Town of Ledgeview

Alley A public or private right-of-way primarily designed to serve as secondary access to abutting properties.

Basement That portion of any structure located partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its height below the finished lot grade.

Block A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad right-of-way, shorelines of waterways or municipal boundary lines.

Building Any structure built, used, designed or intended for the support, shelter, protection or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind and which is permanently affixed to the land. When a building is divided into separate parts by unpierced fire or party walls extending continuously from the ground through all stories to and above the roof, each part shall be deemed a separate building.

Building area The maximum horizontal projected area within the perimeter of the outside surface of walls or supports of the building or structure. Exterior cantilever open balconies are not included.

Building frontage The horizontal linear dimension designated as the primary facade of that portion of a building occupied by a single use or occupancy. A corner tenant will be permitted to use the secondary facade to determine the building frontage.

Building height The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the finished lot grade at the front of the building to the highest point of a ceiling in the case of a flat roof, to the deckline of a mansard roof and to the average height between the eaves and the ridge of a gable, hip or gambrel roof.

Building setback line A line located a stated distance from and parallel with a lot line or street right-of-way for the purpose of defining limits within which buildings and structures may not be constructed.

Canopy (marquee) A roof-like structure projecting from a wall and supported in whole or in part by vertical supports from the ground and erected primarily to provide shelter from the weather.

Capacity, in persons, of an establishment or use The maximum number of persons that can avail themselves of the services (or goods) of such establishment at any one time, with reasonable safety and comfort, as determined by the Building Code or as may be determined by the Zoning Administrator or designee.

Conditional use See the definition of "use, conditional."

Corner side yard A yard extending along a side lot line from front yard to rear yard when said side lot line is parallel with a street right-of-way line.

Dwelling A building or portion of a building designed exclusively for residential occupancy, including single-family dwellings, two-family dwellings and multiple-family dwellings with individual sleeping, toilet and cooking facilities, but not including buildings intended for use by transients. Dwellings shall include manufactured homes.

Dwelling unit One or more rooms which are arranged, designed or used as living quarters for one family only. Individual bathrooms and complete kitchen facilities, permanently installed, shall always be included for each dwelling unit.

Earthen berm A vegetated, elongated earthen mound used as a landscape barrier.

Easement Any area of land reserved for public utilities, drainage, sanitation or other specific uses having limitations, the title to which shall remain in the property owner's name subject to the right of use designated in the reservation of servitude.

Facade The portion of any exterior elevation on the building extending from grade to top of parapet, wall, or eaves and the entire width of the building elevation.

Family One or more persons living together in one dwelling unit as a single housekeeping entity.

Farm consolidation The sale of farm acreage to another adjacent farm or owner of a farm located within a close proximity or the acquisition of farm acreage from an adjacent farm owner or from a farm within close proximity.

Fence, solid Any artificially constructed barrier of any material or combination of materials erected to enclose or screen areas of land which does not allow any item situated inside the barrier to be seen from the outside.

Floor area The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of the building or portion thereof, devoted to such use, including accessory storage areas, located within selling or working space, such as counters, racks or closets, and any basement floor area devoted to retailing activities, to the production or processing of goods or to business or professional offices. However, floor area for the purposes of measurement for off-street parking spaces shall not include floor area devoted primarily to storage purposes (except as otherwise noted herein); floor area devoted to off-street parking or loading facilities, including aisles, ramps and maneuvering space; or basement floor area other than area devoted to retailing activities, to the production or processing of goods or to business or professional offices.

Frontage The length of the property line of a lot, lots or tract of land abutting a public street. On a curved street, such length may be measured along the cord length at the building setback line.

Frontage, zoning lot The length of all the property of such zoning lot fronting on a street, measured between side lot lines.

Grade The average level of the finished surface of the ground adjacent to the exterior walls of the building or structure.

Gross floor area The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building or buildings measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the center line of party walls separating two buildings.

Hard-surfaced A driveway or parking lot surfaced with concrete, paving brick or bituminous paving.

Hedge A dense row of shrubs, etc., forming a boundary, fence or barrier.

Landscaping materials Materials used to make a plot of ground more attractive and/or stable. These materials may include but are not limited to trees, grasses, ground cover, vines, flowers, earthen berms, earth stabilization materials, rocks and stones and wood chips.

Lot A parcel of land having a width and depth sufficient to provide the space necessary for one principal building and its accessory building, together with the open spaces required by this chapter, and abutting on a public street.

Lot area, gross The area of a horizontal plane bounded by the front, side and rear lot lines, but not including any area occupied by the waters of a duly recorded lake or river and/or public right-of-way.

