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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
SECTION 4
DEFINITIONS
4.1 LIST OF DEFINED TERMS
A
'Accessible Aisle'
'Accessible Stall'
'Accessory'
'Additional Residential Unit'
'Agricultural Use'
'Air Treatment Control'
'Amenity Area'
'Animal Shelter'
'Automotive Body/Repair Shop'
'Automotive Rental
Establishment'
'Automotive Sales
Establishment'
'Automotive Service Station'
'Automotive Washing
Establishment'
B
'Basement'
'Bed & Breakfast'
'Boarding or Lodging House'
'Body Rub Parlour'
'Body Rub'
'Building Area'
'Building Height'
'Building Setback'
'Building'
C
'Cannabis Production Facility'
'Catering Service'
'Cellar'
'City'
'Clinic'
'Commercial Use'
'Community Centre'
'Community Lifestyle Facility'
'Contractors Yard'
'Convenience Store'
'Council'
'Crisis Residence'
D
'Day Nursery'
'Deck'
'Drinking Establishment'
'Driveway'
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Dwelling Unit'
'Dwelling, Apartment'
'Dwelling, Cluster Townhouse'
'Dwelling, Converted'
'Dwelling, Duplex'
'Dwelling, Semi Detached'
'Dwelling, Single Detached'
'Dwelling, Street Fronting
Townhouse'
'Dwelling, Townhouse'
'Dwelling'
E
'Erect'
'Existing or Existed'
F
'Financial Institution'
'Finished Grade'
'Floor Area, Gross Leasable'
'Floor Area, Gross'
'Floor Space Index (FSI)'
'Food/Beverage Production
Facility'
'Funeral Home'
G
'Garage'
'Gas Bar'
'Golf Course'
'Grocery Store'
'Gross Vehicle Weight'
'Group Home'
'Group Residence'
H
'Hazard Land'
'Home Occupation'
'Hospital'
'Hotel'
I
'Indirect Sales'
'Industrial Mall'
'Industrial Use'
'Industrial Use, Accessory'
'Industrial Use, Light'
J
K
'Kennel'
L
'Laboratory'
'Landscaped Open Space'
'Lane'
'Laundromat'
'Loading Space'
'Long Term Care Facility'
'Lot Area'
'Lot Coverage'
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Lot Depth'
'Lot Frontage'
'Lot Line, Exterior Side'
'Lot Line, Front'
'Lot Line, Interior Side'
'Lot Line, Rear'
'Lot Line, Side'
'Lot, Corner'
'Lot, Interior'
'Lot, Through'
'Lot'
M
'Main'
'Marina'
'Mobile Home Lot'
'Mobile Home Park'
'Mobile Home'
'Model Home'
'Motor Home'
'Motor Vehicles, Commercial'
'Motor Vehicle'
'Museums'
N
'Noxious Uses'
O
'Office'
'Outdoor Patio'
P
'Park, Public'
'Parking, Extended'
'Parking Aisle'
'Parking Area'
'Parking Space'
'Parking Structure'
'Person'
'Personal Service Use'
'Place of Worship'
'Porch'
'Printing and Publishing
Establishments'
'Public Use'
Q
R
'Recreational Use'
'Rental Stores, General'
'Rental Stores, Media'
'Repair Stores'
'Residential Use'
'Restaurant, Drive-Thru'
'Restaurant'
'Retail Store'
'Retail Warehouse'
S
'School, Commercial'
'School'
'Self Serve Use'
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Sensitive Land Use'
'Service Use'
'Setback'
'Shopping Centre'
'Short Term Rental'
'Sight Triangle'
'Storage, Indoor'
'Storage, Outdoor'
'Storey, First'
'Storey'
'Street Line'
'Street, Private'
'Street'
'Structure'
'Student Residence'
'Studio, Instruction'
'Studio'
T
'Temporary Building'
'Transportation Depot'
'Travel Trailer'
U
'Use or Used'
V
'Vehicle-for-Hire Service'
'Veterinarian's Clinic'
W
'Warehouse'
'Wholesale Establishment'
X
Y
'Yard, Front'
'Yard, Rear'
'Yard, Required'
'Yard, Side'
'Yard'
'Yard Depth, Front'
'Yard Depth, Rear'
'Yard Width, Side'
'Yard, Exterior Side'
'Yard, Interior Side'
Z
4 - 5
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
4.2 DEFINITIONS
A
'Accessible Aisle' means a designated area immediately adjacent to one or
two accessible stalls, which provides access to and from the accessible stalls.
'Accessible Stall' means a designated parking stall identified by prescribed
pavement markets and signage, which is reserved for the exclusive use of
persons with disabilities.
'Accessory' means a use, building or structure subordinate and incidental to
and functionally associated with the main use, building or structure located on
the same lot therewith, and when applied to buildings or structures, also
means a building or structure separate from the main building on the same lot
otherwise provided for in this By-law.
