§ 12. DEFINITIONS AND WORD INTERPRETATIONS

In the construction of this Ordinance, the word interpretations and definitions contained in this Article shall be observed and applied, except when the context clearly indicates otherwise. In further amplification and for clarity of interpretation of the context, the following definitions of word usage shall apply:

A.

Words used in the present tense shall include the future; and words used in the singular number shall include the plural number, and the plural the singular.

B.

The word "shall" is mandatory and not discretionary.

C.

The word "may" is permissive.

D.

The word "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, corporation, trust and company as well as an individual.

E.

The word "lot" shall include the words "piece", "parcel", "tract", and "plot".

F.

The word "building" includes all structures of every kind, except fences and walls, regardless of similarity to buildings.

G.

The phrase "used for" shall include the phrases "arranged for", "designed for", "intended for", and "occupied for".

Abutting: Having property or district lines in common; i.e., two lots are abutting if they have property lines in common. Lots are also considered to be abutting if they are directly opposite each other and separated by a street, alley, railroad right-of-way, or stream.

Access: A way of approaching or entering a property. Access also includes ingress, the right to enter, and egress, the right to leave.

Accessory Building or Use: A building or use, not including signs, which is:

A.

Conducted or located on the same zoning lot as the principal building or use, except as may be specifically provided elsewhere in the Ordinance;

B.

Clearly incidental to, subordinate in area and purpose to, and serves the principal use; and,

C.

Either in the same ownership as the principal use or is clearly operated and maintained solely for the comfort, convenience, necessity, or benefit of the occupants, employees, customers, or visitors of or to the principal use.

Addition (to an existing building) means an extension or increase in the floor area or height of a building or structure. Additions to existing buildings shall comply with the requirements for new construction, unless the addition, renovation or reconstruction to any building, that was constructed prior to the initial Flood Insurance Study for that area, and the addition, renovation or reconstruction does not equal 50% of the present market value of the structure. Where a fire wall is provided between the addition and the existing building, the addition(s) shall be considered a separate building and must comply with the standards for new construction.

Adult Entertainment Establishment: Includes clubs and eating and drinking establishments with nude or seminude entertainment or dancing; physical culture establishments, such as but not limited to, masseurs, massage parlors, etc.; and establishments that include adult bookstores, adult motion picture theaters, adult motels and hotels, and other similar establishments which depict or emphasize sexual activities and/or nudity.

Affected land (relating to mining): The surface area of land that is mined, the surface area of land associated with a mining activity so that soil is exposed to accelerated erosion, the surface area of land on which overburden and waste is deposited, and the surface area of land used for processing or treatment plant, stockpiles, nonpublic roads, and selling ponds.

Agriculture: The practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock; such as but not limited to dairying, pasturage, viticulture, horticulture, hydroponics, floriculture, aquaculture, truck farming, orchards, forestry, and animal and poultry husbandry. However, the operation of any accessory uses shall be secondary to that of the normal agricultural activities.

Airfield, Small Private: The use of a field or grassed runway, on a noncommercial basis, for privately owned airplanes when the owner of at least one (1) of the resident planes lives on the premises. This small private airfield is not regulated by this Ordinance.

Airport: Any area of land or water which is used or intended for use for the landing and taking off of aircraft, and any appurtenant areas which are used or intended for use for airport buildings or other airport facilities or rights-of-way, including all necessary taxiways, aircraft storage and tie-down areas, hangars, and other necessary buildings and open spaces.

Airport - All publicly used airports in Bladen County.

Airport Elevation - The highest point of an airport's usable landing area measured in feet from mean sea level.

Airport Hazard - Any structure or object of natural growth located on or in the vicinity of a public airport, or any use of land near such airport, which obstructs the airspace required for the flight of aircraft in landing or takeoff at such airport or is otherwise hazardous to such landing or takeoff of aircraft.

Approach Surface - A surface longitudinally centered on the extended runway centerline, extending outward and upward from the end of the primary surface and at the same slope as the approach zone height limitation slope set forth in Section (E). In plan, the perimeter of the approach surface coincides with the perimeter of the approach zone.

Approach, transitional, horizontal, and conical zones - These zones apply to the area under the approach, transitional, horizontal, and conical surfaces defined on the airport's Field Hazard Zoning Map.

Alley: A public or private right-of-way primarily designed to serve as secondary access to the side or rear of those properties whose principal frontage is on a street and is not intended for general traffic.

Alter: To make any structural changes in the supporting or load-bearing members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, girders, or floor joists.

Alternative Structure (regarding Wireless Telecommunication Facilities): A structure which is not primarily constructed for the purpose of holding antennas but on which one or more antennas may be mounted. Alternative structures include, but are not limited to, flagpoles, buildings, silos, water tanks, pole signs, lighting standards, steeples, billboards, and electric transmission towers.

Antenna: Any exterior transmitting or receiving device that radiates or captures electromagnetic waves (excluding radar signals).

Antenna, Dual-Band/Multi-Band: An antenna with separate elements for two or more commercial wireless service frequency bands (example: cellular and PCS or specialized mobile radio).

Antenna Array. An Antenna Array is one or more rods, panels, discs or similar devices used for the transmission or reception of radio frequency signals, which may include omni-directional antenna (rod), directional antenna (panel) and parabolic antenna (disc). The Antenna Array does not include the Support Structure.

Attached Wireless Communication Facility. An Attached Wireless Communication Facility is an Antenna Array that is attached to an existing building or structure (Attachment Structure), which structures shall include but not be limited to utility poles, signs, water towers, rooftops, towers with any accompanying pole or device (Attachment Device) which attaches the Antenna Array to the existing building or structure and associated connection cables, and an Equipment Facility which may be located either inside or outside of the Attachment Structure.

Apartment: A room or suite of rooms intended for use as a residence by a single household or family. Such a dwelling unit may be located in an apartment house, duplex, or as an accessory use in a single family home or a commercial building.

Apartment House: A building containing three (3) or more dwelling units, except where permitted as an accessory use.

Apartment Hotel: A hotel in which at least ninety (90) percent of the hotel accommodations are occupied by permanent guests.

Area of special flood hazard is the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of being flooded in any given year.

Assembly: A joining together of completely fabricated parts creating a finished product.

Automobile Service Station (Gas Station): Any building or land used for the dispensing, sale, or offering for sale at retail any automobile fuels along with accessories such as lubricants or tires, except that car washing, mechanical and electrical repairs, and tire repairs shall only be performed incidental to the conduct of the service station and are performed indoors. There shall be no fuel pumps within fifteen (15) feet of any property line or street right-of-way and incidental activities shall not include tire re-treading, major bodywork, major mechanical work, or upholstery work.

Base flood means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Basement means, for floodplain management purposes, any area of the building having its floor sub grade (below ground level) on all sides.

Bed and Breakfast: A form of temporary housing for travelers with breakfast included, but no other meals available. There is no restaurant, but a dining room may be used by overnight guests only, which is open only during breakfast hours. The owner must be a resident.

Berm: Any elongated earthen mound designed or constructed to separate, screen, or buffer adjacent land uses.

Billboard: See "Off-Premises Sign", under "Signs".

Block: A tract of land or a lot or a group of lots bounded by streets, public parks, golf courses, railroad rights-of-way, water courses, lakes, un-subdivided land, or a boundary line or lines of the County or its towns or any combination of the above.

