In the construction of these regulations, the rules and definitions
contained in this Article shall be observed and applied, except where
the context clearly indicates otherwise.
A.
Uses of land, buildings or structures not permitted in the various
zoning districts are prohibited.
B.
Words used in the singular shall include the plural, the plural the
singular; and words used in the present tense shall include the future.
C.
The word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary.
D.
The word "may" is permissive.
E.
The word "lot" shall include the words "piece" and "parcel".
F.
The words "Zone/Zoning District", and "district" have the same meaning.
G.
The phrase "used for" shall include the phrases "arranged for", "designed
for", "intended for", "maintained for", and "occupied for".
H.
The phrase "these Regulations" shall refer to the entire Zoning Regulations.
For the purpose of these regulations, certain terms and words
used herein shall be used, interpreted and defined as set forth in
this section.
Any questions that arise regarding the regulatory meaning of
other words and terms shall be determined by the Planning and Zoning
Commission with reference to the Connecticut General Statutes and
the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, unabridged edition,
respectively.
The term applied to a building or use, which is clearly incidental
or subordinate to, and customarily in connection with, the principal
building or use and located on the same lot with such principal building
or use. Any accessory building attached to a principal building is
deemed to be part of such building in applying the Area Regulations
to such building.
A facility for elderly and/or functionally impaired adults
outside of their home on a regular basis for part of the 24 hours
in a day and one or more days in the week.
[Added 12-18-2023, effective 1-12-2024]
A person appointed by the Commission to be its representative.
A story partly underground but having at least one-half of
its height above the average level of the adjoining ground.
See "Sign, Advertising."
A facility where beer can be manufactured, stored, bottled
and sold at wholesale or at retail in sealed containers for consumption
off premises or offered for on-site tasting.
A restaurant where beer is manufactured, stored, bottled
and sold to be consumed on premises. A limited amount of beer may
be sold at retail in sealed containers for consumption off premises
as accessory to the restaurant use.
An area separating use districts either planted or defined
by a wall or other structure as required by these regulations for
the purpose of protecting adjoining properties from noise, glare,
dust, and unsightly conditions.
That percentage of the total lot area covered by the combined
area of all buildings on a lot.
Line defined by minimum front yard setback.
The size and shape of building and non-building uses; and
the physical relationships of their exterior walls or their location
to lot lines and other walls of the same building, and all open spaces
required in connection with a building. Bulk regulations include regulations
dealing with floor area ratio, building height, lot area per dwelling
unit, lot frontage, lot width, required yards, courts, usable open
space, and spacing between buildings on a single lot.
That part of a building or non-building use which does not
conform to one or more of the applicable Bulk Regulations of these
regulations either on its effective date, or as a result of subsequent
amendments thereof.
Any use facilitating the barter, sale, or exchange of things
of value, or sale of services, or exchange of services, and includes
the storage of goods.
A story partly underground having more than half of its clear
unobstructed height below the average finished grade of the ground
adjoining the building.
A facility which offers or provides supplementary care to
more than 12 related or unrelated children outside their own homes
on a regular basis for a part of the 24 hours in one or more days
in the week.
[Added 12-18-2023, effective 1-12-2024]
An organization of persons incorporated pursuant to the provisions
of the General Statutes, and which is the owner, lessee, or occupant
of an establishment, operated solely for a recreational, social, patriotic,
political, benevolent or athletic purpose, but not for pecuniary gain,
and includes the establishment so operated. A club shall cater only
to its members or guests accompanying them.
See "business."
Defined in accordance with the provisions of Public Act 83-341.
An advisory group appointed by the Planning and Zoning Commission
to provide application review assistance. The panel shall include
at least three and not more than five people competent in such fields
as architecture, landscape architecture, business, engineering and
art.
A building or group of buildings used for the purpose of
accommodating students, faculty or members of religious orders with
sleeping quarters with or without communal kitchen facilities and
administered by a bona fide educational, religious or fraternal institution.
The term dormitory includes convents, priories, seminaries and monasteries,
but does not include clubs.
A commercial facility where the customer drives a motor vehicle
onto the premises and to a window or mechanical device through or
by which the customer is serviced without exiting the vehicle. This
shall not include the selling of fuel at a gasoline station or the
functions of a car wash facility.