Lot grade The average of the finished lot elevation upon completion of construction and landscaping between the street right-of-way line and a perpendicular point on the front yard setback line.

Lot line, front That boundary of a lot which is along an existing or dedicated public street, or where no public street exists along a public way.

Lot line, rear That boundary of a lot which is most distant from and is, or is most nearly, parallel to the front lot line.

Lot line, side Any boundary of a lot which is not a front lot line or a rear lot line.

Lot of record A lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of Brown County; or a parcel of land, the deed to which was recorded in the office of said Register of Deeds prior to the adoption of this chapter, and certified survey maps approved and recorded in the Register of Deeds office of Brown County.

Lot width The horizontal distance between the side lot lines of a lot, measured at the narrowest width within the first 30 feet of lot depth immediately in back of the front yard setback line.

Lot, corner A lot located at the intersection of two streets, the interior angle of such intersection not exceeding 135°.

Lot, depth of The mean horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line of a lot measured within the lot boundaries.

Lot, interior A lot other than a corner or reversed corner lot.

Lot, reversed corner A corner lot, the street side lot line of which is substantially a continuation of the front lot line of the first lot to its rear.

Lot, through A lot having a pair of opposite lot lines along two more or less parallel public streets and which is not a corner lot. On a through lot, both street lines shall be deemed front lot lines.

Motor vehicles A self-propelled device used or intended to be used for the transportation of freight or passengers upon a street or highway.

Nonconforming building A building lawfully erected at the time of the enactment of the zoning code which does not conform to the height, setback, yard, parking or other bulk requirements of the zoning code or any amendment thereto governing the zoning district in which such building is located.

Nonconforming use Any use of land, buildings or structures lawful at the time of the enactment of the zoning code which does not comply with all of the regulations of the code or of any amendment hereto governing use for the zoning district in which such use is located.

Open space Land and water areas retained for use as active or passive recreation areas or for resource protection in an essentially undeveloped state. Open space is exclusive of buildings, roads, and parking areas.

Ordinary maintenance and repair Ordinary and routine actions necessary to continue or restore the safe and healthy use of a structure, which has been damaged or has deteriorated through natural aging and wear, and which do not result in substantial structural improvements or a significant increase in value. Such actions may include, but are not limited to, painting, staining, and the repair of the following: exterior windows, skylights, doors, vents, siding, installation, shutters, gutters, flooring, shingles, roofing materials, walls or the foundation, internal improvements within the structural envelope without doing a structural alteration.

Parking space A graded and surfaced area of not less than 200 square feet in area, either enclosed or open, for the parking of a motor vehicle, having adequate ingress and egress to a public street or alley, exclusive of passageways, driveways or other means of circulation or access.

Party wall A wall constructed between two attached units or rooms which may or may not be separately owned.

Permitted use See the definition of "use, permitted."

Plat or platted land Land division created by the recording of a subdivision plat or certified survey map as per the requirements of the Brown County Subdivision and Platting Regulations, Brown County Code of Ordinances.

Recreational vehicle A vehicle primarily used for leisure activities, including but not limited to trailers, boats with or without trailers, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. For the purpose of this code, recreational vehicles do not include four-wheel-drive cars or trucks and motorcycles.

Right-of-way (A) A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied for a special use. Rights-of-way intended for streets, crosswalks, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains or any other use involving maintenance by a public agency shall be dedicated to public use by the maker of the plat on which such right-of-way is established. (B) The usage of the term "right-of-way" for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a final plat is to be separate and distinct from the lot or parcels adjoining such right-of-way and not included within the dimension or areas of such lots or parcels.

Setback area The minimum horizontal distance between the building or use and the lot line.

Setback lines Lines established adjacent to lot lines or street right-of-way lines for the purpose of defining limits within which any or certain buildings, structures or uses may not be constructed, maintained or carried on, except as shown herein.

Setback, corner side yard The minimum horizontal distance between the side line of the building or use that runs perpendicular to a fronting street and the side right-of-way line perpendicular to the fronting street.

Setback, front yard The minimum horizontal distance between the front line of the building or use and the street right-of-way line.

Setback, rear yard The minimum horizontal distance between the back line of the building or use and the rear lot lines.

Setback, side yard The minimum horizontal distance between the side line of the building or use and the side lot lines, unless the side line of the building or use is parallel to a street, whereas it shall be a corner side yard setback.

Sign A name, identification, description, display or illustration which is affixed to, or represented directly or indirectly upon, a building, structure or piece of land, and which directs attention to an object, product, place, activity, person, institution, organization or business. (See Article XX for additional sign definitions.)

