solid party wall to another main building or buildings, each of which is located on a separate lot of record.

(3)

Multifamily dwelling means a building containing three or more dwelling units; or one or more dwelling units when the primary use of the building is for a permitted non-residential use.

(3.1)

Student designed dwelling means a building containing three or more dwelling units located in close proximity to the campus of the College of William and Mary and designed to be occupied by students at the college.

(4)

Townhouse means a single-family attached dwelling, containing one dwelling unit, in a row of not less than three nor more than ten such units, or when there are two or more rows, with an average of not less than three or more than ten such units in a row. Each unit shall be separated from adjacent dwellings by solid party walls, and shall be located on a separate lot of record.

(5)

Group home means group homes or other residential facilities occupied by:

a.

Not more than eight individuals with mental illness, intellectual disability, or developmental disabilities with one or more resident or nonresident staff persons. Mental illness and developmental disability do not include current illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance as defined in Code of Virginia, § 54.1-3401. In order to qualify as a group home, such facility must be licensed as a "residential facility" by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; or by

b.

Not more than eight aged, infirm or disabled persons together with one or more resident counselors or other staff persons licensed as an assisted living facility or residential facility in which aged, infirm or disabled persons reside by the Virginia Department of Social Services.

For purposes of single-family residential occupancy, a group home shall be deemed to be a family and except for the limitations set forth hereinabove, no conditions more restrictive than those imposed on residences occupied by persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption shall be imposed on such facility.

Dwelling unit means one or more rooms arranged, designed or intended to be occupied as separate living quarters by one family, and including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

Equipment penthouse means a structure on the roof of a building containing necessary mechanical equipment, elevator equipment and/or stairways.

Family means:

(1)

Two or more persons related by blood, adoption, marriage or guardianship, limited to the following: husband, wife, child, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, parent, stepparent, grandchild, grandparent, mother-in-law, father-in-law; or

(2)

Two unrelated persons along with one or more dependents related to either of them by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship, limited to the following: child, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, parent, stepparent, grandchild, grandparent, mother-in-law, father-in-law.

Fiscal impact study means a statistical study which relates the additional tax revenues expected to be generated by the project to the expected direct and indirect costs of providing additional public services of schools (operational and capital), roads, public safety, utilities, recreation and other municipal services.

Fitness center means an establishment for physical exercise or training that includes equipment such as weight resistance machines, whirlpools, saunas, showers and lockers.

Fitness studio means an establishment where physical exercise or training is conducted in a group session with an instructor, such as aerobics, dance, yoga, tia chi and martial arts.

Flea market means a temporary outdoor commercial use involving the setting up of tables, platforms, racks or similar display areas for the purpose of selling, buying or exchanging merchandise, goods, materials, products or other items. A flea market shall not include sidewalk sales by retail merchants, fruit or produce stands, bake sales, or garage, yard or rummage sales held in conjunction with residential uses or sponsored and conducted by religious, civic or charitable organizations, when these uses are otherwise allowed by this Code. A flea market shall also not include farmers' markets permitted by this chapter and by chapter 9, article II, Farmers' Market.

Floor area means the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building within the perimeter of the outside walls of a building without deduction for hallways, stairs, closets, thickness of walls, columns or other features. Unfinished attics, residential basements, interior parking and loading spaces, or any space where the floor-to-ceiling height is less than six feet shall be excluded.

Food truck means a large, wheeled vehicle from which food is sold or served that typically contains cooking facilities where the food is prepared.

Frontage means the width of the front of a lot measured along the street from one side lot line to the other.

Garden center means a retail establishment that sells plants, horticultural and garden supplies and services. Bulk materials such as mulch, gravel, topsoil, sand, and pavers may also be sold.

Grade means a reference plane representing the average of the finished surface of the ground adjoining the exterior of the front building wall; or, on a corner lot, the average of the finished surface of the ground adjoining the exterior of the building walls along the front and street sides of the building.

Group home: See "Dwelling."

Height means the vertical distance measured from grade to the highest point of a roof, if a flat roof; to the deck line of a mansard roof; and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for a gable, hip or gambrel roof.

Highly erodible soils means soils (excluding vegetation) with an erodibility index (EI) from sheet and rill erosion equal to or greater than eight. The erodibility index for any soil is defined as the product of the formula RKLS/T, where K is the soil susceptibility to water erosion in the surface layer; R is the rainfall and runoff; LS is the combined effects of slope, length and steepness; and T is the soil loss tolerance.

