Chapter 18.10
DEFINITIONS
Sections:
18.10.010 General.
For the purpose of this title, certain terms or words used shall be interpreted or defined as follows:
Words used in the present tense include the future tense.
The singular includes the plural.
The word “person” includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as an individual. The words “used” or “occupied” include the words intended, designed, or arranged to be used or occupied.
The word “lot” includes the word “plot” or “parcel.” The term “shall” is mandatory; the term “may” is permissive.
The word “town” shall mean the town of Mesilla.
The words “board of trustees” shall mean the board of trustees of the town of Mesilla.
The word “commission” shall mean the planning and zoning commission of the town of Mesilla.
The word “board” shall mean the board of adjustment within the context of this title. [Ord. 2009-05 § 3; Ord. 94-06 § 1; prior code § 11-2-2.1]
18.10.020 Specific.
“Accessory use or structure” means a use or structure incidental to the principal use of a building or land.
“Agricultural use” means the primary use of any lot, plot, parcel or tract of land for the growing, harvesting or sale of crops, raising livestock or uses that are directly ancillary to the growing and harvesting of crops.
“Alley” means a public or private way, at the rear or side of property, permanently reserved as a means of secondary access to abutting property.
“Alteration, structural” means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, beams, girders, joists, foundations, pilings, or retaining walls.
“Basement” means a story in any building having less than one-half its average height above grade.
“Bed and breakfast inn” is a lodging facility, no more than seven rooms of which are set aside for overnight guests whose paid accommodations include breakfast, and at which the owner/manager resides on site.
“Block” means a contiguous series of lots bounded and enclosed by streets.
“Building” means any structure built and maintained for the shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, or property of any kind.
“Building height” means the vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of a flat roof, the jack line of a mansard roof, or the average height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs.
“Building, main” means the building occupied by the primary use.
“Carport” means a permanently roofed accessory structure open on two or more sides usually attached to the side of a dwelling used for parking a vehicle.
“Cellar” means a story having one-half or more of its average height below grade.
“Clear sight triangle” means an area of unobstructed vision at street intersections which allows a vehicle driver to see approaching vehicles. Nothing is permitted more than three feet high measured from street curb point or edge of street to obstruct a sight line which shall be the front street and side street lines of a corner lot and a line connecting points 30 feet distant from the intersection of the property line of such lot.
“Clinic” means a place for group medical services not involving overnight housing of patients.
“Cottage industry” means a light industry ancillary to the prime agro-residential use of land and conducted on the same parcel of land used for the dwelling of the owner.
“Duplex” means a building designed and/or used exclusively for the occupancy of two families living independently of each other.
“Dwelling” means a building that contains one or two dwelling units used, intended or designed to be used, rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied for living purposes.
“Dwelling, multifamily” means a detached structure designed for and used by two or more families for living purposes, with separate housekeeping facilities for each.
“Dwelling unit” means a single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
“Family” means an individual or two or more persons related by blood, marriage, or adoption or a group of not more than five persons, excluding servants, who are not related by blood, marriage, or adoption, living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling.
“Finished ground level” means the height of the mid-point of the line formed by the intersection of a wall and the ground when all finish grading is completed.
“Garage, private” means an accessory building housing one or more vehicles owned and used by occupants of the main building.
“Garage, public” means a building, or portion thereof, designed or used for servicing, repairing, equipping, hiring, selling, or storing motor-driven vehicles.
“Guest house” is an attached or detached unit used as an accessory building to the primary single-family home and not rented or otherwise conducted as a business. A guest house shall not exceed 600 square feet outside dimensions.
“Grade” means the average of the finished ground levels of all the exterior walls of a building or structure.
“Home occupation” means an occupation conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which is clearly incidental and subordinate to the use of the structure for residential purposes and which does not change the character of the dwelling and does not adversely affect the uses permitted in the zone of which it is a part.
“Hotel” means an establishment that provides lodging, with or without meals and other services for travelers and other paying guests.
“Lot” means a portion of a legally platted subdivision that is shown as a lot, tract or parcel of land and held in separate ownership, as shown on the record of the county assessor. A legal lot is a parcel that has been divided in accordance with present or past zoning and subdivision requirements.
“Lot, corner” means a lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets.
