§ 3-9-2. Rules of construction; definitions.

In this chapter, the present tense includes the future, the singular number includes the plural and the masculine includes the feminine and the neuter; the following words and phrases shall have the meanings indicated. Except as defined herein, all other words used in this chapter shall have their customary dictionary definitions.

Abandoned vehicle: Any vehicle which is unlicensed or, by outward appearance, not operable.

Abut: To physically touch or border upon or to share a common property line.

Abutting property: Unless specifically stated otherwise within this chapter, "abutting property" shall mean properties having a boundary line, or point or portion thereof, in common with no intervening public right-of-way.

Access, vehicular: The principal means of vehicular ingress and egress to abutting property from a street right-of-way or easement.

Accessory building or structure: See "building or structure, accessory."

Accessory use: See "Use, accessory."

Acre: A measure of land containing forty-three thousand five hundred sixty (43,560) square feet.

Addition: A structure added to the original structure after the certificate of occupancy has been issued for the original structure.

Adjoining lot or land: See "Abutting property."

Adult arcade means a place to which the public is permitted or invited wherein coin-operated, slug-operated or token operated or electronically, electrically or mechanically controlled still or motion picture machines, projectors, or other image-producing devices are maintained to show images to five or fewer persons per machine at any one time, and where the images so displayed are distinguished or characterized by the depicting or describing of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, as defined herein.

Adult bookstore: An establishment maintained for the sale or distribution to adults of material, the sale of which to juveniles would be prohibited by Florida Statutes.

State Law reference— Distribution of harmful materials to juveniles, F.S. § 847.012.

Adult bookstore/adult video store/adult novelty store means an establishment that sells or offers adult material for sale or rent for commercial gain, unless the establishment demonstrates that:

(1)

Admission to the establishment is not restricted pursuant to chapter 847, Florida Statutes; and

(2)

The individual items of adult material offered for sale and/or rental comprise less than twenty-five (25) percent of the individual items publicly displayed in the establishment as stock in trade and are not accessible to minors at the establishment.

Adult booth means a separate enclosure inside an adult use establishment, accessible to any person, regardless of whether a fee is charged for access. The term adult booth includes, but is not limited to a peep booth show, adult arcade booth, or other booth used to view adult material. The term adult booth does not include a foyer through which any person can enter or exit the establishment, or a restroom.

Adult congregate living facility shall mean any Florida department of health and rehabilitative services licensed building or buildings, section of a building, or distinct portion of a building, residence, private home, boarding home, home for the aged, or other place, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide, for a period exceeding twenty-four (24) hours, housing, food service, and one (1) or more personal services for adult resident clients, not related to the owner or administrator by blood or marriage, who require such services.

Adult dancing establishment means an establishment where employees display or expose specified anatomical areas to others, regardless of whether the employees actually engage in dancing.

Adult exhibition: An establishment maintained for the exhibition for monetary consideration of motion pictures, exhibitions, shows, presentations or representations, the exhibiting of which to a minor would be prohibited by Florida Statutes. See also "Detrimental uses."

State Law reference— Exposing minors to harmful motion pictures, exhibitions, shows, presentations or representations, F.S. § 847.013.

Adult material means: Any one (1) or more of the following, regardless of whether it is new or used:

(1)

Books, magazines, periodicals, or other printed matter, paintings, drawings or other publications or graphic media, or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, or disks, slides, or other visual representations, or recordings, or other audio matter, which have as their primary or dominant theme matter depicting, illustrating, describing, or relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; or

(2)

Instruments, novelties, devices, or paraphernalia which are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities.

Adult photographic or modeling studio means any business establishment which offers or advertises as its primary business stock in trade, the use of its premises for the purpose of photographing or exhibiting specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas or the modeling of apparel that exhibits specified anatomical areas.

Adult theater means an enclosed building or an enclosed space within a building, or an open air area used for presenting either filmed or live plays, dances, or other performances, either by individuals or groups distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons therein. An establishment which has adult booths or an adult arcade is considered to be an adult theater.

Aircraft landing strip: A facility whose primary purpose is to accommodate the takeoff and landing of noncommercial passenger aircraft.

Airport: A place where aircraft can land and takeoff, usually equipped with hangers, facilities for refueling and repair, and various accommodations for passengers.

Alley: Any public or private right-of-way intended to be used as a secondary means of access or service to abutting properties and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Alteration: Any change in size, shape, occupancy, character or use of a building or structure. Alteration does not include customary maintenance or repairs.

Apartment: A single dwelling unit in a multiple-family dwelling; a separate housing unit including at least a bath, kitchen and living and sleeping accommodations.

Applicant: Any individual, firm, association, syndicate, copartnership, corporation, trust or any other legal entity, or their duly authorized representative, commencing proceedings under this chapter.

Appurtenance: Something added to another, more important thing; accessory.

Automobile wrecking or wrecking yard: The dismantling, crushing, shredding or disassembling of used motor vehicles or trailers, or the storage, sale, or dumping of dismantled, partially dismantled, obsolete, or wrecked vehicles or their parts (see also "Junkyard").

Automotive sales and service: Service stations, paint and body repair shops, automotive repair garages and the sale or storage of new and used automobiles.

Automotive service station: An establishment the principal business of which is the retail dispensing of automotive fuels and oil, but which provides mechanical services.

Automotive vehicle: Any self-propelled vehicle or conveyance designed to transport persons, animals, freight, merchandise or any substance, to include tractors, construction equipment, machinery or motorcycles, but not mopeds or motorized bicycles.

[Banner, flag or pennant: Any cloth, plastic, paper, or similar material used for advertising purposes attached to, or appended on or from any structure, staff, pole, line, framing or vehicle.]

Bar, cocktail lounge, tavern, or nightclub: Any establishment devoted primarily to the sale and on-premises drinking of malt, vinous or other alcoholic beverages.

Bay window: A window projecting outward from the wall of a building forming a recess in a room, however, not a window supported on a foundation extending beyond the main wall of a building.

Board: The Board of County Commissioners of Charlotte County, Florida.

Board of zoning appeals: The board having the functions, powers and duties as set forth in section 3-9-6 herein.

Boardinghouse: See "Rooming and boarding house."

Boat or watercraft: Any structure designed or made to float on the water, including a floating structure, excluding floating docks, permanently anchored to a dock or to the shore.

Buffer strip: Land area used to visibly separate one use from another and/or to shield or block noise, lights or other nuisances. Buffer strips may be required to include fences or berms, as well as shrubs and trees.

Buildable area: That area within and bounded by required yards and setbacks.

