Chapter 18.10
DEFINITIONS Revised 8/24

Sections:

18.10.010    Terms defined. Revised 8/24

18.10.010 Terms defined. Revised 8/24

For the purpose of this title, certain terms and words are hereby defined. Words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular number shall include the plural; and the plural, the singular. The word “shall” is mandatory; the word “may” is permissive; the word “person” includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as an individual; the words “used” or “occupied” include the words “intended, designed, or arranged to be used or occupied.”

Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this title shall be interpreted so as to give them the same meaning as they have in common usage and so as to give this title its most reasonable application.

“Abandoned sign” means an advertising device, which includes the structure, that has been allowed to become in a state of disrepair or which advertises a business or service no longer in existence.

“Accessory use or structure” means a use or structure located on the same lot with a principal use or principal structure, occupied by or devoted to a use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use or principal structure, or an abutting vacant lot when legally combined to the lot with the principal use or principal structure with a recorded restrictive covenant. Where an accessory structure is attached to the principal structure in a substantial manner, as by a wall or roof, such accessory structure shall be considered part of the principal structure, and subject to all yard requirements contained herein.

“Administrative Officer” means the individual designated by this title to administer the zoning ordinance and who is responsible for the enforcement of the regulations imposed by said ordinance. This person may also be referred to as the “Zoning Administrator.”

“Agricultural area” means an area meeting the qualifications of Iowa Code Section 352.6 and designated under Iowa Code Section 352.7.

“Agriculture” means the use of land for agricultural purposes including farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, apiculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, fish farm, and animal and poultry husbandry, and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating, or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities; and provided further, that the above uses shall not include the commercial feeding of garbage or offal to swine or other animals.

“Alley” or “lane” means a public or private way not more than 30 feet wide affording generally secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

Apartment House. See “dwelling, multiple.”

“Appurtenant structure,” for floodplain management purposes, means a structure which is on the same parcel of the property as the principal structure to be insured and the use of which is incidental to the use of the principal structure. An appurtenant structure is also an accessory structure.

“Areas of special flood hazard” means the land within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. This land is identified as Zone A on the Flood Hazard Boundary Map.

Automobile Salvage Yard. See “junk yard.”

“Base flood” means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. (See “one-hundred-year flood.”)

“Base flood elevation (BFE)” means the elevation floodwaters would reach at a particular site during the occurrence of a base flood event.

“Basement/cellar” means that portion of a building having more than one-half of its height below grade. A basement/cellar is not included in computing the number of stories for the purpose of height measurement. For floodplain management purposes only, a “basement/cellar” shall mean any enclosed area of a building having its floor or lowest level below ground level (subgrade) on all sides.

“Bed and breakfast” means an owner-occupied dwelling unit that contains no more than four guest rooms where lodging, with or without meals, is provided for compensation.

“Billboard” as used in this title shall include all structures regardless of the material used in the construction of the same, that are erected, maintained, or used for public display of posters, painted signs, wall signs, whether the structure be placed on the wall or painted on the wall itself, pictures or other pictorial reading matter which advertises a business or attraction which is not carried on or manufactured in or upon the premises upon which said signs or billboards are located.

“Block” means the property abutting on one side of the street and lying within the two nearest intersecting streets, an unsubdivided acreage or railway right-of-way.

“Boarding house” means a building other than a hotel, where for compensation meals and lodging are provided for three or more persons.

“Building” means any structure designed or intended for the support, enclosure, shelter or protection of persons, animals or property, but not including signs or billboards. A truck box/trailer or mobile home as defined in this chapter would not be allowed to be used as a building in any zoning district.

“Building, height of” means the vertical distance from the average natural grade to the highest point of coping of a flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or to the average height of the highest gable of a pitch or hip roof.

“Building Official” means the agent so designated by the Board of Supervisors.

“Bulk stations” means distributing stations commonly known as bulk or tank stations used for the storage and distribution of flammable liquids or liquefied petroleum products where the aggregate capacity of all storage tanks is more than 12,000 gallons.

“Business or commercial,” when used in this title, refers to the engaging in the purchase, sale or exchange of goods or services, or the operation for profit of offices, recreational, or amusement enterprises.

