§ 106-1. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning. The word "lot" includes the word "plot" or "parcel." The word "used" or "occupied," as applied to any land or building, shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied."

Accessory use or building means a use customarily incidental to the principal use or building and located on the same lot with such principal use or building. An accessory building shall be considered to be a permanent structure when it is constructed upon a solid, nonmovable foundation or concrete slab. An accessory building shall be considered to be a nonpermanent structure when it is constructed upon a movable or nonfixed foundation.

Alterations, as applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the exit facilities, or an enlargement whether by extending on a side or by increasing height, or the moving from one location or position to another.

Automobile salvage/wrecking yard means any land, building or structure where one or more motor vehicles not in running condition, or parts thereof, are located and are not being restored to operation for the purpose of storing, selling, abandoning or trading. Any location for storage of motor vehicles awaiting repair for more than 15 days shall be considered an automobile salvage/wrecking yard.

Automobile wrecking yard means any place where one or more motor vehicles not in running condition, or parts thereof, are stored in the open and are not being restored to operation; or any land, building or structure used for the wrecking or storing of such automobiles or the parts thereof. Any location for storage of motor vehicles awaiting repair for more than 15 consecutive days shall be considered an automobile wrecking yard.

Building means a structure designed, built or occupied as a shelter or roofed enclosure for persons, animals or property, including tents, lunch wagons, dining cars, camp cars, trailers and other roofed structures on wheels or other supports used for residential, business, mercantile, storage, commercial, industrial, institutional, assembly, educational or recreational purposes. For the purposes of this definition, the term "roof" shall include an awning or other similar covering, whether or not permanent in nature.

Building, front line of, means the line of that face of the building nearest the front line of the lot. This face includes sun parlors and covered porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, but does not include steps.

Building, principal, means a building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which the building is situated.

Bulk signifies the size of buildings in terms of floor area and floor area ratio, the location of building walls in relation to lot lines and to the exterior walls of other buildings, and the front, side and rear yards required under the terms of this chapter.

Child care center means any child care facility, including preschools, day care centers, etc., which receives more than eight children for fewer than 24 hours per day.

Child care home means a facility located in a single-family residence which receives not more than eight children for fewer than 24 hours per day. The maximum of eight children includes the family's children under the age of 16 and those children who are under full-time care. Not more than one non-family-member may be employed.

Coverage means that percentage of the plot or lot area covered by the building area.

Development means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, the siting of mobile homes, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations.

Dwelling, multiple, means a building used as a residence for more than two families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking therein, including apartment houses, apartment hotels, group houses and row houses.

Dwelling, single-family, means a permanent building used as a residence exclusively by one family, not to include trailer coaches or mobile homes.

Dwelling, two-family, means a permanent building used as a residence exclusively by two families, not to include trailer coaches or mobile homes.

Dwelling unit means a dwelling or portion thereof providing complete living facilities for one family.

Family means a group of one or more persons occupying premises and living as a single housekeeping unit, whether or not related to each other by birth, adoption or marriage (but no unrelated group shall consist of more than five persons), as distinguished from a group occupying a boardinghouse or lodginghouse or hotel.

Filling station means any building or premises used for the dispensing, sale or offering for sale at retail of any automobile fuel or oils. When the dispensing, sale or offering for sale is incidental to the conduct of a public garage, the premises are classified as a public garage.

Floodplain district means that area including the floodway and flood fringe as delineated on the flood boundary and floodway map as provided in the city by the federal government.

Floor area, gross.

(1)

For the purpose of determining floor area ratio, the gross floor area of a building shall be the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of such building, measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the centerline of party walls separating two buildings.

(2)

In particular, gross floor area shall include:

a.

Basement space if at least one-half of the basement story height is above the average level of the finished grade.

b.

Elevator shafts and stairwells at each floor.

c.

Attic floorspace, provided there is structural headroom of more than 7½ feet.

d.

Interior balconies and mezzanines.

e.

Enclosed porches.

f.

Private garages and accessory uses.

(3)

Gross floor area, for the purpose of determining floor area ratio, shall not include:

a.

Basement space where more than one-half the basement story height is below the average level of the finished grade.

b.

Elevator and stair bulkheads, water tanks and cooling towers.

c.

Attic floorspace where structural headroom is 7½ feet or less.

d.

Floorspace used for mechanical equipment where structural headroom is 7½ feet or less.

e.

Terraces, breezeways and open porches.

Floor area ratio (FAR) means the numerical value obtained through dividing the gross floor area of a building by the total area of the lot or parcel of land on which such building is located.

Garage, private, means an accessory building housing not more than four motor vehicles, not more than one of which may be a commercial vehicle of not more than 1½ tons' capacity, for the use of the occupants of the lot on which the private garage is located, or for others pursuant to previous arrangements and not to transients, and where automobile fuels and oils are not sold and motor vehicles are not equipped, repaired, hired or sold.

Garage, public, means any garage, other than a private garage, available to the public, operated for gain, and which is used for storage, repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing, adjusting, selling or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles.

Gun club means a facility used for shooting non-live targets with firearms or other weapons.

