200:001    RULES AND DEFINITIONS
200:010    RULES
200:011     Word definition
200:012     Conflicting provisions
200:020    DEFINITIONS
 

200:001     RULES AND DEFINITIONS.

200:010     RULES.

200:011      Words used in the present tense include the past and future tense; the singular number includes the plural and the plural includes the singular; the word “shall” is mandatory, and the word “may” is permissive.

200:012      In the event of conflicting provisions in the text of this regulation, the more restrictive shall apply.

200:020     DEFINITIONS.  For the purpose of Chapter 100 and Chapter 300 of this Ordinance, certain terms and words are hereby defined as follows:

    “Accessory Building” means a subordinate building, structure or a portion of the main building, the use of which is incidental to that of the main building or to the use of the premises.

    “Accessory Use” means a use subordinate to the purpose for which the land is zoned. Accessory uses may only occur in conjunction with a principal use and on the same tract of land as the principal use.

    “Apartments” means structures designed or used for four (4) or more dwellings.

    “Alley” means any dedicated public right-of-way providing a secondary means of access to abutting property.

    “Attorney” means the attorney employed by the Township Board of Supervisors unless otherwise stated.

    “Basement” means a portion of a building located partially underground.  A basement shall be counted as a story if the ceiling is six (6) feet or greater above ground.

    “Block” means the enclosed area within the perimeter of roads, property lines or boundaries of a subdivision.

    ”Bluff” means a topographic feature such as a hill, cliff, or embankment having the following characteristics (an area with an average slope of less than eighteen (18) percent over a distance for fifty (50) feet or more shall not be considered part of the bluff):

    a.      Part or all of the feature is located in a shoreland area;

    b.      The slope rises at least twenty-five (25) feet above the ordinary high water level of the waterbody.

    c.      The grade of the slope from the toe of the bluff to a point twenty-five (25) feet or more above the ordinary high water level averages thirty (30) percent or greater; and

    d.      The slope shall drain toward the waterbody.

    “Boulevard” means the portion of the street right-of-way between the curb line and the property line.

    “Building” means any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.

    “Building Height” means the vertical distance from the mean ground level at the building line and the highest point of the roof surface.

    “Building Line” means a line measured across the width or length of the lot at the point where the main structure is placed in accordance with setback provisions.

    “Building, Principal” means a non-accessory building in which a principal use permitted in a zoning district is conducted.

    “Butt Lot” means a lot at the end of a block and located between two (2) corner lots.

    “Cluster Development” means a subdivision development planned and constructed so as to group housing units into relatively tight patterns while providing a unified network of open space and wooded areas and meeting the overall density regulations of this Chapter 100 and Chapter 300.

    “Collector Street” means a street which carried traffic from minor streets to thoroughfares or from thoroughfare to thoroughfare.  Collector Streets are designated in the Comprehensive Plan.

    “Comprehensive Plan” means a comprehensive plan prepared by the Township Board of Supervisors including a compilation of policy statements, goals, standards, and maps indicating the general locations recommended for the various functional classes of land use, places, and structure, and for the general physical development of the community and includes any unit or part of such plan separately adopted and any amendment to such plan or parts thereof.

    “Contour Map” means a map on which irregularities of land surface are shown by lines connecting points of equal elevations.  Contour interval is the vertical height between contour lines.

    “Copy” means a print or reproduction made from a tracing.

    “Corner Lot” means a lot bordered on at least two (2) adjacent sides by streets.

    “County” means Mille Lacs County, Minnesota.

    “Cul-de-sac” means a minor street with only one (1) outlet and having a turnaround at the end.

    “Development” means the act of building structures and installing site improvements.

    “Dog Kennel” means boarding, raising, or training of dogs for (i) sale; or (ii) use in sporting or competition events other than use by the landowner for hunting, retrieving, or show.

    “Double Frontage Lots” means lots which have a front line abutting on a street and a back or rear line abutting on another street.

    “Drainage Course” means a water course or indenture for the drainage of surface water.

    “Duplex” means a structure designed or used for two (2) dwellings.

