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XV. Definitions
Undefined Terms - undefined terms shall have their usual meaning, and the Planning Board shall have the authority to settle disputes.
Defined Terms - for the purposes of this Ordinance, the following definitions apply:
ADVERTISING SIGN - a structure, building wall or other outdoor surface or any device used for visual communication which is employed for the purpose of bringing the subject thereof, to the attention of the public, or to display, identify, or publicize the name and produce or service of any person.
Accessory sign - any sign relating to business on the premises on which the sign is located.
Non-accessory sign - any sign, advertising business or businesses at other locations.
ANIMAL FEEDLOT - an agricultural establishment consisting of confined feeding areas and related structures used for the raising of livestock. An animal feedlot shall be considered one on which more than five (5) adult animals are raised simultaneously.
AQUIFER - for the purpose of this Ordinance, aquifer means a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of yielding quantities of groundwater usable for municipal or private water supplies.
BUILDABLE AREA - An area of specified dimensions (for example 200 x 200 foot square, 60,000 contiguous square feet, etc.) depicted on the Subdivision Plat, Building Permit Application, or Site Plan, in which a building and septic system can be placed (1) that will meet all existing setback ordinances and all State of New Hampshire Water Supply and Pollution Control requirements for setbacks from wetlands and (2) that consist of upland soils classified by High Intensity Soil Survey (HISS) as Class I through IV. Contiguous areas shall also be of adequate width and/or depth so as not to create an hourglass effect of less than fifty (50') feet at the narrowest point.
BUILDING INSPECTOR - refers to the Board of Selectmen whenever no active Building Inspector is available in Town.
CAMPGROUND - any area of land on which are located two or more cabins, tents, trailers, shelters or other accommodations of a design or character suitable for seasonal, temporary living purposes, regardless of whether such structures or other accommodations actually are occupied or otherwise.
CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT - a residential single family subdivision of a tract where, instead of dividing the entire tract into house lots which meet the minimum requirements of article VI, Dwelling Unit Requirements and Setbacks, Paragraph A1, a similar number of dwelling units may be clustered on lots of reduced dimensions. The units may be clustered on lots of reduced dimensions. The remaining land in the tract is not to be built upon and is reserved as common land to be held in perpetuity by a mandatory homeowners' association which will legally prevent the common land from ever being further subdivided or developed.
COMMERCIAL SOIL STRIPPING - removal of loam, clay, sand, gravel, peat, quarried stone, or construction aggregate for use off the premises, except when incidental to construction for which a building permit has been obtained.
COMMERCIAL USE - facilities for the sale, lease, trade or delivery of products, goods or services, and their accessory uses. Home business excluded from this category.
COMMON CONSERVATION LAND - common land area within the cluster development which shall not be built upon and shall forever remain in its natural state to include wetlands, flood plains, steep slopes, buffer zones, and other environmentally sensitive areas.
COMMON LAND - any land and all portions of tract other than the individually owned lots.
COMMON USABLE SPACE - all other common land.
DEVELOPMENT - 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.
DWELLING UNIT - a building or that portion of a building consisting of one or more rooms designed for living and sleeping purposes, including kitchen and sanitary facilities and intended for occupancy by not more than one family or household.
ENGINEER - a person licensed by the State of New Hampshire in accordance with NH RSA Chapter 310-A sections 2-27 as amended.
FIT FOR BUILDING - any land which is not classified as floodplain, wetland, watershed protection area and does not have slopes of 25% or more and where soil tests indicate suitability.
FOSTER HOME - homes for the care of more than four non-related people.
FRONTAGE - the length of the lot bordering on public right-of-way.
GROUNDWATER - all the water below the land surface in the zone of saturation or in rock fractures capable of yielding water to a well.
GROUNDWATER RECHARGE - the infiltration of precipitation through surface soil materials into groundwater. Recharge may also occur from surface water, including lakes, streams, and wetlands.
HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION - a homeowner's association is a private, nonprofit corporation, association, or other nonprofit entity established by the applicant or the developer for the purposes of managing and maintaining all common land, open space and natural areas. Membership in said association shall be mandatory for all property owners and made a required covenant in any deed issued or passed.
HOME PRODUCE - includes everything of an agricultural nature grown, produced or conditioned on the property of the resident; also, such an article as is manufactured or altered by members of the household or the bona fide resident of any property.