“Carport” means a roofed structure providing space for the parking of motor vehicles and enclosed on not more than two sides. For the purposes of this title, a carport attached to a principal building shall be considered part of the principal building and subject to all yard requirements herein.

“Clinics” means a building or buildings used by physicians, lawyers, dentists, veterinarians, osteopaths, chiropractors, and allied professions for out-patient care of persons requiring such professional service.

“Common sewer system” means a central sewer collecting system available to each platted lot and discharging into a treatment plant, lagoon or other systems which are approved by the Black Hawk County Department of Health. The design and location of a sewer system must be approved by the County Board of Health. The above definition is not to be construed to mean individual household, private sewage disposal systems.

“Common water system” means a central water supply system available to each platted lot approved by the County Department of Health.

“Corn suitability rating (CSR)” means an index for ranking the productivity of soils and their suitability for row-crop production in Iowa.

“Court” means an open, unobstructed, and unoccupied space other than a yard which is bounded on two or more sides by a building on the same lot.

“Day nursery,” “nursery school,” or “day care (public)” means any agency, institution, establishment or place which provides supplemental parental care and/or educational work, other than lodging overnight, for six or more children of preschool age, for compensation.

“Deck” means a nonenclosed platform structure without a solid floor or wall system. Said platform will be comprised of permeable plank or board system. The structure shall not have a roof and any sides shall be comprised of a nonsolid spindle or board design.

Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Where found in the chapter pertaining to floodplain management, this shall mean the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the state agency that has underlying floodplain permit authority for the state of Iowa.

“Development” means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, drilling operations, or storage of equipment or materials.

“District” means a geographic section or sections of the County within which the use and occupancy are controlled by this title.

“Dump” means a premises used for the disposal of “clean type” of fill material, such as dirt, rocks, and similar materials, but not including organic matter of any type, such as garbage or dead animals or portions thereof.

“Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof which is designed or used exclusively for residential purposes, but not including a tent, cabin, trailer, mobile home, recreational vehicle, or similar motor vehicle.

“Dwelling, condominium” means a multiple dwelling as defined herein whereby the fee title to each dwelling unit is held independently of the others.

“Dwelling, multiple” means a residence designed for or occupied by three or more families, with separate housekeeping and cooking facilities for each.

“Dwelling, row” means any one of three or more attached dwellings in a continuous row, each such dwelling designed and erected as a unit on a separate lot and separated from one another by an approved wall or walls.

“Dwelling, single-family” means a detached residence designed for or used exclusively and occupied by one family only.

“Dwelling, two-family” means a residence designed for or used exclusively and occupied by two families only, with separate housekeeping and cooking facilities for each.

“Dwelling, unit” means a room or group of rooms which are arranged, designed or used as living quarters for the occupancy of one family containing bathroom and/or kitchen facilities.

“Earth home” is a structure that is below the ground on two or more sides and is constructed with passive solar energy generation in mind. An earth home is to be considered a single-family dwelling for the purposes of this title. This definition is not to be construed or confused with the definition of a basement or cellar.

“Existing construction” means, for floodplain management purposes only, any structure for which the “start of construction” commenced before November 17, 1982, the effective date of the first floodplain management regulations adopted by Black Hawk County. May also be referred to as “existing structure.”

“Factory-built housing” means a factory-built structure designed for long-term residential use.

“Factory-built home park or subdivision” means a parcel or contiguous parcels of land divided into two or more factory-built home lots for sale or lease.

“Factory-built home park or subdivision – existing” means, for floodplain management purposes, a factory-built home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the factory-built homes are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before the effective date of the first floodplain management regulations adopted by the community.

“Factory-built home park or subdivision – expansion of existing” means, for floodplain management purposes, the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for the servicing of lots on which the factory-built homes are affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads).

“Factory-built home park or subdivision – new” means a factory-built home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for the servicing of lots on which the factory-built homes are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date of the first floodplain management regulations adopted by the community.