    ”Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof which is designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy by a single family and containing sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, including manufactured homes constructed in conformance with Minnesota Statute Section 327.31, et. seq., but not including hotels, motels, lodging or boarding houses.

    “Easement” means a grant by an owner of rights in land for a specific use by persons other than the owner.

    “Engineer” means the registered engineer employed by the Township Board of Supervisors, unless otherwise stated.

    “Family” means any of the following living in a single dwelling:

    1.      An individual; or

    2.      Two (2) or more persons related by blood, marriage or adoption or otherwise living as though members of the family; or

    3.      A group of not more than five (5) persons.

    “Floodplain” means the areas adjoining a watercourse or water basin that have been or may be covered by a regional flood.

    “Floodway” means the channel of the watercourse, the bed of water basins, and those portions of the adjoining floodplains that are reasonably required to carry and discharge floodwater and provide water storage during a regional flood.

    “Flood, Regional” means a flood that is representative of large floods known to have occurred generally in the state and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur on an average frequency in the magnitude of a 100-year recurrence interval.

    “Floor Area” means the area within the exterior walls of a building or structure as measured from the outside walls at the ground level, not including garages or porches and not including attached utility or accessory rooms.

    ”Home Occupation” means any gainful occupation or profession engaged in by the occupants of a dwelling at or from the dwelling, carried on within the dwelling or in an Accessory Building and which is clearly an incidental and secondary use of the property as a residential dwelling.

    “Key Map” means a map drawn to comparatively small scale which definitively shows the area proposed to be platted in relation to known geographical features, i.e., downtown, lakes, roads.

    “Limited Agriculture” means the use of land for field crops, including, but not limited to, barley, corn, hay, oats, potatoes, rye, sorghum, soybeans, and sunflowers.

    “Lot” means a parcel or portion of land in a subdivision or plat of land, separated from other parcels or portions by description as on a subdivision or record of survey map, for the purpose of sale or lease or separate use thereof.

    “Lot Area” means the area of a horizontal plane within the lot lines.  In computing the minimum area for lots, portions of the lots which fall within dedicated roadways and public right-of-way are not be included.

    “Lot Line” means a property boundary line of any tract of land held in single ownership, except where such line extends into a public street or alley, then the lot line shall be at the edge of the street or alley.

    “Lot Line, Front” means the boundary line of a lot abutting a street.  On a corner lot, the shortest street lot line shall be the front lot line.

    “Lot Line, Rear” means the boundary line most remote from and most nearly parallel to the front lot line.

    “Lot Line, Side” means a boundary line other than the front lot line or rear lot line.

    “Lot Width” means the mean horizontal distance between the side lot lines of a lot.

    “Manufactured Home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which in the traveling mode, is eight (8) feet or more in width or forty (40) feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is three-hundred twenty (320) or more square feet, and which is on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and includes the plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and electrical systems contained in it.

    “Metes and Bounds Description” means a description of real property which is not described by reference to a lot or block shown on a map, but is described by starting at a known point and describing the bearings and distances of the lines forming the boundaries of the property or delineates a fractional portion of a section, lot or area by described lines or portions thereof.

    “Minimum Subdivision Design Standards” means the rules, principles, and specifications for the preparation of subdivision plans indicating among other things, the minimum and maximum dimensions of the various elements set forth in the plan.

    “Minor Street” means a street of limited continuity used primarily for access to the abutting properties and the local needs of the neighborhood.

    “Multiple Family Dwelling” means structures designed or used for two (2) or more dwellings, including duplexes or triplexes (row or cluster type).

    “Natural Water Way” means a natural passageway in the surface of the earth so situated and having such a topographical nature that surface water flows through it from other areas before reaching a final ponding area.  The term also includes all drainage structures that have been constructed or placed for the purpose of conducting water from one place to another.

    “Ordinance” means shall mean the Princeton Township Code including Chapter 100, Chapter 200, Chapter 300, Chapter 400, Chapter 500, Chapter 600, and Chapter 700.

    “Owner” means an individual, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust, or any legal entity having a propriety interest in property sufficient to initiate proceedings to subdivide the same under this Ordinance.

