§ 10.200. Definitions.

For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows:

All words used in the present tense shall include the future; all words in the singular number include the plural number and all words in the plural number include the singular number; and the word "building" includes the word "structure" and "dwelling" includes "residence;" the word "person" includes "corporation," "copartnership," "association," as well as an "individual;" the word "shall" is mandatory and the word "may" is permissive; the word "lot," includes the words "plot" or "parcel;" the words "used" or "occupied" includes the words "intended," "designed," or "arranged to be used or occupied."

Terms not herein defined shall have the meanings customarily assigned to them.

(1)

Alley: Any dedicated public way affording a secondary means of access to abutting property, and not intended for general traffic circulation.

(2)

Alterations: Any change, addition or modification to a structure or type of occupancy, any change in the structural members of a building, such as walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, the consummated act of which may be referred to herein as "altered" or "reconstructed."

(3)

Apartments: The dwelling units in a multiple dwelling as defined herein:

(a)

Efficiency apartment: Is a dwelling unit of not less than 250 nor more than 350 square feet of floor area consisting of not more than one room in addition to kitchen and necessary sanitary facilities.

(b)

One bedroom unit: Is a dwelling unit containing a minimum floor area of at least 450 square feet consisting of not more than three rooms, including one bedroom in addition to kitchen and necessary sanitary facilities.

(c)

Two bedroom unit: Is a dwelling unit containing a minimum floor area of at least 600 square feet, consisting of not more than four rooms, including two bedrooms, in addition to kitchen and necessary sanitary facilities.

(d)

Three or more bedroom unit: Is a dwelling unit wherein for each room in addition to the four rooms permitted in a two bedroom unit, there shall be provided an additional area of 150 square feet to the minimum floor area of 600 square feet in addition to the kitchen and necessary sanitary facilities.

(4)

(a)

Motor vehicle maintenance service facility. A facility where routine motor vehicle maintenance consisting of oil changes, tire replacement, battery replacement, brake and exhaust system work and other routine services which require short periods of time to start and complete the maintenance service.

(b)

Motor vehicle repair facilities (light repairs). A facility where motor vehicle engine repair is conducted. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to, motor vehicle body repair, undercoating, painting, tire recapping, upholstery work, collision work, glass work, and other similar heavy duty repair.

(c)

Motor vehicle repair facilities (heavy repairs). A facility where all uses and activities permitted as a motor vehicle light repair facility and a motor vehicle maintenance service facility or where motor vehicle body repair, undercoating, painting, tire recapping, upholstery work, collision work, glass work, and other activities are conducted.

(5)

Basement: That portion of a building which is partly or wholly below grade but so located that the vertical distance from average grade to the floor is greater than the vertical distance from the grade to the bottom of the joists supporting the ceiling. A basement shall not be counted as a story.

(6)

Billboard: An outdoor sign, whether placed individually or on a T-type, V-type, back to back or double-faced display, erected for the purpose of advertising a product, event, person, or subject not related to the premises on which the sign is located.

(7)

Building. Is a structure, either temporary or permanent (This shall include tents and awnings situated on private property).

(8)

Building, accessory: Is a subordinate building, the use of which is clearly incidental to that of the main building or to the use of the land.

(9)

Building, main: Is a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated.

(10)

Building height: Is the vertical distance measured from the established grade to the highest point of the roof surface for flat roofs; to the deck line of mansard roofs; and to the average height between eaves and ridge, gable, hip and gambrel roofs; and to the average height between the lowest point and the highest point on a shed roof. Where a building is located on sloping terrain, the height may be measured from the average ground level of the grade at the building wall.

(11)

Building line: Is a line formed by the building foundation except that where any portion of a building, excluding unenclosed porches, exceeds eight feet in width and projects more than two feet beyond the foundation, the face of such projection shall form said building line. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a building line is the same as a front setback line.

(12)

Commercial vehicle: Any vehicle, or trailer, which has placed upon it, or attached to it, any type of business sign, name or other business identification (except "for sale" signs if otherwise permitted in this Ordinance), or which has attached to it, carries or transports, people, material or equipment used in the conduct of any business including taxi cabs and limousines.

(13)

Court: Is an open unoccupied space, other than a yard, and bounded on at least two sides by a building. A court extended to the front yard or front lot line or to the rear yard or rear yard lot line is an Outer Court. Any other court is an Inner Court.

(14)

Club: An organization of persons for special purposes or for the promulgation of sports, arts, science, literature, politics or the like, but not for profit.

(15)

District: Is a portion of the incorporated area of the city within which certain regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of this Ordinance.

