For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and terms are
herein defined. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
shall be used in the interpretation and construction of this chapter.
Words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular
number shall include the plural and the plural the singular; the word
"building" shall include the word "structure"; the word "used" shall
include "arranged, designed, constructed, altered, converted, rented,
leased or intended to be used"; the word "shall" is mandatory and
not optional; the word "abut" shall include the words "directly across
from."
As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the
meanings indicated:
A use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a
building, located on the same lot and serving a purpose customarily
incidental to the use of the principal building.
Any change in the supporting members of a building such as
bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
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.
A story partly underground but having more than 1/2 of its
floor-to-ceiling height above the average level of the adjoining grade.
A basement shall be counted as a story if used for business or as
an independent dwelling unit, in which case the floor-to-ceiling height
must be at least seven feet six inches clear.
Any dwelling in which more than three persons, either individually
or as families, are housed or lodged for hire or otherwise, with or
without meals. A rooming house or a furnished rooming house shall
be deemed a "boardinghouse."
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls
and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals
or chattel.
The line of that face of the building nearest the front line
of the lot. This face includes sun parlors and covered porches, whether
enclosed or unenclosed, but does not include steps.
A building in which is conducted the main or principal use
of the lot on which said building is situated.
A building or portion thereof which is used for drive-through
or automated car washing. "Car wash" shall include hand washing or
detailing where such is a principal use of the premises.
[Added 2-15-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its
clear height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar
shall not be considered in determining the permissible number of stories.[1]
An unoccupied open space, other than a yard, on the same
lot with a building, which is bounded on two or more sides by the
walls of such building.
That percentage of the lot area covered by the building area.
The officially established grade at the top of the curb of
the street midpoint in front of the lot. Where a lot fronts upon two
or more streets of different levels, the curb of the higher street
may be taken as the base for measuring the height of structures to
a distance 100 feet back from that street.
A building designed or used as the living quarters for one
or more families.
A dwelling, the walls on two sides of which are in common
with the walls of adjoining dwellings and are party or lot line walls.
A group of two or more one-family, two-family or multiple
dwellings occupying a lot in one ownership and having any yard in
common.
A building or portion thereof containing three or more dwelling
units.
A building containing one dwelling unit only; also referred
to as a "single-family dwelling."
[Amended 1-22-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
A detached building containing two dwelling units.
A dwelling or portion thereof providing complete living facilities
for one family.
A householder plus one or more persons related by blood,
marriage or adoption living together in a family-like arrangement
as a single, not-for-profit housekeeping unit sharing kitchen facilities;
or a group of persons headed by a householder caring for a reasonable
number of individuals in a family-like living arrangement which is
the functional and factual equivalent of a family of related persons;
or a maximum of two persons not sharing a relationship as described
above. A householder is an individual who resides in a dwelling unit
and who owns, rents or otherwise has legal possession of such unit.
The foregoing are distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse,
lodging house, club, fraternity or hotel.
[Amended 11-10-1986 by L.L. No. 5-1986]
The sum of the gross horizontal area of the several floors
of a structure and its accessory buildings. Floor area shall not include
cellar space (whether finished or unfinished), stairways, unenclosed
porches (screening not being deemed to constitute enclosure), decks,
patios and breezeways, accessory off-street parking space or loading
berths or any area having a floor-to-ceiling height of less than seven
feet.
[Amended 10-18-2002 by L.L. No. 13-2002; 1-22-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
The ratio of gross floor area of all structures on a lot
to the total lot area.
[Amended 10-18-2002 by L.L. No. 13-2002]
A building or part thereof used primarily for the storage
or parking of one or more motor vehicles.
A garage that is accessory to a residential or nonresidential
building and which is not used by the general public. A private garage
shall not include an automobile service station.
Any garage, other than a private garage, available to the
public, operated for gain and which is used for storage and for the
following accessory uses: repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing,
adjusting or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles. "Public
garage" shall not include drive-through or automated car washing and
shall not include hand washing or detailing where such is a principal
use of the premises. This use shall also not include auto wrecking
or auto recovery services and shall not involve the outdoor storage
of more than five partially dismantled or significantly damaged vehicles
at any one time or the outdoor storage of any partially dismantled
or significantly damaged vehicle for more than seven days.
