§ 74-1. Zoning and land use regulations, definitions.

For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases used herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them below:

Accessory building and use means subordinate building or a portion of the main building, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building or Land not used for a place of habitation or a living room, kitchen, dining room, parlor, bedroom, or library. An accessory use is one which is incidental to the main use of the premises.

Advertising signs means pertaining only to the lease, sale, or use of a lot or building on which placed and not exceeding a total area of 12 square feet; provided that on a lot occupied by a dwelling the total area of all signs shall not be more than two square feet for each dwelling unit. All other signs are prohibited in residential areas.

Agriculture means a farm of ten acres or more for the production of crops and livestock including greenhouse and nurseries for the raising of plants and sale of farm products raised on the premises but shall not be construed to mean the commercial processing of farm products such as slaughterhouses, canning plants, feed mills, etc.

Board means the board of adjustment established in Part X.

Building means any structure built for use of persons or animals.

Commission means the Planning and Zoning Commission of Leesville.

Council means the Mayor and Commissioners of Leesville.

District means a part of the city wherein regulations of this article are uniform.

Dwelling means a building used entirely for residential purposes and shall not be construed to include trailers.

(1)

Single-family dwelling is a building that contains only one living unit.

(2)

Two-family dwelling is a building that contains only two living units.

(3)

Multiple dwelling is a building that contains more than three living units.

"Dwellings" may include accessory uses.

Family means one or more persons occupying a living unit as an individual housekeeping organization as distinguished from a group occupying a boarding house, lodging house, or hotel.

General terms means the word "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as individual. The present tense includes the future. The singular includes the plural and the plural, the singular. The word "shall" is mandatory, the word "may" is permissive. The words "used" or "occupied" include the words "intend", "designee" or "arrange" to be used or occupied.

Home occupations means customarily home occupations such as dress-making or tailoring, office of a physician, or other professional persons incidental to a permitted use; provided such occupations are conducted in the main building and by persons resident in said buildings and provided further that persons conducting such operations may employ no one outside the family.

Living unit means the rooms occupied by a family. The "living unit" must include a kitchen.

Lot means a plot or parcel of land adequate for occupancy by a use herein permitted, providing the yards, area, and off-street parking herein required and fronting directly upon a street.

Lot, corner means a lot which abuts on two or more streets and/or roads at their intersections, or upon a curved street, provided that the two sides of the lot or the curve at the street line at its starting points at or within the side lines of the lot intersect to form an interior angle of not more than 135 degrees.

Lot depth means the distance between front and rear lot lines. If two opposite sides of said lot are not parallel, the depth shall be deemed to be the mean distance between the front and rear lot lines.

Lot, interior means a lot which is not a corner lot.

Lot line, front means the front lot line of an interior lot is the line separating the lot from the street or easement of principal access. The front lot line of a corner lot shall be the lot line with the least frontage.

Lot line, rear means the rear lot line is the boundary opposite and more or less parallel to the front lot line. The rear lot line of an irregular or triangle lot shall be for the purpose of this ordinance a line not less than ten feet long, lying wholly within the lot and parallel to and at the farthest distance from the front lot line.

Lot line, side means a side lot line is any lot boundary line not a front line or a rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street line is an exterior side lot line. Any other side lot line is an interior side lot line.

Lot, through means in general, this is bad planning but some do exist; therefore, a through lot is defined as one whose depth extends between two more or less parallel streets and has frontage on each street.

Lot width means the width of the lot measured at right angles to the mean depth or at the building line.

Non-conforming structure means a building or part thereof lawfully existing on the effective date of the adoption of any prior provisions of chapter 74 of this Code, or on the effective date of Ordinance No. 3/98, and which does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.

Non-conforming use means a use which lawfully occupies a building or land on the effective date of the adoption of any prior provisions of chapter 74 of this Code, or on the effective date of Ordinance No. 3/98, and which does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is located.

Office buildings means a building designed for or used as the offices of professional, commercial, industrial, religious, public or semi-public persons or organizations.

Parking space means one automobile parking space shall be an area not less than nine feet by 20 feet and the access to the parking space for a public street or alley shall be provided in addition to the space necessary for parking, a total space of 400 square feet in area per car, when parking is one side of a an access driveway and 300 square feet in area per car when parking is along both sides of an access driveway.

Permanent installation means that each manufactured home, mobile home, house trailer, modular home and portable building shall be permanently sited (non-mobile), i.e., secured in place with a mobile home stand which shall provide an adequate foundation for the placement of anchors and tie downs such as cast-in-place concrete dead men, eyelets imbedded in concrete foundation or runways, screw augers, arrowhead anchors, or other devices, thereby securing the stability of the mobile structure from uplift, sliding, rotation, or overturning. Such anchors shall be placed at minimum, on each corner of the mobile structure on a solid concrete foundation. Each manufactured home, mobile home, house trailer, modular home and portable building shall be properly skirted and the axle and tongue, if applicable, shall be removed, as part of the permanent installation.

Planned district shows in detail the manner in which the land will be used by designating the type and location of buildings, roadways, off-street parking, service areas, setback requirements, landscaping and character of a development in conformance with requirements of all other city ordinances, minimum area, and specific districts of this article.

Planning commission shall act as a zoning commission at such time as this article shall go into effect.

Recreational use means an area offering recreation facilities to the public for boating, boat launching, fishing, swimming, picnicking, camping, outdoor games, horseback riding, parks, playgrounds, and may include community centers.

Region means governmental area covered by this article.

Set-back means the minimum distance away from a property line where buildings may be constructed, a building line; usually a line parallel to the front property line.

Street line or right-of-way line means the dividing line between a lot, its property line or lines, and a public right-of-way, a public street, road, or highway, or a private street, road, or highway over which two or more abutting owners have an easement or right-of-way.

Structure means anything built that requires a permanent location, however, but shall not be construed to include trailers.

Trailer, mobile home means a vehicle equipped for use as a dwelling and designed to be hauled along a highway.

Yard means a required open space unoccupied and unobstructed by any structure or portion of a structure from six inches above the general ground level of the graded lot upward, provided, however, that fences and walls may be permitted in any yard subject to height limitations as indicated herein.

Yard, front means a yard extending between side lot lines across the front of a lot. In case of through lots, unless the prevailing front yard pattern on adjoining lots indicates otherwise, front yards shall be provided on all frontages.

Yard, front depth means the depth of required front yards shall be measured at right angles to a straight line joining the foremost points of the side lot lines. The foremost points of the side lot lines, in the case of rounded property corners at street intersections, shall be assumed to be the point at which the side and front lot lines would have met without such rounding. Front and rear front yard lines shall be parallel.

Yard, side means a yard extending from the rear line of the required front yard to the rear lot line. In the case of through lots, side yards shall extend from the rear line of the front yards required. In the case of corner lots with normal frontage, there will be only one side yard adjacent to the interior lot. In the case of corner lots with reversed frontage, the yards remaining after the full front yard has been established shall be considered to be the side yard.

Yard, side width means the width of required side yards shall be measured at right angles to a straight line joining the ends of front and rear lot lines on the same side of the lot. This inner side yard line of the required side yard shall be parallel to the straight line so established.

Yard, rear depth means the depth of required rear yards shall be measured at right angles to a straight line joining the real most points of the side lot lines. The forward rear yard line of a required rear yard shall be parallel to the straight line so established.

(Zoning Ordinance, §§ 9.1—9.38; Ord. No. 3/98, § III, 4-13-98)