§ 15. Definitions.

The following shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this ordinance, to-wit:

(1)

Words used in the present include the future; words in the singular number include the plural number; the words in the plural number include the singular number; the word "building" includes the word "structure," the word "lot" includes the word "plot," the word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary.

(2)

Accessory building: A subordinate use or building customarily incident to and located on the lot occupied by the main use or building.

(3)

Alley: A way which extends only secondary means of access to abutting property.

(3.5)

Animal unit equivalents: An animal unit (AU) is generally one mature cow of approximately 1,000 pounds and a calf as old as 6 months of age, or their equivalent.

Kinds/Classes of Animals	Unit	Kinds/Class of Animal	Unit
Cow, dry	1.00	Goat, mature male	1.50
Cow, with calf	1.00	Goat, mature female	.15
Bull, mature	1.25	Kid, 1 year of age	.10
Cattle, 1 year of age	.60	Deer, white tail, mature	.15
Cattle, 2 year of age	.80	Deer, mule, mature	.20
Horse, mature	1.25	Antelope, mature	.20
Sheep, mature	.20	Bison, mature	1.00
Single pig/hog/swine	1.50	Sheep, bighorn, mature	.20
Lamb, 1 year of age	.15	Ostrich/emu	1.00
Other exotic species		[as determined by City Commission]

 

(4)

Apartment: A room or suite of rooms in an apartment house or tenement arranged, designed or occupied as the residence of a single family, individual or group of individuals.

(5)

Apartment house: A building or portion thereof arranged, designed or occupied by three (3) or more families living independently of each other.

(6)

Beer parlor: A place where beer and light wines or either of them are sold for consumption on the premises, and the majority of the gross business done is from the sale of beer and light wines or either of them.

(7)

Boardinghouse: A building other than a hotel where lodging and meals for five (5) or more persons are served for compensation.

(8)

Courts, tourist: A building or group of buildings designed, arranged or used for temporary occupancy, having accommodations for housing or parking automobiles in close proximity to the quarters occupied by the owner of such automobile and providing for three (3) or more of such quarters.

(9)

Courts, trailer: An area designed and used for the temporary occupation by automobile trailer or tent quarters and providing for one (1) or more of such quarters.

(10)

Customary home occupations: Occupations ordinarily carried on in a home that are not detrimental or injurious to adjoining property. These may include serving meals or renting rooms to not more than five (5) persons not members of the household, dressmaking, millinery, washing and ironing. Customary home occupations shall not include barbershops, beauty shops, carpenter's shops, electrician's shops, plumber's shops, radio shops, tinner's shops, transfer or moving van offices, auto repairing, auto painting, furniture repairing or sign painting.

(11)

Depth of rear yard: The mean horizontal distance between the rear line of a building other than an accessory building and the center line of the alley where an alley exists, otherwise the rear lot line.

(12)

Depth of lot: The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

(13)

District: A section of the City for which the regulations governing the area, height and use of buildings are uniform.

(14)

Dwelling, multiple: A building used or designed as a residence for three (3) or more families or households living independently of each other.

(15)

Dwelling, group houses: Detached or semidetached dwellings built on one (1) lot, usually in opposing rows separated by a walkway or court.

(16)

Dwelling, one-family: A detached building having accommodations for and occupied by only one family.

(17)

Dwelling, two-family: A detached building for [with] separate accommodations for and occupied as, or to be occupied as, a dwelling for only two families.

(18)

Family: A family is any number of individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse or lodginghouse or both, or hotel, as herein defined.

(18.5)

Farm or ranch: A singular tract or parcel of land having an area of five (5) acres or more which is used for the growing of usual farm products, fruits, trees, grain, feed and the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals such as horses, cattle and sheep and including the necessary accessory uses for raising, treating and storing products raised on the premises but not including animal or animal by-products producing, processing or sale facilities, such as, but not limited to, dairies, feed lots, animal auctions, stock yards, sale barns or similar activities.

(19)

Front yard: An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building, between the building and the street extending across the front of the lot.

(20)

Gross floor areas. The gross floor area of an apartment house shall be measured by taking outside dimensions of the apartment building at each floor, excluding, however, the floor area of basements or attics when not occupied as living quarters.

(21)

Garage, private: A garage with capacity for not more than five (5) motor-driven vehicles for storage only and for private use.

(22)

Garage, public: Any premises not a private garage, as defined above, used for housing of more than three (3) motor-driven vehicles or where any such vehicles are repaired for operation or kept for remuneration, hire or sale.

(23)

Garage, storage: Any premises, except those defined as a private or public garage, used exclusively for the storage of automobiles.