(16)

Drive-in: A business establishment so developed that its retail or service character is dependent on providing a driveway approach or parking spaces for motor vehicles so as to serve patrons while in the motor vehicle, regardless of whether self-servicing is involved rather than within a building or structure.

(17)

Dwelling unit: Is a building, or portion thereof, designed for occupancy by one family for residential purposes and having cooking facilities.

(18)

Dwelling, one-family: Is a building designated exclusively for and occupied exclusively by one family.

(19)

Dwelling, two-family: Is a building designed exclusively for occupancy by two families, living independently of each other.

(20)

Dwelling, multiple-family: Is a building or portion thereof, designed exclusively for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other (Refer to "apartments" definition for dwelling unit types.)

(a)

Apartment building: A residential structure containing three or more dwelling units, but not a row house or terrace.

(b)

Row house: A two story of three or more attached one family dwellings, not more than two rooms deep, each unit of which extends from the foundation or basement to the roof.

(c)

Terrace: A one- or two-story row of three or more attached one-family dwellings, not more than two rooms deep, and having the total dwelling space on one floor.

(21)

Erected: Includes built, constructed, altered, reconstructed, moved upon, or any physical operations on the premises required for the construction. Excavation, fill, drainage, and like, shall be considered a part of erection.

(22)

Essential services: Means the erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or municipal departments of underground, surface or overhead gas, electrical, steam, fuel or water transmission or distribution systems, including towers, poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm and police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants and similar accessories in connection therewith, but not including buildings which are necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such utilities or municipal departments for the general public health, safety or welfare; or wireless cellular or personal communications service (PCS) telecommunications antenna towers.

(23)

Family:

(a)

One or more persons related by blood or marriage occupying a dwelling unit and living as a single nonprofit housekeeping unit, i.e., biological family.

(b)

Any collective number of individuals living together in one house under one head, whose relationship is of permanent and distinct domestic character, and cooking as a single housekeeping unit. This definition shall not include any society, club, fraternity, sorority, association, lodge, combine, federation, group, coterie, or other organization, which is not a recognized religious order, nor include a group of individuals whose association is temporary or resort-seasonal in character or nature, i.e., functional family.

(24)

Floor area: For the purposes of computing the minimum allowable floor area in a residential dwelling unit, the sum of the horizontal areas of each story of the building shall be measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls. The floor area measurement is exclusive of areas of basements, unfinished attics, attached garages, breezeways, and enclosed and unenclosed porches.

(25)

Floor area, usable: For the purposes of computing parking requirements, shall mean the gross floor area used or intended to be used for services to the public as customers, patrons, clients, or patients or as tenants, including areas occupied for fixtures and equipment used for display or sale of merchandise.

(26)

Gasoline service station: Is a place for the dispensing, sale, or offering for sale of motor fuels directly to the users of motor vehicles, the sale of minor accessories, the repair of motor vehicles when performed within a completely enclosed building. The outside storage of any vehicles, motorized or not, other than those vehicles being used for transportation by the employees and management and those vehicles waiting immediate service or repair may be permitted provided such use is approved under section 10.319(3), and such other activities whose external, physical effects could extend beyond the property line. Prohibited activities include, but [are] not limited to, the following: Vehicle body repair, undercoating, painting, tire recapping, engine rebuilding, auto dismantling, upholstery work and auto glass work.

(27)

Garage, private: An accessory building not over one story or 15 feet in height used for parking or storage of motor vehicles, but not for commercial servicing or repair.

(28)

Grade: Is deemed to mean a ground elevation established for the purpose of regulating the number of stories and the height of the building. The building grade shall be the level of the ground adjacent to the walls of the building if the finished grade is level. If the ground is not entirely level, the grade shall be determined by determining the average elevation of the ground for each face of the building.

(29)

Greenbelt: A strip of land of definite width and location reserved for the planting of shrubs and/or trees to serve as an obscuring screen or buffer strip in carrying out the requirements of this Ordinance.

(30)

Junkyards: Is an open area where waste, used or secondhand materials are bought and sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled including, but not limited to, scrap iron and other metals, paper, rags, rubber tires and bottles. A "junkyard" includes automobile wrecking yards and includes any area used for storage, keeping or abandonment of junk, but does not include uses established entirely within enclosed buildings.

(31)

Kennel, commercial: Any lot or premises on which four or more dogs are confined or kept either for sale, breeding, boarding, training or sporting purposes or otherwise.

(32)

Loading space: An off-street space on the same lot with a building, or group of buildings for temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading and unloading merchandise or materials.

(33)

Lot: Is a parcel of land occupied, or to be occupied, by a main building or a group of such buildings and accessory buildings, or utilized for the principal use and uses accessory thereto, together with such open spaces as are required under the provisions of this Ordinance. A lot may or may not be specifically designated as such on public records.