Block Frontage: That portion of a block that abuts a single street.

Board of Adjustment: A local body, created by ordinance, whose responsibility is to hear appeals from decisions of the Zoning Administrator and to consider requests for variances from the terms of the Zoning Ordinance.

Board of County Commissioners: The governing body of Bladen County.

Boarding House: A building other than a hotel, inn, or motel, where, for compensation, meals are served and lodging is provided.

Bona Fide Farm: Any tract of land where the land is used for the production of and activities relating to, or incidental to, the production of crops, fruits, vegetables, ornamental and flowering plants, dairy, livestock, poultry, and all other forms of agricultural products having a domestic or foreign market. In addition, this Ordinance does not impose nor exercise any controls over croplands, timberlands, pasture lands, orchards, or idle or other farmlands. Nor does it exercise control over any farmhouse, barn, poultry house, or other farm buildings, including tenant or other houses for persons working on said farms, as long as such houses shall be in the same ownership as the farm and located on the farm. Residences for non-farm use or occupancy and other non-farm uses shall be subject to the provisions of this Ordinance.

Buffer: A fence, wall, hedge, or other planted area or device used to enclose, screen, or separate one use or lot from another.

Buildable Area (Building Envelope): The space remaining on a zoning lot after the minimum open-space requirements (yards, setbacks) have been met.

Building: Any structure enclosed and isolated by exterior walls constructed or used for residence, business, industry, or other public or private purposes, or accessory thereto, and including tents, lunch wagons, dining cars, trailers, mobile homes, and attached or unattached carports consisting of roof and supporting members, and similar structures whether stationary or movable.

Building, Accessory: See Accessory Building or Use.

Building Footprint: The portion of a lot's area that is enclosed by the foundation of buildings, plus any cantilevered upper floor.

Building Height: The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the building. Spires, cupolas, chimneys, antennae attached to a building, and/or projections from buildings, radios, TV, communications, telecommunication, and water towers are not to be included in the calculations of building height.

Building Lot Coverage: The amount of net lot area or land surface area, expressed in terms of a percentage that is covered by all principal buildings.

Building, Principal (Main): A building in which is conducted the principal use of the plot on which it is situated.

Building Setbacks: The minimum distance from the property line to closest projection of the exterior face of buildings, walls, or other form of construction (i.e. decks, landings, terraces, porches, and patios on grade).

Building Setback Line (Front Yard Setback): The line on the front, rear, and sides of a lot, set according to the district regulations, which delineates the areas upon which a structure may be built or maintained. At the time of application, all yard setbacks are determined from the most recent Bladen County Official Tax Map.

Front yard setback - shall be measured from the roadway right-of-way as shown on tax maps.

Side and Rear yard setbacks - shall be measured from the property lines as shown on tax maps.

Corner lot setbacks - shall be measured from the roadway right-of-ways it is adjacent to as

On a flag lot the "building setback line" runs parallel to the street and is measured from the point in the main portion of the lot (i.e. the "flag" part of the lot, not the "pole" part), which is closest to the street. (The minimum lot width must be met in this area, as well. Therefore, if the point closest to the street is a corner rather than a line, the setback will have to extend as far as necessary to meet the required minimum lot width!)

Built-Upon Area: Built-upon areas shall include that portion of a development project that is covered by impervious or partially impervious surfaces, including buildings, pavement, gravel roads, recreation facilities (e.g. tennis courts), etc. (Note: Wooded slatted decks, golf courses, and the water area of a swimming pool are not considered built-upon area.)

Camp or Care Center: A facility licensed by the State of North Carolina, which consists of one or more buildings, located on at least twenty (20) acres of land, which provides accommodations for more than nine (9) individuals and where the activities of those individuals predominantly occur in supervised groups.

Campground: Land upon which, for compensation, shelters (such as tents, travel trailers, and recreational vehicles) are erected or located for occupation by transients and/or vacationers. They may include such permanent structures and facilities as are normally associated with the operation of a campground.

Candlepower: The amount of light that will illuminate a surface one (1) foot distant from a light source to an intensity of one (1) foot-candle. Maximum (peak) candlepower is the largest amount of candlepower emitted by any lamp, light source, or luminaire.

Canopy, Marquee, or Awning: A roof-like cover extending over a sidewalk, walkway, driveway, or other outdoor improvement for the purpose of sheltering individuals or equipment from the weather. An awning is made of fabric or some flexible fabric-like substance. Canopies and marquees are rigid structures of a permanent nature.

Car Wash: A building, or portion thereof, containing facilities for washing automobiles or other vehicles, using production line methods with a chain conveyor, blower, or other mechanical devices; or providing space, water, equipment, or soap for the complete or partial hand washing of automobiles, whether washing is performed by the operator or by the customer.

Certificate of Occupancy: Official certification that a premises conforms to provisions of the Zoning Ordinance (and State Building Code) and may be used or occupied. Such a certificate is granted for new construction or for alterations or additions to existing structures or a change in use. Unless such a certificate is issued, a structure cannot be occupied, but a certificate may be issued for a portion of a structure ready for occupancy, such as separate dwelling or commercial units in a structure with multiple units.

Club or Lodge (Private, Nonprofit, Civic, or Fraternal): A nonprofit association of persons, who are bona fide members paying dues, which owns, hires, or leases a building, or portion thereof, the use of such premises being restricted to members and their guests. The affairs and management of such "private club or lodge" are conducted by a Board of Directors, executive committee, or similar body chosen by the members. It shall be permissible to serve food and meals on such premises, providing adequate dining room space and kitchen facilities are available. The sale of alcoholic beverages to members and their guests shall be allowed, provided it is secondary and incidental to the promotion of some other common objective of the organization, and further provided that such sale of alcoholic beverages is in compliance with the applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Collocation/Site Sharing. Collocation/Site Sharing shall mean use of a common Wireless Communication Facility or common site by more than one wireless communication license holder or by one wireless license holder for more than one type of communications technology and/or placement of an antenna array on a structure owned or operated by a utility or other public entity.

Common Open Space: A parcel or parcels of land, or an area of water, or a combination of both land and water, within the site designated for development and designed and intended for the use and enjoyment of residents of the development or for the general public, not including streets or off-street parking areas. Common Open Space shall be substantially free of structures, but may contain such improvements as are in the plan as finally approved and are appropriate for the benefit of residents of the development.

Condominium: A dwelling unit in which the ownership of the occupancy rights to the dwelling unit is individually owned or for sale to an individual, and such ownership is not inclusive of any land.

Conical Surface: A surface extending outward and upward from the periphery of the horizontal surface at a slope of 20 to 1 for a horizontal distance of 4,000 feet.

Contractor: One who accomplishes work or provides facilities under contract to another. The major portion of a contractor's work normally occurs outside and away from his business location. As used in this Ordinance, the term "contractor" does not include general assembly, fabrication, or manufacture at his business location.

Controlled-Access Highway: A roadway which, in accordance with State and Federal guidelines, is designed to give preference to through traffic by providing access connections at interchanges or selected public roads only, with no direct access from private roads or driveways and with no crossing at grade, including any interstate, State, or U.S. Route.