[Amended 2-15-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
Any area of land, including structures thereon, that is used
for the sale of gasoline or any other motor vehicle fuel and oil and
other lubricating substances, including any sale of motor vehicle
accessories, and which may or may not include accessory facilities
for lubricating, washing or otherwise servicing motor vehicles, but
not including the painting thereof by any means. "Gasoline service
station" shall not include drive-through or automated car washing
and shall not include hand washing or detailing where such is a principal
use of the premises. This use shall also not include auto wrecking
or auto recovery services and shall not involve the outdoor storage
of more than five partially dismantled or significantly damaged vehicles
at any one time or the outdoor storage of any partially dismantled
or significantly damaged vehicle for more than seven days.
[Amended 2-15-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
The height of a building is the vertical distance measured
from the curb to the roof. In the case of pitched roofs, such measurement
shall be to the average height of the gable. In the case of a flat
roof, such measurement shall be to the highest point of the roof deck.
Any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling
and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which use is clearly incidental
and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and
does not change the character thereof. The conducting of a clinic,
hospital, barbershop, beauty parlor, tearoom, tourist home, animal
hospital or any similar use shall not be deemed to be a home occupation.
The practice of a physician, surgeon, dentist, architect,
artist, musician, instructor in arts and crafts, engineer, lawyer
or similar professional persons, which practice is conducted entirely
within a dwelling which is the bona fide residence of the principal
practitioner.
Unless otherwise specified, includes a clinic, rest home,
nursing home, convalescent home and any other place for the diagnosis,
treatment or other care of ailments and shall be deemed to be limited
to places for the diagnosis, treatment or other care of human ailments.
[Amended 7-17-2001 by L.L. No. 11-2001]
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 where only a general
kitchen and dining room are provided within the building or in an
accessory building.
The use of more than 200 square feet of the area of any lot,
whether inside or outside a building, or the use of that portion of
any lot that abuts any street for the storage, keeping or abandonment
of junk or scrap materials, or the dismantling, demolition or abandonment
of automobiles, boats or other vehicles or machinery or parts thereof.
A business premises equipped with individual coin-operated
clothes-washing and/or -drying machines for the use of retail customers,
exclusive of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an
apartment house or an apartment hotel. For the purposes of this chapter,
the word "laundromat" is a generic term which shall apply to variations
of names for a similar use.
A line dividing one lot from another.
A line dividing a street from abutting properties.
The total area included within lot lines.
A lot at the junction of and abutting on two or more intersecting
streets, when the interior angle of intersection does not exceed 135°.
Regardless of legal lot lines, no area greater than 100 feet in either
direction from the corner will be treated as a corner lot; its excess
area shall be treated as an interior lot.
The mean distance between the front and rear lot lines.
A lot other than a corner lot.
A piece or parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied
by a principal building or a group of such buildings and accessory
buildings, or utilized for a principal use and uses accessory or incidental
to the operation thereof, together with such open spaces as required
by this chapter, and having frontage on a public street. A lot may
or may not be the land shown as a lot on a duly recorded subdivision
plat.
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines, measured
at right angles to the lot depth.
A building which has nonresidential use of the first story
level and residential use of the floor or floors above.
[Added 2-15-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
A building or building group designed for occupancy as the
temporary residence of individuals who are lodged with or without
meals and in which no provision is made for cooking in any individual
room or suite, with a parking space closely related to each room or
suite.
A building or portion of a building arranged, intended or
designed to be used for making repairs to motor vehicles. "Motor vehicle
repair shop" shall not include hand washing or detailing where such
is a principal use of the premises. This use shall also not include
auto wrecking or auto recovery services and shall not involve the
outdoor storage of more than five partially dismantled or significantly
damaged vehicles at any one time or the outdoor storage of any partially
dismantled or significantly damaged vehicle for more than seven days.
[Amended 2-15-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
A zone lot in single ownership which does not conform to
the minimum area and/or dimensions required in the district where
such lot is located or for any special permit use, as the case may
be, and where the owner of said lot does not own any adjoining property,
the subdivision of which could create one or more conforming lots.
A building, structure or use of land existing at the time
of enactment of this chapter or any amendment thereto, and which does
not conform to the regulations of the district or zone in which it
is situated.
[Amended 1-22-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
A school designed to provide daytime care or instruction
for two or more children from two years of age to five years of age,
inclusive, and operated on a regular basis.
Any dwelling with fewer than 15 sleeping rooms where persons
are housed or lodged and furnished with meals and nursing care for
hire.