    “Pedestrian Way” means a public right-of-way across or within a block, to be used by pedestrians.

    “Person” means any individual, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust, or any other legal entity.

    “Planning Commission” means the Planning Commission of the Town.

    “Preliminary Plat” means the map of drawing indicating the proposed layout of the subdivision to be submitted to the Planning Commission and Township Board of Supervisors for their consideration, in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and this Ordinance along with required supporting data.

    “Final Plat” means a map or drawing which graphically delineates the boundary of land parcels for the purpose of identification and record of title. The plat is a recorded legal document and must conform to all Minnesota State Laws.

    “Private Street” means a street serving as vehicular access to two (2) or more parcels of land which is not dedicated to the public but is owned by one (1) or more private parties.

    “Protective Covenants” means contracts entered into between private parties and constituting a restriction on the use of all private property within a subdivision for the benefit of the property owners, and to provide mutual protection against undesirable aspects of development which would impair stability of values.

    “Reserve Strips” means a narrow strip of land placed between lot lines and streets to control access.

    “Right-of-way” means the land covered by a public road or land dedicated for public use or for certain private use such as land over which a power line passes.

    “River” means a flowing body of water such as a stream or segment or tributary of a stream and may include lakes through which a river or stream flows.

    “Roadway” means driving surface portion of a public right-of-way.

    ”Salvage Yard” means property used for keeping, conducting, or maintaining of any building, structure, yard, or place for keeping, storing, or piling in commercial quantities, whether temporary, irregularly, or continually, or for the buying or selling at retail or wholesale dealing any sold, used, or second-hand materials of any kind, including cloth, rags, clothing, paper, bottles, rubber, iron, brass, copper, or other metal, furniture, machinery, used motor vehicles or the parts thereof, or other articles which their worn condition renders them practically useless for the purpose in which they are made.

    “Service Street” means a minor street parallel to and adjacent to high volume arterial streets and highways, which provides access to abutting properties and protection of through traffic.

    “Setback” means the minimum horizontal distance between any part of a structure and the ordinary high water mark, lot line, or road, whichever is closer.

    “Sketch Plan” means a drawing showing the proposed subdivision of property.  This plan is not necessarily drawn to scale and exact accuracy is not a requirement. It is used as a basis for informal discussion.

    “Street” means a way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, through-way, avenue, boulevard, lane, place, drive, court, or otherwise.

    “Street Width” means the shortest distance between the lines delineating the right-of-way of a street.

    “Structure” means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires a fixed location on the ground or an attachment to something having a fixed location on the ground, including, in addition to buildings, billboards, carports, porches, and other building features but not including sidewalks, drives, fences, and patios.

    “Subdivider” means the owner, agent, or person having control of such land as the term is used in this Ordinance.

    “Subdivision” means the division of a parcel of land after the effective date of this Ordinance into two (2) or more lots or parcels, for the purpose of transfer of ownership or building development.  The term includes re-subdivision and, when appropriate, to the context, shall relate to the process of subdividing or to the land subdivided.

    “Surveyor” means a land surveyor registered under Minnesota State Laws.

    “Thoroughfare” means a street primarily designated to carry large volumes of traffic and provide for vehicular movement between and among large areas as designated in the Comprehensive Plan.

    “Town” means the Township of Princeton.

    “Township Board of Supervisors” means the Township Board of Supervisors for Princeton Township, County of Mille Lacs, State of Minnesota.

    “Tracing” means a plat or map drawn or transparent paper or cloth which can be reproduced by using regular reproduction procedure.

    “Tract of Land” means a parcel of land designated by metes and bounds, registered land survey, auditor's plat, or other accepted means and separated from other parcels or portions by said description for the purpose of sale, lease or separation thereof.

    “Triplex” means a structure designed or used for three (3) dwellings.

    "Upland" (Residential R-1 District) means a natural and contiguous portion of the lot area which is exclusive of existing wetlands, flood plain, flood fringe, flood way, drainage ways and utility easements and exclusive of proposed ponding area, drainage swales, and utility easements.

    “Zoning Code” means zoning regulations controlling the use of land as adopted by the Town.