Convalescent Home (Nursing Home): An institution, which is advertised, announced, or maintained for the express or implied purpose of providing nursing or convalescent care for persons unrelated to the licensee. A convalescent home is a home for chronic or nursing patients who, on admission, are not as a rule acutely ill and who do not usually require special facilities such as an operating room, X-ray facilities, laboratory facilities, and obstetrical facilities. A convalescent home provides care for persons who have remedial ailments or other ailments for which continuing medical and skilled nursing care is indicated; who, however, are not sick enough to require general hospital care. Nursing care is their primary need, but they will require continuing medical supervision. A major factor that distinguishes convalescent homes is that the residents will require the individualization of medical care.

Convenience Store: A commercial building where a variety of items are sold, which may include food, magazines, automobile accessories and maintenance supplies, and other such items. In addition to the commercial building, other services on the premises may include gasoline sales, and a coin operated (automated) car wash.

Conversion: Changing the original purpose of the building to the different use.

Covenant: A private legal restriction on the use of land, which is contained in the deed to the property or otherwise formally recorded. There may be certain legal requirements for formal establishment of a covenant such as a written document, a mutual interest in the property, that the covenant be concerned with the use of the land rather than individual characteristics of ownership, etc.

Cutoff Angle: The angle formed by a line drawn from the direction of light rays at the light source and a line perpendicular to the ground from the light source, above which no light is emitted.

Cutoff-Type Luminary: A luminary with elements such as shields, reflectors, or refractor panels which direct and cut off the light at a cutoff angle that is ninety (90) degrees or less.

Day Care Facility (Adults and Children):

A place other than an occupied dwelling, which provides for the care of children or adults. Those receiving care are not all related to each other by blood or marriage and are not legal wards or foster children of the attendant adults, and for which care a payment, fee, or grant is made. All State registration requirements and inspections shall be met.

If children are the primary clients of the day care home the following shall apply: Any child care arrangement where three (3) or more children under thirteen (13) years of age receive care away from their own home by persons other than relatives, guardians, or full-time custodians, or in the child's own home where other unrelated children are in care. Child day care does not include seasonal recreational programs operated for less than four (4) consecutive months. Child day care also does not include arrangements that provide only drop-in or short-term child care for parents participating in activities that are not employment related and where the parents are on the premises or otherwise easily accessible.

Day Care Home (Adults and Children):

A dwelling in which a permanent occupant of the dwelling provides for the care of children or adults. Those receiving care are not all related to the occupant or to each other by blood or marriage and are not the legal wards or foster children of the attendant adults. Those receiving care and are not dependents of the occupant, do not reside on the site. For the purpose of this ordinance, such activities shall meet all requirements for home occupations. All State registration requirements and inspections shall be met.

If children are the primary clients of the day care home the following shall apply: Includes child care centers, family child care homes, and any other child care arrangement not excluded by G.S. 110-86(2), which provides day care on a regular basis at least once a week for more than four (4) hours, but less than twenty-four (24) hours, per day for more than five (5) children under the age of thirteen (13) years, not including the operator's own school-aged children. It does not matter where it is located, whether the same or different children attend, and whether or not operated for profit. The following are not included: public schools; nonpublic schools, as described in G.S. 110-86(2); summer camps having children in full-time residence; summer day camps; specialized activities or instruction such as athletics, clubs, the arts, etc.; and Bible schools normally conducted during vacation periods.

Dedication: The transfer of property from private to public ownership with no compensation involved.

Density: The average number of families, persons, housing units, or buildings per unit of land.

Density, Gross: The number of dwelling units or the amount of nonresidential gross floor area on a particular tract or parcel of land, taking into account the entire area of the tract or parcel.

Density, Net: The number of dwelling units or the amount of nonresidential gross floor area on a particular tract or parcel of land, not taking into account the portions of the tract or parcel on which buildings may not be erected, or development may not occur. Such areas closed to development include, but are not limited to: street rights-of-way, areas of special floor hazard, lakes or other water bodies, or wetlands falling under the regulatory jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Development means, for floodplain management purposes, any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, or storage of equipment or materials.

Drip Line: A vertical line extending from the outermost edge of the tree canopy or shrub branch to the ground.

Driveway: A private roadway located on a parcel or lot used for vehicle access.

Dwelling: A building or portion thereof designed, arranged, or used for permanent living quarters. The term "dwelling" shall not be deemed to include a travel trailer, motel, hotel, tourist home, or other structures designed for transient residence.

Dwelling, Attached: A dwelling that is joined to another dwelling at one or more sides by a party wall or walls.

Dwelling, Detached: A dwelling that is entirely surrounded by open space on the same lot.

Dwelling, Duplex: A building containing two (2) dwelling units, other than where a second dwelling unit is permitted as an accessory use.

Dwelling, Multifamily: A building containing three (3) or more dwelling units, except where permitted as an accessory use.

Dwelling, Single Family: A building containing one dwelling unit only, but may include one (1) separate unit as an accessory use to be occupied only by employees or relatives of the household.

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".

Easement: A right given by the owner of land to another party for specific limited use of that land. For example, a property owner may give an easement on his property to allow utility facilities like power lines or pipelines, to allow light to reach a neighbor's windows, or to allow access to another property.

Elevated building means, for floodplain management purposes, a non-basement building which has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings or columns.

Existing construction means for the purposes of determining rates, structures for which the start of construction" commenced before the effective date of the FIRM or before January 1, 1975, for FIRMs effective before that date. "Existing construction" may also be referred to as "existing structures". (Amended 1/2001)

Existing manufactured home park or manufactured home subdivision means a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including, at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed before September 19, 1988. (Amended 1/2001)

Expansion to an existing manufactured home park or subdivision means the preparation of additional sites by the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete slabs). (Amended 1/2001)

Erect: Build, construct, erect, rebuild, reconstruct, or re-erect any building or other structure.

Equipment Facility: An Equipment Facility is any structure used to contain ancillary equipment for a Wireless Communication Facility, which includes cabinets, shelters, a build out of an existing structure, pedestals, and other similar structures.

Federal Aviation Administration: FAA

Federal Communications Commission: FCC

Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996: FTA.

Fabrication: Manufacturing, excluding the refining or other initial processing of basic raw materials, such as metal, ores, lumber, or rubber. Fabrication relates to stamping, cutting, or otherwise shaping the processed materials into useful objects.

Family: One or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption living together as a single housekeeping unit. For the purpose of this Ordinance, such persons may include gratuitous guests, also persons living together voluntarily as a family in a dwelling as a single housekeeping group.

Family Care Home: A facility that provides health, counseling, or related services, including room, board, and care, to six (6) or fewer handicapped persons in a family-type environment. These handicapped persons include those with physical, emotional, or mental disabilities, but not those who have been deemed dangerous to themselves or to others.

Fence, Security: A fence designed to keep out unauthorized persons and kept locked when the area or facility is not in use or under observation. Security fences are often equipped with a self-closing and positive self-latching mechanism.

Floor Area (for determining off-street parking and loading requirements): The gross total horizontal area of all floors below the roof, including usable basements, cellars, and accessory storage areas such as counters, racks, or closets, but excluding, in the case of nonresidential facilities, arcades, porticos, and similar areas open to the outside air which are accessible to the general public and which are not designed or used as areas for sales, display, storage, service, or production.

However, "floor area", for the purpose of measurement for off-street parking spaces shall not include: floor area devoted to primarily storage purposes (except as otherwise noted above); floor area devoted to off-street parking or loading facilities, including aisles, ramps, and maneuvering space; or basement floor other than area devoted to retailing activities, to the production or processing of goods, or business or professional offices.

