§ 1309.02. Definition of terms.

Terms used in this Zoning Ordinance shall have the definition provided in any standard dictionary, except the following terms:

(1)

Abandonment means the relinquishment of property or a cessation of the use of the property by the owner or lessee without any intention of transferring rights to the property to another owner or resuming the nonconforming use of the property for a period of one year.

(2)

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

(3)

Area, net floor, means (as applied to off-street parking) the area used or intended for services to the public as customers, patrons, clients or tenants, including areas occupied for fixtures and equipment used for display or sale of merchandise. Floor areas may be excluded which are used exclusively for storage, housing of mechanical equipment integral with the building, for maintenance facilities or for those areas so restricted that customers, patients, clients, salespersons and the general public are normally denied access.

(4)

Automobile repair, major, means general repair, rebuilding or reconditioning of engines, motor vehicles or trailers; collision service, including body, frame or fender straightening or repair; overall painting or paint shop; vehicle steam cleaning.

(5)

Automobile repair, minor, means minor repairs, incidental body and fender work, painting and upholstering, replacement of parts and motor service to passenger automobiles and trucks not exceeding 1½ tons capacity, but not including any operation specified under "Automobile repair, major."

(6)

Automobile sales lot means a lot arranged, designed or used for the storage and display for sale of any motor vehicle, and where no repair work is done except minor incidental repair of automobiles displayed and sold on the premises.

(7)

Boardinghouse means a residence in which, for compensation, lodging or meals, or both, are furnished to not more than nine guests. A boardinghouse shall not be deemed a home occupation.

(8)

Building or structure means any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls designed for the shelter or housing of any person or animal. Also includes freestanding signs.

(9)

Building Code Enforcement Official means the City Building Code Enforcement Official or his authorized representative.

(10)

Building line means the line of that face of the building nearest the front line of the lot. This face includes porches but does not include steps.

(11)

Camper. See "Trailer."

(12)

Child care center means a day nursery, child boarding home, day camp, summer camp, foster family home or other place for the reception, board or care with or without compensation, of a child or children under 16 years of age. For the purpose of this Ordinance, a facility providing day child care between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to not more than three children shall not be considered a child care center. Further, "child care center" shall not include any family-type facility which provides child care to not more than five children placed by order of any court of competent jurisdiction, or by any public welfare department or other governmental agency having responsibility of placing children for care, or placed by a child-placing agency.

(13)

Commercial means engaging in a business, commerce, enterprise, activity or other undertaking for a profit.

(14)

Conforming use means any use complying with the regulations of this Ordinance.

(15)

Depth of lot means the main horizontal distance between the front lot line and rear lot line of a zoning lot.

(16)

Dwelling means a building designed for dwelling purposes. "Dwelling" or any combination thereof shall not be deemed to include hotel, roominghouse or boardinghouse, motel, clubhouse, hospital or other accommodations used for more or less transient occupancy.

(17)

Dwelling group means two or more detached dwellings located on the same lot and conforming to the special conditions and requirements hereinafter set forth.

(17.5)

Enclosed structure means a structure surrounded by walls or one continuous wall and having a roof enclosing the entire structure and includes a permanent appendage thereto.

(18)

Erected includes built, constructed, reconstructed, moved upon or any physical operations on the land required for the building. Excavation, fill, drainage and the like shall be considered part of the erection.

(19)

Exception means the permission or approval granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals in situations where the provision therefor is by the terms of this Ordinance.

(20)

Family means any number of individuals living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse.

(21)

Front yard means the open space extending across the whole width of the lot, between the front line of the building and the street right-of-way line.

(22)

Height. The height of a building shall be measured from the mean level of the ground surrounding the building to a point midway between the highest and lowest points of the roof, provided that chimneys, spires, towers, tanks and similar projections shall not be included in calculating the height.

(23)

Home occupation means:

a.

An accessory use which:

1.

Is clearly incidental to or secondary to the residential use of a dwelling unit;

2.

Is customarily and traditionally carried on within a dwelling unit by one or more occupants of such dwelling unit;

3.