'Additional Residential Unit' Unit' means a separate dwelling unit containing
a bathroom and separate cooking facilities and contained within the structure
of a single detached, semi-detached or street fronting townhouse dwelling or
in a building or structure accessory to a single detached, semidetached or
street fronting townhouse dwelling.
'Agricultural Use' means the growing of crops, including nursery and
horticultural crops; raising of livestock; raising of other animals for food, fur
or fibre, including poultry and fish; aquaculture; apiaries; agro-forestry; maple
syrup production; and associated on-farm buildings and structures, including
accommodation for full-time farm labour when the size and nature of the
operation requires additional employment; but does not include a Cannabis
Production Facility.
'Air Treatment Control' means the functional use of industrial grade multi-
stage carbon filtration system, or similar technology, to reduce and/or treat
the emission of pollen, dust and odours expelled from a facility and sized
accordingly in comparison to the facility it serves as designed by a qualified
person. For a Food/Beverage Production Facility all emissions and vapours
created shall be wholly contained within the unit or discharged to the municipal
sewer.
'Amenity Area' means indoor or outdoor space on a lot that is:
a)
ancillary to the main use; and
b)
communal and available for use by the occupants of a building on
the lot, or the general public, or both, for recreational or social
activities.
'Animal Shelter' means a lot and/or building or part thereof used as a public
use for the care of lost, stray, abandoned or neglected animals, where animals
kept for care are housed entirely within enclosed buildings.
ZBA
[41]
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Automotive Body/Repair Shop' means a lot or building or part thereof
where motorized vehicle(s), including but not limited to, automobiles,
recreational vehicles, travel trailers and/or boats may be subject to parts or
systems replacement, body work or painting, and/or maintenance or mechanical
repair. An Automotive Body/Repair Shop may include the accessory sale of
automotive products, a gas bar, an automotive washing establishment, and/or
an automotive rental establishment, but shall not include any other vehicle or
automotive use otherwise defined in this By-law.
'Automotive Rental Establishment' means a lot or building or part thereof
where an office is provided for the public to rent motor vehicles and includes
a limited number of vehicles on-site for rent.
'Automotive Sales Establishment' means a lot or building or part thereof
where the main use is the display and sale of new or used motorized vehicles,
recreational vehicles, travel trailers or boats and may include renting or leasing
of motorized vehicles and/or the sale of automotive accessories and related
products and/or maintenance or mechanical repair.
'Automotive Washing Establishment' means a lot or building or part
thereof used for the washing, cleaning, drying or polishing of motor vehicles
by automatic, manual or self-serve washing equipment.
B
'Basement' means any storey below the first storey partly below finished
grade level but which has at least 50% of its height from finished floor to
finished ceiling above the adjacent finished grade level.
'Bed & Breakfast' means a a home business where the resident operator
provides short-term lodging for compensation to the travelling and vacationing
public. Guest rooms or suites may include a private bath but do not include
cooking facilities. Breakfast and other meals, services, facilities or amenities
may be offered exclusively to guests. A bed and breakfast does not include a
hotel, boarding or lodging house, group home, group residence or any other
home licensed, approved or supervised under any general or special Act..
'Boarding or Lodging House' means a lot or building or part thereof in which
accommodation for the public is supplied in guest rooms, where means may
or may not be provided, and where located in a R1, R2, R3 and R4 Zone,
means a private dwelling in which no more than four guest rooms are available
to the public for accommodation, but does not include any other use otherwise
defined in this By-law.
'Body Rub Parlour' means any premise or part thereof where a body rub is
performed, offered or solicited in pursuance of a trade, calling, business or
occupation, but does not include any premises or part thereof where the
treatments performed are for the purpose of medical or therapeutic treatment
and are performed or offered by person otherwise duly qualified, licensed or
registered so to do under the laws of the Province of Ontario.
ZBA
[51]
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Body Rub' includes the kneading, manipulating, rubbing, massaging,
touching or stimulation, by any means, of a person's body or part thereof, but
does not include medical or therapeutic treatment given by a person otherwise
duly qualified, licensed or registered so to do under the laws of the Province of
Ontario.
'Building Area' means the greatest horizontal area of a storey above grade
within the outside surface of exterior walls or within the outside surface of
exterior walls and the centreline of firewalls.
'Building Height' means the vertical distance measured from the average
finished grade around the structure, and:
a)
in the case of a flat roof, the highest point of the roof surface or
exterior wall (other than a required fire wall);
b)
in the case of a mansard roof, the ridge;
c)
in the case of a gabled, hip, gambrel or one-slope roof, the
average level between eaves and ridge, except that a one-slope
roof having a slope of less than 20 degrees from the horizontal
shall be considered a flat roof for the purposes of this By-law.
d)
in the case of a structure not having a roof, the uppermost part
of such structure.