HOTEL OR INN - any building or portion thereof where lodging is offered to transient guests for compensation and in which there are more than five sleeping rooms with no installed cooking facilities in an individual room or apartment.
INACTIVE SOIL STRIPPING - a soil stripping area that has not been in use as a commercial soil stripping area for two years or more.
INDUSTRIAL USE - facilities for the manufacture, compounding, processing, pacing, treatment or warehousing of goods and products; printing and/or publishing or newspapers, books, etc., laboratories for research and/or testing; and their accessory uses. Home business is excluded from this category.
INHARMONIOUS USE OF WETLANDS - those uses incompatible with the purposes of this Ordinance; provided that, in cases of uncertainty, the use shall be denied; and determined upon appeal to the Board of Adjustment in the usual manner determined by statute.
JUNK - any old metals, old bottles, cotton or woolen mill waste, unfinished cloth, unfinished cotton or woolen mill yarn, old paper products, old rubber products, two or more unregistered motor vehicles, used parts and materials or motor vehicles and other articles, the accumulation of which is detrimental or injurious to the neighborhood.
LAND SURVEYOR - means a professional specialist in the technique of measuring land, educated in the basic principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence and all requisites for the surveying of real property and engaged in the practice of land surveying and licensed by the State of New Hampshire.
LAND SURVEYING - means any service or work, the adequate performance of which involves the art of locating and measuring lines, angles, and features for the purpose of determining areas for the monumenting of property boundaries and for the platting and layout of lands and for the preparation and perpetuation of record plats that represent these surveys.
LEACHABLE WASTES - waste materials, including solid wastes, sludge, and agricultural wastes that are capable of releasing contaminants to the surrounding environment.
LOT OF RECORD - land designated as a separate and distinct parcel in a legally recorded deed or plan filed in the Registry of Deeds of Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING - manufactured housing means any structure, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is 8 body feet or more in width and 40 body feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 320 square feet or more, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities, which include plumbing, heating and electrical heating systems contained therein. Manufactured housing as defined in this section shall not include presite built housing as defined in RSA 674:31-a.
MATERIALS STORAGE - storage of materials intended for wholesale distribution or for use in a manufacturing or repair facility.
MINING OF LAND - the removal of geologic materials such as topsoil, sand and gravel, metallic ores, or bedrock to be crushed or used as building stone.
MOBILE HOME PARK - any tract of land on which two or more manufactured homes are located for the use as living quarters, whether occupied or not, except where two (2) acres of that tract of land are associated with each mobile home as in a regular subdivision.
NON-CONFORMING USE - any lawful use of buildings, structures, premises, land or parts therefore existing as of the effective date of this Ordinance, or amendment thereto, and not in conformance with the provisions of this Ordinance, shall be considered to be a non-conforming use. No non-conforming use may be expanded, changed to another non-conforming use, or renewed after it has been discontinued for a period of 12 months or more.
a. (Grandfather Clause) a use which was lawful prior to the adoption of this Ordinance or amendments thereto and which does not conform with the use regulations hereof.
b. a lot of record which does not satisfy the requirements for area, frontage or any other provision of the Ordinance.
c. a structure which does not satisfy the requirements for area, setback or any other provision of the Ordinance.
d. use of land or structures in a manner for which a special exception or variance is required.
NON-MUNICIPAL WELL - any well not owned and operated by the Town of Nottingham or its agent.
PIER - a vertical member that supports a non-habitable structure.
PRESITE BUILT HOUSING - as used in this subdivision, "presite built housing" means any structure designed primarily for residential occupancy which is wholly or in substantial part made, fabricated, formed or assembled in off-site manufacturing facilities in conformance with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development minimum property standards and local building codes, for installation, or assembly and installation, on the building site. For the purpose of this subdivision, presite built housing shall not include manufactured housing, as defined in RSA 674:31.
RAZE - to burn, demolish, or otherwise destroy to ground level, whether by man or natural causes.
RECHARGE AREA - the land surface area from which groundwater recharge occurs.
REFERENCES - whenever reference is made to any Ordinance law, regulation, map or publication, any amendment or other revision thereto, is to be applicable as of the effective date thereof.
RIGHT-OF-WAY - right of access over property including but not restricted to all Town, State, and Federal highways and the land on either side of same as covered by statutes to determine the widths of the rights-of-way.
SEASONALLY WET SOILS - those soils having a water table within 1.5 to 2.5 feet of the ground surface during particular but not specified periods of the year.