Building: Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having a roof impervious to weather and used or built for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind. This definition shall include tents, awnings, cabanas or vehicles situated on private property and serving in any way the function of a building.

Building or structure, accessory: A building or structure which is customarily incidental and subordinate to a principal building or to the principal use of the premises and located on the same premises (see "Building, principal").

Building, conventional:

(1)

A building, built up on-site and upon its own permanent foundation, constructed of basic materials such as wood, masonry or metal or minimally prefabricated components such as roof trusses, wall panels, and bathroom/kitchen modules and conformable to the locally adopted building, electrical, plumbing and other related codes; or

(2)

A "manufactured building" is a closed structure, building assembly, or system or subassemblies, which may include structural, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating or other service systems manufactured in manufacturing facilities for installation or erection, with or without other specified components, as a finished building or as part of a finished building, which shall include but not be limited to residential, commercial, institutional, storage and industrial structures. "Manufactured building" may also mean, at the option of the manufacturer, any building of open construction made or assembled in manufacturing facilities away from the building site for installation, or assembly and installation, on the building site, and which has also been certified to comply with the state department of veteran and community affairs. The "term manufactured building" does not include mobile homes. The term "manufactured building" shall be synonymous with "modular homes."

Building, height of: The vertical distance measured from the lowest minimum habitable floor elevation for which a building permit may be issued to the highest point of a flat roof and mansard roof, or to the mid-point height between the eaves or the top of the external wall, whichever is higher, and the ridge of gable, hip, shed, and gambrel roofs.

Building, principal: A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is situated. In a residential district, any dwelling shall be deemed to be the principal building on the lot on which it is located. An attached carport, garage, shed or other building shall comprise a part of the principal building and shall be subject to all regulations applicable to the principal building. A detached and structurally independent garage, carport or other structure shall conform to the requirements of an accessory building.

Building official: The person duly authorized by the board of county commissioners and delegated the responsibilities for the administration and enforcement of the county's building codes.

Building site: The lot upon which a building has been or is proposed to be erected.

Bulk storage: The storage of chemicals, petroleum products and other materials in above-ground containers for subsequent resale to distributors or retail dealers or outlets. (Note: Bulk storage is essentially a warehousing operation as the key part of the definition is that the products are sold for eventual resale and not directly to the consuming public.)

Bulkhead line: The mean high-water line on waterfront property defined by an existing seawall or survey.

Business services: Any commercial activity primarily conducted in a office, not involving the sale of goods or commodities available in the office, and not dispensing personal services, but including such businesses as real estate brokers or agents, insurance agencies, stock brokers, automobile brokers, counselors, consultants, accountants, collection agencies, title and abstract companies, income tax services, travel agencies, advertising agencies, studios of art, music, dancing or photography, laboratories, business or stenographic schools and any similar office-type use.

Campground: Any area where two (2) or more sites for tents, tent campers, truck-car campers or travel trailers are offered for sleeping or eating accommodations, most generally to the transient public, where there is direct remuneration in money or money's worth to the owner or indirect benefit to the owner in connection with a related business.

Campground, primitive: A campsite which is unimproved (no water or electricity) and primarily used for tents and no motorized recreation vehicles. A primitive campground may consist of an office, general storage (convenience food store) and central bathhouse with utilities.

Camping trailer: See "Recreational vehicle."

Car wash: Establishment primarily engaged in washing cars or in furnishing facilities for the self-service washing of cars.

Carport: A freestanding or attached structure, consisting of a roof and supporting members such as columns or beams, unenclosed from the ground to the roof on at least one (1) side, and designed or used for the storage of motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.

Cemetery: Land set apart for the sole purpose of the burial of bodies of dead persons or animals and for the erection of customary markers, monuments and mausoleums.

Centerline: A line bisecting and lying everywhere equidistant between the boundaries of an object. For a road, the boundaries shall be construed as the right-of-way lines; for a body of water, the boundaries shall be the shoreline or bulkhead line thereof.

Child care facility: Any child care center or child care arrangement which provides child care for more than five (5) children unrelated to the operator and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit, except that the following are not included: public schools and non-public schools and their integral programs; summer camps having children in full-time residence; summer day camps; and Bible schools normally conducted during vacation periods. The provisions of this definition shall not apply to a child care facility which is an integral part of church or parochial schools conducting regularly scheduled classes, courses of study or educational programs accredited by, or by a member of, an organization which publishes and requires compliance with its standards for health, safety and sanitation; however, such facilities shall meet minimum requirements of the applicable local governing body as to health, sanitation and safety.

Church: See "House of worship."

Club, private: Associations and organizations of a civic, fraternal or social character to which public access or use is restricted. The term "private club" shall not include nightclubs, cocktail lounges, taverns or bottle clubs.

Cluster housing: A grouping of dwelling units, with no dwelling unit located above another dwelling unit, on a building site under unified control at the time of development, without regard to required lot size or interior setbacks.

Coastal construction control line: The line established pursuant to state law seaward of which construction may not be undertaken without a permit from the state department of natural resources.

Commercial fishery: Land or structures used as a commercial establishment for the receiving, processing, packaging, storage and wholesale or retail distribution and sale of food products of the sea. Such land or structures may include facilities for the docking, loading and unloading, fueling, icing, and provisions of vessels, and for the drying, maintenance and storage of nets, traps and buoys.

Compatible: Capable of orderly, efficient integration and operation with other land uses and zoning districts.

Completely enclosed building: A building separated on all sides from adjacent open space, or from other buildings or other structures, by a permanent roof and by exterior walls or party walls, pierced only by windows and normal entrance or exit doors.

Comprehensive plan: The document, and its amendments, adopted by the board pursuant to F.S. Chapter 163, for the orderly and balanced economic, social, physical, environmental and fiscal development of the county.

Condominium: The form of real property ownership defined by Florida law as such.

State Law reference— Condominium Act, F.S. § 718.101 et seq.

Contiguous: See "abutting."

Convenience food and beverage store: A store which specializes in convenience products and other commodities and which normally is open to the public beyond the normal sales hours of other retail stores.

Country club: See "Club, country."

Day care center, adult: A facility or establishment which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide basic services such as but not limited to a protective setting, social or leisure-time activities, self-care training and/or nutritional services to three (3) or more adults not related by blood or marriage to the owner or operator, who require such services. This definition shall not be interpreted to include overnight care.