Building height shall be exclusive of any accessory roof construction not used
for human occupancy but necessary to house required mechanical equipment.
'Building Setback' means the shortest horizontal distance between a lot line
and the nearest part of any building or structure on the lot.
'Building' means a fully or partially enclosed structure having a roof supported
by walls, columns, piers or other structural systems, but does not include a
vehicle.
C
'Cannabis Production Facility' means buildings or structures used for
producing, processing, testing, destroying, packaging and/or shipping of
cannabis, including edibles, authorized by an issued license (of any license
type) or registration by the federal Minister of Health, pursuant to the Cannabis
Act, as amended from time to time, or any successors thereto.
'Catering Service' means a use, building or part thereof used for the
preparation of food or drink in full or in part for consumption at a location other
than the premises in which the food or drink is prepared.
'Cellar' means any enclosed portion of a building that has more than fifty per
cent (50%) of its height, from floor to ceiling, located below adjacent average
finished grade.
'City' means The Corporation of the City of Owen Sound.
'Clinic' means a building or part thereof used by duly qualified, licensed or
registered medical practitioners and their associated staff and patients or
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
clients and offers services which may include consultation, diagnosis and
treatments for medical, dental, chiropractic, therapy, optic or other human
health concerns. A clinic may include ancillary offices, waiting and treatment
rooms, laboratories, pharmacies and dispensaries directly associated with the
clinic, but shall not include a hospital or other facilities for in-patient care or
major surgical procedures.
'Commercial Use' means the use of any lot, building or structure, or portion
thereof, for the purpose of buying and/or selling of commodities, the rental of
goods and materials, and the supplying of services to the general public,
separate from uses associated with the manufacturing, assembly or
warehousing of goods.
'Community Centre' means a publicly owned or operated building or
structure used for community recreation, social, cultural, educational,
gathering or leisure activities which may include offices for the administration
of such activities and accessory retail and other concession operations.
'Community Lifestyle Facility' means a lot, building or part thereof used for
gatherings, meetings and activities of a civic, educational, political, religious,
social, cultural, athletic, amusement or recreational nature but does not
include any other commercial use otherwise defined in this By-law
'Contractors Yard' means a lot, building or part thereof wherein vehicles,
equipment and/or supplies are parked, stockpiled, stored and maintained for
use by a contractor for the construction and/or renovation trades. Facilities for
the administration or management of the business as well as minor
maintenance and assembly work normally considered to be accessory to the
trade are permitted. It does not include the lease, retail, or wholesale sale of
construction materials or supplies, or home improvement materials,
equipment or supplies.
'Convenience Store' means a retail store where various convenience goods
and items of day to day use or necessity are offered for retail sale, and may
include accessory convenience services such as dry cleaning depot, laundry
depot, photo finishing, automated banking outlet, video/game rentals or postal
outlet.
'Council' means the Council of The Corporation of the City of Owen Sound.
'Crisis Residence' means a lot and / or building or part thereof established
as a single housekeeping unit used for the short term accommodation of three
or more persons exclusive of staff living under supervision, who normally
would have a permanent residence elsewhere, who by reasons of their
emotional, mental, social, or physical condition or legal status require a
temporary living arrangement for their well being. For purposes of this
definition, short term shall mean averaging one month or less in time.
D
'Day Nursery' means a premises that receives more than five children who
are not of common parentage, primarily for the purpose of providing temporary
4 - 9
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
care, or guidance, or both temporary care and guidance, for a continuous
period not exceeding twenty-four hours, where the children are,
i)
under eighteen years of age in the case of a day nursery for children
with a developmental disability, and
ii)
under ten years of age in all other cases,
but does not include,
iii)
part of a public school, separate school or private school under the
Education Act.
'Deck' means a structure abutting a dwelling with no roof or walls except for
visual partitions and railings which is constructed on piers or a foundation
above-grade for use as an outdoor living area.
'Drinking Establishment' means a lot or building or part thereof where the
main use is the serving of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and spirits) to the
public in consideration of payment, intended for consumption on the same
premises (in the building or on an abutting terrace or patio), licensed and
operated in accordance with the provisions of the Liquor License Act S.O. 1990,
and may include dancing and entertainment accessory to and in combination
therewith.
'Driveway' means a vehicle access provided between a street or lane and a
parking area or a loading space, or between two parking areas, but shall not
include a parking aisle.
'Dwelling Unit' means a room or group of rooms designed, occupied or
intended to be occupied as a single housekeeping unit, for one or more
persons, providing kitchen and sanitary facilities and sleeping accommodations
for the exclusive use of the occupants.
'Dwelling, Apartment' means a residential building other than a townhouse
dwelling containing three or more dwelling units.
'Dwelling, Cluster Townhouse' means a residential building divided into
three or more dwelling units by a common wall which prevent internal access
between the attached dwelling units. A cluster townhouse dwelling shall not
include a street townhouse dwelling.