Dustless surface shall mean adequately covered with screening
stone, concrete, asphalt, or bituminous products, or gravel, adequately
treated with oil, calcium chloride, or similar dust inhibiting substances.
A building or portion thereof used for residential occupancy.
A building, or portion thereof, providing independent living
facilities for one family, including provisions for living, sleeping,
eating, cooking and sanitation.
A dwelling unit that is associated with and incidental to
a single-family dwelling on the same lot that serves as the lot's
principal use.
See "Residence, Multi-Family."
A structure designed and intended for human habitation of
a seasonal or recreational nature, and not as a permanent dwelling
constructed of permanent weatherproof materials and having a safe
water supply with adequate sanitary sewage facilities. Seasonal shall
mean occupancy from June 1 to November 1, and not more than 30 days
from November 1 to June 1.
Any person 62 years of age or over, or a person who has been
certified by the Social Security Board as being totally disabled under
the Federal Social Security Act.
A person living alone, or any of the following groups living
together as a single non-profit housekeeping unit and sharing common
living, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities. Occupancy in a dormitory,
group dwelling, club, group home or similar group occupancy shall
not be construed to be a family.
Any number of people related by blood, marriage, civil union,
adoption, foster care, guardianship or other duly authorized custodial
relationship, gratuitous guests, domestic help and not more than one
additional unrelated person. (Related by blood shall include only
persons having one of the following relationships with another individual(s)
residing within the same dwelling unit: parents, grandparents, children,
sisters, brothers, grandchildren, stepchildren, first cousins, aunts,
uncles, nieces and nephews);
Two unrelated persons and any children related to either of
them;
A cumulative total of up to three adult persons. More than three
adult persons may qualify as a family pursuant to other categories
of this definition;
Persons living together as a functional family as determined
by the criteria listed below. For the purpose of enforcing these regulations,
it shall be assumed (presumptive evidence) that students enrolled
at a college or university and groups of more than three persons living
together, who do not qualify as a family based on categories one or
two of this definition, do not constitute a functional family. To
qualify as a functional family, the following criteria shall be met:
The occupants must share the entire dwelling unit and live and
cook together as a single housekeeping unit. A unit in which the various
occupants act as separate roomers may not be deemed to be occupied
by a functional family;
The group shares expenses for food, rent or ownership costs,
utilities and other household expenses;
The group is permanent and stable and not temporary or transient
in nature. Evidence of such permanency and stability may include:
The presence of minor dependent children regularly residing
in the household who are enrolled in local schools;
Members of the household have the same address for purposes
of voter's registration, driver's license, motor vehicle registration
and filing of taxes;
Members of the household are employed in the area;
The household has been living together as a unit for a year
or more whether in the current dwelling unit or other dwelling units;
There is common ownership of furniture and appliances among
the members of the household; and
Any other factor reasonably related to whether or not the group
is the functional equivalent of a family.
Any group protected by the "reasonable accommodation" criteria
of the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act or Fair Housing Act
in that group members are the functional equivalent of a family sharing
and in continued pursuit of their common commitment to rehabilitation
or recovery from chronic drug or alcohol addiction or abuse, evidenced
by substantial compliance with the following criteria, listed in order
of importance:
The residence facility is certified by the Department of Mental
Health and Addiction Services as congregate sober housing.
Collectively, the residents lease the entire residence rather
than any particular room.
Residents may remain indefinitely but are required to leave
the residence if they use drugs or alcohol.
Residents share equally most household expenses, including rent,
a single household budget, most household chores, including cleaning,
shopping and cooking, and the work of maintaining the premises.
Weekly meetings are used to discuss household, financial, logistical
or interpersonal issues, and household safety, including fire safety.
Residents prepare food and eat together on a frequent basis
and there is shared food in the refrigerator.
A private family home which cares for not more than six children,
including the provider's own children not in school full time, where
the children are cared for not less than three nor more than 12 hours
during a twenty-four-hour period and where care is given on a regularly
recurring basis.
[Added 12-18-2023, effective 1-12-2024]
Areas subject to 100-year flooding as shown on the Federal
Emergency Management Agency "Flood Insurance Study" and "Floodway"
and "Flood Insurance Rate Maps" effective January 2, 1981 and further
revisions.
