A. 
This chapter shall be known as the "Selbyville Zoning Ordinance," and the Zoning Map hereto attached shall be known as the "Selbyville Zoning Map."
B. 
From and after the date of the final adoption of this chapter, in the manner required by law, the use of all land and any building or portion of a building erected, altered with respect to size and area, added to or relocated, and every use within a building or use accessory thereto, in any district, shall be in conformity with the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the installation, construction or erection of governmental buildings serving the public, including, but not limited to, public educational institutions, fire stations, post office or other public or semipublic offices or buildings, municipal water tower, governmental office buildings, water storage tank, water reservoir, water pumping station, water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant, sewage lift stations and sewage pumping stations.
The zoning regulations and districts as herein established are deemed necessary and proper by the Town Council of the Town of Selbyville and are made in accordance with a Comprehensive Plan and design to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers; to promote health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements of the Town of Selbyville.
A. 
The following general rules of construction shall apply to the regulations of this chapter:
(1) 
The singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary.
(2) 
Words used in the present tense include the past and future tenses, and the future the present.
(3) 
The word "shall" is always mandatory. The word "may" is permissive.
(4) 
The word "building" or "structure" includes any part thereof, and the word "building" includes the word "structure."
(5) 
Words and terms not defined herein shall be interpreted in accord with their normal dictionary meaning and customary usage.
B. 
For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms and words are here defined.
ACCESSORY BUILDING
A subordinate building or a portion of the main building, the use of which is clearly incidental to or customarily found in connection with and (except as otherwise provided in this chapter) located on the same lot as the main building or principal use of the land.
ACCESSORY USE
One which is clearly incidental or customarily found in connection with and (except as otherwise provided in this chapter) is located on the same lot as the principal use of the premises. When the term "accessory" is used in the chapter, it shall have the same meaning as "accessory use."
AGGREGATE AREA OR WIDTH
The sum of two or more designated areas or widths to be measured, limited or determined under the provisions of this chapter.
ALLEY
A narrow public thoroughfare not exceeding 16 feet in width which provides only a secondary means of access to abutting properties and is not intended for general traffic circulation.
APARTMENT
A part of a building containing cooking and housekeeping facilities, consisting of a room or suite of rooms intended, designed and used as residence by an individual or single family.
BAR
Any indoor area open to the public operated primarily for the sale of alcoholic beverages to be consumed on the premises and where the service of food is secondary to the consumption of such beverages. "Bars" include taverns, taprooms, lounges, cabarets, nightclubs, and similar facilities serving alcoholic beverages. "Bars" are not allowed in the Town of Selbyville.
[Added 4-2-2012]
BASEMENT
That portion of a building between the floor and ceiling which is wholly or partly below grade and having more than 1/2 of its height below grade.
BED-AND-BREAKFAST
Same as "tourist home."
BOARD
The Board of Adjustment of the Town of Selbyville.
BOARDINGHOUSE
Same as "rooming house."
BUILDABLE AREA
The area of that part of the lot not included within the yards or open spaces herein required.
BUILDABLE WIDTH
The width of that part of a lot not included within the open spaces herein required.
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the housing or enclosure of persons or property of any kind.
BUILDING, COMPLETELY ENCLOSED
Any building having no outside openings other than ordinary doors, windows and ventilators.
BUILDING, HEIGHT OF
The vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the coping of a flat roof, or to the decklines or highest point or coping or parapet of a mansard roof, or to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, shed and gambrel roofs. When the highest wall of a building with a shed roof is within 30 feet of a street, the height of such building shall be measured to the highest point of coping or parapet.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
The official or officials designated by the Mayor and Town Council to administer and enforce the Zoning Chapter.
BULK
A term used in this chapter to describe the size and shape of a building or structure and its relationship to other buildings, to the lot area for a building, and to open spaces and yards.
BUSINESS COMPLEX
Any concentration of offices, providers of personal services and/or retail uses within one or more buildings on one parcel or lot.
[Added 11-5-2001]
CANOPY
A detachable, roof-like cover, supported from the ground or deck, floor or walls of a building, for protection from sun or weather.
CAR WASH ESTABLISHMENT (AUTOMOBILE LAUNDRIES; AUTOMATIC OR OTHERWISE)
(1) 
Coin-do-it-yourself.