'Dwelling, Converted' means:
a detached or attached dwelling originally designed to contain one
dwelling unit, the interior of which has been altered to provide one
or more additional dwelling units; or
provided however that no dwelling or building shall be converted unless the
gross floor area within the said dwelling or building which is to be used to
calculate density has been used for a minimum period of 10 years in the
manner for which the said dwelling or building was originally constructed.
'Dwelling, Duplex' means a residential building containing two dwelling units,
but shall not include a semi-detached dwelling.
'Dwelling, Semi Detached' means one of two attached dwelling units,
divided by whole or in part by a common vertical wall, each of which has an
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
independent entrance directly from the outside or through a vestibule. Each
dwelling unit shall be designed having access to and frontage on a street.
'Dwelling, Single Detached' means a residential building that is detached
and permanent, consisting of one dwelling unit.
'Dwelling, Street Fronting Townhouse' means a townhouse dwelling
having access to a street. Each townhouse dwelling unit shall be on a separate
lot.
'Dwelling, Townhouse' means a residential building divided vertically into
three or more attached dwelling units by common walls which prevent internal
access between the attached dwelling units.
'Dwelling' means a building occupied or capable of being occupied exclusively
as a home or residence by one or more people, but shall not include hotels,
motels, mobile homes, motor homes, caravans, travel trailers, boarding or
lodging houses, group homes, group residences, crisis residences, or other
institutions licensed or approved under any Act of the Province of Ontario or
the Dominion of Canada.
E
'Erect' means to build, construct, re-construct, alter or relocate any building
or structure and includes, without limiting the generality of the foregoing:
a)
The performance of any preliminary physical operation, such as
excavating, grading, filling or draining;
b)
The alteration of a building or structure by an addition,
enlargement, deletion or extension; or
c)
Any work for which a building permit is required under the Ontario
Building Code, as amended.
'Existing or Existed' means in existence on the date of passing of this By-
law.
F
'Financial Institution' means a commercial establishment, which is used
primarily for financial business, which may include the receiving, lending,
exchanging, investing and/or safeguarding currency, credit and investments
such as banks, trust companies, credit unions, finance companies and
stockbroker establishments.
'Finished Grade' means, when used in reference to a building or structure,
the average elevation of the finished surface of the ground measured from a
point 0.305 m (1 ft) out from the base of an exterior wall, support of a building
or structure, but exclusive of any artificial embankment.
4 - 11
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Floor Area, Gross Leasable' means the total area of a building for which
tenants pay rent and have exclusive occupancy, measured from the centreline
of partition walls and exterior face of outside walls, but does not include:
a)
Any floor area used in common by the tenants of the building such
as a mall, aisle or hallway, elevator shaft or lobby, stairwell, any
lunchroom or staff room, washroom, boiler room, maintenance
room, mechanical, electrical or utility room, and any automobile
parking facilities provided within the building; and
b)
Storage area to which the public cannot or does not have access
or which is capable of being used for no other purpose than the
storage of goods, fixtures and equipment related to an on-site
use.
'Floor Area, Gross' means the sum total of the gross horizontal areas of all
floors of all buildings or structures on a lot, measured from the interior faces
of the exterior walls or from the centre line of the common wall separating two
buildings.
The "floor area, gross" of a building or structure shall also include:
a)
Basement or cellar floor area where the ceiling height is 2.1 m (7
ft) or more, unless otherwise specified;
b)
Attic space having headroom of 2.1 m (7 ft) or more for at least
half the attic floor area, unless otherwise specified;
c)
Interior balconies and mezzanines; and
d)
Enclosed porches and enclosed verandas.
In the case of a building that contains floor area devoted to non-residential
uses the "floor area, gross" shall not include:
a)
Elevator shafts and stairwells at each floor;
b)
Floor area used for mechanical equipment;
c)
Parking structures and enclosed parking areas; and
d)
Outdoor garden centres.
Floor area contained within a private garage, breezeway, unenclosed porches
or unenclosed verandas decks shall not be included in any 'floor area, gross'
calculation.
'Floor Space Index (FSI)' means an index that, when multiplied by the total
land area of a lot, indicates the maximum permissible gross floor area for all
buildings on the lot, excluding underground or covered parking structures and
floor space located in the cellar.
'Food/Beverage Production Facility' means lands, buildings or structures
used for the industrial manufacture, processing, packaging, storage and
shipping of food and/or beverages for human consumption. This may include,
but not be limited to breweries, wineries and distilleries, but shall not include
non-human food production, edible cannabis production, or uses otherwise
defined or prohibited in this By-law.
4 - 12
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Funeral Home' means a building or part thereof established or maintained
for the purpose of providing funeral services limited to the disposition of human
remains and includes the care and preparation of human remains and a
crematorium.
G
'Garage' means an accessory building or that part of a main building intended
for the storage of a motor vehicle(s) of the owner, tenant or occupant of the
lot upon which such garage is located.