Day care center, child: Any child care center or child care arrangement which provides child care for more than five (5) children unrelated to the operator and which receives a payment, fee or grant for any of the children receiving care, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit, except that the following are not included: public schools and nonprofit schools and their integral programs; summer camps having children in full-time residence; summer day camps; and Bible schools normally conducted during vacation periods. The provisions of this definition shall not apply to a child care facility which is an integral part of church or parochial schools conducting regularly scheduled classes, courses of study or educational programs accredited by, or by a member of, an organization which publishes and requires compliance with its standards for health, safety and sanitation; however, such facilities shall meet minimum requirements of the applicable local governing body as to health, sanitation and safety.

Density, residential: The number of residential dwelling units permitted per acre of land within the parcel. The term "density" refers to the number of residential dwelling units permitted per gross acre of land and is determined by dividing the number of units by the total area of land within the boundaries of a lot or parcel. In the determination of the number of residential dwelling units to be permitted on a specific parcel of land, a fractional unit shall not entitle the applicant to an additional unit.

Detoxification center: A medical facility open twenty-four (24) hours a day meeting comparable standards to a hospital or nursing home. Such facility shall be for the temporary emergency shelter of intoxicated persons, or those persons suffering from alcoholism, drug abuse or other similar conditions for the purpose of detoxification.

Development review committee: The DRC is composed of members designated by the county administrator. The individuals shall represent the following departments: zoning, planning, engineering, fire prevention, utilities and any other department designated by the county administrator.

Development standards: The minimum requirements set forth in each zoning classification regulating the location, height, bulk, use and other aspects of development within such zoning classifications.

Development of regional impact (DRI): Any development which, because of its character, magnitude or location, would have a substantial effect upon the health, safety or welfare of citizens of more than one (1) county as defined in F.S. Chapter 380.

Dock or pier: A structure extending over water for use as a landing place for watercraft or as a walkway or other water-dependent uses.

Dog kennel: Any location where the boarding, breeding, or training of dogs is conducted as a business.

Drive-thru facility: An establishment where a patron is provided products or services without departing from his automotive vehicle. "Drive-thru," "drive-in" and "drive-up" are synonymous.

Dwelling unit: A room or rooms connected together, which could constitute a separate, independent housekeeping establishment for a family, for owner occupancy, or for lease on a weekly, monthly or longer basis, and physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units which may be in the same structure, and containing sleeping and sanitary facilities and one (1) kitchen. The term "dwelling unit" shall not include rooms in hotels, motels or institutional facilities. See also "Housing unit" and "Living unit."

Dwelling unit, types:

(1)

Duplex: A single, freestanding, conventional building or a single lot, designed for two (2) dwelling units under single ownership, or wherein each dwelling unit is separately owned or leased but the lot is held under common ownership.

(2)

Single-family residence: A single, freestanding, conventional building designed for one (1) dwelling unit and which could be used for occupancy by one (1) family.

(3)

Townhouse: A single-family living unit in a group of similar units situated on its own lot or parcel of land, having no side yards or setbacks from adjacent townhouses in the same group and no openings in side walls.

(4)

Mobile homes: Also includes the term "manufactured home." A structure transportable in one (1) or more sections, which is eight (8) body feet or more in width and which is built upon an interval chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required utilities and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. For the purpose of determining length, the length of a mobile home is the distance from the exterior wall nearest to the drawbar and the coupling mechanism to the exterior of the wall at the opposite end of the home where such walls enclose living or other space.

(5)

Multiple-family building: A group of three (3) or more dwelling units within a single conventional building, attached side by side, or one above another, or both, and wherein each dwelling unit may be individually owned or leased but the land on which the building is located is under common or single ownership.

Easement: A grant of a right to use land for specified purposes. It is nonpossessory interest in land granted for limited use purposes.

Eaves: The extension or overhang of a roof, measured from the outer face of the supporting wall or column to the farthest point of the overhanging structure.

Emergency services: Police, fire, rescue or ambulance but not funeral home services.

Employee means a person who works or performs or provides services in connection with a sexually oriented business, irrespective of whether such person is paid a salary or wage by the owner or manager of the premises, or is an independent contractor, provided such person has a substantial or consistent relationship with the business of, or entertainment services provided by, the sexually oriented business. The term employee includes performers, managers and assistant managers, stockpersons, tellers, and operators. The term employee includes a person who pays a form of consideration to the owner or manager of the sexually oriented business for the privilege of working, performing, or exposing his or her specified anatomical areas within the establishment.

Essential services: Utility service installations other than distribution and collection systems. Water wells and septic tanks are not deemed essential services.

Existing grade: The vertical location of the ground surface prior to excavating or filling.

Fabrication and assembly: The manufacturing from standardized parts of a distinct object differing from the individual components. (Note: The term "fabrication and assembly" often is used to describe a general class of permitted uses. It usually involves materials with form and substance (as opposed to liquid or gas) with a physical, as opposed to chemical, mating or joining of individual parts.)

Family: One (1) person or a group of persons interrelated by blood, marriage or legal adoption, occupying a single housekeeping unit and using common cooking facilities. The persons thus constituting a family may also include, but not exceed, a combined total of four (4) guests and domestic servants.

Family day care home: An occupied residence in which child care is regularly provided for no more than five (5) preschool children from more than one (1) unrelated family and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not operated for profit. For purposes of determining whether the operation of a residence as a family day care home constitutes a valid residential use under the provisions of this chapter, the maximum number of five (5) preschool children allowable includes preschool children living in the home and preschool children received for day care who are not related to the residence caregiver. In addition to the maximum of five (5) preschool children, elementary school siblings of the preschool children received for day care may also be cared for outside of school hours, provided the total number of children, including the caregiver's own and those related to the caregiver, does not exceed ten (10).

Filling station: See "Automotive service station."

Fish farm (aquaculture): An area devoted to the cultivation of fish and other seafood for commercial sale.

Flea market: See "Market, open."

Floor area: Floor area shall be the sum of the gross horizontal area of all floors of a building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls. As an alternative, the applicant may measure from the interior face of the exterior walls to arrive at a calculation of floor area. Should this option be used, the applicant shall be required to submit an affidavit, certified by a registered architect or engineer, as to its accuracy.

Garage, parking: A building or portion thereof designed or used for commercial parking of motor vehicles or boats.

Garage, private: A building for the private use of the owner or occupant of a principal building, situated on the same lot as the principal building, or on a contiguous lot under the same ownership, for the storage of motor vehicles or boats, with no facilities for mechanical services or repair of a commercial or public nature. For the purpose of these zoning regulations, a carport shall be considered as a garage.

Garage, repair: A building designed and used for the storage, care, repair or refinishing of motor vehicles, including both minor and major mechanical overhauling, paint and body work.

Garage or yard sale: An informal sale of used household or personal articles (such as furniture, tools or clothing) held on the seller's own premises, or conducted by several people on one of the seller's own premises.

