These
Regulations are adopted under authority of Chapter 124 of the General Statutes
of Connecticut, as revised, for the purpose of implementing the Plan of
Conservation and Development of the Borough of Stonington, which Plan of
Conservation and Development and these Regulations are designed to lessen
congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire, panic, flood and other
dangers; to promote health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light
and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of
population; and to facilitate the adequate provision for transportation, water,
sewerage, parks and other public requirements.
They are further designed for the protection of historic sites and
structures in the Borough. Consideration
has been given to the character of the Borough as an historic waterfront
community with a valuable natural harbor and coastal wetlands, and the
resulting public suitability for property within the Borough for certain
uses. These Regulations are thus
designed to conserve the value of unique buildings and encourage the most
appropriate use of unique land throughout the Borough.
1.2. Validity and Effectiveness
1.2.1. Validity
If any section, subsection, paragraph, clause, or provision of these Regulations shall be adjudged invalid, such decision shall apply only to the section, subsection, paragraph, clause, or provision in question, and the remainder of these Regulations shall be deemed valid and effective.
1.2.2. Effective Date
These Regulations shall take effect on August 1, 2000. Whenever in these Regulations phrases such as “actual date of adoption of these Regulations”, or “the effective date of these Regulations”, or the like are used, they shall be deemed to refer to the above-mentioned effective date, August 1, 2000.
1.3. Definitions
For purposes of these Regulations, certain terms and words shall be
defined as below. Words in the present
tense include the future, the singular number includes the plural and vice
versa. The word “person” includes a
partnership, corporation or other entity.
The word “lot” includes the word “plot”.
The word “building” includes the word “structure”. The word “shall” is mandatory, not directory.
Abutting: Separated by no intervening private property.
Accessory
Building (or Structure): A detached subordinate building or structure,
the use of which is customarily incidental to and located on the same lot as a
principal structure, building, or use, or on a contiguous lot under the same
ownership. An accessory building may
also include a private garage on a separate lot from the principal use.
Accessory
Use: A subordinate use which is clearly incidental
to and customary in connection with the principal building or use, and which is
located on the same lot as the principal structure, building, or use; except
that a private garage may be considered an accessory use even if not located on
the same lot as the principal structure, building or use.
Alteration:
As applied to building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in
the structural parts or in the exit facilities or an enlargement, whether
extending on a side, by increasing in height, or the moving from one location
or position to another. As applied to
use, means a change or extension of hours of operation, scope of use, land or
building area utilized, or intensity of use.
Alteration,
Use: A change or extension of hours of operation,
scope of use, land or building area utilized, or intensity of use.
Awning:
A roof-like covering that is temporary and collapsible in nature and
that projects from the wall of a building for the purpose of shielding a
doorway or window from the elements.
Balcony: A platform projecting from the wall of a building and
enclosed by a railing, usually opening from an upper story of a building.
Base
Flood: The flood having a one percent chance of
being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Basement:
That portion of a building that is partly or completely below
grade. For the purposes of Section 3.3.2
of these Regulations, basement shall
be defined as that portion of a building having its floor subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides.
Berth:
The place where a ship or boat lies at wharf or pier; also “slip”.
Building:
Any structure having a roof and intended for shelter, housing or
enclosure of persons, animals or materials.
Any other structure more than four feet high shall be considered a
building, including a fence or wall, but excluding an electric transmission
line or electric light, telephone or telegraph pole, radio or television
antenna, highway or railway bridge, or flagpole.
Building
Area: The ground area enclosed by the walls of a
building together with the area of all covered porches and other roofed
portions; also the “footprint” of a building.
Building
Height: For buildings with a front yard of ten feet
or less, building height is measured as the vertical distance measured from the
lowest curb level along the frontage road to the highest point of the building,
excluding chimneys. For buildings with a
front yard of more than ten feet, building height is the vertical distance
measured from the grade as defined herein to the highest point of the building,
excluding chimneys (per Section 2.7).
Building
Line: A line parallel to the street on which a lot
fronts, at a distance equal to the minimum front yard requirement.
Cemetery:
Land used for the burial of the dead, and dedicated for cemetery
purposes, excluding columbariums, crematories, mausoleums, and mortuaries.
Childcare
Center: Any establishment which provides regular
shelter, care, activity, and supervision (with or without academic instruction)
for five or more children.