“Factory-built structure” means any structure which is, wholly or in substantial part, made, fabricated, formed or assembled in manufacturing facilities for installation or assembly and installation, on a building site. For the purpose of this title, factory-built homes include mobile homes, manufactured homes, and modular homes; and also include “recreational vehicles” which are placed on a site for greater than 180 consecutive days and not fully licensed for and ready for highway use.

“Family” means one or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit; provided, that unless all members are related by blood, marriage, or adoption, no such family shall contain over four persons.

“Farm” means an area comprising 35 contiguous acres, exclusive of streets and roads, or more which is used for agricultural purposes and the growing and production of all agricultural products thereon, and their storage on the area, or for the raising thereon of livestock. Division of said area by road does not render property noncontiguous.

“Farm house” means a house located on land operated as a farm which is or will be occupied by a person engaged in agriculture on that same unit.

“Farm operation” means a condition or activity which occurs on a farm in connection with the production of farm products and includes but is not limited to the marketing of products at roadside stand or farm markets, the creation of noise, odor, dust, fumes, the operation of machinery and irrigation pumps, ground and aerial seeding and spraying, the application of chemical fertilizers, conditioners, insecticides, pesticides, and herbicides, and the employment and use of labor.

“Farm products” means those plants and animals and their products which are useful to people and includes but is not limited to forages and sod crops, grains and feed crops, dairy and dairy products, poultry and poultry products, livestock, fruits, vegetables, flowers, seeds, grasses, trees, fish, honey, and other similar products, or any other plant, animal, or plant or animal product which supplies people with food, feed, fiber, or fur.

“Farmstead” means the buildings and adjacent service areas of a farm, including sites where the buildings have been removed provided the land has not been cultivated. Cultivated ground may be allowed so as to meet the minimum lot size of one and one-half acres and may be allowed on splits of more than one and one-half acres when it is only included to square off the property.

“Feedlot/confinement operation” means an animal feeding area on which the principal use is the confinement of livestock, primarily for the purposes of concentrated feeding and growth prior to slaughter or the sale of products derived from such animals. The term does not include areas which are used for the raising of crops or other vegetation, and upon which livestock are allowed to graze or feed.

“Fill” means the placing, storing, or dumping of any material such as earth, clay, sand, rubble, or concrete upon the surface of the ground which results in increasing the surface elevation.

“Five-hundred-year flood” means a flood, the magnitude of which has a two-tenths percent chance of being equaled or exceeded at least once every 500 years.

“Flood” means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas resulting from the overflow of streams or rivers or from the unusual and rapid runoff of surface waters from any source.

“Flood elevation” means the elevation flood waters would reach at a particular site during the occurrence of a specific flood. For instance, the 100-year flood elevation is that elevation of flood waters related to the occurrence of the 100-year flood.

“Flood insurance rate map” means the official map prepared as part of (but published separately from) the flood insurance study which delineates both the flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

“Flood insurance study (FIS)” means a report published by FEMA for a community issued along with the community’s flood insurance rate map(s) (FIRM). The study contains such background data as the base flood discharge and water surface elevations that were used to prepare the FIRM.

“Floodplain” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water as a result of a flood (see Figure 1).

“Floodplain management” means an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damages and promoting the wise use of floodplains, including but not limited to emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, floodproofing and floodplain management regulations.

“Floodproofing” means any combination of structural or nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures, including utility and sanitary facilities, which would preclude the entry of water. Structural components shall have the capability of resisting hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effect of buoyancy.

“Floodway” means the channel of a river or stream and those portions adjoining the channel, which are reasonably required to carry and discharge flood waters or flood flows so that confinement of flood flows to the floodway area will not cumulatively increase the water surface elevation of the base flood by more than one foot (see Figure 1).

“Floodway fringe” means those portions of the floodplain, other than the floodway, which can be filled, leveed, or otherwise obstructed without causing substantially higher flood levels or flow velocities (see Figure 1).

“Floor area” means the sum of gross horizontal areas of all floors of a building.

“Floor area ratio” means the gross floor area of all buildings on a lot divided by the lot area on which the building or buildings are located.

“Frontage” means all the property on one side of a street between two intersecting streets (crossing or terminating) measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead-ended, then all of the property abutting on one side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street.

