Chapter 18.12
DEFINITIONS
Sections:
18.12.010 Rules of construction.
18.12.010 Rules of construction.
The language set forth in the text of this title shall be interpreted in accordance with the following rules of construction:
A. Words used in the present tense shall include the past and future tenses.
B. All references to the singular include the plural as well.
C. The word “shall” is mandatory and not discretionary.
D. The word “may” is permissive.
E. The word “person” shall include a corporation or partnership as well as an individual.
F. The masculine gender shall include the feminine and neuter genders.
G. The word “lot” shall include the words “plot,” “parcel” or “tract.”
H. The word “building” shall include the word “structure.”
I. Any words not defined herein shall be construed according to their generally accepted meanings. (Ord. 92-21 § 4 (part), 1992.)
18.12.020 Definitions.
For the purposes of this title, the words and terms defined herein shall be defined and interpreted as follows:
“Abut or abutting” means to have a common property line or land use district line.
“Access” means a means of vehicular or pedestrian approach, entry to or exit from property.
“Accessory structure” means a detached structure or building which is subordinate and incidental to that of the main building, structure, or use on the same lot.
“Adequate” means sufficient and/or satisfactory in terms of public health and safety requirements.
“Adjacent” means touching or contiguous.
“Alley” means a right-of-way designed and intended to provide a secondary means of public access to abutting properties and not intended for general traffic circulation.
“Alteration” means any change in size, shape or location of a building or structure.
“Berm” means a small hill or raised section of earth, at least six feet in height, with the purpose of providing visual or noise screening and/or protection to adjacent property, rights-of-way or access easements.
“Buffer zone” means a variably sized area maintained around the perimeter of an excavation site or property boundary. A buffer zone provides a neutral area that lessens the impacts of potential mining impacts including noise, water runoff and dust.
“Building” means a structure of more or less permanent construction, and used for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, business activity or property of any kind. A building shall include such extended structures as arctic entries, balconies, carports, decks, exterior stairways, garages, porches, wannigans and windows. Where independent units with separate entrances are not joined by a common wall and/or ceiling or floor, each unit shall be considered as a separate building. Permanent structures considered to be buildings include houses, stores, mobile homes, manufacture homes, garages, storage sheds, shops, steambaths and smokehouses. Shipping vans placed in a location two years or longer are considered permanent buildings.
Building, Accessory. “Accessory building” means a building that is subordinate to and serves a principal building or use. An accessory building is subordinate in extent and/or purpose to the principal building or use and contributes to the comfort, convenience and/or necessity of the occupants of the principal use being served.
Building, Principal. “Principal building” means a building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located. It is possible for a lot to have more than one principal use and principal building.
Building, Temporary. “Temporary building” means any building not designed or intended to be permanently located, placed or affixed in the place where it is located. Structures considered temporary buildings include tents, fish drying racks and dog houses. Shipping vans placed in a location for less than two years are considered temporary structures. If a van is moved to a different location on the same lot, it is classified as a permanent building and must comply with the yard requirements.
“Commercial” means a land use or business enterprise engaged in the buying and/or selling of goods and/or services.
“Dewatering” means the process of removing or draining groundwater or surface water from a riverbed, water body or extraction site by pumping or evaporation.
Dwelling, Multiple-Family (Apartment). “Multiple-family (apartment) dwelling” means one building consisting of three or more dwelling units, each of which is attached to at least one other dwelling unit, by a common wall or vertical cavity wall extending from the ground to the roof and from exterior wall to exterior wall, or by a horizontal structural floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall, except for a common stairwell exterior to the dwelling unit.
Dwelling, Two-Family Attached (Duplex). “Two-family attached (duplex) dwelling” means one building consisting of two dwelling units attached by a common wall or vertical cavity wall extending from the floor to the ceiling and from exterior wall to exterior wall, or a horizontal structural floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall, except for a common stairwell exterior to both dwelling units.
“Dwelling unit” means a room or group of rooms intended for use as living quarters for one family, including washing, sleeping, cooking and eating facilities.
“Exploration” means any excavation to determine the location of below ground natural resources, subsurface or slope integrity, and/or the depth of the water table.
“Extraction site” means those areas on a material site where resources are being extracted, or have been extracted, from subterranean soils.
“Fence” means an artificial barrier of any material or combination of materials, excluding vegetation, erected to enclose or screen areas of land.