(34)

Lot of record: Is a parcel of land, the dimensions of which are shown on a document or map on file with the County Register of Deeds or in common use by City or County Officials, and which actually exists as so shown or any part of such parcel held in record ownership separate from that of the remainder thereof.

(35)

Lot area: The total horizontal area within the lot lines of the lot.

(36)

Lot, corner: A lot where the interior angle of two adjacent sides as the intersection of the two streets in less than 135 degrees. A lot abutting upon a curved street or streets shall be considered a corner lot for the purposes of this Ordinance if the arc is of less radius than 150 feet and the tangents to the curve, at the two points where the lot lines meet the curve or the straight street line extended, form an interior angle of less than 135 degrees.

(37)

Lot, interior: Any lot other than a corner lot.

(38)

Lot lines: The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

(a)

Front lot line: In the case of an interior lot, the line separating said lot from the street. In the case of a corner lot, or double frontage lot, that line separating said lot from that street which is designated as the front street in the plat or in an application for a building permit or zoning approval.

(b)

Rear lot line: The lot line opposite the front lot line. In the case of a lot pointed at the rear, the rear lot line shall be an imaginary line parallel to the front lot line, not less than ten feet long lying farthest from the front lot line and wholly within the lot

(c)

Side lot line: Any lot lines other than the front lot line or rear lot line.

(1)

Exterior lot line or side street lot line: A side lot line separating a lot from a street.

(2)

Interior lot line: A side lot line separating a lot from another lot or lots.

(39)

Lot coverage: The part or percent of the lot occupied by buildings, including accessory buildings.

(40)

Lot depth: The horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines, measured along the median between side lot lines.

(41)

Lot, double frontage: Is any interior lot having frontages on two more or less parallel streets as distinguished from a corner lot. In the case of a row of double frontage lots, all sides of said lots adjacent to streets shall be considered frontage, and front yards shall be provided as required.

(42)

Lot width: The horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at the two points where the building line, or setback intersects the side lot lines.

(43)

Master plan: Is the comprehensive plan including graphic and written proposals indicating the general location for streets, parks, schools, public buildings and all physical development of the City of Madison Heights, and includes any unit or part of such plan, and any amendment to such plan or parts thereof. Such plan may or may not be adopted by the plan commission and/or the city council.

(44)

Major thoroughfare: Is an arterial street which is intended to serve as a large volume trafficway for both the immediate city area and the region beyond, and may be designated as a major thoroughfare, parkway, freeway, expressway, or equivalent term to identify those streets comprising the basic structure of the street plan. For purposes of this Ordinance, major thoroughfares shall be considered to be section line roads and roads of 120 feet right-of-way or more.

(45)

Mezzanine: Is an intermediate floor in any story occupying an area not to exceed one-third of the floor area of such story.

(46)

Motel: A series of attached, semidetached or detached rental units containing bedroom, bathroom and closet space. Units shall provide overnight lodging and are offered to the public for compensation and shall cater primarily to the public traveling by motor vehicles.

(47)

Nonconforming building: A building or portion thereof, existing at the effective date of this Ordinance, or amendments thereto, that does not conform to the provisions of this Ordinance nor to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

(48)

Nonconforming use: A use which lawfully occupied a building or land at the time this Ordinance or amendments thereto, became effective, that does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

(49)

Nursing or convalescent home: Is a structure with sleeping rooms where persons are housed or lodged and furnished with meals and nursing care for hire.

(50)

Off-street parking lot: A facility providing vehicular parking spaces along with adequate drives and aisles, for maneuvering so as to provide access for entrance and exit for the parking of more than two automobiles.

(51)

Open front store: A business establishment, other than a drive-in or gasoline service station, so developed that service to the patron may be extended beyond the walls of the building, not requiring the patron to enter said building.

(52)

Parking space: Is hereby determined to be an area of definite length and width and shall be exclusive of drives, driveways, aisles or entrances giving access thereto and shall be fully accessible for the storage or parking of permitted vehicles.

(52a)

Principal structure: A structure or building wherein a use for which the district is designated is conducted and/or which is used for occupancy.

(53)

Public utility: Is any person, firm or corporation, municipal department, board or commission duly authorized to furnish and furnishing under Federal, State or municipal regulations to the public; gas, steam, electricity, sewage disposal, communication, telegraph, transportation, or water.

(54)

Setback: The distance required to obtain front, side or rear yard open space provisions of this Ordinance.

