Town of Grand Rapids - Definitions

Fish Hatchery A parcel or building where commercial water dependent fishery facilities are located for which fish are harvested and sold to consumers.

Shooting Range Any building or premises area designed and constructed for the safe discharge and use of firearms that is open for club members or public use.

Abandoned Sign A sign which no longer correctly advertises a bona-fide business, lessor, owner, product or activity conducted or product available on the premises where the sign is displayed or elsewhere.

Access, Controlled (road or facility) A controlled access road or facility is defined as a highway or street especially designed for through traffic, and over, from or to which owners or occupants of abutting land or other persons have no right or easement or only a controlled right or easement of access, light, air or view by reason of the fact that their property abuts upon such controlled access facility or for any other reason. Such highways or streets may be freeways open to use by all customary forms of surface transportation.

Accessory or Auxiliary Use or Structure A use or structure subordinate to the principal use of a building or to the principal use of land and which is located on the same lot serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building or land use.

Agriculture The use of land for agricultural purposes, including farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture; animal and poultry husbandry and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of normal agricultural activities.

Airport Any runway, landing area, airport or other facility designed, used or intended to be used either publicly or privately by any persons for the landing and taking off of aircraft, including all necessary taxiways, aircraft storage and tie-down areas, hangers or other necessary buildings and open spaces.

Alley or Lane 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.

Amusement Park Any tract or parcel of land, privately owned, open to the public and operated for profit, which contains or is used in conjunction with the use and operation of any machine, vehicle, building, structure, or equipment for entertainment, pleasure, sport or recreation.

Apartment See Dwelling, multi-family.

Apartment, efficiency A dwelling unit in a multi-family building consisting of not more than one habitable room, together with kitchen or kitchenette and toilet facilities.

Apartment, Hotel An apartment house which furnishes services for the use of its tenants which are ordinarily furnished by hotels.

Arboretum A place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes.

Area of a Sign Face Shall be measured by the smallest square, rectangle, triangle, circle or combination thereof which encompasses a single face including border and trim but excluding supports. If the sign consists of more than one section or module, all areas will be totaled. (In the case of wall signs, the area of copy will be used.) Total area of a sign shall be the total of all sign faces, such as total of front and back of two faced or V-sign.

Area of Copy The entire area within a single, continuous perimeter composed of squares or rectangles which encloses the extreme limits of advertising messages, announcement, or decoration of a wall sign.

Arterial Street A public street or highway intended to be used primarily for fast or heavy through traffic. Arterial streets and highways shall include freeways and expressways as well as highways and parkways.

Automobile or Trailer Sales Area An open area, other than a street, used for the display, sale, or rental of new or used motor vehicles or trailers in operable condition and where no repair work is done.

Automobile Repair General repair, rebuilding or reconditioning of engines, motor vehicles or trailers; collision services including body, frame, or fender straightening or repair; vehicle steam cleaning. Automobile Repair shall not include establishments for painting automobiles

Automobile Salvage Yard Any area of land where two or more inoperative vehicles, and/or accumulation of 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 motor vehicles and/or accumulation of parts thereof.

Banner Sign Any sign in which the characters, letters, illustrations, or ornamentations are applied to cloth, paper, fabric or other similar materials, with or without frame.

Basement That portion of any structure whose floor line is below ground line and has more than half of its clear height below the adjoining finished ground line.

Billboard See (Off-premise signs).

Board of Appeals The Town of Grand Rapids Board of Appeals.

Boarding or Rooming House A dwelling or part thereof consisting of a single housekeeping unit where meals and lodging are provided for three or more persons, not transients, for compensation by previous arrangement.

Botanical Gardens A place, generally open to the public for a fee, where a wide variety of plants are cultivated for scientific, educational, or ornamental purposes.

Buildable lot area That part of the lot not included within the open areas required by this ordinance.

Building Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls, used or intended to be used for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, equipment, materials or machinery. When such a structure is divided into separate parts by one or more unpierced walls extending from the ground up, each part is deemed a separate building, except as regards minimum side yard requirements as hereinafter provided.