Club:
Buildings and facilities, owned and operated by a corporation,
association, person or persons, for a social, educational, or recreational
purpose, to which membership is required for participation and not primarily
operated for profit nor to render a service which is customarily carried on as
a business.
Commission:
The Planning and Zoning Commission of the Borough of Stonington.
Condominium:
The ownership of individual dwelling units located on a lot or lots
which are owned in common by individual unit owners, or any division of the
interests in real property, including easements and leases of over five years,
which have the effect of permitting more than one dwelling unit on a lot
without the division of the fee simple interest in said lot.
Conversion:
Any modification or change to an existing dwelling which is intended to
or actually does increase the number of dwelling units.
Deck:
A porch-like structure without a roof, used for outdoor living, either
free standing or attached to the principal building, usually constructed of
wood with structural supports and having a height more than eight inches above
the ground.
Design
Overlay Zone: A zoning district that encompasses one or
more underlying zones and that imposes additional requirements above those
required by the underlying zone.
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 or permanent storage of materials.
District:
A zoning district established by provision of Section 1.4 of these
Regulations.
Drive-in: A term used to describe an establishment designed or
operated to serve a patron who is seated in an automobile.
Dump: A lot of land or part thereof used primarily for the
disposal by abandonment, dumping, burial, burning or any other means and for
whatever purposes, of garbage, sewage, trash, refuse, junk, discarded
machinery, vehicles or parts thereof, or waste material of any kind.
Dwelling:
A building or part of a building which contains living, sleeping,
housekeeping accommodations and sanitary facilities for occupancy by one or
more families.
Dwelling,
Single Family: A detached building designed for and used
exclusively as a dwelling for one family.
Dwelling,
Two Family: A detached building designed for or occupied
by two families living independently of each other but with no division of any
interest in any real property, including the lot or the building, which shall
include any exclusive use easement, lease over five years, and any other legal
device for the division of the legal or equitable interests in the lot or
building.
Dwelling,
Multi-Family: A dwelling or group of dwellings on one lot,
containing separate living units for three or more families, having separate or
joint entrances, and including apartments, group homes, row houses, and
condominiums; also multiple dwellings.
Dwelling
Unit: One room or rooms connected together,
constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment for owner or
renter occupancy, and containing independent cooking and sleeping facilities
and sanitary facilities. No dwelling
unit shall contain less than 300 square feet of habitable living area.
Enlarge/Enlargement:
An enlargement is an addition to the floor area of an existing building,
an increase in the size of any other structure, or an increase in that portion
of a tract of land occupied by an existing use.
To “enlarge” is to make an enlargement.
Extend:
Implies increase or amplification, as distinguished from inception.
Family:
Any number of individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption,
living together as a single housekeeping unit; or a group of not more than five
persons not necessarily related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living
together as a single housekeeping unit.
Farm:
Any tract of land containing at least three acres which is used for
dairying or for the raising of agricultural products, forest products,
livestock or poultry and including the facilities for the sale of such products
from the premises where produced, provided that a farm shall not be construed
to include commercial poultry and swine production, cattle feeder lots, and
fur-bearing animal farms.
Fence:
A structure for enclosing or screening, including a wall. Any fence over four feet high shall be
considered a building for purposes of these Regulations.
Floating
Zone: A special detailed use district of
undetermined location; a district in which the proposed kind, location, size
and form of structures must be pre-approved (but which, unlike a Special Permit
use, is not legislatively pre-deemed compatible with the area in which it may
be proposed).
Flood
(or Flooding): A general and temporary condition of partial
or complete inundation of normally dry land areas, from the overflow of inland
or tidal waters, and/or the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface
waters from any source.
Floor
Area, Gross: The sum of the gross area of all floors in
all structures on a lot, but excluding any space where the floor to ceiling
height is less than six feet. The gross
area is measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the
centerline of a party or common wall.
All portions of the structure’s space with a height of fourteen feet or
greater from floor to ceiling shall be calculated as two floors and each
additional seven feet as an additional floor.
Included in the measurement of floor area are: all interior stairwells, elevator shafts,
utility rooms, roofed porches, roofed carports, roofed decks, unenclosed
breezeways, roof decks, and balconies.
Excluded from the measurement: a
basement, to the extent it is located four feet or more below the surface; and
any portion of interior space with structural headroom of less than six feet.
Floor
Area Ratio: The ratio of gross floor area on a lot to the
area of the lot.