(2) 
Coin-operated automatic drive-through.
(3) 
Employee operated.
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
A statement signed by a duly authorized Town officer setting forth that a building, structure or use legally complies with the Zoning Chapter and that the same may be used for the purposes stated therein.
CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
A permit to occupy a new, renovated or remodeled dwelling issued by the Building Inspector after all inspections are complete and approved.
CLINIC
A building or portion thereof designed for, constructed or under construction or alteration for, or used by two or more physicians, surgeons, dentists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists or practitioners in related specialties, or a combination of persons in these professions, but not including patients overnight.
CLUB, PRIVATE
Buildings and facilities owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for a social, educational or recreational purpose, but not primarily to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.
COCKTAIL LOUNGE
A room or other limited portion of a restaurant where patrons may sit and wait for their table, which serves alcoholic beverages and is accessory to the principal use as a restaurant. The temporary stand-up consumption of alcoholic beverages shall be permitted in a cocktail lounge, but only when there is insufficient seating in the cocktail lounge for restaurant patrons who are waiting to be seated at a dining table in the restaurant.
[Added 4-2-2012]
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
Any truck, van or trailer containing advertising on the exterior.
CONSTRUCTION, STARTING OF
The combining of labor and material into any portion of structure, on the site thereof, including but not limited to the delivery of pre-assembled units.
CONVALESCENT HOME
A building where regular nursing care is provided for more than one person not a member of the family which resides on the premises.
COURT
An open space which may or may not have direct street access and around which is arranged a single building or a group of related buildings.
DAY-CARE CENTER
Any place which receives 12 or more children or adults for day care.
DISTRICT
Any section of the Town of Selbyville in which the zoning regulations are uniform.
DOG KENNEL, COMMERCIAL
The keeping of any dog or dogs, regardless of number, for sale, breeding, boarding or treatment purposes, except in an animal hospital, dog beauty parlor or pet shop as permitted by these regulations, or the keeping of five or more dogs, six months or older, for any purpose.
DUPLEX
A two-family dwelling whereby the units are oriented side-by-side or a two-family dwelling with one unit over the other or under the other.
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
A building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence by more than four families living independently of each other and which complies with height and other limitations.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.
DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY, DETACHED
A building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence for only one family and having no party wall in common with an adjacent building, and no part of such building was formerly used as a cabin, railroad car, trailer, mobile home or travel trailer. This definition shall not include trailers, mobile homes, travel coaches, hotels, motels, motor lodges, boarding- and lodging houses, tourist courts, cabins, tourist homes or bed-and-breakfast inns.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.
DWELLING UNIT
A room or group of rooms occupied or intended to be occupied as separate living quarters by a single family.
ELDERLY (SENIOR CITIZEN)
A person who is at least 62 years old.
ELDERLY HOUSING
Residential housing for persons or families who are elderly.
FAMILY
An individual or two or more persons who are related by blood, marriage or adoption, living together and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities, or a group of not more than four persons living together by joint agreement and occupying a single housekeeping unit with single culinary facilities on a nonprofit, cost-sharing basis. Domestic servants, employed and residing on the premises, shall be considered as part of the family.
FAMILY DAY-CARE HOME
A private home which provides day care for two to six children or adults, none of whom are relatives of the caregiver, at any one time.
FILLING STATION/SERVICE STATION/MOTOR VEHICLE REPAIR SHOP
Any building, structure or land used for the sale at retail of motor vehicle fuels, lubricants or accessories, or for the servicing of automobiles or repairing of minor parts and accessories, but not including major repair work such as motor replacement, body and fender repair or spray painting.
FLOODPLAIN
The relatively flat land following a watercourse which could be subject to periodic flooding based on information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency and any other official sources.
FLOOR AREAS
(1) 
Commercial, business and industrial buildings or buildings containing mixed uses: the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the center line of walls separating two buildings but not including:
(a) 
Attic space providing headroom of less than seven feet;
(b) 
Basement space not used for retailing;
(c) 
Uncovered steps or fire escapes;
(d) 
Accessory water towers or cooling towers;
(e) 
Accessory off-street parking spaces; and
(f) 
Accessory off-street loading spaces.
(2) 
Residential buildings: the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a dwelling, exclusive of garages, basements and open porches, measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls.