Building Facia That portion of a building which is parallel or nearly parallel to the abutting roadway.

Building or setback line The line outside the right-of-way of a street beyond which no building or part thereof shall project, except as otherwise provided by this ordinance.

Building, completion The building shall be considered complete when roofing materials, siding materials, windows, doors and steps have been affixed to the exterior and the interior supplied with electricity, plumbing and heating fixtures in operable condition and in conformance with applicable codes.

Building, floor area ratio The floor area of the building divided by the area of the lot on which it is or will be located. The floor area of the building shall be calculated as that area of ground covered by the exterior walls of the building. Total floor area shall include the sum of the floor areas of all buildings on the lot.

Building, height of The vertical distance from the average contact ground level at the front wall of the building to the highest point of the roof.

Business Identification Sign Any sign which promotes the name and type of business only, on the premises where it is located.

Campgrounds Any public or private premises, including buildings, established for temporary day and overnight habitation by persons using equipment designed for the purpose of temporary camping.

Canopy Sign Any sign attached to or constructed in, on or under a canopy or marquee. For the purpose of this ordinance, canopy signs shall be controlled by the rules governing projecting signs.

Cemetery any land, including any mausoleum on the land, that is used or intended to be used, exclusively for the burial of human remains.

Changeable Message Sign A sign such as a manual, electronic or electric controlled time and temperature sign, message center or reader board, whether electronic, electric or manual, where copy changes. Any sign may be, or include as part of it, a changeable message sign.

Channel A natural or artificial watercourse of perceptible extent, with definite bed and banks to confine and conduct continuously or periodically flowing water.

Charitable Institution a nonprofit hospital, health care entity, organization, institution, foundation, association, or corporation that has been granted an exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.

Clinic A place used for the care, diagnosis and treatment of sick, ailing, and injured persons or animals and those who are in need of medical or surgical attention, but who are not provided with board or room nor kept overnight on the premises, except veterinarian clinics.

Club A non-profit association of persons who are bona-fide members, and are organized for some common purpose, but not including a group organized solely or primarily to render a service customarily carried on as a commercial enterprise.

Collector Street A street intended to serve and to provide access to neighborhoods or sub-neighborhoods.

Convalescent Home See, Definition of “Nursing Home.”

Court An open unoccupied and unobstructed space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a building or group of buildings, which is enclosed on three or more sides.

Density The number of living units per acre allowable under a schedule of district regulations.

Deteriorated or Dilapidated Sign Any sign which is in such a state of deterioration or disrepair so as to make it hazardous to the safety and welfare of the public.

Directional Sign (See incidental sign).

District A portion of the territory of the Town within which certain uniform regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of this ordinance as specified on the Official Zoning Map as adopted by the Town Board.

Double-faced Sign A sign with copy on two parallel faces that are back to back, facing in opposite directions.

Dwelling Any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence or sleeping place of one or more persons.

Dwelling group A group of two or more detached dwellings located on a parcel of land in one ownership and having any yard or court in common.

Dwelling unit One room, or a suite of two or more rooms, designed for or used by one family for living and sleeping purposes and having kitchen and toilet facilities.

Dwelling, multi-family A building or portion thereof designed for or used by three or more families or housekeeping units.

Dwelling, single family A building designed for or used exclusively for residence purposes by one family or housekeeping unit.

Dwelling, two-family A building designed for or used exclusively by two families or housekeeping units.

Election Campaign Period An election campaign period for any political office begins the first day for circulation of nomination papers by candidates or the first day for which candidates would circulate nomination papers where papers are to be required and ends fifteen (15) days following close of polls on Election Day. An election period for a referendum begins on the day on which the question to be voted upon is submitted to the electorate and ending fifteen (15) days following the date on which the referendum is held.

Electric Sign Any sign containing electrical wiring which is attached or intended to be attached to an electrical energy source.