Flood or flooding means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

(1)

The overflow of inland or tidal waters; and,

(2)

The unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.

Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) means an official map of a community, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where the boundaries of the areas of special flood hazard have been defined as Zone A.

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) means an official map of a community, on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazard and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

Flood Insurance Study is the engineering study performed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to identify flood hazard areas, flood insurance risk zones, and other flood data in a community. The study includes Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps (FBFMs), Flood Hazard Boundary Maps (FHBMs), and/or Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRMs). (Amended 1/2001)

Floodway means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.

Floor means the top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including basement), i.e., top of slab in concrete slab construction or top of wood flooring in wood frame construction. The term does not include the floor of a garage used solely for parking vehicles.

Functionally dependent facility means a facility which cannot be used for its intended purpose unless it is located or carried out in close proximity to water, such as a docking or port facility necessary for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers, shipbuilding, ship repair, or seafood processing facilities. The term does not include long-term storage, manufacture, sales, or service facilities.

Floor Area, Gross: The total floor area enclosed within a building.

Footcandle: A unit of illumination produced on a surface, all points of which are one (1) foot from a uniform point source of one (1) candle.

Frontage: All of the real property abutting a street line measured along the street right-of-way.

Garage, Commercial: Any building or premises, except those described as a private or parking garage, used for the storage or care of motor vehicles, or where any such vehicles are equipped for operation, repaired, or kept for remuneration, hire, or sale.

Garage, Parking: Any building or premises, other than a private or commercial garage, used exclusively for the parking or storage of motor vehicles.

Garage, Private: A building or space used as an accessory to, or a part of, the main building permitted in any residential district, providing for the storage of motor vehicles, and in which no business, occupation, or service for profit is in any way conducted, except in an approved home occupation.

Glare: The effect of brightness in the field of view that causes annoyance or discomfort or interferes with seeing. It may be direct glare from a light source or reflected glare from a glossy surface.

Groundcover: Any natural vegetative growth or other material that renders the soil surface stable against accelerated erosion.

Hazard To Air Navigation: An obstruction determined to have a substantial adverse effect on the safe and efficient utilization of the navigable airspace.

Height (Towers). When referring to a Wireless Communication Facility, height shall mean the vertical distance measured from the base of the tower to the highest point on the Wireless Communication Facility, including the antenna array and other attachments.

Height: For the purpose of determining the height limits in all zones set forth in this Section, the datum shall be mean sea level elevation unless otherwise specified.

Highest Adjacent Grade means the highest natural elevation of the ground surface, prior to construction, next to the proposed walls of the structure.

Historic Structure means any structure that is: (a) listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the US Department of Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register; (b) certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district; (c) individually listed on a State inventory of historic places; (d) individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified (1) by an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of Interior, or (2) directly by the Secretary of Interior in states without approved programs. (Amended 1/2001)

Home Care Unit: A facility meeting all the requirements of the State of North Carolina for boarding and care of not more than five (5) persons who are not critically ill and do not need professional medical attention, and is located on a lot of at least one (1) acre in size.

Home for the Aged, or Rest Home: A place for the care of aged and infirm persons whose principal need is a home with such sheltered and custodial care as their age and infirmities require. In such homes, medical care is only occasional or incidental, such as may be required in the home of any individual or family for persons who are aged and infirm. The residents of such homes will not, as a rule, have remedial ailments or other ailments for which continuing skilled planned medical and nursing care is indicated.

A major factor that distinguishes those homes is that the residents may be given congregate services as distinguished from the individualization of medical care required in "patient" care. A person may be accepted for sheltered or custodial care because of a disability, which does not require continuing, planned medical care, but which does make him unable to maintain himself in individual living arrangements. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a "home for the aged" shall also be considered a "rest home".

Home Occupation: Any occupation or profession carried on entirely within a dwelling or accessory building on the same lot by one or more occupants thereof, providing the following:

A.

That such use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes;

B.

That no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total floor area of the dwelling is used for such purposes;

C.

That there is no outside or window display;

D.

That no mechanical or electrical equipment is installed or used other than is normally used for domestic, professional, or hobby purposes, or for infrequent consultation or emergency treatment; and,

E.

That not more than one person not a resident of the dwelling is employed in connection with the home occupation.

Home Occupation of an Industrial or Commercial Nature: A home occupation in a rural area that may be of a heavier commercial or industrial nature than a typical home occupation. The business owner resides on the premises, but the amount of floor area used and the type of equipment used may be different than the standard home occupation and more than one person not a resident of the dwelling may be employed. Such home occupations may include commercial or industrial uses listed in the Table of Uses.

Horizontal Surface: A horizontal plane 150 feet above the established airport elevation, the perimeter of which in plan, coincides with the perimeter of the horizontal zone.

Horse Farm: A bona fide farm that, as a primary activity, conducts business by engaging in any one or more of the activities of breeding, training, buying, selling, showing, racing, and boarding of horses, including associated accessory activities.

Hotel: A building or other structure kept, maintained, advertised as, or held out to the public to be a place where sleeping accommodations are supplied for pay to transient or permanent guests or tenants. Rooms are furnished for the accommodation of such guests, and the hotel may or may not have one or more dining rooms, restaurants, or cafes where meals are served. Such sleeping accommodations and dining rooms, restaurants, or cafes, if existing, are located in the same building. Entry to sleeping rooms shall be from the interior of the building.

Impervious Surface Area: That portion of the land area that allows little or no infiltration of precipitation into the soil. Impervious areas include, but are not limited to, that portion of a development project that is covered by buildings, areas paved with concrete, asphalt, or brick, gravel roads, patios, driveways, streets, and recreation facilities such as tennis courts. (Note: wooden slatted decks and the water area of a swimming pool are considered pervious.)

Incompatible Use: A use or service that is unsuitable for direct association and/or contiguity with certain other uses because it is contradictory, incongruous, or discordant.

Industrial Park: A special or exclusive type of planned industrial area designed and equipped to accommodate a community of industries, providing them with all necessary facilities and services in attractive surroundings among compatible neighbors. Industrial parks may be promoted or sponsored by private developers, community organizations, or government organizations.

Inn: An establishment meeting the definition of "hotel" except that it is designed for a more leisurely paced lifestyle with no more than one (1) active recreational facility provided, such as tennis courts or a swimming pool, with no more than twenty-five (25) guestrooms, and with a maximum of ten (10) percent of the total floor area (excluding guestrooms and hallways) in use as accessory commercial uses, such as gift shops or newsstands.

Inoperative Vehicle: Any vehicle, designed to be self-propelled, which by virtue of broken or missing component parts, is no longer capable of self-propulsion. For the purpose of this Ordinance, any vehicle that is registered with the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and has a current North Carolina motor vehicle registration license affixed to it shall not be considered inoperative.

Internet Sweepstakes Café/Electronic Gaming Operations: Any business enterprise, whether as a principal or an accessory use, where persons utilize electronic machines, including but not limited to computers and gaming terminals, to conduct games of chance, including sweepstakes, and where cash, merchandise or other items of value are redeemed or otherwise distributed, whether or not the value of such distribution is determined by electronic games played or by predetermined odds. This term includes but is not limited to internet sweepstakes, electronic gaming operations or cybercafés, who have a finite pool of winners. This definition does not include any lottery approved by the State of North Carolina.