Frontage
(or Lot Frontage): The length of the front line of a lot
abutting a public street.
Garage,
Parking: A building or portion thereof designed or
used for the temporary storage of motor vehicles, without any sales or service
of motor vehicles or parts or supplies for motor vehicles.
Garage,
Private: A detached accessory building or portion of a
principal building used for the storage of motor vehicles.
Grade:
The lowest point of existing ground adjacent to each wall of a building
or structure, or proposed building or structure; or the lowest point of
finished ground if an approval has been granted in accordance with Section
3.3.5.3 of these Regulations permitting an individual to deposit fill on the
subject lot.
Headroom:
Unobstructed vertical distance between the floor and ceiling of an
interior space.
Home
Occupation, Customary: An occupation which is clearly accessory and
secondary to the residential use of a dwelling for gainful employment involving
the manufacture, repair, provision or sales of goods and/or services.
Ice
Cream Parlor: The retail sale of ice cream, frozen yogurt,
candy and similar desserts for consumption on or off the premises, providing
there is no kitchen nor any equipment for the preparation of meals, nor is
there any actual preparation of full meals, nor is there seating for more than
a total of sixteen persons at a counter or table.
Illegal
Use: Any use, whether of a building or other
structure, or of a tract of land, in which a violation of any provision of
these Regulations has been committed or shall exist, or which use is not
specifically listed as permitted in these Regulations, other than those
non-conforming uses which meet the requirements of Section 2.9 of these
Regulations.
Inn:
A building, non owner occupied, in which more than five but not more
than fifteen guest rooms are used to provide or offer overnight accommodations
not more than thirty consecutive days in length to transient guests for
compensation, which may include the serving of meals to guests, and a
conference area, as accessory uses, all not to exceed, in the aggregate, a
building capacity of fifty guests.
Junk:
Discarded material, equipment, machinery, vehicles, waste, rubble or
refuse which may or may not be useful in some form.
Junkyard:
A place where junk, waste, discarded or salvaged materials are bought,
sold, exchanged, stored, baled, packed, disassembled or handled, including
automobile wrecking yards, house wrecking, and structural steel materials and
equipment, but not including the purchase or storage of used furniture or
household equipment, used cars in operable condition, used or salvaged
materials as part of a manufacturing operation.
Kitchen:
Any room or portion thereof used, intended to be used, or designed to be
used, whether wholly or partly for the cooking or preparation of food.
Lot:
A plot or parcel of land under separate ownership which is occupied or
capable of being occupied by one principal building and the accessory buildings
customarily incidental to it, including open spaces which are required by these
Regulations. In the case of multi-family
dwellings and public, institutional, commercial or industrial buildings, a
group of buildings under the same ownership may be considered occupying the
same lot.
Lot
Area: The actual area in square feet enclosed by
lot lines.
Lot,
Building: Land occupied or to be occupied by a
principal building and its accessory buildings, together with such open spaces
as are required under the provision of these Regulations, having not less than
the minimum area and frontage required by these Regulations for a lot in the
district in which it is situated.
Lot,
Corner: A lot abutting upon two or more streets at
their intersection. For a corner lot in
a residential zone, the minimum depth of yard along either frontage shall be
the depth of yard required for front yards along that street. One yard, other than the front yard, shall be
deemed by the Zoning Officer to be a rear yard, and the others side yards.
Lot,
Coverage: The percent coverage of a lot by permanently
erected buildings, including accessory buildings and other structures and also
including external staircases, balconies, decks, porches, and their projections which extend
more than four feet above grade.
Lot
Line: The established division line between lots,
or between a lot and a street.
Lot
Line, Front: All lines dividing the lot from a street.
Lot
Line, Rear: The line which most nearly qualifies as the
line most distant and opposite from the front lot line; where the line is
irregularly shaped, a line perpendicular to the mean direction of the side lot
lines, and at least ten feet in length within the lot.
Lot
Line, Side: Any lot line other than the front lot line or
the rear lot line.
Lot
of Record: A lot for which a deed has been recorded with
the Stonington Town Clerk.
Manufacturing: The processing and converting of raw, unfinished or finished
materials or products, or any of these into an article or substance of
different character, or for use for a different purpose; also industries
furnishing labor in the case of manufacturing or the refinishing of
manufactured articles.