Home occupation means an occupation or profession customarily carried on by an occupant of a dwelling unit as a secondary use which is clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes. Such home occupation shall be carried on wholly within the principal building or within a building accessory thereto, and not more than one person outside the family shall be employed. There shall be no exterior display, no exterior sign except as allowed in the sign regulations for the district in which such home occupation is located, no exterior storage of materials, and no other exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the principal building. No offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare shall be produced. The term "home occupation" includes but is not limited to the following: art studio; child care home; dressmaking; professional office of physician, dentist, architect, engineer, or accountant when located in a dwelling unit occupied by such person; and teaching, with musical instruction limited to one pupil at a time.

Lot means a portion of land legally considered to be a distinct parcel of record to be owned, used or developed as a single unit, distinct from any other land, as evidenced by the issuance by the Peoria County Supervisor of Assessments of a parcel identification number ("PIN"). In the event that multiple lots as shown on a subdivision plat are issued a single PIN, "lot" shall mean, for purposes of this chapter, the land covered by the PIN and not the individual lots as shown on the subdivision plat. Therefore, the term "lot" as used in this chapter may or may not coincide with lots of record as shown on subdivision plats.

Mobile home means a structure, other than a modular home, designed for permanent habitation and so constructed as to permit its transport on wheels, temporarily or permanently attached to its frame, from the place of its construction to the location, or subsequent locations, at which it is intended to be a permanent habitation, and designed to permit the occupancy thereof as a dwelling place for one or more persons. The term "mobile home" shall include manufactured homes constructed after June 30, 1976, in accordance with the Federal National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. Such mobile homes, by law, have affixed to them a red metal label prescribed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Mobile home park means a tract of land or two or more contiguous tracts of land upon which contain sites with the necessary utilities for one or more independent mobile homes for permanent habitation either free of charge or for revenue purposes, and shall include any building, structure, vehicle or enclosure used or intended for use as a part of the equipment of such mobile home park. Separate ownership of contiguous tracts of land shall not preclude the tracts of land from being used as mobile home parks if they are maintained and operated jointly. Neither an immobilized mobile home nor a motorized recreational vehicle shall be construed as being a part of a mobile home park.

Modular home means a factory-built home which is subject to regulation by the state department of public health. By law, a modular home must have affixed to it a yellow seal in the shape of the State of Illinois on the electrical panel box, or a similar seal of the state. A modular home on a permanent perimeter foundation extending below the frost depth qualifies as a single-family structure in any zone in which single-family structures are allowed.

Motel means a building or a group of detached, semidetached or attached buildings containing guestrooms or dwelling units, each of which, or each pair of which, has a separate entrance leading directly from the outside of the building, with garage or parking space conveniently located to each unit, and which is designed, used or intended to be used primarily for the accommodation of motor vehicle transients. The term "motel" does not include hotels, boardinghouses or trailer courts.

Nonconforming structure means a structure lawfully existing at the time of adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived or at the time of adoption of any amendment to this chapter, and which does not conform to the regulations of the district in which it is located.

Nonconforming use means a use which lawfully occupies a structure or land at the time of adoption of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived or at the time of adoption of any amendment to this chapter, and which does not conform with the regulations of the district in which it is located. For the purpose of this chapter, a use which is nonconforming solely by virtue of lacking off-street parking or loading facilities as required in this chapter for new uses shall not be deemed a nonconforming use.

Parking space means an all-weather surfaced area within the lot lines, enclosed in the main building, in an accessory building, or unenclosed, sufficient in size to store one standard automobile, at least 180 square feet in area with a minimum length of 18 feet.

Residence district or zone means any one or all of the R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 and RCH districts.

Street means a public or private thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.

Structure means a combination of materials, other than a building, to form a construction that is safe and stable, and includes, among other things, stadiums, platforms, radio towers, sheds, storage bins, fences and display signs.

Yard, corner side, means an open, unoccupied space on corner lots between side line of the lot which is adjacent to the street upon which the principal building does not front and the nearest side line of the main building, extending from the rear line of the front yard to the rear line of the lot.

Yard, front, means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the right-of-way line and the front line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot. The depth of the front yard shall be measured between the front line of the building and the right-of-way line. On corner lots, the front yard shall be considered the yard adjacent to the street upon which the house fronts.

Yard, rear, means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the rear lot line of the lot and the rear line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot, or the centerline of the alley, if there be an alley, and the rear line of the building; provided, however, that on corner lots, any portion of a rear yard that also qualifies as a corner side yard shall be considered a corner side yard and not a rear yard.

Yard, side, means an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, situated between the side line of the building and the adjacent side line of the lot and extending from the rear line of the front yard to the front line of the rear yard. If no front yard is required, the front boundary of the side yard shall be the front line of the lot, and if no rear yard is required, the rear boundary of the side yard shall be the rear line of the lot; provided, however, that on corner lots, any portion of a side yard that also qualifies as a corner side yard shall be considered a corner side yard and not a side yard.

(Code 1996, § 11-1-2; Ord. No. 01-01-06, § 1, 1-22-2001; Ord. No. 03-02-02, § 3, 2-11-2003; Ord. No. 17-04-10, § 1, 4-24-2017)

Cross reference

Definitions generally, § 1-2.