SLUDGE - residual materials produced by a sewage treatment process.
SOIL SCIENTIST - a person qualified in soils classification and licensed by the State of New Hampshire.
SOLID WASTE - any discarded or abandoned material including refuse, putrescible material, septage, or sludge, as defined by New Hampshire Solid Waste Rules He-p 1901.03. Solid wastes includes solid, liquid, semi-solid, or gaseous waste material resulting from residential, industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations.
SPECIAL EXCEPTION - a use of a building or lot which may be permitted under this Ordinance but is allowable only upon application to the Board of Adjustment and subject to the approval of that Board. Conditions established for the granting of Special Exceptions are contained in this Ordinance.
STRUCTURE - anything constructed or erected, except a boundary wall or fence, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something on the ground.
SUBDIVISION - the division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two or more lots, plats, sites or other division of land for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, rent, lease, condominium conveyance or building development. It includes resubdivision and, when appropriate to the context, relates to the process of subdivision or to the land or territory subdivided. This definition uses the same language as NH RSA 672:14, I in defining a subdivision.
TOURIST COURT, CABINS, MOTEL - any group of two or more detached or semi-detached buildings containing guest rooms or apartments designed or used primarily for temporary accommodations.
TOURIST HOME - any place consisting of a room or group of rooms located on one premises where transient accommodations for sleeping or living purposes for not more than six persons, are provided for a price.
TOXIC OR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS - any substance or mixture of such physical, chemical or infectious characteristics as to pose a significant, actual or potential hazard to water supplies, or other hazard to human health, if such substance or mixture were discharged to land or waters of the Town. Toxic or hazardous materials include, without limitation, volatile organic chemicals, petroleum products, heavy metals, radioactive or infectious wastes, acids, and alkalies, and include products such as pesticides, herbicides, solvents and thinners, and such other substances as defined in New Hampshire Water Supply and Pollution Control Rules, Section Ws 410.04 (1), in New Hampshire Solid Waste Rules He-P 1901.03 (v), and in the code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR 261 as amended.
TRAILER PARK - see mobile home park
TRAVEL TRAILER/RECREATIONAL VEHICLE: - 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.
UNFIT FOR BUILDING - any land which is classified as floodplain, wetland (by soil type), watershed protection area, excessive slope of 25% or more, or where soil tests indicated unsuitability for subsurface waste disposal.
VARIANCE - a departure from the terms of this Ordinance not otherwise permitted, which may be granted by the Board of Adjustment, upon appeal in specific cases, pursuant to its discretionary powers. A variance may be granted if all the following facts are found by that Board and such findings are specified in its decision.
a. that there are unique physical circumstances or conditions including irregularity, narrowness or shallowness of lot, size or shape or exceptional topographical or other physical conditions peculiar to the particular property, and that unnecessary hardship is due to such conditions and not the circumstances or conditions generally created by the provisions of the Ordinance in the neighborhood or district in which the property is located.
b. that because of such physical circumstances or conditions there is no reasonable possibility that the property can be used in strict conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance for a permitted use of the applicant's choice and that the authorization of a variance is therefore necessary to enable to reasonable use of the property.
c. that the variance, if authorized, will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood or district in which the property is located nor substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development of adjacent property not to be detrimental to the public welfare.
d. that the variance, if authorized, will represent the minimum variance that will afford reasonable relief; and
e. that the spirit of the Ordinance shall be observed and substantial justice is done.
In authorizing a variance, the Board of Adjustment may attach such conditions and safeguards as it deems necessary to protect the neighborhood and the community, including, but not limited to, a time limit when the variance will expire if not utilized.
WETLANDS – Wetlands means an area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal conditions does support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adopted for life in saturated soil conditions. (Adopted 3/8/05)
Very Poorly Drained Soils - those in areas of periodic flooding and/or those having the most severe limitations because of high water table as designated by High Intensity Soil Survey (HISS) as Class VI Soils.
Poorly Drained Soils - those characterized as having high water tables within which may be areas suitable for habitable development, if well-planned drainage can be accomplished, designated by High Intensity Soil Survey (HISS) as Class V Soils.
The soils identified as very poorly drained are:
The soils identified as poorly drained are:
WETLAND CONSERVATION AREA - refers to those areas in the Town as outlined on the Official Town Soil Conditions Map, based on the U.S.D. A. Soil Survey in Rockingham County, 1959 and as superimposed on other use districts under this Zoning Ordinance.
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