§ 42-242. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Accessory building means a subordinate building located on the same lot as the main building or on an adjacent lot, the use of which is clearly incidental to the use of the main building.

Accessory use means a use customarily incident to the principal use as permitted.

Airline measurement. The straight line, as the crow flies, measured from the property line of one property to the nearest property line of the second property, regardless of streets, walkways, or intervening structures, physical barriers or other obstructions.

Alcoholic beverages shall be as defined in chapter 6 of this Code.

Amendment means any change to an adopted comprehensive plan except corrections, updates and modifications of the capital improvements element concerning costs, revenue services, acceptance of facilities or facility construction dates consistent with the plan as provided in F.S. § 163.3177(3)(b), and corrections, updates or modifications of current costs in other elements, as provided in F.S. § 163.3187(2).

Apartment or apartment house mean a building occupied or intended to be occupied by more than two families living separately and with separate kitchens or facilities for doing their own cooking on the premises, or by more than two families, individuals or groups of individuals.

Bank or financial institution means an establishment designed and used to provide banking, monetary and related services to individuals and businesses including, but not limited to, commercial banks, savings and loans, loan companies, and mortgage brokers.

Building means any structure or part thereof, either temporary or permanent, having a roof, which gives protection or shelter for occupancy. The term "building" shall be included within the term "structure."

Building permit means:

(1)

Any permit for the erection or construction of a new building required by the Florida Building Code, and Broward County Administrative Provisions, as may be amended from time to time.

(2)

Any permit for an addition to an existing building which would:

a.

Create one or more dwelling units; or

b.

Involve a change in the occupancy of a building as described in the Florida Building Code, and Broward County Administrative Provisions, as may be amended from time to time.

(3)

Any permit which would be required for the nonresidential operations included in the Florida Building Code, and Broward County Administrative Provisions, as may be amended from time to time.

Certified land use plan means a local land use plan which has been certified by the county planning council as being in substantial conformity with the county land use plan and which has been adopted by a unit of local government in conformance with the requirements of the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act (F.S. § 163.3161 et seq.).

Comprehensive plan means a plan that meets the requirements of F.S. §§ 163.3177 and 163.3178.

Cone of influence (zone of influence) means an area around one or more major water wells the boundary of which is determined by the government agency having specific authority to make such a determination based on ground water travel or drawdown depth.

Continuous planting means the growing of any bush, tree or other plant material (i.e. ficus, sea grape, or pine tree) in a line so that when taking any given section thereof, there is more lineal area covered by such continuous planting than there are gaps or open areas therein.

Convenience store means a small retail business that may sell a range of everyday items such as groceries, snack foods, candy, toiletries, soft drinks, tobacco products, beer, wine, magazines and newspapers.

County land use plan means the future land use plan element for all of the county adopted by the county commission in conformance with the requirements of the county charter and the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development Regulation Act (F.S. § 163.3161 et seq.).

Developer means any person, including a government agency, undertaking any development.

Development means:

(1)

The carrying out of any building activity or mining operation, the making of any material change in the use or appearance of any structure or land, or the dividing of land into two or more parcels.

(2)

The following activities or uses shall be taken for the purposes of this chapter to involve "development," as defined in this section:

a.

A reconstruction, alteration of the size, or material change in the external appearance of a structure on land.

b.

A change in the intensity of use of land, such as an increase in the number of dwelling units in a structure or on land or a material increase in the number of businesses, manufacturing establishments, offices, or dwelling units in a structure or on land.

c.

Alteration of a shore or bank of a seacoast, river, stream, lake, pond, or canal, including any "coastal construction" as defined in F.S. § 161.021.

d.

Commencement of drilling, except to obtain soil samples, mining, or excavation on a parcel of land.

e.

Demolition of a structure.

f.

Clearing of land as an adjunct of construction.

g.

Deposit of refuse, solid or liquid waste, or fill on a parcel of land.

(3)

The following operations or uses shall not be taken for the purpose of this chapter to involve "development" as defined herein:

a.

Work by a highway or road agency or railroad company for the maintenance or improvement of a road or railroad tract, if the work is carried out on land within the boundaries or the right-of-way.

b.

Work by any utility and other persons engaged in the distribution or transmission of gas or water, for the purposes of inspecting, repairing, renewing, or constructing on established rights-of-way any sewers, mains, pipes, cables, utility tunnels, powerlines, towers, poles, tracks, or the like.

c.

