Division I. General Provisions
Chapter 16.01
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
16.01.020 Rules for construction of language.
16.01.030 Declaration of nuisance.
16.01.010 Purpose and scope.
The purpose of the zoning code is to establish standards, procedures, and minimum requirements for land use and development regulation in the city of Sultan and thereby achieve the following general intentions and purposes of the Sultan comprehensive plan:
A. To establish regulatory procedures and standards for review and approval of all proposed development in the city.
B. To foster and preserve public health, safety, comfort, and welfare, and to aid in the harmonious, orderly, aesthetically pleasing, and socially beneficial development of the city.
C. To adopt a development review process that is:
1. Efficient, in terms of time and expense relative to staff resources;
2. Effective, in terms of addressing the natural, historic, and aesthetic resources and public facility implications of any proposed development, while also protecting and improving the quality of life in the city; and
3. Equitable, in terms of consistency with established regulations and procedures, respect for the rights of all property owners, and consideration of the interests of the citizens and residents of the city.
D. To implement the Sultan comprehensive plan by:
1. Establishing regulations and conditions governing the erection and use of buildings and other structures and the uses of land;
2. Securing safety from fire, panic, and other dangers;
3. Lessening automobile congestion on the streets;
4. Providing for adequate light and air;
5. Preventing the overcrowding of land;
6. Avoiding undue congestion of population and facilitating the adequate provision of transportation, potable water, sanitary sewage disposal, schools, parks, and other public requirements of the city;
7. Dividing the city into zoning districts, defining certain terms, designating the land uses and intensities thereof that are permitted in the different districts, and providing lot size and other dimensional and density requirements for new development;
8. Establishing a zoning map of permitted land uses in said zoning districts along specific property lines and natural boundaries, separate and distinct from the comprehensive plan future land use map;
9. Establishing performance standards that apply to all new development as well as the redevelopment of all lands in the city;
10. Continuing a planning board, including the composition of the board’s membership and powers and duties;
11. Defining the functions of the building and zoning official, planning board, and city council and other relevant agencies and departments with respect to the administration and enforcement of this zoning code and other development regulations.
E. To ensure that all development in the city will be served by adequate public infrastructure consistent with the comprehensive plan.
F. To require that all new land development activity contributes its proportional share of the funds, land, and/or public facilities necessary to accommodate the impacts that such new development has on public facilities and services, for which a rational nexus to the proposed new development exists, and for which the need is reasonably attributable to the proposed new development.
G. To enforce the development regulations in this zoning code. (Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A))
16.01.020 Rules for construction of language.
The following rules of construction apply to the interpretation of this zoning code:
A. The particular shall control the general.
B. In case of any difference of meaning or implication between the text of this zoning code and any caption, illustration, summary table, or illustrative table, the text shall control.
C. The word “shall” is always mandatory and not discretionary. The word “should” is permissive and is discretionary.
D. Words used in the present tense shall include the future; and words used in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural the singular, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
E. A “building” or “structure” includes any part thereof.
F. The phrase “used for” includes “arranged for,” “designed for,” “maintained for” and “occupied for.”
G. The word “person” includes an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an incorporated association, or any other similar entity.
H. Unless the context clearly indicates the contrary, where a regulation involves two or more items, conditions, provisions, or events connected by the conjunction “and,” “or,” or “either/or,” the conjunction shall be interpreted as follows:
1. “And” indicates that all the connected items, conditions, provisions, or events shall apply.
2. “Or” indicates that the connected items, conditions, provisions, or events may apply singly or in any combination.
3. “Either/or” indicates that the connected items, conditions, provisions, or events shall apply singly but not in combination.
I. The word “includes” shall not limit a term to the specified examples but is intended to extend its meaning to all other instances or circumstances of like kind or character.
J. The use of any gender-based pronoun shall not be construed to be gender-biased but is only used for grammatical simplicity.
K. All references to “uniform development code” or “UDC” shall be interpreted to mean “zoning code.”
L. All references to “community and economic development director” shall be interpreted to mean “community development director.” (Ord. 1347-21 § 8; Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A))
16.01.030 Declaration of nuisance.
All violations of this zoning code are determined to be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare, and are declared a public nuisance. All conditions which are determined by the building and zoning official or his duly authorized representative to be in violation of this title shall be subject to the provisions of this title and enforcement by lawful means as provided in this title. (Ord. 1244-16 § 3 (Exh. A))