Junk Yard: Any area, in whole or in part, where waste or scrap materials are bought, sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled, or handled, including but not limited to scrap iron and other metals, paper, rags, vehicles, rubber tires, and bottles. A "junk yard" includes an auto-wrecking yard, but does not include uses established entirely within enclosed buildings. A "junk yard" for vehicles is defined as four or more junk, inoperable or unlicensed vehicles stored on the property.

Kennel: An establishment where dogs are bred, trained or boarded.

Landfill, Demolition: A sanitary landfill facility for stumps, limbs, leaves, concrete, brick, wood, uncontaminated earth and other solid wastes resulting from construction, demolition or land clearing.

Landfill, Sanitary: A facility where waste material and refuse is placed in the ground in layers and covered with earth or some other suitable material each work day. Sanitary landfills shall also conform to requirements of 15A NCAC 13B regarding solid waste management.

Landscape Architect: A professional landscape architect registered by the State of North Carolina.

Landscaped Area: A portion of the site or property containing vegetation to exist after construction is completed. Landscaped areas can include, but are not limited to, natural areas, buffers, lawns, and plantings.

Larger Than Utility Runway: A runway that is constructed for and intended to be used by propeller driven or jet powered aircraft of greater than 12,500 pounds maximum gross weight.

Life Care Center: A facility which combines the functions of any combination of a retirement community, rest home, nursing home, and convalescent home, providing residential facilities for independent living, assisted care, and, possibly, nursing care.

Light, Cutoff: An artificial outdoor lighting fixture, or luminaire, designed to ensure that no light is directly emitted above a horizontal line parallel to the ground.

Light, Non-Cutoff: An artificial outdoor lighting fixture, or luminaire, that is designed to allow light to be directly emitted above a horizontal line parallel to the ground.

Loading Area or Space, Off-Street: An area logically and conveniently located for bulk pickups and deliveries, scaled to delivery vehicles expected to be used, and accessible to such vehicles. Required off-street loading space is not to be included as off-street parking space in computing required off-street parking space.

Lot: A parcel of land in undivided ownership occupied, or intended for occupancy, by a main building or group of main buildings together with any accessory buildings, including such yards, open spaces, width, and area as are required by this Ordinance, either shown on a plat of record or described by metes and bounds and recorded with the Register of Deeds. For the purpose of this Ordinance, the word "lot" shall be taken to mean any number of contiguous lots or portions thereof, upon which one or more main structures for a single use are erected or are to be erected.

Lot, Corner: A lot abutting the intersection of two (2) or more streets or a lot abutting on a curved street or streets shall be considered a corner lot if straight lines drawn from the foremost points of the side lot lines to the foremost point of the lot at the apex meet at any angle of less than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees. In such a case the apex of the curve forming the corner lot shall be considered as the intersection of street lines for the purpose of this Ordinance, such as in corner visibility requirements.

Lot, Depth: The depth of a lot is the average distance between the front and back lot lines measured at right angles to its frontage and from corner to corner.

Lot, Interior: A lot other than a corner lot.

Lot Lines: The lines bounding a lot. Where a lot of record includes a right-of-way, the lot lines are presumed not to extend into the right-of-way.

Lot, Through: An interior lot having frontage on two streets.

Lot, Width: The straight line distance between the points where the building setback line intersects the two side lot lines.

Lot of Record: A lot which is a part of a subdivision, a plat of which has been recorded in the office of the Bladen County Register of Deeds, or a lot described by metes and bounds, the description of which has been recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds by the owner or predecessor in title thereto.

Lowest Floor means, for floodplain management and flood insurance purposes, the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area (including basement). An unfinished or flood resistant enclosure, usable solely for parking of vehicles, building access, or storage in an area other than a basement area is not considered a building's lowest floor provided that such an enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements of this ordinance.

Luminaire: A complete lighting unit consisting of a light source and all necessary mechanical, electrical, and decorative parts.

Manufactured Home. A dwelling unit that is not constructed in accordance with the standards of the North Carolina State Building Code, and is composed of one or more components, each of which are substantially assembled in a manufactured plant and designed to be transported to the home site on its own chassis, and exceeds forty feet in length and eight feet in width (commonly called a mobile home). (Amended 3 February 1994)

Manufactured Home, Class A. A manufactured home constructed after July 1, 1976 that meet or exceeds the construction standards promulgated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that were in effect at the time of construction and that satisfies the following additional criteria:

(a)

The manufactured home has a length not exceeding four times it width, with length measured along the longest axis and width measured at the narrowest part of the other axis.

(b)

The manufactured home has a minimum of 1200 feet of enclosed and heated living area.

(c)

The pitch of the roof of the manufactured home has minimum vertical rise of three and two tenths feet for each twelve feet of horizontal run (3.2 feet by 12 feet) and the roof is finished with a type of composition shingle that is commonly used in standard residential construction.

(d)

The roof eaves and gable overhangs shall be 12-inch minimum (rain gutters may be included in the minimum dimensions).

(e)

The exterior siding consists predominantly of vinyl or aluminum horizontal lap siding (whose reflectivity does not exceed that of gloss white paint), wood, or hardboard, comparable in composition, appearance and durability to the exterior siding commonly used in standard residential construction.

(f)

The front entrance to the manufactured home has stairs and a porch, the porch being at least four feet by six feet in size. Stairs, porches, entrance and exit to and from the home shall be installed or constructed in accordance with the North Carolina State Administration) requirements relative to tie downs.

(g)

The electrical meters servicing the manufactured home shall he mounted (attached) directly to the manufactured home.

(h)

A multi-sectional manufactured home is required. A singular sectional manufactured home is prohibited.

(i)

All manufactured homes shall otherwise meet all applicable zoning regulations for the zoning district in which the home is located.

It is the intent of these criteria to insure that a Class A manufactured home, when installed, shall have substantially the appearance of an on site conventionally built, single family dwelling to include landscaping in harmony with surrounding dwellings. (Adopted 3 February 1994)

Manufactured Home, Class B. (Commonly referred to a single section manufactured home.) A manufactured home constructed after July 1, 1976, that meets or exceeds the construction standards promulgated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that were in effect at the time of construction and that satisfies the following additional criteria:

1.

The manufactured home has a minimum length of fifty-two (52) feet measured along the longest axis and a minimum width of fourteen (14) feet measured at the narrowest part of the other axis;

2.

The manufactured home has a minimum of seven hundred and twenty-eight (728) square feet of enclosed living area;

3.

The pitch of the roof of the manufactured home has a minimum vertical rise of three feet for each twelve feet of horizontal run;

4.

The exterior siding consists predominantly of vinyl or aluminum horizontal lap siding (whose reflectivity does not exceed that of gloss white paint), wood, or hardboard, comparable in composition, appearance, and durability to the exterior siding commonly used in standard residential construction;

5.

The manufactured home is set up in accordance with the standards set by the North Carolina Department of Insurance and rests upon a continuous uniform foundation enclosure, unpierced except for required ventilation and access. The foundation skirting shall be of a non-combustible material or material that will not support combustion. Any wood framing for foundation skirting shall be constructed with treated lumber;

6.

Stairs, porches, entrance platforms, ramps, and other means of entrance and exit to and from the home shall be installed or constructed in accordance with the standards set be the North Carolina State Building Code; and

7.