(24)

Height: The height of a building or portion of a building shall be measured from the average established grade at the street lot line or from the average natural ground level, if higher, or if no street grade has been established to the highest point of the roof's surface if a flat surface; to the deck line of mansard roofs; and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for hip or gable roofs. In measuring the height of a building the following structures shall be excluded: Chimneys, cooling towers, radio towers, ornamental cupolas, domes or spires, elevator bulkheads, penthouses, tanks, water towers and parapet walls not exceeding four (4) feet in height.

(25)

Hotel: A building occupied as a more or less temporary abiding place of individuals who are lodged with or without meals, in which as a rule the rooms are occupied for hire, in which provisions are not made for cooking in any individual apartment, and in which there are more than twelve (12) sleeping rooms, a public dining room for the accommodation of more than twelve (12) guests and a general kitchen.

(26)

Institution: A building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit establishment for public use.

(26.5)

Livestock: shall include any horse, mule, donkey, pig, hog, swine, goat, sheep, cow, ostrich or emu or other similar animal commonly classified as livestock.

(27)

Lodginghouse: A building other than a hotel where lodging for five (5) or more persons is provided for compensation.

(28)

Lot: Land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, and including such open spaces as are required under this ordinance, having its principal frontage upon a public street or officially approved place.

(a)

Interior—is a lot other than a corner lot.

(b)

Through—a lot having frontage on two (2) parallel or approximately parallel streets.

(c)

Fractional—a portion of a lot that has been cut off of a corner lot, having the side line of an adjacent lot as its rear line and the rear line of the remainder of the corner lot as a side line.

(d)

Front line—the line of an interior lot which is adjacent to the street. On corner lots it is the prolongation of the front lot line of adjacent interior lots as originally platted.

(29)

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

(30)

Lot, corner: A lot situated at the junction of two (2) or more streets and having a width not greater than one hundred (100) feet.

(30.1)

HUD-code manufactured home: A structure constructed on or after June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight (8) body feet or more in width, forty (40) body feet or more in length, or when erected on-site is three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical systems. The term does not include a recreational vehicle.

(30.2)

Mobile home as defined by the Texas Manufactured Housing Standard Act: A structure that was constructed before June 15, 1976, according to the rules of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, transportable in one (1) or more sections, which in the traveling mode is eight (8) body feet or more in width forty (40) body feet or more in length, or when erected on-site is three hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems.

(31)

Nonconforming uses: A building or premises occupied by a use that does not conform to the regulations of the use in the district in which it is situated.

(32)

Open space: Area included in any side, rear or front yard or any unoccupied space on a lot that is open and unobstructed to the sky except for the ordinary projection of cornices, eaves or porches.

(33)

Persons: The word "person" when used in this ordinance shall, for the purpose of this ordinance, mean every person, firm, copartnership, association, partnership, corporation or society; and the term "person" shall include both singular and plural, and the masculine shall embrace the feminine gender.

(34)

Place: An open, unoccupied space reserved for purpose of access to abutting property.

(34.5)

Ranchette: A singular tract or parcel of land having an area of at least one-half (½) acre but less than five (5) acres, which principal use is for suburban residential dwelling with limited agricultural accessory uses, whereas such accessory uses are inherent to the enjoyment of the premises and not involving the conduct of business.

(35)

Rear yard: A space unoccupied except by buildings of accessory use as hereinafter permitted extending for the full width of the lot between buildings other than a building of accessory use and the rear lot line.

(36)

Side yard: An open unoccupied space on the same lot with a building situated between the building and the side line of the lot, and extending through from the street or from the front yard or to the rear line of the lot. Any lot line not a rear line or a front line shall be deemed a side line.

(37)

Stable, private: A stable with a capacity for not more than four (4) horses, mules or other domestic animals.

(38)

Stables, public: A stable with a capacity for more than four (4) horses, mules or other domestic animals.

(39)

Street: Any public thoroughfare dedicated to the public and not designated as an alley.

(40)

Story: That portion of a building between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above.

(41)

Story, half: A story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two (2) exterior walls are not more than two (2) feet above the floor of such story.

(42)

Structural alterations: Any change in the supporting members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

(43)

Width of side yard: The mean horizontal distance between a side wall of a building and side line of the lot.

(44)

Reserved frontage: A portion of a corner lot fronting the street which was originally platted as a side street.

(45)

Rental storage units: A building or group of buildings containing separate fully enclosed storage spaces, which may be of various sizes, which customers can rent to store possessions, commonly referred to as self storage of personal property.

(46)

Storage warehouses: A building used for bulk commercial storage of merchandise intended for future sale at another premises.

(Ord. No. 86-55, 11-11-86; Ord. No. 97-02, § H, 3-18-97; Ord. No. 2009-04, 7-28-09; Ord. No. 2011-11, § 2, 11-8-11)