Work for the maintenance, renewal, improvement, or alteration of any structure, if the work affects only the interior or the color of the structure or the decoration of the exterior of the structure.

d.

The use of any structure or land devoted to dwelling uses or any purpose customarily incidental to enjoyment of the dwelling.

e.

A change in use of land or structure form a use within a class specified in an ordinance or rule to another use in the same class.

f.

A change in the ownership or form of ownership of any parcel or structure.

g.

The creation or termination of rights of access, riparian rights, easements, covenants concerning development of land, or other rights in land.

(4)

"Development," as designated in an ordinance, rule, or development rule includes all other development customarily associated with it unless otherwise specified. When appropriate to the context, "development" refers to the act of developing to the result of development. Reference to any specific operation is not intended to mean that operation or activity, when part of other operations or activities, is not development. Reference to particular operations is not intended to limit the generality of subsection (1) of this definition.

Dwelling unit means a house, apartment, or condominium unit, trailer, group of rooms, or a single room intended for occupancy as separate living quarters with direct access from outside of the building or through a common hall and with complete kitchen facilities for the exclusive use of the occupants, including the rental units contained in a multi-unit structure or complex which are licensed by the state department of business and professional regulation, division of hotels and restaurants, as "apartments," "rental condominiums" and "retirement housing."

Easement means any strip of land created by a subdivider for public or private utilities, drainage, sanitation, or other specified uses having limitations, the title to which shall remain in the name of the property owner, subject to the right of use designated in the reservation of the servitude.

Family means one or more persons living together in a single housekeeping unit supplied with a kitchen or facilities for doing their cooking on the premises.

Floodplains means areas inundated during an identified flood event or identified by the National Flood Insurance Program as an A Zone or V Zone on flood insurance rate maps or flood hazard boundary maps.

Gross acre means the total number of acres within a parcel of land.

Gross density means the number of dwelling units constructed or proposed to be constructed within a parcel of land, divided by the gross acreage of the parcel of land. In determining the gross acreage of the parcel, the area encompassed by an extension of the parcel's boundaries to the centerline of adjacent public right-of-way such as streets, roadways, alleys, canals and waterways (exclusive of the Intracoastal Waterway) can be added to the parcel area.

Group home means a facility which provides a living environment for unrelated residents who operate as the functional equivalent of a family, including such supervision and care as may be necessary to meet the physical, emotional and social needs of the residents. Adult congregate living facilities comparable in size to group homes are included in this definition. It shall not include rooming or boarding homes, clubs, fraternities, sororities, monasteries or convents, hotels, residential treatment facilities, nursing homes, or emergency shelters.

Halfway house means a facility where persons who have served time in incarceration (which shall include state supervised parole, probation, or time in any other facility where a resident's ability to come and go as they please is restricted by the state) are placed immediately after release from incarceration or where some or all of the residents are referred to the facility by the judicial system. Also, includes places that allow people with physical, mental and emotional disabilities to learn the social and other skills necessary to integrate or re-integrate into society. This shall not apply to facilities which accept only persons who are handicapped, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 3602(H), where such disabled persons do not receive treatment for their disability at the facility.

Hedge means a boundary formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or low-growing trees or combination thereof.

Height means the vertical distance of any structure as measured from normal ground level to the highest point thereof.

Landing wharf means a floating dock attached to a seawall or dock which is no wider than eight feet.

Lot means a parcel of land fronting on a street which is or may be occupied by a building and its accessory buildings, including required open spaces. The word "lot" shall include the words "plot" and "tract."

Lot, corner, means a lot abutting on two or more streets as their intersection.

Lot, depth, means the distance measured in a minimum direction of the side lines of the lot from the midpoint of the street lot line to the opposite main rear line of the lot.

Lot, interior, means a lot other than a corner lot.

Lot lines means the lines bounding a lot.

Mean sea level means the mean sea level measurement as established by North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD).

Medical office means a small scale facility where patients are admitted for examination and treatment by one or more physicians, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, pediatricians, family practice, psychologists, pharmacists, osteopaths, physical therapists, nurses, acupuncturists, podiatrists, optometrists, psychiatrists, or others who are duly licensed to practice their respective professions in the State of Florida, as well as others, including but not limited to technicians and assistants, who are acting under the supervision and control of a licensed health care practitioner. Retail pharmacies staffed by pharmacists that sell prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs or both and other retail goods for sale to the public, are not medical offices. This definition does not include healthcare uses as described in section 42-371.