Greenbelt: An open area which may be cultivated or maintained in a natural state surrounding development or used as a buffer between land uses or to mark the edge of an urban or developed area.

Group home facility: A building except for an "adult congregate living facility" used as a dwelling for a group of unrelated persons living together as a unit under the supervision of a local or state agency. Such facility includes the term "foster care home."

Guest home: A dwelling unit in a building separate from and in addition to the principal residential building on a lot, intended for intermittent or temporary occupancy without compensation.

Heliport: An area, either at ground level or elevated on a structure, licensed or approved for the loading and takeoff of helicopters, and including auxiliary facilities such as parking, waiting room, fueling and maintenance equipment.

Helistop: A heliport, but without auxiliary facilities such as parking, waiting room, fueling and maintenance equipment.

Home occupation: An occupation customarily carried on by an occupant of a dwelling unit as an accessory use which is clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes and operated in accordance with the application provisions of section 3-9-79.

Hospice: A facility designed to provide comfort and relief for the emotional and physical needs of the terminally ill.

Hospital: A building or group of buildings having facilities for overnight care of one (1) or more human patients, providing services to inpatients and medical care to the sick and injured, which may include as related facilities laboratories, outpatient services, training facilities, central service facilities and staff facilities; provided, however, that any related facility shall be incidental and subordinate to the principal hospital use and operation.

Hospital, animal: Any structure or premises used primarily and essentially for the medical care of ill, injured or disabled animals.

Hotel, motel, inn: A commercial establishment that offers transient accommodations to the public, and such use shall not be located within any residential districts nor within any residential portion of a mixed-use development.

Houseboat: A boat containing facilities, permanent or temporary, for cooking, bathing, sleeping or the disposal or storage of waste water or refuse.

House of worship: Any building used for nonprofit purposes by any duly constituted and legally established sect, primarily intended to be used as a place of worship, together with customary accessory uses.

Impervious surface: A surface which has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is highly resistant to infiltration by water. The term includes streets, roofs, sidewalks, parking lots and similar structures.

Incineration: The controlled process by which solid, liquid or gaseous combustible wastes are burned and changed into gases and residue containing little or no combustible material.

Incinerator: An engineered apparatus used to burn waste substances and in which the combustion factors, temperature, retention time, turbulence, and combustion air may be controlled.

Industrial park: A large tract of land that has been planned, developed and operated as an integrated facility for a number of individual industrial uses, with special attention to circulation, parking, utility needs, aesthetics and compatibility.

Industry: Any activity involving the manufacturing of any commodity, including the assembly, packaging, canning, bottling or processing of any item. To change any commodity in composition, form, size, shape, texture or appearance is deemed to be an industrial process.

Intensity: A measurement of the degree of customarily nonresidential uses based on use, size, impact, bulk, shape, height, coverage, sewage generation, water demand, traffic generation, or floor area ratios.

Junk: Old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, papers, trash, rubber, debris, including construction and land-clearing debris, waste, and including wrecked, inoperative or partially dismantled motor vehicles, trailers, boats, machinery, refrigerators, washing machines, plumbing fixtures, furniture, iron, steel and other scrap materials.

Junkyard: A location, establishment or place of business which is maintained, operated or used for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk; the term shall include all dumps and landfills except those operated under the terms of a currently valid permit issued by the state department of environmental regulation.

Laboratory: A facility equipped for experimentation, research or testing. The following three (3) classes of laboratories are provided for in the zoning regulations:

(1)

Class 1: Laboratories for the testing of materials, such as soil laboratories, product testing laboratories, and stress testing laboratories. These laboratories may emit dust and noise.

(2)

Class 2: Analytical laboratories for the testing of soils, water and other substances for contaminants and/or natural characteristics. These laboratories typically test for and handle substances which are deleterious to human health. They are often small-quantity hazard waste generators.

(3)

Class 3: Medical laboratories, forensic testing laboratories and other laboratories not typically handling hazardous materials of such a quantity to be a small-quantity generator under EPA rules. These laboratories are typically clean, but may handle radioactive materials, human and/or animal tissue and other substances which, when properly handled, pose negligible threat to human health.

Land use: The development that has occurred on the land, the development that is proposed by a developer on the land, or the use that is permitted or permissible on the land under the comprehensive plan or element or portion thereof, or land development regulations, as the context may indicate.

Landscaping: Grass, ground cover, shrubs, vines, hedges, trees, berms and complementary structural landscape features such as rock, fountains, sculpture, decorative walls or structures and tree wells.

Live aboard: The use of the cooking, bathing, wastewater or refuse disposal or storage facilities of any watercraft which has not been underway in open water within the preceding twenty-four (24) hours.

Living area: That area of a dwelling unit enclosed and protected from the elements, including interior halls, closets, utility and storage areas, but excluding garages and carports, and utility or storage areas contained therein, screened porches, unenclosed areas, cellars, basements and attics. The living area of a mobile home shall be determined by the area of the basic unit only, and shall not include additions such as cabanas, carports, storage areas or screened enclosures. Living area is determined by exterior dimensions.

Loading space, off-street: A space logically and conveniently located for pickups and/or deliveries or for loading and/or unloading, scaled to delivery vehicles expected to be used and accessible to such vehicles when required off-street parking spaces are filled.

Local planning agency: The planning and zoning board performing the functions set forth in F.S. section 163.3174, as well as functions set forth in section 3-9-5.

Lot includes "plot," "parcel" or "tract" and is a piece, parcel, tract or plot of ground contained within the property lines of a specific area as described by metes and bounds or by lot, block and subdivision identification as recorded in the public records of Charlotte County, Florida, including land within easements, but excluding land within any street, road or other right-of-way.

Lot area: The horizontal land area computed in square feet or acres. Small boat slips or other minor indentation shall be considered upland of the shoreline or the bulkhead line when computing waterfront property areas.

Lot, corner: Any lot situated at the intersection of two (2) streets and abutting such streets on two (2) adjacent sides.

Lot coverage: The total area in square feet of all buildings and structures located on a lot. Maximum percentage of lot coverage permitted shall not include covered parking areas without side or rear walls, nor projections of eaves, stairways or fire escapes, but shall include any garage, carport, porch or storage area attached to the principal building. Swimming pools and patios, covered or uncovered with screened enclosures, shall not be included in computing coverage.

Lot depth: The distance measured in a mean direction of the side lines of the lot from the midpoint of the front line to the midpoint of the opposite rear line of the lot.

Lot frontage: The property line of a lot abutting a street or streets.

