§ 21. General definitions.

1.

Certain words in this ordinance not heretofore defined are defined as follows:

a.

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

(1)

Accessory use —A use subordinate to and incidental to the primary use of the main building or to the primary use of the premises.

(2)

Alley —A public space or thoroughfare which affords only secondary means of access to property abutting thereon.

(3)

Apartment —A room or suite of rooms in a multifamily dwelling or apartment house arranged, designed or occupied as a place of residence by a single family, individual or group of individuals.

(4)

Apartment house —Any building or portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased or let to be occupied as three (3) or more dwelling units or apartments or which is occupied as a home or place of residence by three (3) or more families living in independent dwelling units.

(5)

Area of the lot or building site —The area shall be the net area of the lot or site and shall not include portions of streets and alleys.

(6)

Basement —A building story which is partly underground, but having at least one-half of its height above the average level of the adjoining ground. A basement shall not be counted as a story in computing building height.

(7)

Block —An area enclosed by streets and occupied by or intended for buildings; or if said word is used as a term of measurement, it shall mean the distance along a side of a street between the nearest two (2) streets which intersect said street on said side.

(8)

Board —Zoning board of adjustment as provided for in Section 17.

(9)

Building official —The building official or person charged with the enforcement of the zoning and building codes of the city of Fort Stockton.

(10)

Building —Any structure built for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind. When subdivided in a manner sufficient to prevent the spread of fire, each portion so subdivided may be deemed a separate building.

(11)

Building line —A line parallel or approximately parallel to the street line at a specified distance therefrom making the minimum distance from the street line that a building may be erected.

(12)

Building ends —Those sides of a building having the least dimension as compared to the front or rear of a building. As used herein for the building spacing regulations for multiple-family dwelling, a building end shall be interpreted as being the most narrow side of a building regardless of whether it fronts upon a street, faces the rear of the lot or is adjacent to the side lot line or another building.

(13)

City council —The governing body of the city of Fort Stockton, Texas.

(14)

Cellar —A building story with more than one-half its height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar shall not be counted as story in computing building height.

(15)

Certificate of occupancy and compliance —An official certificate issued by the city through the enforcing official which indicates conformance with or approved conditional waiver from the zoning regulations and authorizes legal use of the premises for which it is issued.

(16)

Clinic —A group of offices for one (1) or more physicians, surgeons, or dentists, to treat sick or injured outpatients who do not remain overnight.

(17)

Convalescent home —Any structure used for or customarily occupied by persons recovering from illness or suffering from infirmities of age.

(18)

Court —An open, unoccupied space, bounded on more than two (2) sides by the walls of a building. An inner court is a court entirely surrounded by the exterior walls of a building. An outer court is a court having one (1) side open to a street, alley, yard or other permanent space.

(19)

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

(20)

District —A section of the city of Fort Stockton for which the regulations governing the area, height or use of the land and buildings are uniform.

(21)

Dwelling, one-family —A detached building having accommodations for and occupied by not more than one (1) family, or by one (1) family and not more than four (4) boarders and lodgers.

(22)

Dwelling, two-family —A detached building having separate accommodations for and occupied by not more than two (2) families, or by two (2) families and not more than four (4) boarders and lodgers.

(23)

Dwelling, multiple-family —Any building or portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased or let to be occupied as three (3) or more dwelling units or apartments or which is occupied as a home or residence of three (3) or more families.

(24)

Dwelling unit —A building or portion of a building which is arranged, occupied, or intended to be occupied as living quarters and includes facilities for food preparation and sleeping.

(25)

Family —Any number of individuals living together as a single housekeeping unit, in which not more than four (4) individuals are unrelated by blood, marriage or adoption.

(26)

Floor area —The total square feet of floor space within the outside dimensions of a building including each floor level, but excluding cellars, carports or garages.

(27)

Height —The vertical distance of a building measured from the average established grade at the street line or from the average natural front yard ground level, whichever is higher, to (1) the highest point of the roof's surface if a flat surface, (2) to the deck line of mansard roofs or (3) to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for hip and gable roofs and, in any event, excluding chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, penthouses, tanks, water towers, radio towers, ornamental cupolas, domes or spires, and parapet walls not exceeding ten (10) feet. If the street grade has not been officially established, the average front yard grade shall be used for a base level.