The moving hitch, wheels and axles, and transporting lights have been removed;

Manufactured Home, Class C. (Commonly referred to as a house trailer or a mobile home.) Any manufactured home that does not meet the definitional criteria of a Class A or a Class B manufactured home. Class C Manufactured homes are only allowed within Bladen County if they are located within Bladen County by the adoption of this ordinance. Once a Class C manufactured home is disconnected from utilities at its current location it cannot be moved and reconnected to a new location within Bladen County. The disconnected manufactured home cannot be used for dwelling or storage and must be disposed of.

(Amendment # 2 effective September 22, 2003)

Manufactured Home Park: Any site or tract of land, of contiguous ownership upon which mobile home spaces are provided for mobile home occupancy, whether or not a charge is made for such service. This does not include mobile home sales lots on which unoccupied mobile homes are parked for the purpose of inspection and sale.

Manufactured Home Space: A plot of land within a manufactured home park designed for the accommodation of one mobile home.

Manufactured Home Stand: That portion of the manufactured home space intended for occupancy by the mobile home proper, consisting of a rectangular plat of ground of least 12 by 60 feet.

Mean Sea Level means, for purposes of the NFIP, the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929 or other datum, to which base flood elevations shown on a FIRM are referenced.

Mining:

1.

The breaking of the surface soil in order to facilitate or accomplish the extraction or removal of minerals, ores or other solid matter.

2.

Any activity or process constituting all or part of a process for the extraction or removal of minerals, ores, soils, and other solid matter from their original location.

3.

The preparation, washing, cleaning, or other treatment of minerals, ores, or other solid matter so as to make them suitable for commercial, industrial or construction use.

Mining does not include:

1.

Those aspects of deep mining not having significant effect on the surface, where the affected land does not exceed one acre in area.

2.

Excavation or grading when conducted solely in aid of on-site farming or of on-site construction for purposes other than mining, such as constructing a residence, garage, commercial or industrial building.

3.

Mining operations where the affected land does not exceed one (1) acre in area.

4.

Plants engaged in processing minerals produced elsewhere and whose refuse does not affect more than one (1) acre of land.

5.

Removal of overburden and mining of limited amounts of any ores or mineral solids when done only for the purpose and to the extent necessary to determine the location, quantity, or quality of any natural deposit, provided that no ores or mineral solids removed during exploratory excavation or mining are sold, processed for sale, or consumed in the regular operation of a business, and provided further that the affected land resulting from any exploratory excavation does not exceed one (1) acre in area.

Mini-Warehouse/Storage Facilities: A building, or group of buildings, in a controlled access and/or fenced compound that contains varying sizes of individual, compartmentalized and controlled access stalls or lockers for the dead storage of a customer's goods or wares. No sales, service, or repair activities other than the rental of dead storage units are permitted on the premises.

Mobile Office: A structure identical to a manufactured home except that it has been converted to, or originally designed and constructed for, commercial or office use.

Modular Structure: A manufactured structure designed for year-round residential or commercial use, with major components or modules preassembled and transported to a site for final assembly and utility connection, but which is not designed to be transported on its own chassis. Such structures must meet all requirements of the North Carolina State Building Code and must have attached a North Carolina Validating Stamp.

Motel: A building or other structure kept, maintained, advertised as, or held out to the public to be, a place where sleeping accommodations are supplied for pay to transient or permanent guests or tenants and where rooms are furnished for the accommodation of such guests. Entry to sleeping rooms may be from the interior or exterior of the building. Food may be served in dining rooms, restaurants, or cafes, which may be located in the same building as the sleeping rooms or may be in one or more separate buildings.

"New construction" means, for floodplain management purposes, structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of this ordinance and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

"New manufactured home park or subdivision" means a manufactured home park or subdivision for which the construction of facilities for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete slabs) is completed on or after September 19, 1988. (Amended 1/2001)

Nonconforming Lot: A lot existing at the effective date of this Ordinance or any amendment to it (and not created for the purpose of evading the restrictions of this Ordinance) that cannot meet the minimum area or lot width or depth requirements of the district in which the lot is located.

Nonconforming Use: The use of a building, mobile home, or land which does not conform to the use regulation of this Ordinance for the district in which it is located, either at the effective date of this Ordinance or as a result of subsequent amendments which may be incorporated.

Nonconformity, Dimensional: A nonconforming situation that occurs when the height, size, or minimum floor space of a structure, or the relationship between an existing building or buildings and other buildings or lot lines (i.e. setbacks), does not conform to the regulations applicable to the district in which the property is located.

Non-Precision Instrument Runway: A runway having an existing or planned instrument approach procedure utilizing air navigation facilities with only horizontal guidance, or area type navigation equipment, for which a straight-in non-precision instrument approach procedure has been approved or planned.

Nuisance: Anything that interferes with the use or enjoyment of property, endangers personal health or safety, or is offensive to the senses.

Obstruction: Any structure, growth, or other object, including a mobile object, which exceeds a limiting height set forth in this Ordinance.

Ordinance: This, the Zoning Ordinance, including any amendments. Whenever the effective date of the Ordinance is referred to, the reference includes the effective date of any amendment to it.

Outdoor Display: The placement of merchandise normally associated with the commercial or industrial use outside for public display.

Outdoor Storage: The placement or storage of goods, equipment, or material, such as junk vehicles, junk appliances and other such items, trash, and other debris outside of an enclosed building for a period of more than forty-eight (48) consecutive hours shall be considered outdoor storage. Outdoor storage does not refer to licensed vehicles in use by the person occupying the property, or other minor and incidental storage, such as items specifically designed for outdoor use including; lawn furniture, outdoor grill, swing set, lawn care equipment, which would not have a negative impact on the health, safety and general welfare of adjacent property owners and land uses.

Overlay District: A district, which applies additional supplementary or replacement regulations to land that is already classified in an existing zoning district.

Parking Lot or Area: An area or plot of land used for, or designated for, the parking or storage of vehicles, either as a principal use or as an accessory use.

Parking Space: A storage space of not less than one hundred sixty (160) square feet for one automobile, plus the necessary access space.

Parking Space, Off-Street: A parking space located outside of a dedicated street right-of-way.

Person: An individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association or government entity; includes a trustee, a receiver, an assignee, or a similar representative of any of them.

Planned Unit Development (PUD): A form of development usually characterized by a unified site design for a number of housing units, clustering buildings, providing common open space, density increases, and a mix of building types and land uses. It permits the planning of a project and the calculation of densities over the entire development, rather than on an individual lot-by-lot basis.

Planning Board: The public agency in a community usually empowered to prepare a comprehensive land plan and to evaluate proposed changes in land use, either by public or private developers, for conformance with the plan.

Planning and Zoning Administrator (Zoning Administrator): The official person charged with the enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance.

Plat: A map, usually of land which is to be or has been subdivided, showing the location, boundaries, and ownership of properties; the location, bearing, and length of every street and alley line, lot line, and easement boundary line; and such other information as may be necessary to determine whether a proposed subdivision or development meets all required standards of this and other ordinances.

Precision Instrument Runway: A runway having an existing or planned instrument approach procedure utilizing an Instrument Landing System (ILS) or a Precision Approach Radar (PAR) providing horizontal and vertical guidance. It also means a runway for which a precision approach system is planned and is so indicated on an approved airport layout plan or any other planning document.

Premises: A single piece of property as conveyed in deed, or a lot or a number of adjacent lots on which is situated a land use, a building, or group of buildings designed as a unit or on which a building or a group of buildings are to be constructed.