Electric Substation A terminal at which electric energy is received from the transmission system and is delivered to other elements of the transmission system and, generally, to a local distribution system.

Electronic Variable Message Display A sign capable of displaying words, symbols, figures or images that can be electronically or mechanically changed by remote or automatic means.

Farm An area which is used for the growing of the usual farm products such as vegetables, fruit trees and grain, and their storage on the area, as well as for the raising thereon of the usual farm poultry and farm animals, such as horses, cattle, sheep and swine. The term farming includes the operating of such an area for one or more of the above uses, including dairy farms with the necessary accessory uses for treating or storing the produce; provided, however, that the operation of any such accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal farming activities.

Flashing Sign Any sign which contains an intermittent or flashing light source, or which includes the illusion of intermittent or flashing light by means of animation, or an externally-mounted intermittent light source, not including changeable message signs.

Front yard A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the minimum horizontal distance between the front lot line and a line parallel thereto on the lot as required in the district where located.

Front yard, how measured Such depth shall be measured from the right-of-way line of the existing street on which the lot fronts (the front lot line); provided, however, that if the proposed location of the right-of-way of such street as established on the Official Thoroughfare Plan or Major Street Plan differs from that of the existing street, then the required front yard least depth shall be measured from the right-of-way line of such street as designated on said Thoroughfare Plan or Major Street Plan.

Frontage That boundary of a lot which is along an existing or dedicated public street or, where no public street exists, is along a public way. Where a lot abuts more than one street, the Plan Commission shall determine the frontage for purposes of this ordinance.

Frontage The length of the property line of any one premise parallel to and along one public right-of-way may be known as a frontage road.

Fur Farm A tract of land or buildings devoted in whole or part to the raising of furbearing animals.

Garage A building or portion of a building in which one or more self-propelled vehicles can be kept.

Grade The elevation or level of the street closest to the sign to which reference is made, measured at the street's centerline.

Grade The slope of a road, street, or other public way specified in per cent. The per cent is based upon elevation difference in 100 feet of horizontal distance. (Five feet of change in elevation in 100 feet horizontal distance would be a 5% grade.)

Greenhouse An enclosed structure, permanent or portable, which is used for the growth or cultivation of plants, and from which plants, seeds, trees and those items related to cultivation are sold or traded to the public.

Ground Sign A sign erected on one or more freestanding supports or uprights and not attached to any building.

Height of Sign The vertical distance measured from the grade at the street right-of-way line where the sign is located to the highest point of such sign.

Hotel Any building or portion thereof used as a temporary abiding place for remuneration, with or without meals, containing guest rooms or suites where no provision for cooking is made in any individual guest room or suite. This term does not include hospitals and jails.

Household Unit A group of persons who live together in one dwelling unit as a single housekeeping unit.

Incidental Sign A non-electric sign located on a property to which its message pertains, designating accessory uses, directions to parking or loading areas, restrooms, telephones, entrances and exits, or pedestrian or traffic control. Such signs shall not exceed six square feet each.

Industry Storage, repair, manufacture, preparation or treatment of any article, substance or commodity for commercial use.

Lawn Area Any relatively low-growing, living, ground cover, typically mown, manicured and cared for, that will withstand foot traffic.

Length of a Manufactured home The distance from the exterior of the front wall (nearest to the exterior of the drawbar and coupling mechanism) to the exterior of the rear wall (at opposite end of the home) where such walls enclose living or other interior space and such distance includes expandable rooms but not bay windows, porches, drawbars, couplings, hitches, wall and roof extensions, or other attachments. Width of a manufactured home means the distance from the exterior of one side wall to the exterior of the opposite side wall where such walls enclose living or other interior space and such distance includes expandable rooms and not bay windows, porches, wall and roof extensions, or other attachments.

Loading Space An off-street space or berth on the same lot with a building or contiguous to a group of buildings, for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials, and which abuts upon a street, alley or other appropriate means of access.

