For the purpose of these Zoning Regulations, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below. Words not defined herein shall have their customary dictionary meaning. Words used in the present tense include the future; the singular number includes the plural and the plural the singular; the word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary; the word "may" is permissive; the words "used" or "occupied" include the words intended, designed, maintained, or arranged to be used or occupied.
Accessory Building or Use - A building or use which is incidental and subordinate to the principal building or use on the same lot.
Agriculture - The use of land for farming, dairying, pasturage, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, and animal and poultry husbandry and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating, or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities.
Alley - A public or private right-of-way which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.
Apartment - A dwelling unit in a multi-family residential building.
Appeal - A request for a review of the interpretation of any provision of these regulations or a request for a variance.
Arterial Street - A street designated as an arterial on the county's official street classification map, intended to serve as a major traffic way for travel between and through communities.
Base Flood - The flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Block - A piece or parcel of land entirely surrounded by public highways or streets, other than alleys.
Board of Zoning Adjustment - A board established by the County Commission to hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official charged with enforcement of these regulations.
Building - Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of any individual, animal, process, equipment, goods, or materials.
Building Height - The vertical distance from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof surface.
Building, Principal - A building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which the building is situated.
Collector Street - A street designated as a collector on the county's official street classification map, intended to collect traffic from local streets and connect to arterial streets.
Conditional Use - A use that may be permitted in a zoning district only upon review and approval in accordance with the procedures specified in these regulations.
County Commission - The Ray County Commission.
Dwelling - A building designed or used for permanent residential occupancy by one or more families.
Dwelling Unit - One or more rooms designed for occupancy by one family for sleeping, cooking, and living purposes.
Family - An individual or two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living together as a single housekeeping unit; or a group of not more than three unrelated persons living together as a single housekeeping unit.
Floor Area - The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the floors of a building measured from the exterior walls.
Frontage - The distance for which a property line of a lot adjoins a public street, from one lot line intersecting said street to the furthest distant lot line intersecting the same street.
Home Occupation - Any occupation, profession, activity, or use conducted for gain or support entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for residential purposes.
Lot - A parcel of land of at least sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage, and area, and to provide such yards and other open spaces as are herein required.
Lot Area - The area contained within the boundary lines of a lot.
Lot, Corner - A lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets.
Lot Line - The property line bounding a lot.
Manufactured Home - A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation.
Mobile Home - A detached single-family dwelling unit designed for long-term occupancy contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations.
Nonconforming Use - A use of a building, structure, or land that does not comply with the use regulations of the zoning district in which it is located, either at the effective date of these regulations or as a result of subsequent amendments that may be enacted.
Planned Unit Development (PUD) - A form of development usually characterized by a unified site design for a number of housing units, clustering of buildings, mixed-use development, and provision of common open space, recreation facilities, and other amenities.
Planning and Zoning Commission - A commission established by the County Commission to review and make recommendations on matters relating to planning and zoning.
Plat - A map, plan, or layout of a city, town, section, or subdivision showing the division of the land into lots, blocks, streets, and alleys or other divisions and dedications.
Right-of-Way - A strip of land taken or dedicated for use as a public way for transportation, utilities, or other governmental purposes.
Setback - The distance between a building or structure and the adjacent property line, measured perpendicular to the property line.
Sign - Any device, fixture, placard, or structure that uses any color, form, graphic, illumination, symbol, or writing to advertise, announce the purpose of, or identify the purpose of a person or entity, or to communicate information of any kind to the public.
Street - A public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.
Structure - Anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on or in the ground, or attached to something having a fixed location on the ground.
Subdivision - The division of any parcel of land shown as a unit or as contiguous units on the last preceding tax roll, into two or more parcels, sites, or lots, any one of which is less than five acres.
Use - Any purpose for which land or a building or other structure is designed, arranged, intended, or for which land or a building or structure is or may be occupied.
Variance - Permission to depart from the literal requirements of these regulations.
Yard - A required open space unoccupied and unobstructed by any structure or portion of a structure from 30 inches above the general ground level of the graded lot upward.
Yard, Front - A yard extending across the front of a lot between the side lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line and the main building or any projections thereof.
Yard, Rear - A yard extending across the rear of a lot between the side lot lines and being the minimum horizontal distance between the rear lot line and the main building or any projections thereof.
Yard, Side - A yard between the main building and the side lot line extending from the front yard to the rear yard and being the minimum horizontal distance between a side lot line and the main building or any projections thereof.
Zoning District - A portion of the unincorporated territory of Ray County within which certain uniform regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of these regulations.
Zoning Map - The official map or maps that are a part of these regulations and delineate the boundaries of individual zoning districts.