'Gas Bar' means a building or place which is used for the sale of automotive
fuels containing one or more fuel pumps together with the necessary pump
islands, canopy, storage tanks and kiosk.
'Golf Course' means a public or private area operated for the purpose of
playing golf and may include accessory uses such as a clubhouse, restaurant,
drinking establishment, assembly area, the sale of golf equipment, driving
range, miniature courses and similar uses operated for commercial purposes.
'Grocery Store' means a building or part thereof wherein the primary function
is the retail sale of food and other household items to the general public and
may include a bake shop, meat and butcher services or delicatessen and which
operates on a self-serve cash and carry basis, and may include facilities for
parcel pickup.
'Gross Vehicle Weight' means the combined weight of vehicle and load.
'Group Home' means a single housekeeping unit in which three to ten people
(excluding supervisory staff or the receiving family) live under supervision and
who by reasons of their emotional, mental, social, or physical condition or legal
status, require a group living arrangement for their well-being. The group
home must be licensed or approved under an Act of the Parliament of Canada
or the Province of Ontario.
'Group Residence' means a group home in which greater than ten people
live under supervision.
H
'Hazard' means the lands which fall within the boundaries of the Hazard Zone
(ZH) and represent property or lands that could be unsafe for development
due to naturally occurring processes.
'Home Occupation' means a business, occupation, trade or craft conducted
for gain or profit within a dwelling unit or an accessory building or structure,
which is an accessory use to the principle residential use by a resident therein.
4 - 13
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Hospital' means a hospital as defined by the Private Hospitals Act or as
defined by the Public Hospitals Act.
'Hotel' means an establishment in which the main use is to provide
accommodation for the traveling public, with or without restaurant facilities,
and may include among its internal functions accessory uses including a
banquet hall, meeting rooms, drinking establishments, personal service stores,
retail stores and indoor or outdoor recreation and entertainment facilities.
I
'Indirect Sales' means the sale of goods exclusively via mail order,
telephone, fax, internet, digital platform or website, but shall not include a
Retail Store.
'Industrial Mall' means a building or group of buildings which are planned,
developed, managed and operated as a unit, and in which each building
contains two or more units or spaces for lease or occupancy for industrial uses
and other uses permitted in the applicable zone and may include a limited floor
area for accessory office.
'Industrial Use' means the use of land, buildings or structures primarily for
manufacturing, processing, fabricating, packaging, cleaning, stamping,
treating, finishing and assembling of goods or raw materials, warehousing and
bulk storage of goods, and the repair and servicing of goods including
transportation terminals.
'Industrial Use, Accessory' means a building or structure or portion thereof
wherein an Industrial Use is conducted that is subordinate and incidental to
and functionally associated with the main use, building or structure located on
the same lot therewith.
'Industrial Use, Light' means an industrial use as defined in this By-law that
is unlikely to cause injury or damage to property, plant or animal life, cause
harm or material discomfort to any person, impair the safety of any person,
and / or cause loss of enjoyment or normal use of any residential lot which
abuts a lot used for such industrial use.
K
'Kennel' means an duly licensed and privately operated establishment where
dogs, cats or other similar domestic animals are housed and may be groomed,
bred, boarded, trained, or sold subject to restrictions in the general provisions
of this By-law.
L
'Laboratory' means a building or structure or portion thereof wherein
scientific experiments, tests or investigations are conducted and may include
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
the taking and processing of x-rays, or where drugs, chemicals or other
substance or article pertinent to such experiments, tests or investigations are
manufactured or otherwise prepared for use on the premises.
'Landscaped Open Space' means the area of a lot which is at finished grade,
terraced or on a roof defined for such purpose and primarily used or intended
to be used for the growth and maintenance of grass, flowers, trees, shrubbery,
natural vegetation and indigenous species and other landscaping and includes
any buffer strip, and impervious areas such as surfaced walks, surface patios,
swimming pools, but shall not include any access driveway, ramp, parking area
or loading spaces whether surfaced or not.
'Lane' means a thoroughfare under private or public ownership which affords
only a secondary means of access to abutting lots and which is not intended
for general traffic circulation.
'Laundromat' means a commercial establishment where the service of
laundry machines, using only water, detergents and additives are made
available to the public for the purpose of laundry cleaning and also means a
dry cleaning establishment.
'Loading Space' means an off-street space or berth located on the same lot
as a permitted use and used for the parking of a vehicle for the purpose of
loading or unloading merchandise or materials pertinent to a permitted use,
and which has unobstructed access to a road or lane.
'Long Term Care Facility' means a lot and/or building or part thereof
providing accommodation primarily for seniors with or without meals where
common lounges, recreation rooms and medical care facilities may be provided
and shall include a home for the aged or rest home as within the meaning of
The Homes For The Aged and Rest Homes Act, and a nursing home within the
meaning of the Nursing Homes Act .