“Garage, private” means an enclosed structure intended for the parking of the private motor vehicles of the families residing upon the premises.

“Garage, public” means any building or premises except those used as private or storage garages, used for equipping, refueling, servicing, repairing, hiring, selling, or storing motor-driven vehicles.

“Garage, storage” means any building or premises used for housing only of motor-driven vehicles pursuant to previous arrangements and not to transients, and at which automobile fuels and oils are not sold, and motor-driven vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired, or sold.

“Gasoline filling station or convenience store” means any building or premises used for the retail sale of products for the propulsion of motor vehicles and may include such products as kerosene, fuel oil, packaged naphtha, lubricants, tires, batteries, antifreeze, motor vehicle accessories, and other items customarily associated with the sale of such products; for rendering of services and making of adjustments and replacements to motor vehicles, and the washing, waxing, and polishing of motor vehicles, as incidental to other services rendered; and the making of repairs to motor vehicles except those of a major type. Repairs of a major type are defined to be spray painting, body, fender, clutch, transmission, differential, axle, spring, and frame repairs; major overhauling of engines requiring the removal of engine cylinder head or crankcase pan; repairs to radiators requiring the removal thereof; or complete recapping or retreading of tires.

“Grade” means the average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building (see Figure 2).

“Grain elevator” means a structure or group of related structures whose primary purpose is, but not limited to, the receiving, selling, processing, storage, drying and transporting of bulk grain.

“Group home,” or “family home,” means a community-based residential home which is licensed as a residential care facility under Iowa Code Chapter 135C or as a child foster care facility under Iowa Code Chapter 237 to provide room and board, personal care, habitation services, and supervision in a family environment exclusively for not more than eight developmentally disabled persons and any necessary support personnel. However, a group home or family home does not mean an individual foster family home licensed under Iowa Code Chapter 237.

“Hazardous waste” means a hazardous waste as defined in Iowa Code Chapter 455B.411, as amended or designated as such by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

“Highest adjacent grade” means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

“Historic structure” means any structure that is:

A. Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of the Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;

B. Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;

C. Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior; or

D. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either:

1. By an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, or

2. Directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states without approved programs.

“Home industry” means any gainful occupation or profession conducted entirely within an enclosed accessory building(s) and/or dwelling unit which is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential occupancy and does not change the character thereof.

“Home occupation” means a gainful occupation or profession conducted entirely within an enclosed dwelling unit which is clearly incidental and secondary to residential occupancy and does not change the character thereof.

“Hotel” means a building in which lodging is provided and offered to the public for compensation and which is open to transient guests, in contradistinction to a boarding house or rooming house.

“Institution” means a building occupied by a nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit establishment for public use.

“Junk” or “salvage” means scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper trash, tires and rubber debris, waste, iron, steel or other scrap ferrous or nonferrous materials, appliances, furniture, equipment, building demolition materials, structural steel materials, or similar materials. This definition shall also include junked, dismantled, or parts of motor vehicles. Motor vehicles not currently licensed or registered with the Treasurer’s office as being “in storage” must be within an enclosed building if not within a junkyard as defined and permitted by this title.

“Junk or salvage yard” means any area where junk, discarded or salvaged material or equipment is bought, sold, exchanged, baled, packed, disassembled, kept, stored, or handled, including house wrecking yards, auto wrecking activities, used lumber yards and places or yards for storage of salvaged building materials and structural steel materials and equipment; but not including areas where such uses are conducted entirely within a completely enclosed building, or used cars in operable condition, or salvaged materials incidental and necessary to manufacturing operations or contractors’ storage yards.

“Kennel, dog (commercial)” means any parcel of land on which four or more dogs, six months old or older, are kept for the purposes of breeding, grooming, boarding or other activities associated with the care of dogs for commercial purposes.

“Kennel, dog (private)” means any parcel of land on which four or more dogs are kept; however, this shall not include breeding, grooming, boarding or other activities associated with the care of dogs other than the owner’s dogs.