The sum of the gross area (horizontal) of every floor of a building
measured from the exterior faces of the walls or from the center line
of party or common walls separating two buildings, including:
Basement space;
Attic space whether or not a floor has been laid, over which
there is structural headroom of 7 1/2 feet or more;
Floor space used for mechanical equipment with structural headroom
of 7 1/2 feet;
Roofed porches, breezeways, interior balconies and mezzanines;
Any roofed space such as a garage or carport for off-street
parking accessory to a single-family or two-family dwelling not located
in a cellar.
However, floor area does not include:
Cellar space (except that cellar space used for a retail sales
use shall be included for the purpose of calculating requirements
of such use for accessory off-street parking spaces and accessory
off-street loading berths);
Elevator and stair bulkheads, accessory water tanks and cooling
towers; and
Terraces, unroofed open porches and steps.
Livable floor areas may include rooms, halls, and closets,
but shall not include rooms for heating equipment, garages, open or
closed outside vestibules, porches, or verandas. Unfinished basement
spaces will not qualify for required livable area. Livable floor area
as used herein means those portions of the building, soundly and permanently
constructed and finished with materials and methods conforming to
generally accepted practice. Floor area for livable quarters shall
be computed from the outside dimensions.
The sum of the gross area within a commercial building designed
and intended to be used in association with the sale of goods and
personal services but excluding areas used for utilities and storage
areas up to 10% of each tenant space.
A full-service window associated with a drive-through facility
is a pick up window that allows customers to pick up and pay for an
order without having to park and exit their vehicle and where the
ordering for such order was performed at a menu and/or order board
on site.
A facility which offers or provides a program of supplementary
care to not less than seven nor more than 12 related or unrelated
children on a regular basis for a part of the 24 hours in one or more
days in the week.
[Added 12-18-2023, effective 1-12-2024]
The residential occupancy of a dwelling by four or more unrelated
persons where each individual or pair of individuals has the exclusive
right of occupancy of a bedroom.
A continuously supervised residential care facility licensed by the State of Connecticut which provides housing and care to six or fewer persons which meets the criteria of C.G.S. Chapter 124, § 8-3e, as amended.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade along the wall of a building to the
highest point of such building.
See provisions of § 190-20.
A building which has a common entrance or entrances and contains
living and sleeping accommodations for hire for 10 or more persons.
Any process whereby the nature, size, or shape of articles
is changed, or where articles are assembled or packaged in quantity.
Any article or material or collection thereof which is worn
out, cast off, or discarded, and which is ready for destruction or
has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion.
Except for the specific exceptions noted below, the use of any
area of any lot, whether inside or outside a building for any of the
following purposes:
The storage, keeping or abandonment of junk, scrap or discarded
materials or equipment, including old metal, glass, paper, cordage
or other waste or discarded or secondhand material; or
The dismantling, demolition or abandonment of automobiles, other
vehicles, machinery, equipment or parts thereof; or
Any other place of storage or deposit, including any business,
which has stored or deposited two or more unregistered motor vehicles
or used parts of motor vehicles or old iron, metal, glass, paper,
cordage or other waste or discarded or secondhand material which has
been a part, or intended to be a part, of any motor vehicle, the sum
of which parts or material shall be equal in bulk to two or more motor
vehicles.
As specific exceptions, the following shall not be considered
a junk yard:
The display of unregistered vehicles for the specific purpose
of sale in association with an authorized and licensed automotive
dealership;
The accessory storage of unregistered vehicles, equipment or
parts associated with a permitted or proposed business, provided said
storage has been specifically approved by the Planning and Zoning
Commission;
The parking of unregistered farm vehicles and associated equipment
and parts for use on site in association with an active farm; or
The interior storage of unregistered vehicles as a residential
accessory use.
A limited service window associated with a drive-through
facility is a pick up window that allows customers to pick up an order
without having to park and exit their vehicle and where the ordering
for such order was performed remotely (i.e., via telephone, website
or mobile app), rather than at a menu and/or order board on site.
One or more contiguous parcels of land under single ownership
or control that conforms with all applicable Zoning Regulations as
a tract to be used, developed or built upon as a unit. It may or may
not coincide with the deed description thereof filed for record or
otherwise, and it may be subsequently subdivided into two or more
lots, provided all such lots conform to all applicable Zoning and
Subdivision Regulations.