Highly permeable soils means soils with a given potential to transmit water through the soil profile. Highly permeable soils are identified as any soil having a permeability equal to or greater than six inches of water movement per hour in any part of the soil profile to a depth of 72 inches (permeability groups "rapid" and "very rapid") as found in the "National Soil Handbook" of November, 1996 in the "Field Office Technical Guide" of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Hospital means an institution receiving inpatients and providing primary health services and medical or surgical care to persons suffering from illness, disease, injury, deformity and other abnormal physical or mental conditions, and including, as an integral part of the institution, related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient facilities or training facilities.

Hotel/motel means a building or group of attached or detached buildings offering transient lodging accommodations to visitors. A hotel/motel shall also include on the site a lobby, clerk's desk, or counter and facilities for registration and keeping of records relating to visitors. Rental of bedrooms in a single-family detached dwelling to roomers and visitors in accordance with sections 21-605 and 21-605.1 shall not be considered to be a hotel/motel.

Hydric soil means soils that are saturated, flooded or ponded long enough during the growing season to support wetland vegetation.

Impervious cover means a surface composed of any material that significantly impedes or prevents natural infiltration of water into the soil. Impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, roofs, buildings, streets, parking areas, and any concrete, asphalt or gravel surface.

Kitchen means a room or area containing facilities for the refrigeration, preparation and cooking of food and for the washing of cooking and eating utensils.

Lot means a parcel of land occupied or to be occupied by one main building or group of main buildings and accessory buildings and uses, together with such yards and open space as required by this chapter.

Lot, corner means a lot fronting on two or more streets at their intersection. The owner shall choose which yard is the front yard unless the front yard is designated on the recorded subdivision plat. The rear yard shall be opposite the chosen front yard. The other yard abutting the street shall be a side yard.

Lot, depth of means the average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

Lot, double frontage means an interior lot having frontage on two streets.

Lot, interior means any lot other than a corner lot.

Lot, width of means the horizontal distance between side lot lines at the required front yard setback, or at a front yard setback shown on an approved subdivision plat.

Lot of record means a lot, a plat or description of which has been recorded in the circuit court clerk's office.

Manufactured home means a structure, also called a mobile home, subject to federal regulations, which is transportable in one or more sections; is eight body feet or more in width and 40 body feet or more in length in the traveling mode, or is 320 or more square feet when erected on site; is built on a permanent chassis; is designed to be used as a single-family dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities; and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems contained in the structure. Industrialized buildings, as defined by the Uniform Statewide Building Code, are not considered to be manufactured homes.

Micro-brewery, micro-distillery, micro-winery and/or micro-cidery means a facility for the production and packaging of alcoholic beverages for distribution, retail or wholesale, on- or off-premises and which meets all Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control laws and regulations. The facility may include other uses such as retail sales, tasting rooms and restaurants.

Ministorage warehouse means a structure consisting of individual small, self-contained storage spaces which may be owned, leased or rented to individuals.

Mobile food unit means a restaurant that is mounted on wheels and readily movable from place to place by an internal engine or that is towed from place to place by a motor vehicle. Mobile food unit shall not include vending carts or other conveyances which are designed to be moved by either human or animal power.

Mobile unit means a structure of vehicular, portable design, built on a chassis and designed to be moved from one site to another, subject to the Industrialized Building and Manufactured Home Safety Regulations, and designed to be used without a permanent foundation.

Nonpoint source pollution means pollution consisting of constituents such as sediment, nutrients and organic and toxic substances from diffuse sources, such as runoff from agriculture and urban land development and use.

Noxious weeds means weeds that are difficult to control effectively, such as Johnson grass, kudzu and multiflora rose.

Nursing home means rest homes, extended care homes, convalescent homes or similar facilities which are established to render domiciliary and/or nursing care for chronic or convalescent patients and which are properly licensed by the state, but not including child care homes or facilities for the care of drug addicts, alcoholics, mentally ill or developmentally disabled patients.

Occupancy means the period during which one owns, rents, uses, or occupies a certain dwelling or land.

Occupant means a person who, on a regular basis, spends nights at a dwelling or land. A person is considered an occupant regardless of whether they spend the majority of their nights at such dwelling or land, if the times they do stay overnight are regular and recurrent. In addition, a person shall be considered an occupant if their clothes or other daily living supplies are maintained at such dwelling or land.

Open space means that area within the boundaries of a lot or development parcel that is intended to provide light and air, and is designed for either scenic or recreational purposes. Open space may include, but need not be limited to, lawns, decorative planting, flower beds, sidewalks/walkways, fountains, active and passive recreation areas, playgrounds, swimming pools, wooded areas, and water bodies and watercourses interior to the lot or development parcel. Open space shall not include driveways, parking lots, other vehicular surfaces, or any area occupied by a building, or the surface area of any water bodies or watercourses whose shoreline adjoins other property outside of the lot or development, even if ownership includes part of the water body or watercourse beyond the shoreline.

