Village of Westville, IL Article III Accessory Use Regulations

§ 360-14 Fences, walls and hedges.

[Amended 3-14-2006 by Ord. No. 1360]

Fences, walls or hedges used for any purpose shall in all districts conform to the following:

A. Vision clearance area.

[Amended 6-19-2012 by Ord. No. 12-1430]

(1) For the purpose of minimizing traffic hazards in areas zoned residential, no fence built in the vision clearance area shall exceed three feet in height above the street grade. The "vision clearance area" is defined as a triangular area on a lot at the intersection of two streets, or the intersection of a street and driveway, two sides of which are lot lines measured from the corner intersection of the property lines to a minimum distance of 15 feet from their intersection and the third side of which is the line measured from the end points of each of the other two lines.

(2) No fence shall be installed in any yard that will obstruct the view of any window or opening in a habitable space of a dwelling. A minimum distance of three feet shall be maintained between any solid fence and any such window or opening in a dwelling.

B. No barbed wire or other such sharp-pointed fence and no electrically charged fence shall be erected or maintained.

C. No permanent fence or retaining wall shall be constructed or erected within any public street or alley right-of-way unless authorized by the Village Board. Fences erected on public easements or across ditches shall be so constructed that drainage shall not be obstructed and, in the event it is necessary to remove such fence for maintenance or other purpose, removal and/or replacement of such fence or other improvement shall be the responsibility of the property owner.

D. Fences, walls or hedges in any district may be located on lot lines, provided such fences, walls and hedges do not exceed eight feet in height.

(See 70 ILCS 605/2-1 through 2-13.)

§ 360-15 Home occupations.

In any district where home occupations are permitted, the establishment and continuance of a home occupation shall be subject to the following requirements:

A. Such use shall be conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof and no others.

B. Such use shall be clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and shall not change the residential character thereof.

C. The total area used for such purposes shall not exceed the equivalent of 1/2 the floor area, in square feet, of the first floor of the user's dwelling unit, if any; otherwise, the main floor of such dwelling unit.

D. There shall be no advertising, display or other indications of home occupation on the premises, except the customary sign or nameplate for identification purposes only.

E. There shall not be conducted on the premises the business of selling stocks of merchandise, supplies, or products, provided that incidental retail sales may be made in connection with other permitted home occupations.

F. There shall be no exterior storage on the premises of material used in the home occupation, nor of any highly explosive or combustible material.

G. There shall be no offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare noticeable at or beyond the property line.

H. A home occupation, including studios or rooms for instruction, shall provide additional off-street parking area reasonably adequate to accommodate needs created by the home occupation of not less than one parking space for each 300 square feet of floor area devoted to the home occupation. Such parking shall be provided on the same lot as the home occupation.

I. For the purposes of this section, provided all requirements contained herein are met, the following shall be considered home occupations:

(1) Professional office, except as otherwise provided.

(2) Art studio.

(3) Dressmaking or millinery.

(4) Teaching, with musical instruction limited to two pupils at a time.

(5) Beauty parlor.

J. A home occupation shall not include the following: clinic, hospital, mortuary, funeral home, nursing home, barber shop, tea room, tourist home, antique shop, animal hospital, restaurant, veterinarian's office, or use similar to any of the foregoing excluded uses.

§ 360-16 Lighting.

Any light used for the illumination of signs, parking areas, swimming pools, or for any other purpose shall be arranged in such a manner as to direct the light away from neighboring residential properties and away from the vision of passing motorists.

§ 360-17 Off-street parking; access to lots.

A. Location of parking lots.

(1) Parking areas, whether opened or enclosed, shall be provided upon the same lot containing the use for which they are required, or on separate lots as follows:

(a) Within a two-hundred-foot radius in all residential and B-1 Community Business Districts.

(b) Within a five-hundred-foot radius in the B-2 General Business District.

(2) Such separate lots shall be classified as "parking lots" in determining whether they are permitted in a particular district.

(3) Such separate lots and the lot containing the use for which they are required shall be held under unified ownership or control as required for a lot.

B. Space requirements. Each off-street parking space shall not be less than nine feet wide, 20 feet long.

C. Accessways.

(1) Unobstructed and direct accessways shall be provided from off-street parking to a street or alley, which accessways shall have a minimum width of at least eight feet to a private garage and 10 feet to a parking lot. The alignment of accessways shall intersect the abutting street lines approximately at right angles (variations not to exceed 20°).

(2) All parking aisles and parking spaces shall be entirely within the lot lines, and not on a public right-of-way. Parking spaces shall be so arranged that no part of any vehicle overhangs the public right-of-way.

(3) All parking areas in the B-1 and B-2 Districts shall be properly drained and paved with an all-weather surface.

(4) Required open or enclosed parking areas shall not be located in any required front yard or required side yard adjacent to a street.

(5) No part of an off-street parking area required for any building or use for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this code shall be included as a part of an off-street parking space similarly required for another building or use.

§ 360-18 Swimming pools.

[Amended 6-19-2012 by Ord. No. 12-1429; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

All private residential swimming pools shall be completely enclosed by a fence erected along the periphery of the pool walks. All fence openings or points of entry into the pool area enclosure shall be equipped with gates. The fence and gates shall be constructed of a decay- or corrosion-resistant material and be at least four feet in height. All gates shall be equipped with self-closing and self-latching devices placed at the top of the gate and made inaccessible to small children. All fence posts shall be decay- or corrosion-resistant and shall be set in concrete bases. Said pool shall comply with the Zoning Code with respect to percentage of lot usage as contained therein.