(28)

Living unit —The room or rooms occupied by a family and must include cooking facilities.

(29)

Lodging house —A building where lodging for five (5) or more persons is provided for compensation.

(30)

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

(31)

Lot coverage —The percentage of the total area of a lot occupied by the base (first story or floor) of buildings located on the lot or the area determined as the maximum cross-sectional area of the building.

(32)

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

(33)

Lot of record —A lot which is a part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the county clerk of Pecos County, or a parcel of land, the deed for which it is recorded in the office of the county clerk of Pecos County prior to the adoption of this ordinance.

(34)

Lot depth —The mean distance between the front and rear lot lines.

(35)

Lot width —The width of a lot at the front building lines.

(36)

Main building —The building or buildings on a lot which are occupied by the primary use.

(37)

Manufactured housing or manufactured home —A structure under jurisdiction of Texas Department of Labor and Standards.

(38)

Nonconforming use —A building, structure or use of land lawfully occupied at the time of the effective date of this ordinance or amendments thereto, and which does not conform to the use regulations of the district in which it is situated. (See Section 16)

(39)

Occupancy —The use or intended use of the land or buildings by proprietors, or tenants.

(40)

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

(41)

Parking space —An enclosed or unenclosed concrete or asphalt surfaced area behind front building line of not less than one hundred eighty (180) square feet (measuring approximately 9 feet by 20 feet) not on a public street or alley, together with an all-weather surfaced driveway connecting the area with a street or alley permitting free ingress and egress without encroachment on the street or alley. Any parking adjacent to a public street wherein the maneuvering is done on the public street shall not be classified as off-street parking in computing the public area requirements for any use.

(42)

Planning and zoning commission —The agency appointed by the city council as an advisory body to it and which is authorized to recommend changes in the zoning.

(43)

Private garage —An accessory building housing vehicles owned and used by occupants of the main building; if occupied by vehicles of others, it is a storage space.

(44)

Residence —Same as dwelling; also when used with district, an area of residential regulations.

(45)

Rooming house —(See lodging house).

(46)

Sign —An outdoor advertising device that is a structure or that is attached to or painted on a building or that is leaned against a structure for display on premises.

(47)

Story —The height between the successive floors of a building or from the top floor to the roof. The standard height for a story is eleven (11) feet, six (6) inches.

(48)

Street —Any thoroughfare or public driveway, other than an alley, and more than thirty (30) feet in width, which has been dedicated or deeded to the public for public use.

(49)

Street line —A dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street, the right-of-way line.

(50)

Structural alterations —Any change in the supporting member of a building, such as a bearing wall, column, beams or girders.

(51)

Structure —(Same as building).

(52)

Thoroughfare —(Same as street).

(53)

Yard —An open space, other than a court, on the lot in which a building is situated and which is not obstructed from a point forty (40) inches above the general ground level of the graded lot to the sky, except as provided for roof overhang and similar special architectural features and plant material.

(54)

Yard, front —An open, unoccupied space on a lot facing a street extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and from the main building to the front lot or street line with the minimum horizontal distance between the street line and the main building line as specified for the district in which it is located.

(55)

Yard, rear —An open, unoccupied space, except for accessory buildings as herein permitted, extending across the rear of a lot from one (1) side lot line to the other side lot line and having a depth between the building and the rear lot line as specified in the district in which the lot is situated.

(56)

Yard, side —An open, unoccupied space or spaces on one (1) side or two (2) sides of a main building and on the same lot with the building, situated between the building and a side line of the lot and extending through from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line, not the rear line or a front line, shall be deemed a side line.

(57)

Variance —An adjustment in the application of the specific regulations of the zoning ordinance to be particular parcel of property which, because of special conditions or circumstances peculiar to the particular parcel, is necessary to prevent the property from being deprived of rights and privileges enjoyed by other parcels in the same vicinity and zoning district.

(58)

Zoning district map —The official certified map upon which the boundaries of the various zoning districts are drawn and which is an integral part of the zoning ordinance.