Primary Surface: A surface longitudinally centered on a runway. When the runway has a specifically prepared hard surface, the primary surface extends 200 feet beyond each end of that runway. The width of the primary surface is 1,000 feet. The elevation of any point on the primary surface is the same as the elevation of the nearest point on the runway centerline.

Private Road or Street: Any road or street which is not publicly owned and maintained and is used for access by the occupants of the development, their guests, and the general public.

Recreational vehicle means a vehicle which is: (a) built on a single chassis; (b) 400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection; (c) designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and, (d) designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling, but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use. (Amended 1/2001)

Residential District or Land Zoned Residential: Indicates any District in which residential uses are permitted. Residential uses include manufactured homes.

Right-of-Way: An area owned and maintained by a municipality, the State of North Carolina, a public utility, a railroad, or a private entity for the placement of such utilities and/or facilities for the passage of vehicles or pedestrians, including roads, pedestrian walkways, utilities, or railroads.

Runway: A defined area on an airport prepared for landing and takeoff of aircraft along its length.

Satellite Dish Antenna (Earth Station): A dish antenna, or earth station, is defined as an accessory structure and shall mean a combination of:

A.

Antenna or dish antenna whose purpose is to receive communication or other signals from orbiting satellites and other extraterrestrial sources;

B.

A low-noise amplifier which is situated at the focal point of the receiving component and whose purpose is to magnify and transfer signals; and

C.

A coaxial cable whose purpose is to carry the signals into the interior of the building.

Self-Service Gasoline Pump: A gasoline or diesel fuel dispensing pump, which is, operated by the customer who pays the charge to an attendant or cashier.

Setback: The required minimum distance between every structure and the lot lines of the lot on which it is located (measured from the road right of way in the front and property lines on the remaining portions of the property).

Setback (Towers): Setback shall mean the required distance from the property line of the parcel on which the Wireless Communication Facility is located to the base of the Support Structure and equipment shelter or cabinet where applicable, or, in the case of guy-wire supports, the guy anchors.

Support Structure: A Support Structure is a structure designed and constructed specifically to support an Antenna Array, and may include a monopole, self supporting (lattice) tower, guy-wire-support tower and other similar structures. Any device (Attachment Device), which is used to attach an Attached Wireless Communication Facility to an existing building or structure (Attachment Structure) shall be excluded from the definition of and regulations applicable to Support Structures.

Shopping Center: A commercial area with one or more buildings or lots and designed as a unit to house two (2) or more businesses offering products and/or services to the public.

Sign: Any words, lettering figures, numerals, emblems, devices, trademarks, or trade names, or any combination thereof, by which anything is made known and which is designed to attract attention and/or convey a message.

Sign, Awning: Any sign, constructed of fabric-like non-rigid material, that is a part of a fabric or flexible plastic awning attached to a building.

Sign, Banner: Any sign, except an awning sign, made of flexible fabric-like material.

Sign, Canopy: Any sign, which is part of, or mounted to, the side of a canopy.

Sign, Height: The vertical distance measured from the mean curb level to the level of the highest point of the sign, unless defined differently within the regulations. In the case of a sign not adjoining a street or highway, the "height of a sign" is the vertical distance of the average elevation of the ground immediately adjoining the sign to the level of the highest point of the sign.

Sign, Identification (Directory): A sign used to display only the name, address, crest, or trademark of the business, individual, family, organization, or enterprise occupying the premises, the profession of the occupant or the name of the building on which the sign is displayed; or a permanent sign announcing the name of a subdivision, shopping center, tourist home, group housing project, church, school, park, or public or quasi-public structure, facility, or development, and the name of the owners or developers. A directory sign is an identification sign with multiple names.

Sign, Informational: Any on-premises sign containing no other commercial message, copy, announcement, or decoration other than instruction or direction to the public. Such signs include, but are not limited to, the following: identifying rest rooms, public telephones, automated teller machines, for lease, for sale, self-service, walkways, entrances and exits, freight entrances, traffic direction, and prices.

Sign, Flashing: Any illuminated sign on which the artificial light is not maintained stationary or constant in intensity and color at all times when such sign is in use. For the purpose of this Ordinance, any moving, illuminated sign shall be considered a "flashing sign". Such signs shall not be deemed to include time and temperature signs or public message displays using electronic switching.

Sign, Freestanding: Any sign supported wholly or in part by some structure other than the building or buildings housing the business to which the sign pertains, or any sign which projects more than five (5) feet from the side of the building to which it is attached.

Sign, Gross Area: The entire area within a single continuous perimeter enclosing the extreme limits of such sign. However, such perimeter does not include any structural elements lying outside the limits of such and not forming an integral part of the display.

Sign, Monument: A freestanding sign, generally, but not necessarily, of a low profile in which there is usually no exposed frame, mast, or pole and which is built of brick, stone, concrete, wood, or other substantial material resembling a monument, fence or wall segment, or a berm.

Sign, Off-Premises (Outdoor Advertising - Billboard): A sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service, entertainment, or other message not conducted, sold, or offered on the premises where such sign is located.

Sign Plan: See "Unified Sign Plan".

Sign, Pole: A type of freestanding sign supported by one or two poles or masts.

Sign, Portable: Any sign which is not permanently attached to the ground or to a building or other structure and which, because of its relatively light weight, is meant to be moved from place to place. Such sign may or may not have changeable copy, may or may not be wired for lighting, and may or may not have wheels. "Sandwich boards" are included as portable signs.

Sign, Projecting: A sign attached to a wall and projecting away from that wall more than twelve (12) inches, but not more than five (5) feet.

Sign, Public Information: A sign, usually erected on public property or right-of-way and maintained by a public agency, which provides the public with information and in no way relates to a commercial activity including, but not limited to, speed limit signs, city limit signs, street name signs, and directional signs. These signs are in no way regulated by this Ordinance.

Sign, Roof: A sign which is displayed above the eaves of a building. These signs are not allowed by this Ordinance.

Sign, Surface Area: The size of the surface of a sign, including any border or trim and all the elements of the matter displayed, but excluding the base, apron, supports, and other supportive structural members. In the case of three-dimensional letters or painted letters directly attached to a wall surface, the surface area shall be that area encompassing the individual letters themselves, including the background behind the letters and any trim or border.

Sign, Wall: A sign attached to or painted on a wall, not projecting away from the wall more than twelve (12) inches, with the exposed display surface in a plane parallel to the plane of the wall, and including signs attached to or otherwise displayed on or through a facade window. The following are not wall signs: wall identification signs and commemorative plaques not more than two (2) square feet in area, memorial cornerstones or tablets providing information on building erection or commemorating a person or event, or unit identification signs.

Site Plan: A plan, to scale, showing uses and structures proposed for a parcel of land as required by the regulations involved. It includes such things as lot lines, streets, building sites, reserved open space, buildings, major landscape features — both natural and manmade and depending on requirements, the locations of proposed utility lines.

Solar Farm Definition: A solar collection system that generates electricity from sunlight to a wholesale electricity market through a regional transmission organization and an inter-connection with the local utility power grid and/or for direct distribution to a number of properties and consumers. Solar shall consist of a minimum of three (3) individual photovoltaic modules (solar panels), which are an assembly of solar cells to generate electricity.

Story: That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor above it, or if there is no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling above it.