'Lot Area' means the total horizontal area within the lot lines of a lot.
'Lot Coverage' means that percentage of the lot area covered by the area of
all buildings and structures measured at the ground.
'Lot Depth' means the horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
If the front and rear lot lines are not parallel, lot depth means the length of a
straight line joining the middle of the front lot line with the middle of the rear
lot line. When there is no rear lot line, lot depth means the length of a straight
line joining the middle of the front lot line with the apex of the triangle formed
by the side lot lines.
'Lot Frontage' means the horizontal distance between the side lot lines such
distance being measured at the intersection of the minimum front yard setback
with the side lot line(s).
'Lot Line, Exterior Side' shall mean the side lot line which abuts a street,
unopened road allowance or lane.
'Lot Line, Front' means, in the case of an interior lot, the line dividing the lot
from the street. In the case of a corner lot, the shorter lot line abutting a
street shall be deemed the front lot line. In the case of a corner lot where the
4 - 15
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
length of the lot lines abutting a street are equivalent or there are three
abutting streets the front lot line shall be deemed to be the lot line where the
face of the building intended to be the front is located. In the case of a through
lot, only one of the lot lines abutting a street shall be deemed to be the front
lot line.
'Lot Line, Interior Side' shall mean a lot line which does not abut a street,
unopened road allowance or lane.
'Lot Line, Rear' means the lot line farthest from and opposite to the front lot
line.
'Lot Line, Side' means a lot line, other than a front or rear lot line. See also
'Lot Line, Exterior Side' and 'Lot Line, Interior Side'.
'Lot, Corner' means a lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets,
provided that the angle of intersection of such streets is not more than one
hundred and thirty-five (135) degrees.
'Lot, Interior' means a lot, other than a corner lot.
'Lot, Through' means a lot bounded on two opposite sides by a street.
'Lot' means a single parcel or tract of land that may be conveyed in accordance
with the provisions of the Planning Act of the Province of Ontario.
M
'Main' when used to describe a use, a building or a structure, means a use,
building or a structure, which constitutes or within which a principal use of the
lot is conducted.
'Marina' means a use which provides convenient short-term mooring and boat
launch facilities for visiting boaters, rental boat operators and fishing charter
operations.
'Mobile Home Lot' means a parcel of land within a mobile home park intended
for occupancy by one mobile home.
'Mobile Home Park' means a parcel of land containing two or more mobile
home lots together with potential accessory uses for the use of Mobile Home
Park residents.
'Mobile Home' means a prefabricated dwelling unit constructed to be towed
on its own chassis (notwithstanding that its running gear is or may be
removed) to be placed on a foundation and used designed and equipped for
occupancy as a dwelling unit.
'Model Home' means a single detached house, semi-detached house or
townhouse used temporarily for the purpose of an office and/or show room
and/or sale centre to promote the sale of residential units within a draft
approved plan of subdivision under the Planning Act or a description under the
Condominium Act, 1998 proposed for registration.
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Motor Home' means a self propelled mobile unit capable of providing human
occupancy and which shall contain at a minimum a toilet and sink with a holding
tank or similar receptacle capable of managing waste water from the toilet and
sink and all other appliances that produce waste water, a food preparation area,
and sleeping facilities but which does not include barbeques or other external
elements normally associated with camping.
'Motor Vehicles, Commercial' means a motor vehicle having permanently
attached thereto a truck or delivery body and includes ambulances, hearses,
casket wagons, fire apparatus, buses and tractors used for hauling purposes
on the street.
'Motor Vehicle' means an automobile, a motorcycle, a motor-assisted
bicycled unless otherwise indicated in the Highway Traffic Act, any other
vehicle propelled or driven otherwise than by muscular power, but does not
include a street car or other motor vehicle running only upon rails, a power-
assisted bicycle, a motorized snow vehicle, a traction engine, a farm tractor, a
self-propelled implement of husbandry or a road-building machine.
'Museums/Galleries' shall mean a building or part thereof established for
the purpose of acquiring, conserving, studying, interpreting, assembling
and/or exhibiting to the public for its instruction, display, and enjoyment, a
collection of art and/or artefacts such as paintings, sculptures, pottery, glass,
and weaving, and may include retail sales as an accessory use.
N
'Noxious Uses' means a trade which is offensive, dangerous or would pose a
hazard to the public by reason of emission of odour, smoke, dust, noise, fumes,
gas, vibration or refuse matter.
O
'Office' means a building in which one or more persons are employed in the
management, direction or conducting of a business, a government institution
or non-government organization or where professionally qualified persons and
their staff serve clients who seek advice and consultation of a public or private
agency, a business, a brokerage, or a labour or fraternal organization.
'Outdoor Patio' means an outdoor area accessory to a restaurant or drinking
establishment, which is to be used on a seasonal basis to provide an area for
service and consumption.
