Chapter 17.04 DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this title, certain terms and words are defined as follows: words used in the present tense shall also include the future; words or phrases used in the singular shall also include the plural, and words used in the plural shall also include the singular; the word "building" includes structure and "structure" includes building; the words "used" or "occupied" shall include within their meaning "intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied." The word "person" shall include corporation, partnership, or other legal entity. Where other definitions are necessary and are not defined in this chapter, the town council may define such terms. (Ord. 93 §1(2(part)), 1982)

17.04.020 Accessory use or building.

"Accessory use or building" means the use of land or a subordinate building or a portion of a main building such use being secondary to or incidental to the principal use or structure. (Ord. 93 §1(2.1), 1982)

17.04.022 Adult-use dispensary.

"Adult-use dispensary" means a licensed premises from which a person licensed by the Department of Revenue (the "Department") may: (A) obtain marijuana or marijuana products from a licensed cultivator, manufacturer, dispensary, or other licensee approved under Title 16, Chapter 12, MCA, and (B) sell marijuana or marijuana products to registered cardholders, adults that are twenty-one years of age or older, or both. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.024 Adult-use marijuana-infused products provider.

"Adult-use marijuana-infused products provider" means a person licensed by the Department to manufacture and provide marijuana-infused products for consumers. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.030 Apartments.

"Apartments" means a building or portions thereof designed with more than four individual dwelling units. (Ord. 93 §1(2.2), 1982)

17.04.040 Automobile wrecking.

"Automobile wrecking" means the dismantling or wrecking of used motor vehicle or trailers or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled, or partially dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles or other parts. (Ord. 93 §1(2.3), 1982)

17.04.050 Boarding, lodging or rooming house.

"Boarding, lodging or rooming house" means a building, or portion thereof, other than a hotel, rest home, or home for the aged where lodging and/or meals exclusive of the operator’s immediate family are provided for compensation. (Ord. 93 §1(2.4), 1982)

17.04.060 Building.

"Building" means any structure built for support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or property of any kind. (Ord. 93 §1(2.5), 1982)

17.04.070 Building height.

"Building height" means the vertical distance from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of a building to the highest point of a flat roof, the deck line of a mansard roof, and the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip, and gambrel roofs. (Ord. 93 §1(2.6), 1982)

17.04.080 Building official.

"Building official" means that official designated by the operations manager as the official responsible for accepting, reviewing and approving or rejecting plans for buildings or occupancy, and applications for building and occupancy permits, and for interpretations and enforcement of ordinances related thereto. (Ord. 172 §7, 1995: Ord. 93 §1(2.7), 1982)

17.04.090 Building perimeter.

"Building perimeter" means the foundation walls of a building and/or supports for appendages thereto. (Ord. 93 §1(2.8), 1982)

17.04.100 Church.

"Church" means a building designed for public worship by any religious body. (Ord. 93 §1(2.9), 1982)

17.04.110 Clinic.

"Clinic" means a place used for the care, diagnosis, and treatment of sick, ailing, infirmed, or injured persons and those who are in need of medical or surgical attention, but who are not provided with board or room or kept overnight on the premises. (Ord. 93 §1(2.10), 1982)

17.04.120 Clubs, fraternal lodges.

"Clubs, fraternal lodges" means buildings and facilities owned and operated by a corporation, association, person or persons for a social, educational or recreational purpose, but not primarily for profit or to render a service which is customarily carried on as a business. (Ord. 93 §1(2.11), 1982)

17.04.130 Conditional use.

See "use, conditional." (Ord. 93 §1(2.12), 1982)

17.04.132 Consumer.

"Consumer" means a person twenty-one years of age or older who obtains or possesses marijuana or marijuana products for personal use from a licensed dispensary but not for resale. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.134 Cultivator.

"Cultivator" means a person licensed by the Department to: plant, cultivate, grow, harvest and dry marijuana; and package and relabel marijuana products at the location in a natural or naturally dried form that has not been converted, concentrated or compounded for sale through a licensed dispensary. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.140 Density.