Street: A thoroughfare, which affords the principal, means of access to abutting property, including avenue, place, way, drive, lane, boulevard, highway, road, and any other thoroughfare, except an alley.

Street Line: The line between the street right-of-way and abutting property (i.e. right-of-way line).

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

*For the section 3.3.6 APO Structure is defined more specifically as follows: An object, including but not limited to, a mobile object, constructed or installed by man, including but without limitation, buildings, towers, cranes, smokestacks, earth formation, and overhead transmission lines.

Structural Alterations: Any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders, except for repair or replacement.

Subdivision: All divisions of a tract or parcel of land into two or more lots, building sites, or other divisions for the purpose of sale or building development, whether immediate or future, with certain modifications. The current official definition is found in the Bladen County Subdivision Regulations.

Start of construction: Includes substantial improvement, and means the date the building permit was issued, provided the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or improvement was within 180 days of the permit date. The actual start means the first placement of permanent construction of a structure (including a manufactured home) on a site, such as the pouring of slabs or footings, installation of piles, construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation. Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading, and filling; nor does it include the installation of streets and/or walkways; nor does it include excavation for a basement, footings, piers or foundations, or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on the property of accessory buildings, such as garages or sheds not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the actual start of construction means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor, or other structural part of the building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

Structure: means, for floodplain management purposes, a walled and roofed building, a manufactured home, a gas or liquid storage tank, or other man-made facility or infrastructure that is principally above ground.

Substantial damage: means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred. See definition of "substantial improvement". (Amended 1/2001)

Substantial improvement: means any repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the "start of construction" of the improvement. This term includes structures, which have incurred "substantial damage", regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either: (1) any project of improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of State or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or, (2) any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure.

Substantially improved existing manufactured home park or subdivision: means where the repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation or improvement of the streets, utilities and pads equals or exceeds 50 percent of the value of the streets, utilities and pads before the repair, reconstruction, or improvement commenced. (Amended 1/2001)

Temporary: Anything temporary is to exist less than six (6) months.

Tourist Home: Any dwelling occupied by the owner or operator in which rooms are rented to guests, for lodging of transients and travelers for compensation, and where food may be served, other than a bed and breakfast.

Trailer: Any vehicle or structure originally designed to transport something or intended for human occupancy for short periods of time. Trailers shall include the following:

A.

House Trailer : A vehicular, portable structure built on a wheeled chassis, designed to be towed by a self-propelled vehicle for use for travel, recreation, or vacation purposes, having a body width ten (10) feet or less or a body length thirty-two (32) feet or less when equipped for road travel.

B.

Recreation Vehicle : A self-propelled vehicle or portable structure mounted on such a vehicle designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreation, and vacation.

C.

Camping Trailer : A folding structure manufactured of metal, wood, canvas, plastic, or other materials, or any combination thereof, mounted on wheels and designed for travel, recreation, or vacation use.

D.

Trailer : A vehicle hauled by another vehicle and designed to transport vehicles, boats, or freight.

Transitional Surfaces: These surfaces extend outward at 90-degree angles to the runway centerline and the runway centerline extended at a slope of seven (7) feet horizontally for each foot vertically from the sides of the primary and approach surfaces to where they intersect the horizontal and conical surfaces. Transitional surfaces for those portions of the precision approach surfaces, which project through and beyond the limits of the conical surface, extend a distance of 5,000 feet measured horizontally from the edge of the approach surface and at 90-degree angles to the extended runway centerline.

Transmission Line, High Voltage Electric Power: A line transmitting, or designed to transmit, electricity of 66,000 or more volts, including poles, guys, wires, towers, and appliances, but not including transformer stations or substations.

Temporary Wireless Communication Facility: Temporary Wireless Communication Facility shall mean a Wireless Communication Facility to be placed in use for ninety (90) or fewer days.

Tree: Any object of natural growth.

Unattended Gasoline Pump: A gasoline or diesel fuel dispensing pump, which dispenses fuel automatically according to the amount of money inserted into the pump. Such pumps are usually located without an attendant or other personnel on hand.

Under story: The small trees, shrubs, and other vegetation growing beneath the canopy of forest trees.

Unified Sign Plan: An overall plan for the placement and design of multiple signs for a building, group of buildings, or use on a single lot.

Use: Any continuing or repetitive occupation or activity taking place upon a parcel of land or within a building including, but not limited to; residential, manufacturing, retailing, offices, public services, recreational, and educational.

Variance: A variance is a relaxation of the terms of the Zoning Ordinance where such variance will not be contrary to the public interest and where, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of the action of the applicant, a literal enforcement of the Ordinance would result in unnecessary and undue hardship. As used in this Ordinance, a variance is authorized only for height, area, and size of a structure or size of yards and open space.

Visual Runway: A runway intended solely for the operation of aircraft using visual approach procedures.

Wetlands: Those areas that are defined as wetlands by the United States Army Corps of Engineers from time to time. Generally wetlands are those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

Wireless Communications: Wireless Communications shall mean any personal wireless services as defined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which includes FCC licensed commercial wireless telecommunications services including cellular, personal communication services (PCS), specialized mobile radio (SMR), enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR), paging, and similar services that currently exist.

Wireless Communication Facility: A Wireless Communication Facility is any un-staffed facility for the transmission and/or reception of wireless telecommunications services, usually consisting of an Antenna Array, connection cables, an Equipment Facility, and a Support Structure to achieve the necessary elevation.

Wireless Telecommunication Tower: Any tower or structure erected for the purpose of supporting, including, but not limited to, one or more antennas designed to transmit or receive television, AM/FM radio, digital, microwave, cellular, telephone, or similar forms of electronic communication. Alternative structures, as defined by this Ordinance, are considered towers by this definition. The following shall not be included in this definition:

A.

Amateur radio facilities with antennas mounted on supporting structures less than 100 feet in height;

B.

Residential antennas for receiving television or AM/FM radio broadcasts;

C.

Residential satellite dishes; or,

D.

Commercial or industrial satellite dishes that are less than 20 feet in height.

Woodlands: Land that is undeveloped except for roads and utilities and contains stands of native trees.

Yard: An open space on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except by trees or shrubbery or as otherwise provided herein.

Yard, Front (Highway Yard): A yard across the full width of the lot extending from the front line of the building.

Yard, Side: An open space on the same lot with a building, between the building and the side line of the lot, extending through, from the front building line, to the rear of the lot.

Yard, Rear: A yard extending across the full width of the lot and measured between the rear line of the lot and the rear line of the main building.

Zero Lot Line: A concept commonly used in Planned Unit Developments where individual commercial buildings or dwellings, such as townhouses (row houses) and patio homes, are to be sold, along with the ground underneath and perhaps a small yard or patio area. Such commercial or residential units are located in buildings with two (2) or more units per building, usually including common walls. With zero lot line, the minimum requirements for lot area and yards need not be met and construction can take place up to the lot line.

Zoning: A police power measure, enacted primarily by general purpose units of local government, in which the community is divided into districts or zones within which permitted and conditional uses are established, as are regulations governing lot size, building bulk, placement, and other development standards. Requirements vary from district to district, but they must be uniform within districts. The Zoning Ordinance consists of two parts - a text and a map.

Zoning District: An area established by this Ordinance where the individual properties are designed to serve compatible functions and to be developed at compatible scales.

(Amd. 13.19, eff. 8-20-12; Amd. 13.20, eff. 10-1-12)