Marina:
A place for docking or storage of pleasure boats or providing services
to pleasure boats and the occupants thereof, including minor servicing and
repair to boats while in the water, and the sale of fuel and supplies as an
accessory use. A yacht club shall be
considered a marina, but a hotel, motel or similar use, where docking of boats
and provision of services thereto is incidental to other activities shall not
be considered a marina, nor shall boat docks accessory to a multiple dwelling
where no boat-related services are rendered.
Master
Plan: The Plan of Development, also known as the
Plan of Conservation and Development, or any portion thereof, made and adopted
by the Planning and Zoning Commission in accordance with Connecticut General
Statutes, indicating the general or specific locations recommended for streets,
parks, public buildings, zoning districts, and other public improvements and
objectives.
Mobile
Home: A one-family dwelling unit of a vehicular
portable design, built on a chassis and designed to be moved from one site to
another and to be used without a permanent foundation.
Museum:
A non-profit, noncommercial establishment operated as a repository for a
collection of natural, scientific, historic or literary curiosities, or objects
of interest or works of art, not including the regular sale or distribution of
the objects collected.
National
Register of Historic Places: The official list,
established by the National Historic Preservation Act, of sites, districts,
buildings, structures, and objects significant in the nation’s history or whose
artistic or architectural value is unique.
All Stonington Borough buildings and structures built before 1974 and
not significantly altered since then remain listed.
New
Construction: A new building or structure.
Non-Conforming
Building or Structure: A building or structure, the size, dimension,
or location of which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision, or amendment
to the Zoning Regulations but that fails by reason of such adoption, revision,
or amendment to conform to the present requirements of the zoning district.
Non-Conforming
Use: A use or activity that was lawful prior to
the adoption, revision, or amendment of the Zoning Regulations but that fails
by reason of such adoption, revision, or amendment to conform to the present
use requirements of the zoning district.
Open
Space: When referring to a lot, a space not occupied
by a building on the same lot with the principal building.
Occupy:
To take or enter upon possession of.
Occupancy,
Change of: A discontinuance of an existing use and
substitution of a different use designation as set forth in these Regulations.
Park:
A pleasure ground set apart for recreation of the public, to promote its
health and enjoyment, and owned and operated by a public or non-profit agency.
Plan
of Conservation and Development: The Plan of
Development, or any portion thereof, made and adopted by the Planning and
Zoning Commission in accordance with Connecticut General Statutes.
Premises:
Any lot or combination of contiguous lots held in single ownership,
together with the development thereon; a condominium complex constitutes one
premises.
Principal
Use: The primary purpose or function that a lot
serves or is intended to serve.
Professional
Office: The office of a person engaged in any
occupation, vocation or calling, not purely commercial, mechanical, or
agricultural, in which a professed knowledge or skill in some department of
science or learning is required.
Public
Building: Any building held, used, or controlled exclusively
for public purposes by any department or branch of government, without
reference to the ownership of the building or the realty upon which it is
located.
Recreational
Camping Unit: A self-propelled or portable unit, such as a
camper bus, travel trailer, truck mounted camper, or other similar unit,
originally designed and constructed or redesigned and reconstructed for
recreation or other shelter for one or more persons. A vehicle which is: (1) building on a single chassis; (2) 400
square feet or less when measured at the longest horizontal projection; (3)
designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck;
and (4) designed primarily not for use
as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping,
travel, or seasonal use.
Renovation:
Any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration or improvements
to a building or structure for which a zoning permit is required, which take
place over any consecutive three year period and for which the cumulative cost
is less than fifty percent (50%) of the market value of the building or
structure. The market value shall be the
fair market value immediately prior to the start of the renovations, as
provided by the applicant in writing from a reputable source. Absent other evidence, the Town of Stonington
assessment of the structure or building will establish fair market value.
Restaurant: An establishment used principally for
the preparation and service of food and beverages for consumption either on or
off the premises. Night Clubs are not
Restaurants.
Restaurant,
Class I: A restaurant that meets all of the following
criteria: (1) gross floor area of 1,500 square feet or less, (2) seating
capacity is 10 or less; (3) food and beverages served on the premises are
actually or expected to be consumed primarily off the premises.
Restaurant,
Class II: A restaurant that meets all of the following
criteria: (1) gross floor area of 2,000 square feet or less, (2) seating
capacity of 75 or less, and (3) food and beverages served on the premises are
actually or expected to be consumed primarily on the premises.