FRONTAGE
(1) 
All of the property on one side of a street between two intersecting streets (crossing or terminating), measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead-ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.
(2) 
LOT FRONTAGEThe distance for which the front boundary line of the lot and street line are coincident.
GARAGE, PRIVATE
A garage used for storage purposes only and having a capacity of not more than four automobiles or not more than two automobiles per family housed in the building to which the garage is accessory, whichever is the greater. Space therein may be used for not more than one commercial vehicle, and that one of not more than one ton capacity, and space may be rented for not more than two vehicles to persons other than occupants of the buildings to which such garage is accessory.
GARDEN APARTMENTS
A group of multifamily dwellings on a single lot of not less than five acres in area, designed for rental of the individual housekeeping units, having common open spaces, and designed in accordance with the special requirements for such dwellings as set forth in this chapter, to give the maximum amount of open space per family.
GRADE
Grade elevation shall be determined by averaging the elevations of the finished ground at all the corners and/or other principal points in the perimeter wall of the building.
GROUP DAY-CARE HOME
A facility which provides day care for more than six but fewer than 12 children or adults.
HOME OCCUPATION
Any occupation or activity which is clearly incidental and secondary to use of the premises for dwelling purposes and which is carried on by a member of a family residing on the premises, and in connection with which there is no display or storage of materials or generation of substantial volumes of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or parking demand or other exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the building, and in connection with which no person outside the resident family is employed and no equipment used which creates offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odor or glare. When within the above requirements, a home occupation includes, but is not limited to, the following: art studio; dressmaking; professional office of physician, dentist, lawyer, engineer, architect, accountant, salesman, real estate agent, insurance agent or other similar occupation; teaching, with musical instruction limited to one or two pupils at a time; family day-care home; however, a home occupation shall not be interpreted to include barber shops, beauty parlors, tourist homes, animal hospitals, tea rooms and restaurants.
HOSPITAL
A building or group of buildings, having room facilities for overnight patients, used for providing services for the inpatient medical or surgical care of the sick or injured humans, and which may include related facilities, central service facilities, and staff offices; provided, however, that such related facility must be incidental and subordinate to the main one and must be an integral part of the hospital operations.
HOTEL
A building in which lodging or boarding and lodging are provided with more than 10 guest rooms, offered to the public for compensation. Ingress and egress to and from all rooms is made through an inside lobby and has an office supervised by a person in charge at all hours. As such, it is open to the public, in contradiction to a boarding- , rooming or lodging house, or an apartment house, which are herein separately defined. A hotel may include restaurants, taverns, club rooms, public banquet halls, ballrooms and meeting rooms.
JUNK
Dilapidated automobiles, trucks, tractors and other such vehicles and parts thereof, dilapidated wagons, trailers and other such vehicles and parts thereof, scrap building materials, scrap contractor's equipment, tanks, casks, cans, barrels, boxes, drums, piping, bottles, glass, old iron, machinery, rags, paper, excelsior, mattresses, beds or bedding or any other kind of scrap or waste material which is stored, kept, handled or displayed.
KENNEL
A structure or place used for the breeding or boarding of domestic animals.
LAUNDROMAT
A business that provides washing, drying, and/or ironing machines or dry-cleaning machines for hire to be used by customers on the premises.
LOADING SPACE
A space within the main building or on the same lot, providing for the standing, loading or unloading of trucks, having a minimum width of 12 feet, a minimum depth of 40 feet, and a vertical clearance of at least 14 feet.
LOT
A parcel of land which may include one or more platted lots, occupied or intended for occupancy by a use permitted in this chapter, which is occupied or which is to be occupied by a main building together with its accessory buildings, the yard areas and parking spaces required by this chapter, and having its principal frontage upon a street or upon officially approved place.
LOT AREA
The total horizontal area within the lot lines of the lot.
LOT, CORNER
A lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection.
LOT COVERAGE
The percent of a lot which is covered, or planned to be covered, with impervious surfaces. "Lot coverage" shall include off-street parking areas and driveways but not public streets.
LOT, DEPTH OF
The average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
LOT, INTERIOR
A lot other than a corner lot.
LOT LINE
Any boundary line of a lot.
LOT, THROUGH (DOUBLE FRONTAGE)
A lot having a frontage on two approximately parallel streets or places.
LOT WIDTH
The horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at the required front yard line.