Nicotine dispensing devise retail store means a retail store whose principal use is the sale of nicotine dispensing devices, or which predominantly markets such through product inventory, business name, signage and/or advertising, nicotine dispensing devices. For purposes of this Chapter 42, a "nicotine dispensing devise" means any product that employs an electronic, chemical or mechanical means to produce vapor from a nicotine product, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or other similar device or product, any replacement cartridge for such device, and any other container of nicotine in a solution or other form intended to be used with or within an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or other similar device or product.

Normal ground level means the level of the lot or parcel of land in question, whether the land is in its natural state or has had fill placed upon it, but in no event shall the normal ground level be more than 18 inches above the crown of the road on which such lot or parcel of land fronts.

Open air shade structure means a freestanding structure which is supported by columns or poles, open on all sides, and covered by a roof that is either open or solid, such as a tiki hut, chickee hut, canopy, gazebo, pergola, or open cabana.

Package store shall be as defined in chapter 6 of this Code.

Parcel of land means any quantity of land capable of being described with such definiteness that its location and boundaries may be established, which is designated by its owner or developer as land to be used or developed as a unit or which has been used or developed as a unit.

Residence, one-family, means a building used or intended to be used as a home or residence, in which all living rooms are accessible to each other from within the building, and in which such living rooms are accessible without using an entrance vestibule, stairway or common stairway or common hallway that is designed as an entrance, vestibule or common stairway or common hallway for more than one family, and in which the use, arrangement, and management of all sleeping quarters, all appliances for cooking, ventilation, heating or lighting, or that public or community service, are under one control.

Residence, two-family, means a building used or in tended to be used as a place of residence for not more than two families, with the same definition of each place or residence within the building, or upon the same lot, as applies to "one-family residence."

Residence, four-family, means a building used or intended to be used as a place of residence for not more than four families, with the families living separately and with separate kitchens or facilities for cooking in the premises for each family.

Right-of-way means land dedicated, deeded, used, or to be used for a street, alley, walkway, boulevard, drainage facility, access or ingress, or other purpose by the public, certain designated individuals, or governing bodies.

Setback means the minimum horizontal distance between a building and the boundary lines of the lot on which it is situated.

Shelter means a facility providing temporary support, transitional housing and living accommodations to individuals including but not limited to: kitchen and dining facilities, meal provision, 24-hour crisis intervention, transportation, clothing and other similar functions.

Shopping center means a group of at least three commercial establishments, built on a site that is planned, developed, owned or managed as an operating unit related in location, size and type of shops to the trade areas that the unit serves. A shopping center provides on-site parking in definite relationship to the type and total size of the stores. The minimum gross leasable area of a shopping center shall be not less than 10,000 square feet.

Story means that portion of a building included between the upper surface of a floor and the upper surface of the floor or underside of the roof next above. A story consists of no less than eight feet and no more than 14 feet in height.

Street means a thoroughfare which affords principal means of access to abutting property and including avenues, boulevards, courts, terraces or public ways over 20 feet in width.

Structural alteration means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.

Structure means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the land, or attached to something having a permanent location on the land, including fences. The term "structure" shall include buildings.

Subdivision means the platting of real property into two or more lots, parcels, tracts, tiers, blocks, sites, units, or any other division of land; and includes establishment of new streets and alleys, additions, and resubdivisions; and, when appropriate to the context, relates to the process of subdividing or to the lands or area subdivided.

Synthetic turf means a dense and continuous surface of synthetic fibers mounted on a permeable backing and of sufficient density and green color to replicate the appearance of healthy natural grass.

(Code 1979, ch. 21, § 5.2; Ord. No. 2002-0812, § 6, 6-11-2002; Ord. No. 2014-0911, § 2, 7-8-2014; Ord. No. 2014-0912, § 3, 9-10-2014; Ord. No. 2015-0922, § 4, 1-27-2015; Ord. No. 2016-0940, § 2, 6-28-2016; Ord. No. 2017-0944 , § 5, 1-24-2017; Ord. No. 2017-0957 , § 2, 1-9-2018)

Cross reference

Definitions generally, § 1-2.