Open space, common means open space within a development, not individually owned, which is intended for the common use or enjoyment of the residents of the development.

Open space, landscaped means an area containing living plant materials, including trees, flowers, shrubs and grass. Landscaped open space may include lawns, decorative planting, flower beds, sidewalks/walkways, fountains, wooded areas, water bodies and watercourses, and stormwater management facilities, but at least 75 percent of the area must be vegetated. Landscaped open space shall not include driveways, parking lots, other vehicular surfaces, or any area occupied by a building.

Parking space, off-street means a space provided for the parking of a motor vehicle which is not located on a public right-of-way, and which includes any necessary area for ingress and egress.

Pharmacy means a store where the primary business is the filling of medical prescriptions and the sale of drugs, medical devices and supplies.

Private plaza means a multi-purpose area that allows flexibility of space within its boundaries, to include planned and passive activities such as festivals, art events, outdoor movies, staged musical or theatrical entertainment, which may also include fountains, benches, temporary installations, including temporary stages, lighting and sound equipment, recreational facilities, outdoor furniture and seating areas and outdoor seating for restaurants and other eating establishments that surround the plaza.

Public road means a publicly owned road designed and constructed in accordance with water quality protection criteria at least as stringent as requirements applicable to the Virginia Department of Transportation, including regulations promulgated pursuant to: (i) the Erosion and Sediment Control Law (§ 10.1-560 et seq. of the Code of Virginia); and (ii) the Virginia Stormwater Management Act (§ 10.1-603.1 et seq. of the Code of Virginia). This definition includes those roads where the Virginia Department of Transportation exercises direct supervision over the design or construction activities, or both, and cases where secondary roads are constructed or maintained, or both, by a local government in accordance with the standards of that local government.

Recreation center means an indoor facility providing a variety of recreational activities such as amusement arcades, billiards, bowling, dancing, musical performances, snack bars and other uses of similar scale and intensity.

Redevelopment means the process of developing land that is or has been previously developed.

Resource management area or RMA means that component of the Chesapeake Bay preservation area that is not classified as the resource protection area.

Resource protection area (or RPA) means that component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area comprised of lands adjacent to water bodies with perennial flow that have an intrinsic water quality value due to the ecological and biological processes they perform or are sensitive to impacts which may result in significant degradation to the quality of state waters.

Restaurant means an establishment where food and beverages are prepared for consumption both on and off the premises, and with customer seating provided on the premises.

Restaurant, carry-out means an establishment where food and beverages are prepared for consumption off the premises, and with no customer seating on the premises.

Roomer means an individual, other than a member of the family, who occupies as his regular place or residence the dwelling unit or a part thereof, and who, for a consideration, is furnished sleeping accommodations and may be furnished meals as a part of the consideration.

Senior housing means:

(1)

Housing provided under any state or federal program that is specifically designed and operated to assist elderly or disabled persons, as defined in the state or federal program; or

(2)

Housing for persons 62 years of age or older, or for the disabled, provided that an enforceable regulatory agreement exists to assure the continued operation of the housing for its intended use.

(3)

Assisted living facilities and nursing homes are excluded from this definition.

Service station means a building or lot that is used for the retail sale and direct delivery of fuel, lubricating oil and minor accessories for vehicles, and which may include facilities for lubricating, washing, repairs or otherwise servicing motor vehicles. A service station shall not include facilities for auto body work and painting. Automobile, truck and trailer sales or rentals shall be considered separate uses from a service station.

Shopping center means a group of at least ten commercial establishments, or, if less than ten commercial establishments, a group of commercial establishments consisting of at least a supermarket, drugstore and department store, in either case having a combined total floor area of at least 65,000 square feet, that is planned, developed and managed as a unit.

Sign: See article VI, Signs, section 21-736.1, Sign definitions.

Small Inn is an establishment with seven to ten bedrooms rented to transient visitors.

Solar energy system means equipment used primarily for the collection and use of solar energy for water, heating or cooling, or other application requiring an energy source.

Story means that portion of a building included between the upper surface of a floor and the upper surface of the floor or roof next above.

Story above grade means any story having its finished floor surface entirely above grade, except that a basement shall be considered as a story above grade when the distance from grade to the finished surface of the floor above the basement is more than six feet for more than 50 percent of the total perimeter or more than 12 feet at any point.

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

Street line means a dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous public or private street.