LESA System. Land evaluation and site assessment (LESA), which was originally developed by the United States Department of Agriculture, is a locally adapted tool for determining the relative agricultural value of land. LESA is a two-part evaluation, land evaluation and site assessment, which creates a score between zero and 300 points, with higher scores indicating higher agricultural viability. The LESA system is a tool to assist policy makers by offering them a more thorough, objective means of evaluating the agricultural potential of land during the decision-making process. It is a growth management tool geared toward agricultural land preservation. The LESA system adopted by Black Hawk County has factors and weights that were determined by a local committee of residents and experts in local government, agriculture, soils, and land use planning.

“Livestock” means cattle, horses, sheep, swine, poultry or any other animal or fowl which is being produced primarily for commercial purposes.

Lot. For the purposes of this title, a lot is a parcel of land of at least sufficient size to meet minimum zoning requirements for use, coverage and area to provide such yards and other open space as are herein required. Such lot shall have frontage on a public street or private street and may consist of:

A. A single lot of record;

B. A portion of a lot of record;

C. A combination of complete lots of record, or complete lots of record and portions of lots of record, or of portions of lots of record;

D. A parcel of land described by metes and bounds; provided, that in no case of division or combination shall any residual lot or parcel be created which does not meet the requirements of this title.

“Lot area” means total horizontal area within lot lines.

“Lot, corner” means a lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection (see Figure 3).

“Lot, depth of” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

“Lot, double-frontage” means a lot having a frontage on two nonintersecting streets, as distinguished from a corner lot (see Figure 3).

“Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot (see Figure 3).

“Lot line, front” means the line separating the lot from the street on which it fronts.

“Lot line, rear” means the lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.

“Lot line, side” means any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.

“Lot lines” means the lines bounding a lot.

“Lot of record” means a lot the contract, deed or plat to which has been recorded in the office of the Recorder of Black Hawk County, Iowa, prior to November 18, 1982, or a parcel that was established prior to November 18, 1982, and has not been divided, subdivided, or otherwise modified. Acquisition of a portion of a property by a governmental entity shall not cause the remainder of the property to lose lot of record status.

“Lot, reversed frontage” means a corner lot, the side street line of which is substantially a continuation of the front line of the first platted lot to its rear (see Figure 3).

“Lot width” means the width of a lot measured at the building line and at right angles to its depth.

“Lowest adjacent grade” means the lowest natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction next to the proposed walls of a structure.

“Lowest floor” means the floor of the lowest enclosed area in a building including a basement except when all the following criteria are met:

A. The enclosed area is designed to flood to equalize hydrostatic pressure during floods with walls or openings that satisfy the provisions of Chapter 18.55 BHCC and BHCC 18.60.020(C)(4); and

B. The enclosed area is unfinished (not carpeted, drywalled, etc.) and used solely for low damage potential uses such as building access, parking or storage; and

C. Machinery and service facilities (e.g., hot water heater, furnace, electrical service) contained in the enclosed area are located at least three feet above the 100-year flood level; and

D. The enclosed area is not a “basement” as defined in this section.

In cases where the lowest enclosed area satisfies criteria in subsections A, B, C, and D of this definition, the lowest floor is the floor of the next highest enclosed area that does not satisfy the criteria above.

“Lumber yard” means a premises on which primarily new lumber and related building materials are sold.

“Manufactured home” means a factory-built single-family structure, which is manufactured or constructed under the authority of 42 U.S.C. Section 5403, National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, and is to be used as a place for human habitation, but which is not constructed with a permanent hitch or other device allowing it to be moved other than for the purpose of moving it to a permanent site, and which does not have permanently attached to its body or frame any wheels or axles. A mobile home is not a manufactured home unless it has been converted to real property and is taxed as a site-built dwelling. For the purpose of these regulations, a manufactured home built after June 15, 1976, shall bear the seal certifying that it is in compliance with the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. For the purpose of these regulations, manufactured homes shall be subject to the same standards as site-built dwellings.

“Maximum damage potential development” means hospitals and like institutions; buildings or building complexes containing documents, data, or instruments of great public value; buildings or building complexes containing materials dangerous to the public or fuel storage facilities; power installations needed in emergency or other buildings or building complexes similar in nature or use.