Lodge Buildings and facilities, owned or operated by a corporation, association, person or persons, for a social, educational, or recreational purpose, to which membership is required for participation and not operated primarily for profit nor to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business. Restaurant or alcoholic beverage serving services shall be secondary to the main purposes and use of the property.

Lot A parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal building or a group of such buildings and accessory buildings, or utilized for a principal use and uses accessory thereto, together with such open spaces as required by this ordinance, and having frontage on an officially approved street or place.

Lot area The area of contiguous land bounded by lot lines, exclusive of land provided for public thoroughfares.

Lot depth The mean horizontal distance between the front and the rear lot lines.

Lot Line A property boundary line of any lot held in single or separate ownership; except that where any portion of the lot extends into the abutting street or alley, the lot line shall be deemed to be the street or alley right-of-way line.

Lot of record A lot which is part of a subdivision, the map of which has been approved by the Wood County Planning Office, as of the effective date of this ordinance, shall have the same status as if the said subdivision plat was officially recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds.

Lot width The mean width of the lot measured at right angles to its depth.

Lot, corner A lot abutting upon two or more streets at their intersection or upon two parts of the same street, such streets or parts of the same street forming an interior angle of less than 135 degrees. The point of intersection of the street lines is the corner.

Lot, interior A lot other than a corner lot.

Lot, through A lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.

Manufactured Home The definition set forth in sec. 101.91(2) (am) Wis. Stats. Is hereby adopted and is incorporated herein by reference.

Manufactured home Lot A parcel of land designed for the placement of a single manufactured home.

Manufactured home Park A parcel of land under single ownership designed, maintained, intended or used for the purpose of providing a location and accommodations for two or more manufactured homes, including all buildings used or intended for use as part of the equipment thereof, whether or not a charge is made for the use of the manufactured home park or its facilities.

Manufactured home Subdivision A parcel of land subdivided into lots, each lot individually owned and utilized as the site for placement of a single manufactured home and its facilities.

Mausoleum A building, structure or part of a building or structure that is used or intended to be used for the burial of human remains.

Minor Structure Any small, movable accessory structure or construction such as birdhouses, tool houses, pet houses, play equipment, arbors and walls and fences under four feet in height.

Motel or Motor Hotel A series of attached, semi-attached or detached sleeping or living units, primarily for the accommodation of automobile transient guests for compensation; said units having convenience access to off-street parking spaces for the exclusive use of the guests or occupants.

Nonconforming Use The use or occupancy of a building or premises which is lawful at the time of the enactment of this ordinance or amendments thereto, but which use or occupancy does not conform to the provisions of this ordinance or any amendments thereto.

Off-premise Sign A sign which advertises goods, products, facilities or services not necessarily on the premises where the sign is located, or directs persons to a different location from where the sign is located.

On-premise Sign Any sign identifying or advertising a business, person, activity, goods, products or services located on a premise where the sign is installed and maintained.

Open Fence A fence, including a gate, which has a percentage of open area that represents at least 75% of the fence area, with open areas uniformly distributed over the entire height and length of the fence. An open fence shall not have any solid part that is over six inches wide.

Outdoor Wood-Burning Furnace a/k/a outdoor hydronic heater, a fuel-burning device designed to (1) burn wood or other approved solid fuels; (2) that the manufacturer specifies for outdoor installation or installation in structures not normally occupied by humans (e.g. garages); and (3) heats a building space and/or water via distribution, typically through pipes, of a fluid heated in the device, typically water or a water/antifreeze mixture.

Park All grounds, structures and watercourses which are or may be located within any area dedicated to the public use as a park, parkway, recreation facility or conservancy district in the Town.

Parking Space A permanently surfaced area of not less than one hundred eighty (180) square feet, having a minimum width of nine feet and a minimum length of 18 feet, either within a structure or in the open, exclusive of driveways or access drives, for the parking of motor vehicles.

Permanent A structure which is built of such materials and in such a way that it would commonly be expected to last and remain useful for a substantial period of time.