An open area used for the storage of motor vehicles.
A parking area accessory to a residential or nonresidential
use and which is not used by the general public.
A parking area which is available for public or quasi-public
use, such as for the accommodation of clients or customers, or visitors
to an institution.
The area required for parking one automobile, which in this
chapter is held to be an area nine feet wide and 18 feet long, not
including passageways.
[Amended 1-22-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
Two or more buildings in single ownership or control designed
to be maintained and operated as a unit and which may have certain
facilities in common, such as yards, open space, recreational spaces,
garages and parking areas.
[Amended 2-15-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994]
A place where food is prepared and intended for individual
portion service and includes the site at which the individual portions
are provided, whether consumption occurs on or off premises. The term
excludes food processing establishments, retail food stores, private
homes where food is prepared or served for family consumption and
food service operations where a distinct group mutually provides,
prepares, serves and consumes the food, such as a covered-dish supper
limited to a congregation, club or fraternal organization.
[Added 7-18-1989 by L.L. No. 11-1989]
A building in which three or more rooms are rented and in
which no table board is provided. However, for the purposes of this
chapter, a rooming house shall be deemed a boardinghouse.
A public, parochial or private institution giving regular
instruction at least five days each week, except for holidays, for
a normal school year of not less than eight months.
The distance between the front line of a structure and the
street line.
As defined in Chapter 338, Signs, of the Village Code.
[Amended 1-22-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
A use which, because of its special characteristics, requires
individual consideration.
That portion of a building included between the surface of
any floor and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there
is no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling
next above it.
A story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates
of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than
two feet above the floor of such story.
A public or private way which affords the principal means
of access to abutting properties.
Any combination of materials forming any construction, the
use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something
having location on the ground, and including, among other things,
display stands, fences and walls, gasoline pumps, gates and gate posts,
mobile dwellings, outdoor bins, pergolas, platforms, pools, porches,
reviewing stands, sales stands, signs, stadiums, stagings, standpipes,
tanks of any kind, tents, towers of any kind, including radio and
television towers and antennas, and trellises. The word "structure"
shall be construed as though followed by the words "or part thereof."
An artificial pool of water used for swimming purposes, including
any structures that are auxiliary thereto, such as toilets, showers,
dressing and locker rooms, deck areas and any other areas and enclosures
maintained in connection with the use of the pool. For the purposes
of this chapter, the term includes swimming pools of permanent and
temporary construction, with a depth of 24 inches or more.
A swimming pool that is operated for gain.
A nonprofit swimming pool that is used exclusively by members
of a club or other organization or by the residents of a specific
neighborhood or community and by bona fide guests of any of the foregoing.
A swimming pool that is accessory to a dwelling and is used
exclusively by the occupants of the dwelling and their bona fide guests.
A nonprofit swimming pool that is operated by a public agency,
such as a municipality, a school district or a county.
A place where alcoholic liquors are sold to be consumed on
the premises. This term excludes private homes where alcoholic beverages
are served for family consumption or where a distinct group, limited
to a congregation, club or fraternal organization, serves and/or consumes
alcoholic beverages.
[Added 7-18-1989 by L.L. No. 11-1989]
A vehicle designed to be transportable by traction and used
for living or sleeping quarters, for a temporary place of business
(such as a field office of a construction company) or for the transportation
or storage of goods or materials, whether standing on its own wheels
or resting on rigid supports.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to
include any nonconforming use.
A coin-operated device for dispensing food, beverages and
other food products, unattended except for periodic servicing and
replenishment of supplies.
An unoccupied space open to the sky, on the same lot with
a building or structure.
A yard extending the full width of a lot and situated between
the street line and the front line of a building projected to the
side lines of the lot. The depth of a front yard shall be measured
between the front line of the building and the street line. Covered
porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, shall be considered part
of the main building and shall not project into a required front yard.
A yard between the rear line of a building and the rear line
of the lot and extending the full width of the lot.
A yard situated between the side line of a building and the
adjacent side line of the lot and extending from the rear line of
the front yard to the front line of the rear yard. If no front yard
is required, the front boundary of a side yard shall be the front
line of the lot; and if no rear yard is required, the rear boundary
of a side yard shall be the rear line of the lot.
[1]
Editor's Note: The definition of "cleanomat," which immediately
followed, was repealed 1-22-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013.