Floor Area, Gross. “Gross floor area” means the horizontal area of a floor or several floors of a building or structure measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls. Where a building or structure is not wholly surrounded by exterior walls, the gross floor area shall be that area between the vertical projection of the roof or floor above.
Floor Area, Net. “Net floor area” means the horizontal area of a floor or several floors of a building or structure measured from the interior faces of exterior walls, excluding those areas not directly devoted to the principal or accessory use of the building or structure such as storage areas, stairwells, courts, etc.
“Garage” means a building or structure, or part thereof, used or designed to be used for the parking and storage of vehicles.
“High water table” means the surface level of the water-saturated part of the ground, and frequently the uppermost portion of an aquifer at a given vertical reference, during the seasonal high water period.
“Industrial” means a land use or enterprise where the primary use or activity is the warehousing, storage, movement, shipment, sale or use of heavy equipment, cargo, petroleum port activities, gravel, sand, lumber, timber or fish processing. The manufacturing of goods that emit obnoxious noise or fumes, requires the use of chemicals or materials that present a threat to the public health or safety, or require the use of heavy equipment on the premises are considered to be industrial uses.
“Ingress-egress” means an area for entering and leaving a parcel from a public right-of-way or public or private easement.
“Institutional” means a structure where the primary use is for religious, fraternal, educational, governmental or medical activities.
“Interior access lane” means a nondedicated driveway or small road that provides direct access to parking spaces, interior circulation on a lot and ingress-egress to a lot.
“Lot” means a parcel of land, established by plat, subdivision or otherwise permitted by law, adequate for occupancy by one or more uses or buildings.
“Material site” means the area, delineated by a parcel boundary, where a material extraction operation is occurring involving the extraction of the following materials: sand, gravel, rock, peat moss, clay, soil, sphagnum, pumice, cinders, clay or other minerals which are extracted by screening, washing, crushing, grinding, milling or other similar processes. Material sites also include those areas where material extraction has stopped or completed but remains in an unreclaimed state.
“Minor amendment” means a change to an approved land use permit that does not change the use, add an additional use or expand the combined area of the approved buildings or uses by more than twenty-five percent.
“Off-street” means an area located entirely outside of the dedicated right-of-way of a street or alley.
“Operator” means the individual or company responsible for extraction operations on a material site.
“Owner” means a person holding title to a parcel or lot in accordance with the records of the office of the district recorder.
“Residential” means a building or area of buildings used primarily as dwelling units.
“Revegetation” means the reseeding of soils to encourage plant growth and soil integrity that is equivalent to levels prior to site disturbance and/or vegetation removal.
“Substantial progress” means the development of a use or structure that has been started and partially completed such that the foundation, footprint or boundaries of the development are clearly evident.
“Surveyed historic buildings” means buildings that are listed in the Alaska or have been officially surveyed by the Dillingham historic preservation commission.
“Surveyed historic or prehistoric sites” means sites that are listed on the Alaska Heritage Resource Survey recorded on the confidential map on file with the city or officially surveyed by the Dillingham historic preservation commission.
“Use” means the purpose for which land, structure or a building is arranged, designed, intended, occupied or maintained.
Use, Accessory. “Accessory use” means a use or structure that is clearly and customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of a building or premises and which is located on the same or contiguous lot as the principal use or building.
Use, Principal. “Principal use” means the main, major and dominant use of a building or premises as distinguished from an accessory use. It is possible for a lot to have more than one principal use and principal building.
“Variance” means a departure from the numerical standards of this title.
“Water body” means any significant accumulation of water, including lakes, ponds, wetlands, creeks, rivers, streams, and canals.
“Yard” means an open space on a lot that is unoccupied and unobstructed from its lowest level upward, except as permitted in this title, and which extends parallel to a lot line to a depth or width, measured at a right angle from said lot line specified in the required yard regulations.
Yard, Front. “Front yard” means a yard that is bounded by a lot line which is abutting the right-of-way or easement of a public or private street or road. Corner lots may have two or more front yards.
Yard, Rear. “Rear yard” means a yard that is bounded by a lot line which is most distant from and approximately parallel to the front lot line.
Yard, Side. “Side yard” means a yard that is bounded by a lot line which is not a front line or rear line.
“Zero lot line building” means a building that is located on a lot in such a manner that one or more of the building’s exterior walls lies directly on a lot line without any yard between the exterior wall and the lot line. (Ord. 92-21 § 4 (part), 1992; Ord. 14-06 § 2, 2014.)