§ I. Definitions
SECTION I. DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this ordinance certain words and phrases used herein are defined as follows:
Accessory structure: A detached subordinate building located on the same building site with the main building, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building.
Accessory use: A use customarily incidental to the principal use of a building site with the accessory use.
Alley: Any public space or thoroughfare twenty (20) feet or less in width which has been dedicated or deeded for public use.
Alteration: Any structural change in the supporting or load-bearing members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.
Boarding house: A building where, for compensation and by prearrangement, five (5) or more persons other than occasional or transient customers are provided with meals.
Building: Any covered structure intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels; the term "building" shall be construed to include the term "structure".
Building site: The land area occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings and including such open spaces, yards, minimum area, off-street parking facilities and off-street truck loading facilities as are required by this ordinance; every building site shall abut upon a street.
Building site boundary: Any line separating a building site from a street, an alley, another building site, or any land not part of the building site.
Church: A building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, where persons regularly assemble for religious worship, and which building, together with its accessory buildings and uses, is maintained and controlled by a religious body organized to sustain public worship.
Clinic, dental or medical: A building in which one (1) or more physicians and/or dentists are engaged in carrying on their profession; the clinic may include a dental or medical laboratory, but it shall not include inpatient care or operating rooms for major surgery.
Community home: Any place, facility or home operated for the purpose of providing residential care, supervision, lodging, and maintenance of mentally and or physically handicapped individuals on a regular basis (subject to any and all applicable federal and state certification and licensing procedures).
Completely enclosed structure: A building enclosed by a permanent roof and by solid exterior walls pierced only by windows and customary entrance and exit doors.
Dwelling unit: One (1) or more rooms in the same structure, connected together and constituting a separate, independent housekeeping unit for permanent residential occupancy and with facilities for sleeping and cooking.
Dwelling, one-family: A detached building containing one (1) dwelling unit and used exclusively by one (1) family.
Dwelling, town house: Single-family attached dwellings on individual lots for sale; served by servitudes of access and providing common open spaces in lieu of typical single-family yards.
Dwelling, two-family: A detached building containing two (2) dwelling units and used by two (2) families living independently of each other.
Dwelling, multiple-family: A detached building containing three (3) or more dwelling units and used by three (3) or more families living independently of each other; the term includes apartment house.
Family: One (1) or more persons, living together as a single housekeeping unit, including not more than four (4) lodgers or boarders.
Gross floor area: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building, including interior balconies and mezzanines; all horizontal dimensions shall be measured between the exterior faces of walls, including the walls of roofed porches having more than one (1) wall. The gross floor area of a building shall include the floor area of accessory buildings on the same building site, measured the same way.
Home occupation: An occupation for gain or support conducted only by members of a family residing in a dwelling and conducted entirely within the dwelling, provided that no article is sold or offered for sale except such as may be produced by members of the family residing in the dwelling and further provided that the occupation is incidental to the residential use of the premises and does not utilize more than twenty-five (25) percent of the floor area of the dwelling. Home occupations shall include, in general, personal services such as are furnished by a musician, artist, cosmetician, or seamstress when performed by the person occupying the building as his or her private dwelling, and not including the employment of any additional persons in the performance of such services.
Hotel: A building containing guest rooms in which lodging is provided with or without meals for compensation, and which is open to transient or permanent guests, or both, and where no provision is made for cooking in any guest room; the term includes "motel".
Lot of record: A lot which is part of a subdivision, the plat of which has been recorded in the office of the Clerk of Court and Recorder of Natchitoches Parish, or a lot described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been recorded in the office of the Clerk of Court and Recorder of Natchitoches Parish.
Mobile/Manufactured home: A movable or portable dwelling built on a vehicular chassis, frame or undercarriage which is equipped with or capable of being equipped with axle, wheels or towing tongue and/or capable of being towed or moved from one site to another without the use of additional support such as a trailer or skids.
Nonconforming structure: A building or part thereof lawfully existing on the effective date of this ordinance and which does not conform to all of the regulations of the district in which it is located.
Nonconforming use: A use which lawfully occupied a building or land on the effective date of this ordinance and which does not conform to the [use] regulations of the district in which it is located.
Official map: The map established and adopted by the police jury, showing the streets existing and established as public streets and the lines of planned new streets or street extensions, widening, narrowing or vacations.
Off-premise outdoor advertisement: Any outdoor sign, display billboard or other device which is designated, intended or used to advertise or inform, any part of which advertising or information content is visible from any place on the main-traveled way of the interstate or main highways.
On-premise advertisement: Any outdoor sign, display, billboard or other device which advertise activities conducted on the property on which they are located (business signs) or signs of noncommercial nature placed on the premises by the owner or occupant thereof; such on-premise advertising or identifying structures shall not be considered "outdoor advertising" structures.
Permitted structure: A structure meeting all the requirements established by this ordinance for the district in which the structure is located.
Planning commission: A group consisting of five (5) members, each appointed by the Natchitoches Parish Police Jury to five-year terms, whose responsibility is to regulate and manage the orderly development of the parish through the use of zoning ordinances and other restrictions.
Police jury: The officers and members of the Police Jury of Natchitoches Parish.
Rooming house: A building, other than a hotel, where for compensation and by prearrangement, five (5) or more persons other than occasional or transient customers are provided with lodging.
Street: A public right-of-way which provides vehicular and pedestrian access to adjacent properties.
Street line: The line or boundary separating the public right-of-way from the land or property adjoining.
Structure: Anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or attached to something having a location on the ground; provided, however, that utility poles and fences and walls (other than building walls) shall not be considered to be structures.
Yard, front: An open, unoccupied space on the same building site with a main building, extending the full width of the building site and situated between the street line and the front line of the building projected to the side lines of the building site. The depth of the front yard shall be measured between the front line of the building and the street line.
Yard, rear: An open, unoccupied space on the same building site with a main building, extending the full width of the building site and situated between the rear line of the building site and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the building site. The depth of the rear yard shall be measured between the rear line of the building site and rear line of the building.
Yard, side: An open, unoccupied space on the same building site with a main building, situated between the side line of the building and the adjacent side line of the building site and extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard; if no front yard is provided the front boundary of the side yard shall be the front line of the building site, and if no rear yard is provided the rear boundary of the side yard shall be the rear line of the building site.
(Ord. of 9-17-97)