Story
That portion of a building, other than a basement, included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there is no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling next above it.
Chapter 1 Rules and Definitions
Rules
For the purpose of this Zoning Regulation, the following rules shall apply.
Words and numbers used singularly shall include the plural and the plural shall include the singular. Words used in the present tense shall include the future.
The word “persons” includes a corporation, members of a partnership or other business organization, a committee, board, trustee, received, agent, or other representative.
The words “shall” and “must” are mandatory. “May” is discretionary.
The word “use”, “used”, “occupy” or “occupied” as applied to any land or building shall be construed to include the words “intended”, “arranged” or “designed” to be used or occupied.
Definitions
For the purpose of this Zoning Regulation, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted or defined as follows, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Words or terms not herein defined shall have their ordinary meaning in relation to the context.
Abandoned
Intent of abandonment shall be assumed once an owner has ceased to use a property for a period of twelve months. Indications of cessation include (but are not limited to) failure to provide utilities, lack of occupancy, failure to invest any resources into the property, lack of routine maintenance performance, defaulting on required financial payments, and failure to pay appropriate taxes. This is distinguished from short term interruptions such as periods of remodel, maintenance, or normally accepted periods of vacation or seasonal closure.
Abutting
Having lot lines or boundaries in common. This shall include properties separated by an alley.
Accessory Dwelling Unit
A second dwelling unit located on the same lot as a primary dwelling unit (PDU) which: allows additional housing types that respond to the needs of changing households and are typically more affordable; allows additional housing units while respecting the style and scale of the surrounding areas; and utilizes existing infrastructure while adding population.
Types of Accessory Dwelling Units:Accessory Use or Building
A subordinate building or use which customarily is incidental to that of the main building or use of the premises. Customary accessory uses include, but are not limited to, tennis courts, swimming pools, garages, air conditioners, garden houses, children’s play houses, barbecue ovens, fire places, patios and residential storage sheds.
Adult Establishment
Shall mean any business which offers its patrons services or entertainment characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, exposing, describing, discussing or relating to “specified sexual activities” or “specified anatomical areas,” including, but without limitation, adult bookstores, adult motion picture theaters, saunas, adult companionship establishments, adult health clubs, adult cabarets, adult novelty businesses, adult motion picture arcades, adult modeling studios, adult hotel or motel, and adult body painting studios.
Alley
A dedicated public right-of-way, other than a street, which provides only a secondary means of access to abutting property, the right-of-way of which is 20 feet or less in width.
Alteration
Alteration, as applied to a building or structure, is a change or rearrangement in the structural parts of an existing building or structure. Enlargement, whether by extending a side, increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position to another, shall be considered as an alteration.
Animal Hospital or Clinic
An establishment where animals are admitted principally for examination, treatment, board or care, by a doctor of Veterinary Medicine. (This does not include open kennels or runs.)
Board
The Board of Adjustment (Appeals Board) which has been created by the Governing Body having jurisdiction and which has the statutory authority to hear and determine appeals, exceptions, and variances to the zoning regulations.
Boarding or Lodging House
A building other than a hotel where, for compensation and by prearrangement for definite periods, meals, or lodging and meals, are provided for 3 or more persons, but not exceeding 20 persons. Individual cooking facilities are not provided.
Building
Any structure designed or intended for the enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals or property.
Building, Height
The vertical dimension measured from the average elevation of the finished lot grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the ceiling of the top story in the case of a flat roof; to the deck line of a mansard roof; and to the average height between the plate and ridge of a gable, hip or gambrel roof.
Common Open Space
An area of land or water or combination thereof planned for passive or active recreation, but does not include areas utilized for streets, alleys, driveways or private roads, off-street parking or loading areas. However, the area of recreational activities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, shuffleboard courts, etc., may be included as common open space.
Conditional Use Permit
A conditional use permit is a written permit issued by the Zoning Administrator with the written recommendation from the Planning Commission and the written authorization of the City Council. This conditional use permit provides permission under special conditions to make certain special uses of land in certain zoning districts as stipulated in each of the district zoning regulations.
Day Nursery
An establishment other than a public or parochial school, which provides day care and education for 4 or less unrelated children.
District
A section or sections of the zoning area for which these regulations governing the use of land, the height of buildings, the size of yards and the intensity of use are uniform.
Dwelling
Any building or portion thereof which is designed and used exclusively for residential purposes, excluding mobile homes and cabin trailers.
Dwelling, Single-Family
A building having accommodations for and occupied exclusively by one family, excluding mobile homes and cabin trailers.
Dwelling, Two-Family
A building having accommodations for and occupied exclusively by two families, independently.
Dwelling, Multiple
A building having accommodations for and occupied exclusively by more than two families, independently.
Easement
A right of use granted on, above, below, or across a tract of land from an owner to an individual, public or private agency, or utility.