MAJOR STREET OR HIGHWAY
A street or highway designated as a primary highway by the Delaware State Highway Department.
MINOR CHANGE
A repair, maintenance or addition to a structure in an Historic District which meets all zoning requirements and is not visible from the street or streets on which a lot is situated.
[Added 8-3-1998 by Ord. No. 78-A6]
MIXED USE COMPLEX
Any concentration of offices, providers of personal services, retail uses and/or technological manufacturing uses which are compatible with the use and occupancy of adjoining properties.
[Added 11-5-2001]
MOTEL
A building without cooking facilities, in which lodging is provided with more than 10 guest rooms and offered to the public for compensation. It is the same as a hotel except that ingress and egress to rooms need not be through a lobby and parking is usually adjacent to the rooms.
MULTIFAMILY
A building designed for and occupied exclusively as a residence by more than four families living independently of each other and which complies with height and other limitations.
NIGHTCLUB
Any establishment in which the primary use is the sale of alcoholic beverages and which provides entertainment and/or an area for dancing. "Nightclubs" are not allowed in the Town of Selbyville.
[Added 4-2-2012]
NONCONFORMING USE
A building or land which, although lawfully existing prior to the adoption, revision or amendment of this chapter, does not conform to the height, area or use regulations of the district in which it is located by reason of such adoption, revision or amendment.
[Amended 9-11-2000 by Ord. No. 114]
NURSING HOME
Same as "convalescent home."
OPEN AREA
That portion of a lot excluding area set aside or used for buildings, parking, loading and streets. Land devoted to recreation purposes, to include land for swimming pools, tennis courts and similar recreation uses, shall be considered open area for the purpose of this definition.
PARKING LOT, COMMERCIAL
An area used for the storage or parking of automobiles, not including mobile dwelling units, for any period of time and operated for gain.
PARKING SPACE, OFF-STREET
An all-weather surfaced area not in a street or alley and having an area of not less than 200 square feet for vertical or diagonal parking and 220 square feet for parallel parking, exclusive of driveways, permanently reserved for the temporary storage of one vehicle and connected with a street or alley by a paved driveway which affords ingress and egress for an automobile without requiring another automobile to be moved.
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
The Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Selbyville, as appointed by the Mayor and Council; responsible for long- and short-term land use planning, establishing and review of zoning ordinances and review of all subdivision plans; makes recommendations to Mayor and Council.
PREMISES
A lot, together with all buildings and structures thereon.
REGULATIONS
The whole body of regulations, text, charts, tables, diagrams, maps, notations, references and symbols, contained or referred to in this chapter.
RENTAL UNIT
A dwelling unit intended for rental.
RESTAURANT
Any establishment where food and drink are prepared, served and consumed and whose design or principal method of operation is characterized by customers being provided with an individual menu and being served food and drink by a restaurant employee at the same table or counter at which said items are consumed. A minimum of 51% of gross sales must be created by the sale of food. A restaurant must have suitable kitchen facilities for cooking an assortment of foods under the charge of a chef or cook. A restaurant may have a cocktail lounge, as such is defined above.
[Added 4-2-2012]
RIDING ACADEMY
Any structure or place where horses or ponies are kept for riding, driving or stabling for compensation or incidental to the operation of any club, association, ranch or similar establishment.
ROOMING HOUSE
A building, in which the owner is resident, where, for compensation and by prearrangement for a definite period, lodging, with or without meals, is provided for no more than 14 persons in not more than seven guest rooms or rental units.
SELF-SERVICE STORAGE FACILITY
Any real property designed and used for the purpose of renting or leasing individual storage space to occupants who are to have access to such for the purpose of storing and removing personal property. No occupant shall use a self-service storage facility for residential purposes. A self-storage facility is not a warehouse.
SETBACK
An area extending the full width of the lot between the street right-of-way and the building setback line within which no buildings or parts of buildings may be erected.
SETBACK LINE or BUILDING SETBACK LINE
A line extending between the two side lot lines of a lot or a parcel of land which is parallel to, and a stated distance from, a street line.
SITE PLAN
A drawing illustrating a proposed development and prepared in accordance with the specifications of this chapter.
STABLE, PRIVATE
An accessory building, not related to the ordinary operation of a farm, for the housing of not more than four horses or mules owned by a person or persons living on the premises and which horses or mules are not for hire or sale.