Lot, interior: Any lot bounded on both sides by lots or greenbelts.

Lot line:

Front lot line: That property line which is common with the road right-of-way. In lots having frontages on two (2) or more streets, the front lot line shall be considered to be that lot line facing the street with the least frontage.

Rear lot line: That property line or, on waterfront property, that bulkhead line or shoreline most nearly opposite the front lot line and generally running parallel thereto.

Side lot line: Any property line or, on waterfront property, that bulkhead line or shoreline other than the front or rear line. On lots abutting two (2) or more streets in residential zones property lines other than street frontage shall be considered as interior side lines in applying setback requirements.

Lot of record: A lot whose existence, location and dimensions have been legally registered or recorded in a deed or on a plat.

Lot width: The mean horizontal distance between the side lot lines, measured at right angles to the depth at the midpoint of the depth.

Manufactured building: See "Building, conventional."

Manufacturing: Establishments engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products, including the assembling of component parts, the manufacturing of products, and the blending of materials such as lubricating oils, plastics, resins or liquors. (Note: The term "manufacturing" covers all mechanical or chemical transformations, whether the new product is finished or semifinished as raw material in some other process. Manufacturing production usually is carried on for the wholesale market rather than for direct sales. Processing on farms is not classified as manufacturing if the raw material is grown on the farm. The manufacturing is accessory to the major use of farming.)

Marina, industrial: A marine-oriented establishment engaged in the construction, manufacture, sale, maintenance, repair, docking and storage of commercial boats, barges, watercraft and accessories, to include engines, motors, winches, mechanical equipment, supplies, the sale of fuel, lubricants and provisions; and the receiving, processing, storage and distribution of seafood products; and living aboard as provided in this chapter.

Marina, resort: A sheltered water or harbor area with docking facilities for sports and pleasure boats and, upon such approval as may be required, docking facilities for living aboard. Accessory uses may also include the sale of fuel and lubricants, provisions, bait and tackle; service buildings with laundry facilities, showers, toilets, lavatories and recreational facilities may be included.

Marina, sports: A commercial establishment engaged in the sale, maintenance, repair, docking and storage, wet or dry, of boats and watercraft used for pleasure or sports purposes, and accessories, including motors, trailers, equipment and supplies. The sale of fuel and lubricants, provisions, bait and tackle shall be permitted, and upon such approval as may be required, docking facilities for living aboard.

Market, outdoor: A market held in an open or roofed area (not within a building) where groups of individual sellers offer goods for sale to the public.

Marquee and canopy: Any shelter, cover or protection extending beyond the outer face of the building wall, of either rigid or nonrigid construction, designed and intended to be used for the shelter or protection of entrances and doorways.

Massage parlor: A shop, establishment or place of business wherein is administered treatments with mechanical or electrical apparatus for the purpose of body slenderizing, body reducing or body contouring, or all or any one (1) or more of the following subjects and methods of treatment, viz: Oil rubs, salt glows, hot or cold packs, all kinds of baths including steam rooms, cabinet baths, sitz baths, irrigations, body massage, either by hand or by any mechanical or electrical apparatus or device excluding fever therapy, the application of such movements as stroking, friction, rolling, vibration, kneading, cupping, pettrasage, rubbing, effleurage, or tapotement; provided, however, that this definition shall not apply to the bona fide practice of the profession or business of persons authorized by the laws of the state to practice medicine, surgery, osteopathy, chiropractic, neuropathy or chiropody, or persons holding a drugless practitioner's certificate under the laws of the state, nor to registered nurses or barbers or beauticians duly licensed under the laws of the state, nor to licensed practical nurses, orderlies or attendants, nor to nurse's aides in hospitals acting under the direction of a licensed physician, nor to masseurs practicing in a bona fide gymnasium facility nor to masseurs acting as trainers for a bona fide athletic team.

Mean high-water line: Including the term "apparent mean high-water mark," shall be deemed to be the existing bulkhead line on waterfront property having such line, or the line established by a certified survey provided to the zoning official by a registered Florida land surveyor; provided that, in the event such certified survey is shown to be widely at variance with the actual high-water line on the subject property, the zoning official may require the property owner seeking the benefit of determination of mean high-water line to provide an additional certified survey as described above.

Mini-warehouse: A structure containing separate storage of varying sizes, available to the general public at a fee for the dead storage of furniture and other household goods, or commercial or private goods.

Mobile home: See "Dwelling unit, types."

Mobile home park: A lot or parcel of land under single ownership or management upon which is operated a business engaged in providing for the parking of mobile homes to be used for living and storage purposes, and including the customary accessory uses such as owner's and manager's living quarters, restrooms, laundry facilities, utility areas and facilities for parks and recreation.

Mobile home site: A lot or parcel of ground within a mobile home park, designated for the accommodation of not more than one (1) mobile home.

Mobile home subdivision: A subdivision in which mobile homes are parked for nontransient living or sleeping purposes and in which lots are set aside or offered for sale as mobile home sites in accordance with the county subdivision regulations, including any land, building, structure or facility used by occupants of mobile homes on such premises.

Model residential unit: A residential structure used for demonstration and sales purposes, not occupied as a dwelling unit, and open to the public for inspection.

Motor home: Includes the terms "motor coach" and "sport coach" and is any vehicular unit built on a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis, and is primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational camping or travel use.

Motor home: Includes the terms "motor coach" and "sport coach" and is any vehicular unit built on a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis, and is primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational camping or travel use. See "Recreational vehicle."

Multifamily: See "Dwelling unit, types-multiple family building."

Nightclub: A restaurant, dining room, bar or other similar establishment providing food or refreshments wherein floor shows or other forms of entertainment are provided for customers as a part of the commercial enterprise.

Noncommercial boat docks: A boat dock or pier for which no compensation is made to utilize the dock or pier; for use only by the property owner and their guests.

Nonconforming lot: A lot conforming when created, which, because it was created prior to the adoption of zoning regulations in the county, on September 25, 1962, or which, because of a change in regulations subsequent to its creation, does not meet the minimum development standards or other requirements of these regulations for use as a building site for the zoning district in which such lot is located.

Nonconforming structure: Any structure lawfully in existence on the effective date of the ordinance from which this section derives or which, because of a change in regulations subsequent to its creation, does not conform to the regulations for the district in which it is located.

Nonconforming use of land: The use of any land other than a use specifically permitted in the district in which the lot or parcel is located, and which use was lawfully in existence prior to the effective date of the ordinance from which this section derives or any amendment thereto or to this chapter.