“Mobile home” means any vehicle without motive power used or so manufactured or constructed as to permit its being used as a conveyance upon the public streets and highways and so designed, constructed, or reconstructed as will permit the vehicle to be used as a place for human habitation by one or more persons; but shall include any such vehicle with motive power not registered as a motor vehicle in Iowa. A mobile home shall not be construed to be a travel trailer or other form of recreational vehicle. A mobile home shall be construed to remain a mobile home, subject to all regulations applying thereto, whether or not wheels, axles, hitch, or other appurtenances of mobility are removed and regardless of the nature of the foundation provided. Nothing in this title shall be construed as permitting a mobile home in other than an approved location, as specified in this title. Recreational vehicles or tiny homes wider than eight feet shall be considered a mobile home and not a recreational vehicle.

“Mobile home park or trailer park” means any lot or portion of a lot upon which two or more mobile homes or trailers occupied for dwelling or sleeping purposes are located regardless of whether or not a charge is made for such accommodations.

“Motel,” “auto court,” or “motor lodge” means a building or group of attached or detached buildings containing individual sleeping or living units for overnight auto tourists, with parking facilities conveniently located to each such unit, and may include accessory facilities such as swimming pool, restaurant, meeting rooms, etc.

“New construction (new buildings, new mobile or manufactured home parks)” means, for floodplain management purposes only, those structures or development for which the start of construction commenced on or after November 17, 1982.

“Nonconforming use” means the lawful use of any building or land that was established prior to or at the time of passage of the ordinance codified in this title or amendments thereto which does not conform after the passage of the ordinance codified in this title or amendments thereto with the use regulations of the district in which it is situated.

“Nursing or convalescent home” means a building or structure having accommodations and where care is provided for invalid, infirm, aged, convalescent, or physically disabled or injured persons, not including insane and other mental cases, inebriate, or contagious cases.

“Obstruction” means any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, projection, excavation, channel rectification, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, wire, fence, rock, gravel, junk, solid waste, refuse, fill, or other analogous structure or matter in, along, across, or projecting into any floodway which may impede, retard, or change the direction of the flow of water, either in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water, or that is placed where the natural flow of the water would carry the same downstream to the damage or detriment of either life or property.

“Occupancy permit” means a certificate issued by the County Building Inspector, stating that the building and use comply with the provisions of the Uniform Building Code.

“One-hundred-year flood” means a flood the magnitude of which has a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year or which, on the average, will be equaled or exceeded at least once every 100 years.

“Parking lot” means a parcel of land devoted to unenclosed parking spaces.

“Parking space” means an area of not less than 180 square feet plus necessary maneuvering space for the parking of a motor vehicle. Space for maneuvering, incidental to parking or unparking, shall not encroach upon any public right-of-way. Parking spaces for other than residential use shall be a surface material approved by the County Engineer.

“Pavement” or “paving” means the pavement structure, or the upper surface of a pavement structure, or the materials of which the pavement structure is constructed.

“Porch, unenclosed” means a roofed projection which has no more than 50 percent of each outside wall area enclosed by a building or siding material other than meshed screens.

“Principal use” means the main use of land or structures as distinguished from an accessory use.

“Public utilities” means public or quasipublic distributing or operating equipment for related services for telephone, electricity, cable television, gas, sewer, water, transportation and communication. For purposes of this title, a private, common water system and a common sewer system may be considered a public utility when a public or quasipublic system is not available and when the creating parties agree.

“Recreational vehicle” means a vehicle which is: (A) built on a single chassis; (B) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection (this provision is for floodplain management purposes only); (C) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; (D) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use; (E) not allowed to be used as a secondary dwelling or living quarters on a lot with a principal permitted use (home, business, etc.); (F) only allowed to be used as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use at a federal, state, or locally designated camp ground or in compliance with BHCC 18.60.020(C)(1)(c)(xi) and (C)(2)(c)(vii); and (G) vehicles wider than eight feet shall be considered a mobile home and not a recreational vehicle.

“Regulatory flood” means a flood which is representative of large floods known to have occurred generally in the area and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur in a particular stream. The regulatory flood generally has a frequency of approximately 100 years determined from an analysis of floods on a particular stream and other streams in the same general region.