Occupies not more than 25 percent of the total floor area; and

4.

Is limited to members of the family except for one secretarial employee.

b.

In connection with the operation of a home occupation, it shall not be permitted:

1.

To sell upon the premises articles produced elsewhere than on the premises.

2.

To have exterior displays, or a display of goods visible from the outside.

3.

To store materials or products outside of a principal or accessory building or other structure.

4.

To display signs, except one sign not exceeding a total area of two square feet, affixed to the building, not projecting more than one foot beyond the building, that will indicate from the exterior that the building is being utilized in part for purposes other than that of a dwelling. Illuminations shall be either a white nonflashing enclosed light design or indirect lighting from a shielded source.

5.

To make external structural alterations which are not customary in residential buildings.

6.

To generate traffic by such home occupation in greater volume than would normally be expected in the residential neighborhood; any need for parking generated by the conduct of such home occupation shall be provided off the street and other than in a required front yard.

7.

To produce offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust or other particulate matter, odorous matter, heat, humidity, glare or other objectionable effects.

c.

Home occupations include:

1.

Fine arts studios.

2.

Professional offices.

3.

Teaching of not more than four pupils simultaneously, or, in the case of musical instruction, of not more than a single pupil at a time.

4.

Seamstresses, cabinetmakers.

5.

Real estate or insurance agents.

6.

Barber shops and beauty parlors.

d.

However, home occupations shall not include:

1.

Commercial stables, kennels, nurseries or farms.

2.

Mortuary establishments.

3.

Boardinghouses or roominghouses or tourist homes.

4.

Commercial repair or storage of automobiles or watercraft.

5.

Dance studios.

(24)

Kennel means any zoning lot on which three or more dogs six months old or older are kept.

(25)

Lot means the parcel of land on which any main building and any accessory buildings are placed, together with the required open spaces.

(26)

Lot area means the area of a zoning lot.

(27)

Lot depth means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

(28)

Lot width means the mean horizontal distance across the lot between the side lot lines measured at right angles to the depth.

(29)

Main building means a structure in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.

(30)

Mobile home means a structure or vehicle with the following characteristics:

a.

It is used, designed for use or capable of being used as living quarters, an office or any commercial activity; and

b.

It is designed for transportation, after fabrication, on streets or highways on its own wheels and rests on its own chassis; and

c.

It arrives at the site where it is to be occupied complete except for minor or incidental unpacking and assembly operations, locations on jacks or other temporary or permanent foundations, connections to utilities and the like. Any mobile home which has the characteristics of subsections (30)a. to c. hereof may be located in a mobile home or trailer court. A "trailer" is not a mobile home. See also "trailer."

(31)

Mobile home lot means a parcel of land within a mobile home park designated for the placement of a single mobile home and for the exclusive use of its occupants and guests.

(32)

Mobile home park or trailer court means any lot, parcel or tract of land together with open spaces required by this Ordinance, used, designed, maintained or held out to accommodate one or more mobile homes or trailers, including all buildings, structures, tents, vehicles, accessories or appurtenances used or intended as equipment of such mobile home or trailer court, whether or not a charge is made for use of the court and/or its facilities. A mobile home or trailer court does not include an automobile, mobile home or trailer sales lot on which unoccupied mobile homes or trailers are parked for inspection and sale.

(33)

Mobile home park development means a contiguous parcel of land subdivided into individual lots, each lot individually owned and intended or utilized as the site for placement of a mobile home and its facilities.

(34)

Motel means a building made up of two or more living or sleeping quarters used independently of each other and used principally for overnight accommodations.

(35)

Multifamily dwelling means a building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for two or more families living independently of one another.

(36)

Nonconforming use means a building, structure or premises lawfully occupied at the time of the enactment of this Ordinance by a use that does not conform with the provisions of this Ordinance for the district in which it is located; also such use resulting from changes in zoning districts or in textual provisions made hereafter.

(37)

Nursing, convalescent home or home for the aged means any dwelling with sleeping rooms where persons are housed or lodged and furnished with meals and nursing care for hire, or a home operated by a nonprofit group and operated as an institution.