The horizontal distance measured along the full length of
the front lot line. At existing, proposed or future street line intersections
with a radius, the frontage may be measured along the full length
of the front lot line to the point of intersection of the front lot
lines extended beyond the radius to their point of intersection.
A property line bounding a lot. For zoning purposes, town
boundary lines are not assumed to be lot lines and a Mansfield lot
may extend into an adjacent municipality.
A front lot line is the line of a street on which a lot abuts.
A rear lot line is any lot line, other than another front
lot line on another street, which is the farthest lot line from the
street.
Any lot line not a front lot line or a rear lot line, bounding
a lot and extending from the street toward the rear in a direction
approximately perpendicular or radial to the street.
The average distance between side lot lines measured along
two lines parallel to a line connecting the end points of the front
lot line and drawn through those two points of the principal building
closest to the farthest from the street.
A corner lot is a lot whose street lot lines have an interior
angle of less than 135° at the intersection of the two lines.
A lot abutting on a curved street shall be deemed as a corner lot
if the tangents to the curve at the points of intersection of the
side lot lines intersect at an interior angle of less than 135°.
A single lot or parcel existing as of the date of adoption
of this amendment which does not have adequate frontage on an accepted
town street and is accessible only by a permanent, unobstructed right
of access (amendment effective May 15, 1976.)
A lot, other than a corner lot, having frontage on two streets.
See "Trailer."
A detached residential unit with or without a wheeled chassis,
having a narrowest dimension of at least 22 feet which was built in
accordance with the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards
(HUD Code).
A stone or other permanent object to mark a boundary or angle
point.
A building or a group of buildings containing individual
sleeping quarters and individual entrances, and designed, altered
or used primarily for rental to transients on a nightly basis.
The neighborhood of a lot refers to all areas within 500
feet of any point on any boundary line of the given lot.
A principal use of land to which the buildings on the lot,
if any, are accessory, such as trailer park, junk yard, public parking
lot, or an open storage yard for materials.
See "Use, Nonconforming."
Parking space as required for specific uses which is located
off a public right-of-way.
A hospitality use group that is specific to special events/special
occasions such as weddings, wedding receptions, rehearsals and banquets
generally not used on a daily basis.
A pool for admission to which a fee is charged.
A structure of relatively impervious material intended for
bathing or swimming purposes, located either indoors or outdoors and
provided with a controlled water supply.
A lot and all the buildings and use thereon.
A building used for the storage of more than three registered
motor vehicles which are owned by persons other than the owner or
occupants of the premises, or in which repairs are made upon motor
vehicles for profit.
Any lot used for the storage of motor vehicles which contains
space available to the general public by the hours, day, week, month
or year.
All residential areas in the town.
An area or use maintained for recreational purposes by private
individuals, supported primarily by dues of its members, and not open
to the general public.
An area or use maintained for recreational purposes which
is open to the general public.
One or more dwelling units for permanent occupancy.
A building or part thereof containing three or more dwelling
units and includes apartments, row houses, and town houses.
A one-family dwelling unit, including any building, trailer
or other structure, occupied by a single-family.
A single-family residence having one- or two-party walls
on side lot lines.
A single-family residence which is separated from lot lines
or other buildings by open space.
Shall have the meaning given them in the State Liquor Control
Act.
A change in a map of an approved or recorded subdivision
or resubdivision if such change a) affects any street layout shown
on such map, or b) affects any area reserved thereon for public use,
or c) diminishes the size of any lot shown thereon and creates an
additional building lot, if any of the lots shown thereon have been
conveyed after the approval or recording of such map.
The distance that a building or other structure must be from
the lot line.
A municipally maintained underground sewage disposal system
serving two or more dwelling units.
Any existing highway that is accepted and actively maintained
by either the Town of Mansfield or the State of Connecticut; or any
proposed roadway, which is shown on a subdivision map approved by
the Planning and Zoning Commission and duly recorded in the Mansfield
Land Records, and which is formally bonded for completion and dedication
to the Town of Mansfield.
A line equidistant from each street line; or if no street
line is established, the center line of the existing pavement, or
if the street is unpaved, the center line of the existing traveled
way.
The right-of-way of an established street or, if not established,
a line 25 feet from the street center line as defined.
A street which has become public by virtue of dedication
and formal acceptance by the Town of Mansfield.