"Density" means the total number of dwelling units allowed per gross acre. (Ord. 93 §1(2.13), 1982)

17.04.150 Dwelling.

"Dwelling" means a building or portion thereof designed with living quarters for occupancy by one or more families. (Ord. 93 §1(2.14), 1982)

17.04.160 Dwelling, multifamily.

"Multifamily dwelling" means a building designed with two to four dwelling units. (Ord. 93 §1(2.16), 1982)

17.04.170 Dwelling, one-family.

"One-family dwelling" means a building designed with accommodations for and occupied by one family only. (Ord. 93 §1(2.15), 1982)

17.04.180 Dwelling unit.

"Dwelling unit" means a building or portion thereof providing separate cooking, eating, sleeping and living facilities for one family and its resident domestic employees. (Ord. 93 §1(2.17), 1982)

17.04.190 Family.

"Family" means any individual, or two or more persons related by blood or marriage, or a group of not more than four persons (excluding servants) who need not be related by blood or marriage, living together as a single nonprofit housekeeping unit. (Ord. 93 §1(2.18), 1982)

17.04.200 Floor area.

"Floor area" means the total number of square feet of floor space within the exterior walls of a building (floor areas of basements shall not apply as part of the required minimum floor area of buildings). (Ord. 93 §1(2.19), 1982)

17.04.210 Garage, automotive repair.

"Automotive repair garage" means any building or premises used for major repairs of motor vehicles but not including auto wrecking or storage of wrecked cars. Repair activity shall be conducted in enclosed places or screened from public view. (Ord. 93 §1(2.20), 1982)

17.04.220 Gasoline service stations.

"Gasoline service stations" means any building or portion thereof and the land upon which it is situated used for supplying fuel and/or oil for motor vehicles at retail direct to the consumer and/or making minor vehicle repairs. (Ord. 93 §1(2.21), 1982)

17.04.230 Home occupation.

"Home occupation" means the use of a portion of a dwelling as an office, studio, or work room for occupations at home by one or more persons residing in the dwelling unit. No home occupation shall occupy more than twenty percent of the gross floor area nor more than four hundred square feet of gross floor area. The activity must be clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and shall not change the character or appearance thereof. (Ord. 93 §1(2.22), 1982)

17.04.240 Hospital.

"Hospital" means an institution providing health services, primarily for in-patients and medical or surgical care of the sick or injured, including out-patient departments, training facilities, central service facilities and staff offices. (Ord. 93 §1(2.23), 1982)

17.04.250 Hotel.

"Hotel" means a building containing six or more rooms designed for and rented out for sleeping purposes for transients and where only a general kitchen and dining room are provided in the building or in an accessory building. (Ord. 93 §1(2.24), 1982)

17.04.260 Junk yard.

"Junk yard" means primary or accessory use of a parcel of land for the storage, dismantling or selling of cast-off or salvage material of any sort in any other than the original form in which it was manufactured and/or assembled, thus, not including reconditioned second-hand furniture, fixtures, or antiques sold from within a walled building. (Ord. 93 §1(2.25), 1982)

17.04.270 Landscaping.

"Landscaping" means the placement of ornamental fixtures such as fountains, ornamental walls, fences, benches, along with vegetative plantings of trees, shrubs, grass, flowers, etc. This definition shall also include the designing of the placement of such materials. (Ord. 93 §1(2.26), 1982)

17.04.280 Loading berth, off-street.

"Off-street loading berth" means an off-street space or berth on the same lot with a principal building for the parking of commercial vehicles while loading or unloading merchandise and which has direct access from a public street or alley. (Ord. 93 §1(2.27), 1982)

17.04.290 Lot.

"Lot" means a parcel or plot of land shown as an individual unit of ownership on the most recent plat or other record of subdivision. (Ord. 93 §1(2.28), 1982)

17.04.300 Lot, corner.

"Corner lot" means a lot situated at the junction of and abutting on two or more streets. (Ord. 93 §1(2.29), 1982)

17.04.310 Lot coverage.

"Lot coverage" means the total area of a lot covered by the principal and accessory buildings. (Ord. 93 §1(2.30), 1982)

17.04.320 Lot lines.

"Lot lines" means the lines bounding a lot as defined in this chapter. (Ord. 93 §1(2.31), 1982)

17.04.330 Lot width.

"Lot width" means the width of a lot along a line parallel to the frontage thereof and lying a distance equal to the required front yard setback on such lot. (Ord. 93 §1(2.32), 1982)

17.04.332 Manufacturer.

"Manufacturer" means a person licensed by the Department to convert or compound marijuana into marijuana products, marijuana concentrates, or marijuana extracts and package, repackage, label, or relabel marijuana products. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.334 Marijuana.