Structure means an assembly of materials forming a construction for use, including stadiums, gospel and circus tents, reviewing stands, platforms, staging, observation towers, radio towers, water tanks, wells, fences, trestles, piers, wharves, swimming pools, amusement devices, storage bins or pits, and other structures of this general nature. The word "structure" shall be construed as though followed by the words "or part or parts thereof" unless the context clearly requires a different meaning. "Structure" also means an assembly of archaeological material providing the remaining evidence of a construction for prehistoric or historic use, as defined above.

Student dwelling: See Dwelling.

Substantial alteration means expansion or modification of a building or development that would result in a disturbance of land exceeding an area of 2,500 square feet in the resource management area (RMA) only.

Tidal shore or shore means land contiguous to a tidal body of water between the mean low-water level and the mean high-water level.

Timeshare unit means a timeshare estate or timeshare use as defined by Code of Virginia, § 55-362, as amended.

Tree means any self-supporting woody perennial plant, except seedlings, which normally grows, in Williamsburg, at a commonly accepted maturity, to an overall height of a minimum of 15 feet.

Tree, hazard shall mean a damaged, diseased, dying or dead tree with a "target" within the falling distance of the tree or its part that fails. A "target" means people, livestock, vehicles, structures, roads, sidewalks.

Tree, indigenous shall mean a native or an introduced tree that grows and reproduces in the region.

Tree, mature shall mean a tree which has grown in size to the generally accepted form and development typical for that species.

Tributary stream means any perennial stream that is so depicted on the most recent U.S. Geological Survey Seven and One-Half-Minute Topographic Quadrangle Map (scale 1:24,000).

Variance means, in the application of a zoning ordinance, a reasonable deviation from those provisions regulating the shape, size or area of a lot or parcel of land or the size, height, area, bulk or location of a building or structure when the strict application of the ordinance would unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property, and such need for a variance would not be shared generally by other properties, and provided such variance is not contrary to the purpose of the ordinance. It shall not include a change in use, which change shall be accomplished by a rezoning or by a conditional zoning.

Veterinary hospital and clinic means a place where animals are given medical care administered by one or more professionals licensed by the state board of veterinary medicine, and where boarding of animals is limited to short-term care incidental to such hospital care.

Visitor means a person who secures lodging or lodging and meals for not more than 30 consecutive days for a consideration, provided that the visitor's principal place of residence is not the room or suite occupied by the visitor.

Water-dependent facility means a development of land that cannot exist outside of the resource protection area and must be located on the shoreline by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operation. These facilities may include, but are not limited to: (a) ports; (b) the intake and outfall structures of power plants, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and storm sewers; (c) marinas and other boat docking structures; (d) beaches and other public water-oriented recreation areas; and (e) fisheries or other marine resources facilities.

Wetlands means tidal and nontidal wetlands.

Wetlands, nontidal means those wetlands other than tidal wetlands 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, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to § 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act, in 33 CFR 328.3b.

Wetlands, tidal means vegetated and nonvegetated wetlands as defined in Code of Virginia, § 28.2-1300.

Yard means an open space at grade between a building and a lot line, unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided by this chapter. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the depth of a front yard or the depth of a rear yard, the least horizontal distance between a lot line and the building shall be used. If a building is constructed across a lot line or lines, the lots that the building is located on shall be considered as one lot for the purpose of measuring the required front, rear and side yards.

Yard, front means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and located between the street line and the main building.

Yard, rear means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and located between the rear lot line and the main building.

Yard, side means a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard and located between the side lot line and the main building.

(Ord. No. 862, 10-10-91; Ord. No. 878, 6-11-92; Ord. No. 23-93, § 1, 8-12-93; Ord. No. 8-94, 3-10-94; Ord. No. 11-94, 6-9-94; Ord. No. 2-95, 1-12-95; Ord. No. 16-99, 5-13-99; Ord. No. 11-00, 8-10-00; Ord. No. 03-37, 12-11-03; Ord. No. 07-28, 8-9-07; Ord. No. 09-18, 11-12-09; Ord. No. 09-19, 12-10-09; Ord. No. 10-03, 4-8-10; Ord. No. 11-09, 6-9-11; Ord. No. 13-07, 4-11-13; Ord. No. 13-13, 5-9-13; Ord. No. 14-11, 4-10-14; Ord. No. 14-13, 6-12-14; Ord. No. 14-14, 6-12-14; Ord. No. 14-23, 9-11-14; Ord. No. 14-26, 11-13-14; Ord. No. 14-27, 11-13-14; Ord. No. 15-06, 4-9-15, eff. 7-1-15; Ord. No. 15-22, 10-8-15; Ord. No. 17-17A, 10-12-17; Ord. No. 18-12, 11-8-18; Ord. No. 19-02, 1-10-19; Ord. No. 19-17, 9-12-19; Ord. No. 19-18, 9-12-19; Ord. No. 19-23, 11-14-19)