Nonconforming use of structure: The use of any structure other than a use specifically permitted in the district in which the structure is located, and which use was lawfully in existence prior to the effective date of the ordinance from which this section derives or any amendment thereto or to this chapter.

Nursery, plant: The use of land and buildings for the purpose of growing for sale or selling various ornamental plants, grasses, shrubs, flowers, and horticultural specialties, and including the sale of landscaping accessories such as statuary, fertilizer, tools and similar commodities as accessory to the propagation and growth of plants.

Nursing home: Any institutional-type operation designed to provide full-or part-time supervision and assistance to those persons not able to care for themselves, to include convalescent homes, homes for the aged, rest homes and similar facilities, but excluding homes for the mentally ill, hospitals, clinics and institutions devoted primarily to the diagnosis and treatment of the sick and injured.

Occupancy, change of: The discontinuance of use by a prior occupant, with or without a change in ownership, and the inception of the same or a different use by a new occupant. A change in the form of business organization of an occupant shall not be deemed a change of occupancy.

Office park: A development on a tract of land that contains a number of separate office buildings, supporting uses and open space designed, planned, constructed and managed on an integrated and coordinated basis.

Open space: That land area unencumbered by an impervious surface which may include waterways and vegetation areas.

Outparcel: A parcel divided from an original (parent) development tract, defined by metes and bounds or by a subdivision plat depicting it as an undivided tract, and intended for conveyance or conveyed to a party (developer), subsequent to the original developer or withheld by the developer for development separately from the majority of the original development tract.

Package plant: Small, self-contained sewage treatment facilities built to serve developed areas beyond the service area of sanitary sewers.

Package store: A place where alcoholic beverages are sold in containers for consumption off the premises. Package stores shall not include a place where only beer or wine or both are sold for consumption off the premises.

Pain management clinic: Any publicly or privately owned clinic, facility, or office, whatever its title, including, but not limited to, a "wellness center," "urgent care facility," or "detox center," which engages in pain management. This definition includes the following:

(1)

A pain management clinic must have at least one (1) of the following characteristics:

a.

It employs one (1) or more persons who, in a single day, issue more than twenty (20) prescriptions of a controlled substance for the treatment of pain, whether acute pain or chronic pain;

b.

It holds itself out through advertising as being in business to prescribe or dispense a controlled substance for the treatment of pain, whether acute pain or chronic pain;

c.

It holds itself out through advertising as being in business to provide services for the treatment of pain, wherein the services are accompanied with prescription of or dispensing of a controlled substance for the treatment of pain, whether acute pain or chronic pain; or

d.

It meets the definition of pain management clinic in F.S. section 458.3265, as may be amended from time to time.

(2)

A pain management clinic does not include any privately owned clinic, medical facility or office which has at least one (1) of the following characteristics:

a.

The majority of the physicians who provide services in the clinic, facility, or office primarily provide surgical services (excluding interventional pain management procedures that are invoiced or coded as surgical procedures);

b.

It is licensed as a facility pursuant to F.S. ch. 395 (hospitals, etc.);

c.

It is owned by a public held corporation whose shares are traded on a national exchange or on the over-the-counter market and whose total assets at the end of the corporation's most recent fiscal quarter exceed fifty million dollars ($50,000,000.00);

d.

It is affiliated with an accredited medical school at which training is provided for medical students, residents, or fellows;

e.

It does not prescribe or dispense controlled substances for the treatment of pain, whether acute pain or chronic pain; or

f.

It is owned by a corporate entity exempt from federal taxation under 26 U.S.C. section 501(c)(3).

Parapet: The extrusion of the main walls or a building above the roof level. Parapet walls often are used to shield mechanical equipment and vents.

Parcel: A lot or tract of land.

Park: A tract of land used by the public for active and passive recreation.

Park trailer: See "Recreational vehicle."

Parking lot: An improved area of land used for the temporary parking of motor vehicles.

Parking space, off-street: A permanently designated space off the public right-of-way for the off-street parking or storage of vehicles.

Patio houses: Single-family dwellings on individual lots providing for a side yard or patio of greater than normal width on one side of the dwelling and no yard or a greatly reduced yard on the other, also known as zero lot line housing.

Pavement: Asphalt, concrete, paver block, turf block or brick placed on the surface of the land.

Personal services: A use in which a service is performed to or on a person, such as beauty parlors, shops or salons, barbershops, reducing or slenderizing studios, steam or turkish baths, poodle parlors or animal grooming shops.

Pervious surface: A surface which is not resistant to the infiltration of water.

Pharmacy: This term is defined by F.S. ch. 465. A pharmacy is considered a retail sales and service use.

Planned development: A zoning district wherein all uses and development standards are subject to an approval pursuant to the requirements of this chapter based on a unified plan of development.

Planning official: The director of the county planning department.

Plat: A map representing a tract of land, showing the boundaries and location of individual properties and streets. A map of a subdivision or site plan.

Premises: Any lot, parcel, plot or tract of land, together with any buildings or structures thereon.

Private park: A park facility operated by a nonprofit organization (such as a homeowners or condominium association) which is open only to bona fide members and guests of said organization. Commercially operated parks are not within this definition.

Professional services: The conduct of business in any of the following or related categories: Law, architecture, planning, engineering, medicine, dentistry, osteopathy, chiropractic medicine, opticians or consulting in these or related fields; veterinarians with no outdoor kennels or runs; and similar professional activities.

Public dance hall: An establishment maintained solely for promiscuous and public dancing, the rules for admission to which are not based upon personal selection or invitation. This definition shall not include the establishments operating under alcoholic beverage commission license or establishments operated by bona fide nonprofit, educational, charitable or religious organizations.

Public gaming room: An establishment maintained for the purpose of providing the public, for a fee or other remuneration, with a place to engage in or play games of cards, keno, roulette, faro or other games of chance. This definition shall not include establishments maintained by bona fide nonprofit, charitable, educational or religious organizations.

Public hearing: A meeting announced and advertised in advance and open to the public, with the public given an opportunity to talk and participate.

Public park: Any park, playground, beach, parkway, or other recreation areas and open space, in which the county, state or federal government has an interest.

Public use: The use of any land, water or building by a public body or for a public service or purpose.

Recreation and entertainment: Any activity or use designed for the active or passive relaxation, enjoyment or leisure of participants or spectators.

Recreation center: Buildings or facilities owned or operated by a condominium or homeowners association, for a social or recreation purpose, but not for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business.

Recreational facilities: A place designed and equipped for the conduct of sports, leisure-time activities and other customary and usual recreational activities.