P
'Park, Public' means a 'public use' as defined herein and established as a
park, playground or playfield which may include therein one or more
conservation areas, athletic fields, field houses, arenas, community centers,
bleachers, stadiums, swimming or wading pools, beaches, picnic grounds and
shelters, greenhouses, botanical gardens, children's farms, zoos, bandstands,
4 - 17
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
skating rinks, golf and miniature golf courses, campgrounds, race courses,
pavilions, ski courses, ice rinks, tennis courts, bowling greens, marinas,
washrooms, curling rinks, refreshment and other concessions accessory
thereto, and similar uses.
'Parking, Extended' means an area of a lot upon which overnight parking of
motor homes for a period of 24 hours or more may occur as an accessory use.
'Parking Aisle' means a portion of a parking area which abuts, on one or
more sides, parking spaces to which it provides access and which is not to be
used for the parking of vehicles.
'Parking Area' means an area provided for the parking of motor vehicles and
may include aisles, parking spaces and related ingress and egress lanes or a
private garage but shall not include any part of a public street.
'Parking Space' means an area exclusive of any aisles or ingress or egress
lanes, used for the temporary parking or storage of motor vehicles, and may
include a private garage.
'Parking Structure' means a building or structure used for the parking of
vehicles and is available to residents, clients, customers or the public with or
without a fee being charged and may be above or below finished grade.
'Person' means any human being, association, firm, partnership, incorporated
company, corporation, chartered organization, agent or trustee, and the heirs,
executors or other legal representatives of a person to whom the context of
this By-law can apply according to law.
'Personal Service Use' means a building or part of a building in which
persons are employed in providing services and otherwise administering to the
individual and personal needs of persons, and shall include but not be limited
to a barber, hairdresser, beautician, aesthetician, tailor, seamstress, tanning
salon, photography studio, body piercing establishment, tattoo parlour The
sale of merchandise shall be permitted only as accessory to the personal
service provided unless otherwise permitted.
'Place of Worship' means a building including churches, synagogues,
mosques, and rectories, owned or occupied by a non-profit religious
organization or congregation and which is dedicated exclusively to worship and
related social and charitable activities. Related accessory uses may include a
hall or auditorium, offices, faith-based school, cemetery, day nursery, convent,
monastery, or a dwelling unit for use by the clergyperson(s) and their family.
'Porch' means a covered structure, attached to the exterior of a building with
or without steps, consisting of a platform.
'Printing and Publishing Establishments' means a building or part thereof
where the principal use is to provide printing and publishing services including
lithographing or binding of periodicals or other written material.
'Public Use' means the use of any lot, building or structure or portion thereof
by or for the Corporation of the City of Owen Sound, the Corporation of the
County of Grey, the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority, the Province of
Ontario, or the Dominion of Canada.
4 - 18
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
R
'Recreational Use' means the use of land for sports, physical play or exercise,
and includes public or private parks and facilities.
'Rental Stores, General' means a building or part thereof where residential,
industrial, and commercial equipment is kept for rental to the general public
and includes such things as lawn and garden tools, bicycles, home furnishings,
floor cleaning equipment, masonry tools, painting and decorating equipment,
moving tools, plumbing tools, and power tools. Rental stores may include as
an accessory use the sale of supplies necessary for the operation of said rental
equipment.
'Rental Stores, Media' means a building or part thereof where digital media
including movies, music and other media forms are kept for rental to the
general public. Rental stores may include as an accessory use the sale of
supplies necessary for the operation of said rental equipment.
'Repair Stores' means a building or part thereof used for the provision of
maintenance or repair services for goods or equipment, excluding an
Automotive Body/Repair Shop or any other automotive service/repair uses
otherwise defined in this by-law.
'Residential Use' means the use of any land, building or structure or part
thereof where the main use of the building is to be occupied or capable of being
occupied exclusively as a home or residence by one or more people and
includes dwelling types as defined in this By-law.
'Restaurant, Drive-Thru' means a restaurant where patrons order and
purchase their food through an attendant, window or an automated machine
from their vehicles in a designated stacking lane.
'Restaurant' means a building or part thereof, either licensed or unlicensed
for liquor sales, where food or refreshments are prepared and offered for retail
sale to the public for immediate consumption, but shall not included a drive-
thru restaurant.
'Retail Store' means a building or part thereof, in which goods, wares,
merchandise, substances, or articles are offered or kept for sale at retail, and
includes limited storage of such goods, wares, merchandise, substances,
articles or things on the premises to service such store but does not include
any establishment otherwise defined or classified herein, except for a retail
warehouse.
'Retail Warehouse' means a large building operated as a single purpose retail
facility serving a regional trade area and storing and displaying products in a
warehouse format for retail sale to the public.
S
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Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'School, Commercial' means a school where instruction is given for gain or
profit, providing instruction in a specific trade, skill or service but does not
include a school as defined in the Education Act or a post secondary institution
or other use otherwise defined herein.