“Regulatory flood protection elevation” means the elevation to which uses regulated by this title are required to be elevated or floodproofed.

“Right-of-way” means the land area the right to possession of which is secured or reserved by the contracting authority for road purposes (see Figure 4).

“Road” means all property intended for use by vehicular traffic, dedicated or intended for public or private road, street, alley, highway, freeway or roadway purposes or to public easements therefor.

“Road, paved” means a cement or asphalt road built to the specifications of the County Engineer.

“Roadbed” means the area of the roadway between the tops of foreslopes (see Figure 4).

“Roadline” means a dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous road.

“Roadside” means the area within the right-of-way and outside the shoulder lines of a roadbed (see Figure 4).

“Roadside stand” means a temporary structure used seasonally for the sale of homegrown agricultural products.

“Rooming or lodging house” means a building or place where lodging or boarding is provided for compensation for three or more, but not exceeding 20 individuals, not open to transient guests, in contrast to hotels open to transients.

“Sanitary landfill” means land utilized for disposing of solid or hazardous wastes in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Department of Environmental Quality.

“Shoulder” means that portion of the roadbed contiguous with the traveled way for accommodation of stopped vehicles, for emergency use, and for lateral support of base and surface courses.

“Sign” means any structure or part thereof or device attached thereto or painted, or represented thereon, which displays or includes any letter, work, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device or representation used as, or which is in the nature of, an announcement, direction, or advertisement. “Sign” includes “billboard” but does not include the flag, pennant, or insignia of any nation, state, city, or other political unit, nor does it include any political, educational, charitable, philanthropic, civic, professional, religious, or like campaign, drive, movement, or event.

“Sign, exterior” means a sign which directs attention to a business, profession, service, product or activity sold or offered upon the premises where such sign is located. An exterior sign is a sign attached flat against a building or structure, or projecting out from a building or structure or erected upon the roof of a building or structure.

“Sign, freestanding or post” means any sign that is not attached to a building erected or affixed in a rigid manner to any pole or post, including signs, or sign devices indicating the business transacted, services rendered or goods sold or produced on the premises by an occupant thereof.

“Sign, illuminated” means a sign designed to give forth artificial light or through transparent or translucent material from a source of light within such sign, including but not limited to neon and exposed lamp signs.

“Sign, off-site” means a sign other than an on-site sign.

“Sign, on-site” means a sign relating in its subject matter to the premises on which it is located or to products, accommodations, services, or activities on the premises.

“Special flood hazard area (SFHA)” means the land within a community subject to the “base flood.” This land is identified on the community’s flood insurance rate map (FIRM) as Zone A, A1-30, AE, AH, AO, AR, and/or A99.

“Special permit” means a use allowed in any district, where permitted by this title, after a public hearing by the Board of Adjustment and recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission, that meets the necessary conditions and safeguards for its operation, including a public or private use which possesses unique characteristics that may affect the community or surrounding area; and therefore deserves special consideration and permission before being established. Such use may also be referred to as a “special exception,” “use exception” or “conditional use.”

“Stable, private” means a building or structure used or intended to be used for housing only of horses belonging to the owner of the property for noncommercial purposes.

“Stable, public and riding academy” means a building or structure used or intended to be used for the housing only of horses on a fee basis. Riding instruction may be given in connection with a public stable or riding academy.

“Stable, riding club” means a building or structure used or intended to be used for the housing only of horses by a group of persons for noncommercial purposes.

“Start of construction” includes substantial improvement, and means the date the development permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement, or other improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The actual start means either the first placement or permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as pouring of a slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a factory-built home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

“Story” means that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there be no floor above it, then the space between the floor and the ceiling or roof next above it.

“Story, half” means a space under a sloping roof which has the line of intersecting of roof decking and wall face not more than four feet above the top floor level.

“Street line” means a dividing line between a lot, tract or parcel of land and a contiguous street.

“Street, road, alleys, drive or entrance (public)” means all property intended for use by vehicular traffic which has been dedicated to the public or deeded to a political subdivision.

“Street, road, alleys, drive or entrance (secondary road system)” means all property intended for use by vehicular traffic which has been dedicated to the public and meets requirements of the Code of Iowa and has been accepted into the County system by the Board of Supervisors.