Recreational vehicle: A vehicular type unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use, which either has its own motive power or is mounted on or drawn by another vehicle; also includes the terms "travel trailer," "camping trailer," "truck camper," "motor home" and "park trailer" also know as "park model." As defined below, the basic entities are:

(1)

The "travel trailer," including fifth-wheel travel trailers, which is a vehicular portable unit, mounted on wheels, of such a size or weight as not to require special highway movement permits when drawn by a motorized vehicle. It is primarily designed and constructed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use. It has a body width of no more than eight and one-half (8½) feet and an overall body length of no more than forty (40) feet when factory-equipped for the road.

(2)

The "camping trailer," which is a vehicular portable unit mounted on wheels and constructed with collapsible partial sidewalls which fold for towing by another vehicle and unfold at the campsite to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use.

(3)

The "truck-camper," which is a truck equipped with a portable unit designed to be loaded unto, or affixed to, the bed or chassis of the truck and constructed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use.

(4)

The "motor home" includes the terms "motor coach" and "sport coach" and is any vehicular unit built on a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis, and is primarily designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational camping or travel use.

(5)

The "park trailer," which is a transportable unit which has a body width not exceeding twelve (12) feet and which is built on a single chassis and is designed to provide seasonal and temporary living quarters when connected to utilities necessary for operation of installed fixtures and appliances. The total area of the unit in a setup mode, when measured from the exterior surface of the exterior walls at the level of maximum dimensions and including any bay window that extends to the floor line, does not exceed four hundred (400) square feet. The length of a park trailer means the distance from the exterior of the front of the body (nearest to the drawbar and coupling mechanism) to the exterior of the rear of the body (at the opposite end of the body), including any protrusions. For purposes of this chapter, the terms "park trailer," "park model" and "park model trailers" are synonymous.

Recreational vehicle park: A lot or parcel of land under single or common ownership or management upon which is operated a business engaged in providing for the parking of recreational vehicles to be used for temporary living quarters including the customary accessory uses such as the owner's and/or manager's living quarters, restrooms, laundry facilities, utility areas and facilities for parks and recreation.

Recycling: The recovery of useful materials from the waste stream and reintroduction of such materials into the production stream via a three-stage process consisting of 1.) the collecting and reclaiming of materials; 2.) processing of the reclaimed materials; and 3.) the manufacturing of products using reclaimed and processed materials.

Repair of structure: The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance.

Residential hotel: See "Rooming and boarding house."

Restaurant: An establishment where meals or prepared foods, including nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages and confections, are served to customers.

Retail sales and services: Those business activities customarily providing retail conveniences or goods, such as department stores, variety stores, drug and sundry stores, bakeries, restaurants, groceries and markets, gift shops, wearing apparel shops, home and auto supply hardware stores, furniture and stationary stores, shoe repair shops, radio and television sales and service shops, floor covering shops, sporting goods shops, florists, jewelers, music and piano sales and service, art shops, pawnshops, electrical and lighting fixture shops, pet shops and similar uses. For the purpose of this chapter, cocktail lounges and nightclubs are not included in the definition of "retail sales and services."

Right-of-way line: The line which bounds a right-of-way at its outermost edge. "Right-of-way line" is typically synonymous with "property line."

Road: Any public or private thoroughfare set aside for travel, excluding alleys, as defined in this section. the word "road" shall also include the words "streets," "avenue," "lane," "boulevard," "thoroughfare" and "highway" for such purposes.

Rooming and boarding house: A residential building used or intended to be used as a place where sleeping and housekeeping accommodations are furnished or provided for pay to transient or permanent guests or tenants, which may maintain a public dining room in the same building, serving only residents and regular boarders by the week or month.

Sanitary landfill: A site for solid waste disposal.

Scale: The relationship between distances on a map and actual ground distance.

School: A public or private facility devoted to primary, secondary or advanced education.

Seawall: A wall or embankment that acts as a breakwater and is used to prevent erosion.

Servants' quarters: Dwelling units for domestic servants employed on the premises, either within the principal building or in an accessory building.

Setback: See "Yard, minimum."

Sexually oriented business means:

(1)

An adult arcade, adult bookstore/adult video store/adult novelty store, adult dancing establishment, adult photographic or modeling studio, adult theater, and establishments operated for commercial gain where an employee, operator, or owner exposes his or her specified anatomical areas for viewing by patrons, including massage establishments, whether or not licensed pursuant to chapter 480, Florida Statutes, tanning salons, and establishments whose primary business stock in trade is dependent upon the activities relating to specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(2)

Excluded from this definition are educational institutions where the exposure of specified anatomical areas is associated with a curriculum or program. For the purposes of this section, an educational institution means the site or premises upon which there is an institution of learning, whether public or private, which conducts regular classes, courses of study, or both, required for accreditation by or membership in the State Department of Education of Florida, Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, or the Florida Council of Independent Schools. The term educational institution includes libraries, art galleries and museums open to the public.

(3)

An establishment that possesses a sexually oriented business license is presumed to be a sexually oriented business.

Shopping center: A grouping of consumer-oriented commercial establishments, planned and developed as a single structure or under a unified architectural theme, owned and managed as a unit; and providing a range of goods and services specific to a definable market area; and providing customer and employee parking off-street and on-site.

Shoreline: A straight or smoothly curved line which, on tidal waters, follows the general configuration of the mean high-water line; and which, on nontidal waters, is determined by the annual average waterline. Boat slips and other manmade or minor indentations shall be construed as lying landward of the shoreline and are considered upland when computing the lot area of waterfront property.

SIC code: A two-, three-or four-digit numeric code that identifies commercial or industrial activities and classifies firms according to standards set down in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972 (Washington: GPO 1972).

Sign: Any outdoor advertising display using letters, words, figures, pictures, designs or combinations thereof or symbols to attract the attention of the public to any place, subject, person, firm, corporation or any merchandise or service whatsoever.

Site plan: The development plan for one (1) or more lots on which is shown the existing and proposed conditions of the lot, including: topography, vegetation, drainage, floodplains, waterways, open spaces, walkways, means of ingress and egress, utility services, landscaping, structures and signs, lighting, screening devices, and any other information that reasonable may be required in order that an informed decision can be made by the approving authority.

Slip: The waterway existing for the reception of one (1) boat for mooring.

Special exception, special approval and special use: A use that would not be permissible generally or without restriction throughout a zoning district, but which, if controlled as to number, area, location, relation to the neighborhood and to such other restrictions as may be deemed appropriate in each case, would not be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare.

Specified anatomical areas means:

(1)

Less than completely or opaquely covered:

a.

Human genitals or pubic region;

b.

Cleavage of the nates of the human buttocks;

c.