STABLE, PUBLIC
Any stable for the housing of horses or mules, operated for remuneration, hire, sale or stabling, or any stable, not related to the ordinary operation of a farm, with a capacity for more than four horses or mules, whether or not such stable is operated for remuneration, hire, sale or stabling.
STORY
That portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it; or, if there be no floor next above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above it.
STORY, HALF
A space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three feet above the top floor level, and in which space not more than two-thirds of the floor area is finished for use. A half-story containing independent apartment for living quarters shall be counted as a full story.
STREET
A public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.
STREET LINE
A dividing line separating a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.
STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS
Any changes in the supporting members of a building, such as footings, bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any substantial change in the roof or in the exterior walls.
STRUCTURE
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground, or attached to something having a permanent location of the ground, including, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, trailers or mobile homes, signs, swimming pools, fences, backstops for tennis courts and pergolas.
SWIMMING POOL
Any portable pool or permanent structure containing a body of water 18 inches or more in depth and 250 square feet or more of water surface area, intended for recreational purposes, including a wading pool, but not including an ornamental reflecting pool or fish pond or other type of pool, located and designed so as not to create a hazard or to be used for swimming or wading.
TECHNOLOGICAL MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing establishment that involves assembling materials refined elsewhere and which can be operated without creating objectionable noise, odor, dust, smoke, gas, fumes, vapor, or traffic.
[Added 11-5-2001]
TELEPHONE CENTRAL OFFICE
A building and its equipment used for facilitating transmission of telephone and radio-telephone messages between subscribers, and other business of a telephone company.
TENTING AREA
Any park, tourist park, camp, court, site, lot, parcel or tract of land which is designed, maintained or intended for the purpose of supplying a location or accommodation for two or more tents, tent trailers, camp trailers, trailerettes or other camping vehicles or facilities, as temporary living or sleeping quarters for persons engaged in recreational, educational or vacation activities; except where the facilities are maintained for the private use of the landowner himself.
TOURIST HOME/BED-AND-BREAKFAST
A single-family dwelling in which the owner is resident, with accessory use accommodations for a maximum of 12 persons in five guest rooms; not more than 40% of the total living area of the single-family dwelling shall be used for guests' rooms; and no guests shall remain for more than eight consecutive nights in any sixty-day period.
[Amended 12-3-2001]
TOWNHOUSE
A single-family dwelling forming one of a group or series of three or more attached single-family dwellings separated from one another by party walls without doors, windows or other provisions for human passage or visibility through such walls from basement to roof, and having roofs which may extend from one of the dwelling units to another. Dwellings must be side-by-side and no dwelling shall be oriented over or under another.
TRAILER OR MOBILE HOME
Designed without a permanent foundation and constructed to be towed, after fabrication, on highways on its own chassis, wheels or supported by other vehicles but not self-propelled, and supported in location by wheels, blocking, skids, jacks, horses, skirtings or permanent foundations. Two units placed side by side to form a "double-wide," shall be considered a mobile home if structural members (sills, studding, plates, joists, rafters) are similar in design and arrangement to that commonly used in single units.
TRAILER PARK, TRAILER COURT or MOBILE HOME PARK
Any tract of land used, or offered for use, for the location of trailers or mobile homes to be occupied as dwellings.
UNITS/ACRE
The density of dwellings or other use units which is determined by subtracting from the total gross area of a parcel the area set aside for existing streets or rights-of-way.
[Added 8-6-2007]
WATERWAY
Any body of water, including any creek, canal, river, lake or bay, or any other body of water, natural or artificial, except a swimming pool or ornamental pool located on a single lot.
YARD
An open space, other than court, on a lot and unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
YARD, FRONT
A yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the main building or any projections thereof. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered as parallel to the street upon which the lot has its least dimension.
YARD, REAR
A yard extending across the rear of the lot between the side lot lines and measured between the rear lot line and the rear of the main building or any projection.
YARD SALE
Yard sales, including "flea markets," conducted on the premises for the sale of personal property owned by the owner or lessee of the land and the principal building located on the parcel where the sale is to be conducted; provided, however, that not more than three yard sales or flea market sales shall be conducted in each calendar year in any district.
YARD, SIDE
A yard between the main building and the side lot line and extending from the front yard to the rear yard and being the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and side of the main buildings.