Person Any individual, firm, trust, partnership, public or private association or corporation; or an individual, partnership, firm, company, corporation, municipality, county, town, state or federal agency, whether tenant, owner, lessee, licensee, or their agent, heir, or assignee.

Pet Cemetery Any land or place, together with any structure, facility or building appurtenant provided to members of the general public for a fee, whether or not for profit, for use, or reservation for use for the permanent interment or inurnment above or below ground of pet remains.

Planned Unit Development A land area which: Has both individual building sites and common property such as a park, and Is designed and organized to be capable of satisfactory use and operation as a separate entity without necessarily having the participation of other building sites or other common property. The ownership of the common property may be either public or private.

Portable Sign Any sign not permanently attached to the ground or a building and which is designed to be moved intact on its own trailer or carriage.

Portable Storage Container (PSC) A portable, weather-resistant receptacle designed and customarily used for storage or shipment of household goods, wares, building materials or merchandise.

Power Stations The use of land, building, or structure or part thereof for the generation of electric power.

Principal Building The building of primary importance on a parcel of land, in contrast to those which are accessory or of secondary importance. In the case of a house and attached garage, the entire structure, including the house and garage, shall be considered the principal building.

Projecting Sign A sign, normally double-faced, which is attached to and projects from a structure or building facia. The area of projecting signs is calculated on one face only.

Public and Semi-Public Building Any building held, used or controlled, either exclusively or as a shared-use with a private institution, for public purposes by any unit of government, without reference to ownership of the building or of the realty upon which it is situated.

Public or Private Zoo or Aquarium A zoo or aquarium that is operated by the state or municipality or by a private as a business who is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Quarrying The removal of rock, slate, gravel, sand, topsoil or other natural material from the land by excavating, stripping, leveling or any other such process which results in creation of a pond or a pit. Removal of excess materials from the land, such as in excavating for a foundation, shall not be considered quarrying if it does not result in a pond or a pit. Drainage ditching shall not be considered quarrying.

Race Track Any area where two or more power-driven vehicles or animals are raced for profit or pleasure.

Rear yard A yard extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the minimum distance between the rear lot line and a line parallel thereto on the lot as required in the district where located.

Rest Home See, Definition of “Nursing Home.”

Riding School An establishment where horses are boarded and cared for and where instruction in riding and showing is offered to the general public.

Riding Stables Any establishment where any number of adult horses or livestock are kept for the purpose of riding or recreation.

Roadside Stand A temporary structure, unenclosed and so designed and constructed that the structure is easily portable and can be readily moved.

Roof Sign A sign erected upon, against or above a roof.

Sandwich Sign A hinged or unhinged A-frame portable sign which is generally temporary in nature and placed near the roadway.

Service Building A structure housing toilet, washing and bathing facilities and such other facilities as may be required by this ordinance.

Setback The minimum allowable horizontal distance from a given point or line of reference, such as a thoroughfare, right-of-way, waterline, or prospective line to the nearest projection of a building or structure.

Shooting Range, Indoor A totally enclosed building that is equipped for the indoor discharge of firearms, archery, ax throwing, and target sports and where no activity associated with shooting is conducted outside the building.

Shooting Range, Outdoor The use of land for the outdoor discharge of firearms for the purpose of target practice, skeet, and trap shooting. This term includes archery ranges, trap and skeet clubs, target ranges, and the like. Excluded from this definition are general hunting and uses that do not pose an air navigational hazard.

Short Term Rental A residential dwelling that is offered for rent for a fee and for fewer than 30 consecutive days.

Side yard A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard, the width of which is the minimum horizontal distance between the side lot line and a line parallel thereto on the lot as required in the district where located.

Side yard, least width, how measured Such width shall be measured from the nearest side lot line and, in case the nearest side lot line is a side street lot line, from the right-of-way line of the existing street; provided, however, that if the proposed location of the right-of-way line of such street as established in the Thoroughfare Plan differs from that of the existing street, then the required side yard least width shall be measured from the right-of-way of such street as designated on the Thoroughfare Plan.