"Marijuana" means all plant material from the genus Cannabis containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or seeds of the genus capable of germination. The term does not include hemp, including any part of that plant, including the seeds and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than three-tenths of one percent on a dry weight basis, or commodities or products manufactured with hemp, or any other ingredient combined with marijuana to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink, or other products. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.336 Marijuana transporter.

"Marijuana transporter" means a person that is licensed to transport marijuana and marijuana products from one marijuana business to another marijuana business, or to and from a testing laboratory, and to temporarily store the transported retail marijuana and retail marijuana products at its licensed premises (facility), but is not authorized to sell marijuana or marijuana products to consumers under any circumstances. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.340 Master plan.

"Master plan" shall include any document or portion of any document duly adopted by the town council which is intended to guide the growth and development of the area. (Ord. 93 §1(2.33), 1982)

17.04.345 Medical marijuana dispensary.

"Medical marijuana dispensary" means the location from which a registered cardholder (as defined in Montana Code Section 16-12-102) may obtain marijuana or marijuana products. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.350 Mobile home.

"Mobile home" means a transportable structure built on a chassis and designated to be used without a permanent foundation as a dwelling unit when connected to sanitary facilities (the phrase "without permanent foundation" indicates that the support system is constructed with the intent that the mobile home placed thereon will be moved from time to time at the convenience of the owner). (Ord. 93 §1(2.34), 1982)

17.04.360 Mobile home park.

"Mobile home park" means a parcel of land that has been planned and improved for the placement of mobile homes for residential use. (Ord. 93 §1(2.35), 1982)

17.04.370 Motel.

See "hotel." (Ord. 93 §1(2.36), 1982)

17.04.380 Nursing home.

"Nursing home" means a building or portion thereof used for the housing of and caring for the ambulatory, aged, or infirmed by a professional staff. (Ord. 93 §1(2.37), 1982)

17.04.390 Parking lots.

"Parking lots" means a structure or an area, other than a public street or alley, designed or used for the temporary parking of motor vehicles and available for public use whether free, for compensation, or an accommodation for customers or clients. (Ord. 93 §1(2.38), 1982)

17.04.400 Parking space, off-street.

"Off-street parking space" means a space located off any public right-of-way which is at least nine feet by twenty feet in size for parking of any motor vehicles, with room to get out of either side of the vehicle, with adequate maneuvering space, and with access to public streets or alleys. (Ord. 93 §1(2.39), 1982)

17.04.410 Planned unit development.

"Planned unit development" means an area of land in single ownership or control to be developed as a single integrated unit, the plan for which may not correspond in lot size, bulk or type of building, density, lot coverage, use, and required open space of the regulations established in the district. (Ord. 93 §1(2.40), 1982)

17.04.420 Professional business offices.

"Professional business offices" means offices to be occupied by accountants, architects, dentists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, insurance agents, real estate agents, or other professions which are of a similar nature. (Ord. 93 §1(2.41), 1982)

17.04.430 Restaurant, cafe and drive-in restaurant.

"Restaurant, cafe and drive-in restaurant" means a public eating house. (Ord. 93 §1(2.42), 1982)

17.04.440 Retail sales.

"Retail sales" means an establishment selling goods, wares, or merchandise directly to the ultimate consumer. (Ord. 93 §1(2.43), 1982)

17.04.450 Rooming house.

See "boarding house." (Ord. 93 §1(2.44), 1982)

17.04.460 Rooming unit.

See "unit, rooming." (Ord. 93 §1(2.45), 1982)

17.04.470 Screened.

"Screened" means concealed or cut off from direct visual contact. (Ord. 93 §1(2.46), 1982)