Road,
Frontage: One road, other than the side or rear road,
shall be deemed by the Zoning Officer to be the frontage road. A corner lot may have two or more frontage
roads.
Sign:
Any structure or part thereof, or any device attached to a building or
structure or painted or represented thereon which displays or includes letters,
words, symbols, trademarks, or any other graphic representation which is in the
nature of any announcement, direction or advertisement for commercial purposes
or otherwise; similarly, any natural object, such as a tree, stone, or the
earth itself, which is painted or arranged so as to represent or display any of
the aforesaid graphic representations; any building feature, including roof or
other special illumination, special colors or effects, or building or rooflines
which serve to identify the use or occupancy of any building or site through a
recognized motif or symbol. The term
“sign” shall not include the flag of any recognized nation, state or other
political unit.
Site:
Same as “lot”.
Street,
Public: An improved right-of-way accepted for public
use by lawful procedure and suitable for vehicular travel; or a proposed public
street shown on a subdivision plan in these Regulations, “street” shall mean
“public street” unless otherwise specified.
Street,
Unaccepted: Any private right-of-way providing access to
one or more lots or dwelling units, also “private street”.
Street
Line: A dividing line between a lot and the street
right-of-way.
Structure: Anything which is constructed or erected and the use of
which requires more or less permanent location on the ground or water areas or
attachment to something having permanent location on ground or water areas,
not, however, including wheels; an edifice or a building of any kind; any
production or piece of work, artificially built up or composed of parts and
joined together in some definite manner; including fences or walls in excess of
four feet in height; a wharf or dock, an above ground tank, or a detached solar
panel.
Substantial
Improvements: Any combination of repairs, reconstruction,
alteration, or improvements to a building or structure for which a zoning
permit is required, which take place over any consecutive three year period and
for which the cumulative cost is equal to or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the
market value of the building or structure.
The market value shall be the fair market value immediately prior to the
start of the substantial improvements, as provided by the applicant in writing,
from a reputable source. Absent other
evidence, the Town of Stonington assessment of the structure or building will
establish fair market value. For the
purposes of Section 3.3 only, substantial improvements shall mean the FEMA
definition described in Section 3.3.2.2.
Tourist
Home: An owner occupied building in which more than
one but not more than five guest rooms are used to provide or offer overnight
accommodation to transient guests for compensation, which may include the
serving of meals as an accessory use.
Use:
The purpose for which property is arranged, designed or intended, or for
which the land and/or building is or may be occupied or maintained.
Variance:
Permission to depart from the literal requirements of the Zoning
Regulations in accordance with CT General Statutes Sec. 8-6.
Warehouse:
A structure or part of a structure used primarily for the non-residential
storage of goods, wares, and merchandise.
Yard,
Front: The open space between the building line and
the front lot line, extending the full width of the lot; or in the case of a
corner lot, the open space between a building and the front lot line extending
the full width of each frontage.
Yard,
Rear: The open space between the building and the
rear lot line or the mean high tide line, whichever is closer, extending the
full width of the lot.
Yard,
Side: The open space between the building and a side lot line,
extending from the front yard to the rear yard.
Any yard not a front or rear yard shall be deemed a side yard.
Zone:
Same as “district” under these Regulations.
1.4. Zoning Districts
1.4.1. District Classifications
The Borough of Stonington is hereby divided into the following
Zoning Districts:
Residential One (R-1)
Residential Two (R-2)
Residence Preservation (RP)
Residence (R)
Rural Residence (RR)
Reserved Land (RL)
Planned Commercial (PC)
Planned Industrial (PI)
Planned Waterfront (PW)
Planned Area Development (PAD)
Planned Multi Family Housing (PMFH) (Article 8 PMFH District Added)
1.4.2. Zoning Map
The boundaries of said districts shall be as shown on the map entitled “Zoning Map of the Borough of Stonington, Connecticut, dated November 20, 1981”, and any subsequent amendments thereto as may be adopted; which map and amendments are on file in the Office of the Borough Clerk. Such map and amendments are hereby declared a part of these Regulations.
1.4.3. District Boundaries
The boundaries of these Zoning Districts are hereby established as shown on the Zoning Map of the Borough of Stonington. Unless otherwise indicated, the Zoning District boundaries are the center line of streets or rail lines, property lines, waterways, or lines drawn parallel to any of these. In cases of uncertainty, the Planning and Zoning Commission shall determine the location of any boundary.