Sign Any emblem, painting, banner, pennant, placard, design identification, description, illustration, or device, illuminated or non-illuminated, to advertise, identify, convey information or direct attention to a product, service, place, activity, person, institution, business, or solicitation, including any permanently installed or situated merchandise. For the purpose of removal, signs shall also include all sign structure. All parts or modules on the same plane or exposure and connected as a single structure shall be considered as one sign in applying limitations on number of signs and area of a sign.

Sign Structure Any device or material which supports, has supported, or is capable of supporting a sign in a stationary position, including decorative covers.

Slaughterhouse Any building or premises used for the killing or dressing of fowl, cattle, sheep, swine, goats or horses, and the storage, freezing and curing of meat and preparation of meat products.

Stockyards Any stationary pen, yard, enclosure or place where any hogs, cattle, sheep, horses, or other livestock are fed, kept or gathered together for the purpose of sale, trade, exchange, barter, shipping, or transportation.

Story 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 above it.

Story, half A partial story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than four (4) feet above the floor of such story; provided, however, that any half of partial story used for residence purposes shall be deemed a story; provided that a basement or cellar used purely for recreational purposes shall not be deemed the first story.

Street A public right-of-way which provides a public means of access to abutting property. The term street shall include avenue, drive, circle, road, parkway, boulevard, lane, place, highway, thoroughfare or any similar term.

String Sign Any sign in which lights, ribbons, pennants or other similar small, attention-drawing devices are attached to a rope, string, wire, pole or similar support.

Structural alteration Any change in the component members of a building, such as walls, columns, beams or girders.

Structure Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires a more or less permanent location on or in the ground. It includes, but is not limited to objects such as buildings, factories, sheds and cabins.

Swinging Sign A sign installed on an arm, mast or spar that is not, in addition, permanently fastened to an adjacent wall or upright pole.

Temporary A structure which is built of such materials and in such a way that it would commonly be expected to have a relatively short useful life, or is built for a purpose that would commonly be expected to be relatively short term.

Town Board The Board of Supervisors of the Town of Grand Rapids.

Travel Trailer Vehicular, portable, temporary living quarters used for travel, recreation, and vacation which may take one of the following forms: (a) A unit built on a chassis having a body width not exceeding eight feet and a body length not exceeding 32 feet; (b) A unit designed to be mounted on a truck chassis; or (3) A unit constructed as an integral part of a self-propelled vehicle.

Use The purpose for which land or a building or structure is arranged, designed or intended, or for which either land or a building or structure is, or may be occupied or maintained.

Use--Conditional A use which is permitted in a district only if a Conditional Use Permit is expressly authorized in accordance with this ordinance.

Use--Principal: permitted as of right A use which is permitted outright in a district for which a Zoning Permit may be issued by the Town Board in accordance with this ordinance.

Variance A departure from the terms of the Zoning Ordinance where it is shown that unique physical circumstances applying to a land parcel causes a hardship to the owner and that the condition permitted by the departure still will be in fundamental harmony with surrounding uses.

Vision Clearance Triangle An unoccupied triangular space at the corner of a corner lot which is bounded by the street lines and a setback line connecting points determined by measurement from the corner of each street line.

Wall Sign A sign attached to the wall of a building with the face in a parallel plane to the plane of the building wall.

Warehouse A structure or part of a structure for storage of goods, raw materials, wares and commodities, whether for the owner or for others.

Water Storage Facility Vented reservoirs, water towers, standpipes and treatment plant basins including ground and elevated storage structures. It does not include hydropneumatic tanks or natural surface water bodies.

Well, High Capacity A well or other water supply or water system whose operating capacity singly or in the aggregate with that of other wells on a property will be in excess of 70 gallons per minute, as defined in Wis. Admin. Code NR112.03 (30m) and not intended for on-site domestic or agricultural use.

Window Sign A sign installed on a window for purposes of viewing from outside the premises.

Yard A required open space other than a court, on a lot, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as otherwise provided in this ordinance.

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