“Lot depth” means the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
“Lot frontage” means the front of a lot shall be construed to be that portion of a lot nearest the street.
“Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot.
“Lot, through” means a lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
“Lot width” means the horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at right angles to the lot depth at the building lines.
“Mobile home” means a movable or portable housing structure larger than 40 feet in body length, eight feet in width or 11 feet in overall height, designed for and occupied by no more than one family for living and sleeping purposes that is not constructed to the standards of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 and the Housing and Urban Development Zone Code 2 or Uniform Building Code, as amended to the date of the unit’s construction or built to the standards of any municipal building code.
“Motel” means a group of attached or detached buildings containing individual sleeping or dwelling units with parking space conveniently located to each unit, for temporary use by automobile tourists or transients; includes auto courts, motor hotels and motor lodges.
“Multi-section manufactured home” means a manufactured home or modular home that is a single-family dwelling with a heated area of at least 36 by 24 feet and at least 864 square feet and constructed in a factory to the standards of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 and the Housing and Urban Development Zone Code 2 or the Uniform Building Code, as amended to the date of the unit’s construction, and installed consistent with the Manufactured Housing Act and with the rules made pursuant thereto relating to permanent foundations.
“Nonconforming building” means a building or portion lawfully existing at the time the ordinance codified in this title became effective which does not conform to the district in which it is located, or which does not comply with all the height and area regulations of the district in which it is located.
“Nonconforming use” means a use of a building or land existing at the time of adoption of the ordinance codified in this title which does not conform to the land use regulations for the district in which it is located.
“Open space” means an area of land not occupied by buildings not to include shade structures.
“Parking space, automobile” means a space for the temporary parking or storage of one automobile consisting of a minimum area 10 feet wide by 20 feet long, exclusive of streets, alleys, driveways, aisles, and the area of egress and ingress, and having access to a street or alley.
“Perimeter wall/fence” means a wall or fence that is intended for use as a fence and located along the property line.
“Permanent structure” means a structure anchored to the ground using concrete foundation or other permanent foundation.
“Prefabricated housing unit (PHU)” means a structure of which the standardized integral parts (walls, roof, windows, etc.) are factory-fabricated so that construction consists mainly of assembling and uniting the standardized integral parts at the building site, designed and constructed in accordance with all applicable local building codes and intended to be placed on a permanent foundation, meeting all local zoning codes and to be used by itself or incorporated with similar units at a building site. Prefabricated homes can be used for residential or commercial uses when located in appropriate zoning districts.
“Rest home” or “nursing home” means a building where lodging and meals, and nursing, dietary, or other personal services are rendered to one or more convalescents, invalids, or aged persons for compensation, but excluding cases of contagious or communicable diseases, surgery, or primary treatment customarily provided in sanitariums or hospitals.
“Shade structures” means pergolas, patios, decks, gazebos, arbors, trellises and cannot exceed 15 feet in height.
“Sign” means any device for visual communication that is used for the purpose of attracting the attention of the public.
“Story” means that portion of a building included between a floor and the ceiling above it.
“Street” means any public or private way which provides principal means of access to abutting properties.
“Structure” means anything constructed, a building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner, which requires location on the ground or is attached to something having a location on the ground.
“Temporary structure” means a small structure not permanently anchored to the property. Allowable temporary anchors include hurricane anchors, screw-type anchors, and cable anchors.
“Trailer court, trailer park, and mobile home park” means any area or tract of land where space is rented to owners or users of auto trailers, trailer coaches, mobile homes, or trailers for human habitation.
“Use” means the purpose for which land or buildings are arranged, designed or intended and is or may be occupied or maintained.
“Yard” means the space on a lot unobstructed by buildings from the ground to the sky, including sidewalks, driveways, patios, and other ground level surfaces.
“Yard, front” means the yard between the front property line and a building or structure.
“Yard, rear” means the yard between a rear property line and a building or structure.
“Yard, side” means the yard between a side property line and a building or structure.
All other words, terms, and phrases used in this title shall have the meanings generally assigned to them or as defined or used in the New Mexico state statutes related to planning. [Ord. 2021-01 § 1; Ord. 2009-05 § 3; Ord. 2006-10 § 2; Ord. 2003-06 § 1; Ord. 2000-03 § 1; Ord. 94-06 § 1; prior code § 11-2-2.2]