“Street, road, drive, alleys, or entrance (private)” means all property intended for use by vehicular traffic, but not dedicated to the public nor controlled and maintained by a political subdivision.

“Structural alterations” means any replacement or changes in the type of construction or in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls or partitions, columns, beams or girders, beyond ordinary repairs and maintenance.

“Structure” means anything constructed or erected on the ground or attached to the ground, including but not limited to buildings, factories, sheds, cabins, mobile homes, factory-built homes, storage tanks, grain storage facilities, and/or other similar uses, including buildings or sheds on skids.

“Subdivision” means the accumulative effect of dividing an original lot of record, recorded prior to November 18, 1982, into three or more lots for the purpose of immediate or future sale or transfer for development purposes. The term includes resubdivision or replatting. When appropriate to the context, the word may relate to the process of subdividing or the land subdivided.

“Substantial damage” means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. Volunteer labor and donated materials shall be included in the estimated cost of repair.

“Substantial improvement” means any improvement to a structure which satisfies either of the following criteria: (A) Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure either (1) before the “start of construction” of the improvement, or (2) if the structure has been “substantially damaged” and is being restored, before the damage occurred. The term does not, however, include any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions. The term also does not include any alteration of a “historic structure”, provided the alteration will not preclude the structure’s designation as a “historic structure”; (B) any addition which increases the original floor area of a building by 25 percent or more. All additions constructed after the effective date of the first floodplain management regulations adopted by the community shall be added to any proposed addition in determining whether the total increase in original floor space would exceed 25 percent.

“Technical Review Committee” means a committee of technical personnel whose primary function is to report to the Commission upon rezoning petitions or other technical matters deemed necessary by the Commission. This Committee shall serve the Commission in an advisory capacity and comment upon a petition’s site characteristics, suitability, physical features, ecosystem, public services available, socioeconomic factors, and other concerns and matters that are relevant.

“Towers” means any radio, television, telephone, wind generation, short-wave, cellular telephone, microwave antenna or tower or water tower.

Trailer or Mobile Home. See “mobile home.”

Trailer or Mobile Home Park. See “mobile home park or trailer park.”

“Travel trailer” means a vehicle customarily used for vacation or recreational purposes defined and licensed in accordance with Iowa Code Section 321.1(36C)(b).

“Vacation or recreational cabin” means a structure consisting of not more than four sleeping rooms, kitchen and living area used as a temporary residence for recreational purposes. Such a structure shall meet all regulations for a single-family dwelling.

“Variance” means a grant of relief by a community from the terms of this title including the floodplain management regulations.

“Violation” means the failure of a structure, use or other development to be fully compliant with the community’s regulations, including floodplain management regulations.

“Yard” means an open space on the same lot with a building or structure unoccupied and unobstructed by any portion of a structure from 30 inches above the general ground level of the graded lot upward. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the depth of a front yard or the depth of a rear yard, the least distance between the lot line and the main building shall be used. In measuring a yard for the purpose of determining the width of a side yard, the least distance between the lot line and the nearest permitted building shall be used.

“Yard, front” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the front lot line and the building (see Figure 5). For the purposes of this title, “front” is determined by the street where the address is derived.

“Yard, rear” means a yard extending across the full width of lot and measured between the rear lot line and the building or any projections other than steps, unenclosed balconies or unenclosed porches (see Figure 5). On both corner lots and interior lots, the opposite end of lot from the front yard.

“Yard, side” means a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard and measured between the side lot lines and the nearest building (see Figure 5).

“Zoning Administrator” means the Administrative Officer designated or appointed by the Board of Supervisors to administer and enforce the regulations contained in this title. [Ord. 147, 2024; amended during 2014 recodification; Ord. 120, 2013; Ord. 115, 2011; Ord. 112, 2011; Ord. 109, 2010; Ord. 106, 2009; Ord. 82, 2003; Ord. 80, 2003; Ord. 76, 2002; Ord. 73, 2002; Ord. 42, 1998; Ord. 41, 1997; Ord. 36 § 5, 1995. Code 2009 App. A, § 5.]