Family
One or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, living together as a single housekeeping unit; or a group of not more than 4 unrelated persons living together as a single housekeeping unit; plus in either case, usual domestic servants. A family shall under no circumstances be construed as a boarding house, fraternity, or sorority house, club, lodging house, hotel or motel.
Flood Plain
An area of land which is subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
Floor Area
For computing off-street parking requirements
Shall mean the gross floor area of the building measured from the exterior faces of the exterior walls or from the centerline of walls separating two buildings and shall include the following areas:
Floor area for determining floor area ratio
As used herein shall be computed as the sum of the following areas:
Floor Area Ratio
The maximum percentage of allowable floor area of a building or complex (including both principal and accessory buildings) computed by dividing the floor area of said complex or buildings by the area of the building site.
Frontage
The length of the property abutting on one side of a street measured along the dividing line between the property and the street.
Garage, Detached
An accessory building designed or used for the storage of motor-driven vehicles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.
Garage, Public
A building or portion thereof, other than a private garage, designed or used for equipping, repairing, hiring, servicing, selling or storing motor-driven vehicles.
Group Day Care Center
An establishment other than a public or parochial school, which provides day care, play groups, nursery schools or education for 5 or more unrelated children aged 3 years or more. Group Day Care Centers shall meet all requirements of the Nebraska State Board of Health, Maternal Child Care Division.
Grade
For buildings having walls facing one street only, the elevation of the sidewalk at the center of the wall facing the street shall be the grade.
For buildings, having walls facing more than one street, the grade shall be the average of the grades (as defined in a. above) of all walls facing each street.
For buildings having no wall facing a street, the average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building shall be the grade.
Any wall approximately parallel to and not more than 5 feet from a street line is considered as facing the street.
Home Occupations
A business, profession or trade conducted for gain or support entirely within a residential building subject to the following use limitations:
In all residential districts
Particular Home Occupations Permitted
Customary home occupations include, but are not limited to, the following list of occupations; provided, however, that each listed occupation is subject to the requirements of subsections a., b., and c. of this section.
Particular Home Occupations Prohibited
Permitted home occupations shall not in any event include:
Hotel
A building or portion thereof, or a group of buildings, used as a transient abiding place which may or may not serve meals and whether such establishments are designated as a hotel, inn, automobile court, motel, motor inn, motor lodge, motor court, tourist cabin, tourist court or other similar designation.
Institution
A building occupied by a non-profit corporation or a non-profit establishment for public use.
Kennel Boarding
Any place, area, building or structure where dogs (including those less than 1 year of age) are boarded, housed, cared for, fed or trained by other than the owner.
Kennel Breeder
Any place, area, building or structure where more than one dog is kept for purposes of breeding or raising for a fee.
Landscaped Area
Area dedicated to a maintained for the growing trees, plants, shrubs, and all other plant and organic materials.
Lot
A parcel of land occupied or intended for occupancy by one main building or a complex of buildings together with the accessory structures and including the open spaces and parking required by this regulation, which may include more than one lot of record or metes and bounds described tract having its principal frontage upon a public street or officially approved place.
Lot, Double Frontage
A lot having a frontage on 2 non-intersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot.
Medical, Dental or Health Clinic
Any building designed for use by one or more persons lawfully engaged in the diagnosis, care and treatment of physical or mental diseases or ailments of human beings; including, but not limited to, doctors of medicine, dentists, chiropractors, osteopaths, optometrists, podiatrists and in which no patients, are lodged overnight, but which may include an apothecary.
Mobile Home
Every transportable or relocated devise of any description originally designed to be mobile and designed for living quarters which is two or more stories high, including double-wide.
Cabin Trailer
Every vehicle without motive power, originally designed to be mobile, designed for living quarters, but does not include any cabin trailer which is permanently attached to real estate or is more than 12 feet wide or two or more stories high.
Permanently Attached
Attached to real estate owned by the title holder of the cabin trailer or mobile home in such a way as to require dismantling, cutting away, unbolting from foundation or structural change in such cabin trailer or mobile home in order to relocate it on another site.
Modular Home
(does not include double-wide mobile homes) Any prefabricated structure of conventional construction used for dwelling purposes roved on to a site in essentially complete constructed condition, in one or more parts and when completed is a single-family unit on a permanent foundation, attached to the foundation with permanent connections.
Mobile Home Park
Any area, piece, parcel, tract, or plot of ground, equipped as required for support of mobile homes and cabin trailer and offered for use by the owner or representative for mobile home park purposes and/or ground upon which three or more mobile homes are parked, whether for compensation or not, including all accessory uses thereof. The term mobile home park does not include sales lots on which unoccupied mobile homes are parked for the purpose of inspection and sale.
Nonconforming Structure
A structure which does not comply with the lot size requirements or bulk regulations applicable to new structures in the zoning district in which it is located.
Nonconforming Use
An existing use of a structure or land which does not conform with the regulations of the district in which it is situated as established by this regulation or any amendments thereto.