A building used for the short or long-term storage of more
than three registered motor vehicles that are owned by persons other
than the owner of the premises.
The division of a tract or parcel of land into three or more
parts or lots for the purposes, whether immediate or future, of sale
or building development expressly excluding development for municipal,
conservation, or agricultural purposes, and includes re-subdivision.
A residence in which sleeping accommodations for more than
three and less than 10 persons are hired out for transient occupancy.
A multi-story house in a row of usually similar design with
common side or back walls.
Any lot or parcel of land which is used or allowed for the
parking of two or more occupied trailers, trailer coaches or mobile
homes.
Any person, firm or corporation receiving a permit to conduct
or maintain a trailer park or individual trailer.
That section of ground in a trailer park used or allotted
for use as a location for a single trailer, travel trailer, trailer
coach or mobile home and includes space for parking of one private
automobile.
Any trailer, travel trailer, trailer coach or mobile home
which is the only one on a lot or parcel of land.
A trailer, travel trailer, trailer coach or mobile home owned
by a non-resident of the Town, and who is passing through Town or
visiting a resident for a limited length of time.
Any vehicle which is designed to be used as sleeping or living
quarters, and which is or may be mounted on wheels, and does not include
modular homes.
Property that offers overnight lodging to guests for periods
of less than 30 days, either as a principal or accessory use. Overnight
lodging uses include but are not limited to hotels, motels, tourist
homes, bed and breakfasts, inns, and other short-term rentals.
The term employed to refer to any purpose for which buildings
or other structures or land may be occupied.
A use of a building or land or both, which does not conform
to the applicable Use Regulations of these regulations either on its
effective date, or as a result of subsequent amendments thereof. It
may or may not involve any principal building or land use.
A privately installed and maintained well or reservoir and
appurtenant facilities serving two or more dwelling units.
Open and unobstructed ground area of the lot extended inward
from a lot line for the distance specified in the Regulations for
the district in which the lot is located.
A required yard extending along the full length of the front
lot line to a depth required by these regulations.
A required yard extending along the full length of the rear
lot line to a depth required by these regulations.
A required yard extending along a side lot line to a depth
required by these.
Except where specifically permitted by these regulations, not
more than one residential building shall be located per lot.
To facilitate the development of a system of major streets and
highways and the completion of necessary street improvements, and
to facilitate the establishment of appropriate regulatory provisions
for specific uses that may have significant traffic impacts, each
public road in Mansfield has been designated as either an Arterial,
Collector or Local Street. The following listing designates Arterial,
Collector and Local Streets in Mansfield.
A.
Arterial Streets:
Rt. 66, Rt. 31, Higgins Highway; Rt. 32, Stafford Road; Rt.
44, Middle Turnpike; Rt. 89, Warrenville Road; Rt. 195, Storrs Road;
Rt. 275, South Eagleville Road; Rt. 320, Willington Hill Road; Rt.
430, North Eagleville Road from Rt. 195 to Hunting Lodge Road, and
North and South Frontage Roads.
B.
Collector Streets:
Atwoodville Road; Bassetts Bridge Road; Baxter Road from Rt.
44 to Rt. 195; Birch Road, from Hunting Lodge Road to Rt. 44; Browns
Road; Cedar Swamp Road; Chaffeeville Road; Clover Mill Road; Codfish
Falls Road; Conantville Road; Depot Road; Gurleyville Road; Hillside
Circle from Westwood Road to the UConn Campus; Hunting Lodge Road;
Knowlton Hill Road from Wormwood Hill Road to Ashford town line; Mansfield
City Road; Maple Road; Meadowbrook Lane; Moulton Road; Mount Hope
Road; North Eagleville Road from Hunting Lodge Road to Rt. 32; Pleasant
Valley Road; Puddin Lane; Separatist Road from South Eagleville Road
to Hunting Lodge Road; Spring Hill Road; Westwood Road; Wormwood Hill
Road from Warrenville Road to Knowlton Hill Road.
C.
Local Streets:
All other streets in Mansfield.
In specific sections of these regulations, waiving certain application
requirements are incorporated to help reduce application costs. In
cases where waivers are granted, the Commission shall cite the reasons
for its action and shall only do so when such information is not necessary
to review the application and determine compliance with these Regulations.
In no case shall the Commission vary or waive these regulations without
specific authority for its regulatory action.