That portion of the human female breast directly or laterally below a point immediately above the top of the areola; this definition shall include the entire lower portion of the human female breast, but shall not include the cleavage of the human female breast exhibited by a dress, blouse, shirt, leotard, bathing suit, or other wearing apparel, provided the areola is not so exposed.

(2)

Human genitals in a discernible turgid state, even if completely and opaquely covered.

(3)

Any covering, tape, pastie, latex spray or paint or other device which simulates or otherwise gives the appearance of the display or exposure of any of the specified anatomical areas listed in subsections (1) and (2) of this definition.

Specified sexual activity means:

(1)

Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation, arousal or tumescence;

(2)

Sexual conduct as defined in chapter 847, Florida Statutes;

(3)

Sexual battery as defined in chapter 847, Florida Statutes.

Storage: The safekeeping of any goods, wares, products or other commodities for later use or disposal. This term shall not include animals, nor shall it apply to customary and usual activities accessory to agricultural or residential dwellings.

Storage, dead: The storage of goods, wares, products or other commodities, with no sales, conferences, or other human activity other than the placement, removal and/or sorting of stored items.

Story: That portion of a building included between the upper surface of a floor or average grade, finished, open or enclosed, and the upper surface of the floor or roof next above and having a minimum ceiling height of seven (7) feet or more.

Structure: Any construction or any production or piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner. "Structure" includes "building," as well as other things constructed or erected on the ground, attached to something having location on the ground or requiring construction or erection on the ground.]

Towers, communication: Any structure fifty (50) feet or greater in height, erected and so designed to receive or transmit electronic waves, such as telephone, television, radio or microwave transmissions.

Townhouse: See "Dwelling unit, types."

Transient: A person present in the county but having no fixed place of residence therein.

Travel trailer: See "Recreational vehicle."

Truck camper: See "Recreational vehicle."

Truck stop: An establishment where the principal use is the refueling and servicing of trucks and tractor-trailer rigs. Such establishments may have restaurants or snack bars and sleeping accommodations for the drivers of such over-the-road equipment and may provide facilities for the repair and maintenance of such equipment.

Undue hardship: An exceptional hardship which cannot reasonably be corrected or avoided by the applicant. Self-created problems are not undue hardship nor are common difficulties shared by all other property owners in an area.

Unified control: The unrestricted right of any owner or agent or enforce whatever conditions are set on the use and development of a parcel of land through the provisions of these regulations, by binding his heirs, assigns or other successors in title with covenants or restrictions on the development and subsequent use of the property.

Use: Any purpose for which a building or other structure or a tract of land may be designed, arranged, intended, maintained or occupied; or any activity, occupation, business or operation carried on, or intended to be carried on, in a building or other structure or on a tract of land.

Use, accessory. A use of a structure or premises which is customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of the structure or premises. (see "Use, principal").

Use, mixed: The development of land or building or structure with two (2) or more different but compatible uses, such as but not limited to residential, office, industrial and technological, retail, commercial, public, entertainment, or recreation, in a compact urban form.

Use permitted by right: A use or uses which, by their very nature, are allowed within the specific zoning district provided all applicable regulations of the county are met. "Permitted uses" includes the principal use of the land or structure as well as accessory uses unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Use, principal: The primary purpose for which land or a structure or building is used.

Use, temporary: A use or activity which is permitted only for a limited time, and subject to specific regulations and permitted procedures.

Used or occupied: Includes "intended," "designed" or "arranged to be used or occupied."

Variance: A relaxation of the terms of the zoning regulations with regard to dimensional requirements including but not limited to the height, area or size of structures or size of yards, buffers and open spaces.

Warehouse: A building used primarily for the storage of goods and materials, operated primarily for a specific commercial establishment or group of establishments in a particular industry or economic field, not generally accessible to the public.

Warehouse, mini: See "mini-warehouse."

Waterfront: Property which physically abuts any body of water, including creeks, canals, rivers, lakes or any other body of water, natural or artificial.

Wholesale trade: Establishments or places of business primarily engaged in selling merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional, or professional business users, or to other wholesalers; or acting as agents or brokers and buying merchandise for, or selling merchandise to, such individuals or companies. (Note: Lumber, plywood and millwork yards such as building materials establishments are generally classified as wholesale unless the primary operation is directly to the general public as opposed to builders. In such case, they are classified as retail operations).

Yard, front: The lot line of a lot abutting a public street shall be deemed the front lot line. The front yard of a corner lot shall be that yard abutting the street with the least frontage.

Yard, minimum: The minimum horizontal distance between the street, rear or side lot lines and the front, rear or side lines of the building; when two (2) or more lots under one (1) ownership are used for a single permitted principal use, the exterior property lines of the lots so grouped shall be used in determining setbacks. In determining setback requirements for all residential districts, roof overhangs, chimneys, awnings, air conditioner apparatus, balcony projections, open stairways, canopies, pilasters, decoration, etc., projection three (3) feet or less into required yards shall not constitute the building line. Buildings of two (2) stories or more, where permitted, may be "stepped" provided that the setback for each story of the building meets the minimum setback required for its height as specified in the lot and building requirements of the zoning district in which the building is located.

Yard, rear: That yard most nearly opposite the front yard as defined in this section, except that corner lots shall be considered to have only front and side yards.

Yard, side: Any yard other than a front yard or rear yard.

Zoning: The dividing of the county into districts and the establishment of regulations governing the use, placement, spacing and size of land and buildings.

Zoning district: An area assigned a specified classification of uses and structures pursuant to this chapter.

Zoning official: The person duly authorized by the board of county commissioners and delegated the responsibility for the administration and enforcement of the county's zoning regulations.

(Minutes of 12-8-81, § 13; Res. No. 85-286, § 1, 10-15-85; Res. No. 85-315, § 1, 11-19-85; Res. No. 87-78, § 3, 5-19-87; Res. No. 87-254, §§ 13, 14, 10-20-87; Ord. No. 88-40, § 1, 10-25-88; Ord. No. 89-51, § 1, 6-22-89; Ord. No. 91-55, § 1, 10-1-91; Ord. No. 92-05, § 1, 1-28-92; Ord. No. 92-37, § 1, 6-2-92; Ord. No. 94-53, §§ 1, 2, 11-3-94; Ord. No. 99-037, §§ 1, 2, 7-10-99; Ord. No. 2002-010, § 5, 3-26-02; Ord. No. 2003-061, § 1, 8-26-03; Ord. No. 2011-030, § 1, 7-26-11; Ord. No. 2011-030, § 1, 7-26-11; Ord. No. 2017-053, § 1(Exh. A), 11-28-17)