17.04.480 Setback.

"Setback" means the horizontal distance required between any structure and a lot line. This distance to. be measured at right angles (perpendicular) to the lot line. (Ord. 93 §1(2.47), 1982)

17.04.490 Shopping center.

"Shopping center" means one or more buildings containing at least three separate retail businesses planned, developed and managed as a unit, with off-street parking provided on the property. (Ord. 93 §1(2.48), 1982)

17.04.500 Sign.

"Sign" means a sign as defined by the current edition of the Uniform Sign Code of the Inter national Conference of Building Officials. (Ord. 189 §2, 1996: Ord. 93 §1(2.49), 1982)

17.04.510 Structure.

"Structure" means that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner. (Ord. 93 §1(2.50), 1982)

17.04.520 Structural alteration.

"Structural alteration" means any change in the shape or size of any portion of a building or of the supporting members of the building or structure such as walls, columns, beams, arches, girders, floor joist, or roof joist. (Ord. 93 §1(2.51), 1982)

17.04.522 Testing laboratory.

"Testing laboratory" means a marijuana testing laboratory which provides testing of representative samples of marijuana and marijuana products and provides information about the chemical composition and potency of a sample, as well as the presence of molds, pesticides or other contaminants. (Ord. 273 §1, 2023)

17.04.525 Tower.

"Tower" means a structure consisting of--a single pole of any kind or poles connected by cross arms or cross members, either welded or bolted or fastened together in any way, used for signaling, broadcasting or communications equipment or for any other purpose. (Ord. 190 §1, 1996)

17.04.530 Travel trailer.

"Travel trailer" means a vehicular portable structure designed as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreation, and vacation uses which is not more than eight feet in body width nor thirty-two feet in body length. (Ord. 93 §1(2.52), 1982)

17.04.540 Travel trailer park.

"Travel trailer park" means any area or tract of land rented or held out for rent to one or more persons or users for parking or placement of temporary recreational or vacation housing. (Ord. 93 §1 (2.53), 1982)

17.04.550 Unit, efficiency.

"Efficiency unit" means an apartment unit with unseparated area for sleeping and/or cooking. (Ord. 93 §1(2.54), 1982)

17.04.560 Unit, rooming.

"Rooming unit" is a space for human occupancy lacking private bath and/or kitchen facilities with a floor area of at least four hundred fifty square feet. (Ord. 93 §1(2.55), 1982)

17.04.570 Use.

"Use" means any purpose for which a building or other structure or a tract of land may be designed, arranged, intended, maintained, or occupied or any activity, occupation, business, or operation carried on or intended to be carried on in a building or other structure or on a tract of land. (Ord. 93 §1(2.56), 1982)

17.04.580 Use, conditional.

"Conditional use" means uses, other than permitted uses, that may be allowed in a specific district but requiring additional safeguards to maintain and assure the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the community and to maintain the character of the district. (Ord. 93 §1(2.57), 1982)

17.04.590 Variance.

"Variance" means the relaxation of the strict application of the terms of this title with respect to mechanical requirements such as setback requirements, yard requirements, area requirements, etc., where specific physical conditions unique to the site of the lot would create an unreasonable burden by making its development for permitted uses difficult or impossible. (Ord. 93 §1(2.58), 1982)

17.04.600 Wholesale establishment.

"Wholesale establishment" means an establishment for the sale of goods and merchandise for resale instead of direct consumption. (Ord. 93 §1(2.59), 1982)

17.04.610 Yard, front.

"Front yard" means an open space extending across the full width of the lot between the front building line and the front lot line. (Ord. 93 §1 (2.60), 1982)

17.04.620 Yard, rear.

"Rear yard" means an open space extending across the full width of the lot between the rear building line of the principal building and the rear lot line. (Ord. 93 §1(2.61), 1982)

17.04.630 Yard, side.

"Side yard" means an open space extending from the side building line to a side lot line running from the front to the rear of the lot. (Ord. 93 §1(2.62), 1982)

17.04.640 Zero lot line.

"Zero lot line" means the relaxation of the strict application of side yard requirements where two adjoining lot owners agree to the side yard reduction. (Two single-family dwellings may be constructed on the lot line with a common wall.) (Ord. 93 §1(2.63), 1982)