Sign, advertising A sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service or entertainment not exclusively related to the premises where such sign is located or to which it is affixed.

Sign, business A sign which directs attention to a business or profession conducted, or to a commodity, service or entertainment sold or offered, upon the premises where such sign is located or to which it is affixed.

Story That part of a building between any floor and the floor next above and, if there be no floor above, then the ceiling above. A basement is a story if its ceiling is five feet or more above the level from which the height of the building is measured, or if it is used for business purposes, or if it contains any dwelling units other than one dwelling unit for the caretaker of the premises.

Street A public or private right-of-way which affords a primary means of vehicular access to abutting property, whether designated as a street, avenue, highway, road, boulevard, lane, throughway or however otherwise designated, but does not include driveways to buildings.

Streetscape An area that may either abut or be contained within the public or private street right-of-way or accessway that may contain sidewalks, street furniture, landscaping or trees, and similar features.

Structural alteration Any activity not considered ordinary maintenance and repair which results in a change to the integral framework or exterior silhouette or footprint of a structure.

Structurally attached With respect to additions, "structurally attached" means: (A) At least 50% of the surface area of the adjoining wall of the addition and the principal structure is common to both structures. (B) The foundation of the addition is similar to that of the principal structure. (C) The height of the addition does not exceed the height of the principal structure. (D) The type of construction and materials used in the addition are substantially similar to those used in the principal structure with respect to texture, color and general appearance.

Structure Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires a permanent location on the ground or attachment to something having permanent location on the ground.

Town The Town of Ledgeview.

Town board The governing body of the Town of Ledgeview.

Unnecessary hardship Where special conditions affecting a particular property, which were not self-created and nonfinancial in nature, have made strict conformity with restrictions governing areas, setbacks, frontage, height or density unnecessarily burdensome or unreasonable in light of the purposes of this chapter.

Use, accessory A subordinate building or portion of a principal building, the use of which is incidental and customary to that of the principal building, where an accessory building shall comply in all respects with the requirements of this chapter applicable to the principal building.

Use, conditional A use, either public or private, which, because of its unique characteristics, cannot be properly classified as a permitted use in a particular district or districts. After due consideration in each case of the impact of such use upon neighboring land, and of the public need for the particular use of the particular location, such conditional use may or may not be granted, subject to the terms of this chapter and any conditions attached by the Town Board to the use.

Use, permitted A use which may be lawfully established in a particular district or districts, provided that it conforms with all requirements, regulations and standards of such district.

Use, principal A departure from the terms of this chapter as applied to a specific building, structure or parcel of land which the Board of Appeals may permit when the Board finds that a literal enforcement of the provisions of this section will result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, owing to circumstances unique to the individual property on which the variance is sought, or a literal application of such regulation will effect a limitation on the use of the property which does not generally apply to other properties in the same district. In no case shall a variance be granted to permit any use not permitted in a particular zone.

Variance A departure from the terms of this chapter as applied to a specific building, structure or parcel of land which the Board of Appeals may permit when the Board finds that a literal enforcement of the provisions of this section will result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, owing to circumstances unique to the individual property on which the variance is sought, or a literal application of such regulation will effect a limitation on the use of the property which does not generally apply to other properties in the same district. In no case shall a variance be granted to permit any use not permitted in a particular zone.

Yard An open space on the same lot with a building or structure, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except for vegetation. A yard extends along a lot line, and to a depth or width specified in the yard requirements for the zone the lot is located in.

Yard, front A yard extending along the full length of the front lot line between the side lot lines.

Yard, interior side A yard extending along a side lot line from the front yard to the rear yard.

Yard, rear A space, unoccupied except by an accessory building or accessory use as herein permitted, extending for the full width of the lot between the principal building and the rear lot line. A rear yard adjoining a public street is considered a corner side yard, except in a through lot.

Zoning administrator The Town official(s) charged with administration and enforcement of this chapter.

Zoning and planning committee The Zoning and Planning Committee of the Town of Ledgeview.

Zoning board of appeals The Town of Ledgeview Zoning Board of Appeals.

Zoning district Divisions of the Town, each area being accurately defined to boundaries and locations on the Official Zoning Map and in this chapter, for which the regulations and requirements governing use, lot and bulk of buildings and premises are uniform.

Zoning lot An area within a single tract of land, under single ownership, having a specific zoning district. A zoning lot may, therefore, not coincide with the lot of record and may be located on a parcel of land with two or more zoning districts.

Zoning Code | General Definitions