(55)

Sign: Any structure or wall or part thereof, or device attached thereto or painted or represented thereon, or any material or thing, illuminated or otherwise, which displays or includes any numeral, letter, word, model, banner, emblem, insignia, device, service mark, trade mark or other representation used as, or in the nature of, an announcement, advertisement, direction or designation, of any person, firm, organization, place, commodity, service, business, profession, or industry, or any backlit building area, which is located upon any land or in or on any building, in such a manner as to attract attention from outside the premises. The term "sign" shall also include any bulbs, string of lights, other lighting devices, streamers, pennants, hot and cold air balloon(s) or inflatable structures, propeller(s), flags (other than the official flag of any nation, state or city), other structure(s) conveying a message, any similar device(s) of any type or kind whether bearing lettering or not in any combination of the above. Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed so as to prohibit ideological or noncommercial advertising on any sign on which commercial advertising is permitted.

(56)

Story: Is the part of a building (except a mezzanine as defined herein) included between the surface of one floor and the surface of the next floor, or if there is no floor above, then the ceiling next above. A story thus defined shall not be counted as a story when more than 50 percent by cubic content is below the height level of the adjoining ground.

(57)

Story, half: Is an uppermost story lying under a sloping roof, the usable floor area of which, at a height of four feet above the floor does not exceed two-thirds of the floor area in the story directly below, and the height above at least 200 square feet of floor space is seven feet six inches.

(58)

Street: Is a public or private road including, but not limited to, public and private roads that are dedicated or platted, or private access easements; all measurements with reference to which shall commence at the right-of-way line.

(59)

Structure: Anything constructed or erected and designed for a permanent location on the ground, except screening and retaining walls and pavement.

(60)

Temporary building or use: Is a structure or use permitted by the city council to exist during periods of construction of the main building or use, or for special events.

(61)

Trailer coach (mobile home): Any vehicle designed, used, or so constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets or highways and duly licensable as such, and constructed in such a manner as will permit occupancy thereof as a dwelling or sleeping place for one or more persons.

(62)

Trailer court: Any plot of ground upon which two or more trailer coaches, occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes, are located.

(63)

Use: Is the purpose for which land or a building is designed, arranged or intended, or for which land or a building is or may be occupied.

(64)

Use, accessory: Is a use subordinate to the main use of a lot and used for purposes clearly incidental to those of the main use.

(65)

Use, main: Is the principal use to which the premises are devoted and the principal purpose for which the premises exist.

(66)

Wall, (fence): A completely obscuring structure of definite height and location to serve as an obscuring screen in carrying out the requirements of this Ordinance.

(67)

Yards: Is an open space of prescribed width or depth, adjacent to a lot or property line, on the same land with an existing or proposed building, group of buildings, or structure, which open space lies in the area between the building, group of buildings, or structure and the nearest lot line, and which is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this Ordinance, or defined below:

(a)

Front yard: Is an open space extending the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line or street and the nearest point of the closest structure. Where the lot does not abut a public or private street and is served by a private easement, the front lot line shall be the lot line abutting the easement.

(b)

Rear yard: Is an open space extending the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and nearest line of the main building.

(c)

Side yard: Is an open space between a main building and the side lot line, extending from the front yard to the rear yard, the width of which is the horizontal distance from the nearest point of the side lot line to the nearest point of the main building.

(68)

Zoning exceptions and variances:

(a)

Exception: Also known as Special Exception, Special Use or Special Approval. A use permitted when the facts and conditions specified in this Ordinance as those upon which the exception is permitted are found to exist by the appropriate administrative officer or legislative body.

Exceptions in this Ordinance appear as Special Approvals. These land uses could not be conveniently allocated solely to one zoning district, the effects of such uses could not or cannot be definitely foreseen and/or the use itself could not have been foreseen. Any use not listed in a specific zoning district requires Special Approval.

The appropriate administrative or legislative body may require that specific conditions be complied with upon the grant of a special approval. Standards for determining if a special approval should be granted are set out in section 10.805 of this Ordinance.

(b)

Variance: A modification of the literal provisions of the Zoning Ordinance granted where strict enforcement would cause undue hardship and/or practical difficulty owing to circumstances unique to the individual property for which the variance is granted.

A variance is not justified unless it can be shown that compliance with the Ordinance would create an undue hardship and/or practical difficulty due to unique circumstances applying to the property.

(Ord. No. 463, § 1, 1-13-72; Ord. No. 807, § 1, 6-8-87; Ord. No. 827, § 1, 7-11-88; Ord. No. 904, § 1, 6-14-93; Ord. No. 969, § 1, 4-27-98; Ord. No. 973, § 1, 7-27-98; Ord. No. 1014, § 1, 2-11-02; Ord. No. 1076, § 1, 10-12-10; Ord. No. 1091, § 1, 1-28-13, eff. 2-7-13)