Nursing Homes or Convalescent Homes
An institution or agency licensed by the State for the reception, board, care or treatment of 3 or more unrelated individuals, but not including facilities for the care and treatment of mental illness, alcoholism, or narcotics addiction.
Nuisance
A continuous and unreasonable invasion of the use and enjoyment of a property that a reasonable person would find annoying, unpleasant, or offensive.
Parking Space
An area surfaced for all weather use including gravel, sand or comparable material for the purpose of storing one parked automobile. For the purpose of this regulation, one parking space shall have a minimum width of 9 feet and a minimum length of 20 feet. In computing off-street parking, additional space shall be required for access drives to each parking space.
Partially Owned Lots
A lot whereas the owner owns 50% or less of a said platted lot within a zoned area in the city limits.
Place
An open unoccupied space, other than a publicly-dedicated street or alley, permanently reserved as the principal means of access to abutting property.
Private Club
A non-profit association of persons who are bona fide members paying annual dues, which owns, hires or leases a building or premises, or portion thereof, the use of such building or premises being restricted to members and their guests. The affairs and management of such private clubs are conducted by a board of directors, executive committee, or similar body chosen by the members at their annual meeting. It shall be permissible to serve food and meals OR such premises providing adequate dining room space and kitchen facilities are available. The sale of alcoholic beverages to members and their guests shall be allowed provided it is secondary and incidental to the promotion of some other common objective by the organization, and further provided that such sale of alcoholic beverages is in compliance with the applicable Federal, State and Municipal laws.
Professional Office
Any building or part thereof used by one or more persons engaged in the practice of law, accounting, architecture, engineering or other occupation customarily considered as a profession.
Public Utility
Any business which furnishes the general public (a) telephone service, (b) telegraph service, (c) electricity, (d) natural gas, (e) water and sewer, (f) any other business so affecting the public interest as to be subject to the supervision or regulation by an agency of the State.
Restaurant
A public eating establishment at which the primary function is the preparation and serving of food.
Service Station
A service station shall consist of a building or group of buildings and surfaced area where automotive vehicles may be refueled and serviced, self-service pumps without buildings shall also be included, such service shall not include tire recapping, body repairs or major overhaul.
Shipping Container/Storage or Shipping Conex
An industrial, standardized reusable metal vessel that was originally, specifically, or formerly designed for or used in the packing, shipping, movement or transportation of freight, articles, goods, or commodities by commercial trucks, trains, and/or ships. Shipping containers as defined are not railroad cars, truck vans, converted mobile homes, travel trailers, recreational vehicles, bus bodies, vehicles, and similar prefabricated items and structures originally built for purposes other than storage of goods and materials. Shipping containers, as defined, also include a POD, a portable storage container designed and intended for the temporary placement upon property for the onsite storage of household or other goods, with a size typically not exceeding 16’ x 8’ x 8’.
Sign
Any device which shall display or include any letter, word, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device or representation used as, or which is in the nature of, an advertisement or announcement which directs attention to an object, product, place, activity, person, institution, organization or business but shall not include any display of official notice of official flag.
Site Triangle
An area at a street intersection in which nothing shall be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow in such a manner as to materially impede vision between a height of 2 feet and 10 feet above the grades of the bottom of the curb of the intersecting streets, measured from the point of intersection of the centerline of the streets, 90 feet in each direction along the centerline of the streets. At the intersection of major or arterial streets, the 90 foot distance shall be increased to 120 feet.
Street
A right-of-way, dedicated to the public use, which provides vehicular and pedestrian access to adjacent properties.
Street Network
Structure
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires permanent on the ground or attachment to something having a permanent location on the ground, but not including fences or public items such as utility poles, street light fixtures and street signs.
Structural Alterations
Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, or any complete rebuilding of the roof or the exterior walls. For the purpose of this regulation, the following shall not be considered as structural alterations:
Attachment of a new front where structural supports are not changed.
Addition of fire escapes where structural supports are not changed.
New windows where lintels and support walls are not materially changed.
Repair or replacement of non-structural members.
Tavern
An establishment in which the primary function is the public sale and serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, including establishments, commonly known as key clubs, which are open, and in which alcoholic beverages are served, only to members and their guests.
Yard
A space on the same lot with a main building, open, unoccupied, and unobstructed by buildings or structures from the ground upward.
Yard, Front
A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the least distance between the street right-of-way and the building setback line.
Yard, Rear
The area of property across the width of the lot extending from the front edge of the primary dwelling to the rear property line.
Yard, Side
A yard extending from the front yard, or front lot line where no front yard is required, to the rear yard. The width of the side yard shall be measured horizontally, between the side lot line and the furthest architectural projection of the structure.
Zone or District
A section of the Zoning Area for which uniform regulations governing the use, height, area, size and intensity of the use of buildings, lend, and open spaces about buildings are herein established.