(38)

Open space means an unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with a dwelling.

(39)

Parking area means an off-street area containing one or more parking spaces of minimum size ten feet by 20 feet for driveways nine feet by 18 feet for parking lots with passageways or aisles assuring adequate access. Minimum size of one-way aisles shall range from 11 feet to 12.5 feet; two way aisles from 20 feet to 22 feet.

(40)

Private recreation facilities means a facility such as a swimming pool, tennis court, community center, beach, boat dock or basketball court which is an accessory use located on residential zoning lots, the use of which is restricted to the occupants of the principal use and guests for whom no admission or membership fees are charged.

(41)

Property owner means the owner or owners as recorded in the County Clerk's Office.

(42)

Public means any land or building owned, used, or maintained by the federal, state, county or local governments or their agencies.

(43)

Public utility means an activity, or a building housing such an activity, which operates to serve the community as a whole or a portion of the community, and which is publicly run or subject to special government controls.

(44)

Rear yard means the open space extending from the rear of the main building and along the rear lot line (not necessarily a street line) and extending across the whole width of the lot.

(45)

Roominghouse means a building or premises other than a hotel where lodging is offered by prearrangement for a definite period of compensation of three or more persons not open to transient guests, in contradiction to hotels, motels or tourist homes open to transients. A roominghouse shall not be deemed a home occupation.

(46)

Side yard means the open space extending between the building and the adjacent side line of the lot extending from the front yard to the rear yard.

(47)

Sign, billboard or pennant means any writing (including letter, word or numeral); pictorial representation (including illustration or decoration); emblem (including device, symbol or trademark); flag (including banner or pennant); or any other figure of similar character, which is a structure or any part or is attached to, painted on or in any other manner represented on a building or other structure. An illuminated sign located in a window is a sign. The area of the sign includes the support material from the bottom of the sign to and beyond the top of the sign.

(48)

Single-family dwelling means a building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for only one family.

(49)

Street line means a line defining the edge of a street right-of-way and separating the street from abutting property or lots. If, on the master plan of streets and highways duly adopted by the City, a street is scheduled for future widening, the proposed right-of-way line shown on the master plan shall be the street line.

(50)

Structure means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent location on the ground or attached to something having a permanent location on the ground.

(51)

Subdivision means the division of a tract or parcel of land into two or more lots, plots, sites or other division of land, for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of legal or equitable title, interest or ownership or of building development, including all changes in street or lot lines; provided, however, that this definition of a subdivision shall not include bona fide divisions of land for agricultural purposes in parcels of more than ten acres not including any new street or easement of access.

(52)

Tourist home means a dwelling, occupied as such, in which sleeping accommodations in less than six rooms with not more than four persons per room are provided or offered for transient guests for compensation, under the management of the occupants of that dwelling for dwelling purposes. A tourist home shall not be deemed a home occupation.

(53)

Trailer, camping, means a portable or mobile living unit used for temporary human occupancy away from the place of residence of the occupants, and not constituting a principal place of residence of the occupants.

(54)

Trailer, hauling, means a vehicle to be pulled behind an automobile or truck which is designed for hauling animals, produce, goods or commodities, including boats.

(55)

Trailer park means a lot or premises occupied or designed for occupancy by two or more mobile homes.

(56)

Variance means authorization by the Board of Zoning Appeals to an owner in the use of land or a structure when a literal enforcement of this Ordinance would result in unnecessary hardship. All variances shall be forwarded to Council and entered in their official minutes as a matter of public record.

(57)

Yard means that portion of a zoning lot extending open and unobstructed from the lowest level to the sky along a lot line, and from the lot line for a depth or width set forth in the applicable district yard regulations.

(58)

Zoning Board of Appeals means the Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Hurricane, West Virginia.

(59)

Zoning Ordinance or this Ordinance means the City Zoning Ordinance passed October 3, 1977, as amended.

(Code 1991, § 1309.01; Ord. of 10-3-1977; Ord. of 7-7-2008)