'School' means an establishment providing educational services and
instructional courses for students under the jurisdiction of a Board as defined
in The Education Act, a college or university and may include a day care centre.
'Self Serve Use' means a service use where a business provides the required
materials, ingredients, equipment or facility to allow members of the public to
prepare an intended product for personal use. A self-serve use includes uses
such as brew your own beer or wine, scrapbooking, paint your own pottery
and may include accessory retail of materials, ingredients and equipment.
'Sensitive Land Use' means a lot is that is zoned for uses within the
Residential, Institutional, or Open Space categories. A sensitive land use
receptor is a building or structure that is being used for a dwelling, school,
long-term care facility, hospital, day nursery, crisis residence, group home or
group residence.
'Service Use' means a use where the purpose of such enterprise is to provide
non-personal service or, service to an industry or the public, where such a
service is conducted and/or provided off-site at a location in need of such
service, and may include maintenance, caretaking, cleaning, security and
trades or contractors which provide an installation service and does not include
outdoor storage or workshop.
'Setback' means the minimum horizontal distance, measured at a right angle,
between a lot line and the nearest part of any building or structure.
'Shopping Centre' means a building or group of buildings containing a group
of permitted commercial uses which is planned, designed, and developed as a
unit.
'Short-Term Rental' means all or part of a legally established dwelling that
operates or offers a place of temporary residence, lodging or occupancy by
way of a rental agreement or similar commercial transaction for a period of
twenty-eight (28) consecutive nights or less and, for greater clarity, includes
bed & breakfasts.
'Sight Triangle' means the triangular space formed by two intersecting street
lines and a line drawn from a point in one street line to a point in the other
street line.
'Storage, Indoor' means the storage of goods, materials, merchandise and
equipment inside a wholly enclosed building.
'Storage, Outdoor' means the storage of goods, materials, merchandise and
equipment or the display and sale of goods and materials, including vehicles
for hire or sale, but does not include raw inputs or waste associated with a
Food/Beverage Production Facility or Cannabis Production Facility, outside a
building in the open air.
'Storey, First' means the lowest storey of a building completely above
average finished grade level.
4 - 20
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
'Storey' means that portion of a building or structure other than a cellar or
attic which is situated between the surface of any floor and the surface of the
floor next above it, or any portion thereof and, if there is no floor above it, that
portion between the surface of any floor and the ceiling above it.
'Street Line' means the limit of the road allowance and is the dividing line
between a lot and a street.
'Street, Private' means a street or lane under the ownership of, and
maintained by a private individual or corporation.
'Street' means the road allowance associated with a public thoroughfare,
other than a lane, which is maintained by a public authority and which is open
and passable during all seasons and provides principal access to abutting lots.
'Structure' means anything that is temporarily or permanently erected, built
or constructed of one or more parts joined together.
'Student Residence' means premises owned or operated by or for any public
or separate school, private school, post-secondary school or educational
facility, consisting of dwelling units or rooms, used for student accommodation.
'Studio' means building or part thereof used for the study or creation of media
or art form including but not limited to music, acting, modeling, painting,
sculpting, pottery, stained glass, jewelry, photography, television or radio,
dance, marital arts, yoga or pilates, but shall not include the manufacturing or
assembly of raw or semi-processed goods
T
'Temporary Building' means a building or structure incidental to and
accessory to lawful construction work, intended for removal or demolition
within a prescribed time as set out in a building permit.
'Transportation Depot' means a lot, building, structure, or part thereof, used
for the dispatch, temporary storage, and maintenance of vehicles including
ships, trucks, transports, taxis or buses.
'Travel Trailer' means a recreational vehicle designed to be used exclusively
for travel, recreation and vacation and which is capable of being drawn by a
passenger
vehicles,
including
tent
trailers
or
similar
transportable
accommodation, but shall not include a mobile or motor home.
U
'Use or Used' means the purpose for which a lot or a building or structure, or
any combination thereof, is designed, arranged, intended, occupied, or
maintained and "uses" shall have a corresponding meaning. "Use" when used
as a verb, or "to use", shall have a corresponding meaning.
4 - 21
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
V
'Vehicle-for-Hire Service' means the use of a vehicle to provide a service
for profit, including goods pick-up/delivery, ridesharing, and ride-hailing but
shall not include a Transportation Depot.
'Veterinarian Clinic' means a building or part thereof used by a duly qualified
and registered veterinarian(s) and their associated staff and services for the
purpose of consultation, diagnosis, treatment of animals, but does not have
outdoor kennels and indoor boarding facilities are limited to overnight stays
for animal recovery.
W
'Warehouse' means a building or part thereof which is used for the storage
and wholesaling of goods or material but not including the storage of goods or
materials primarily intended to be offered for sale or rental on site.
'Wholesale Establishment' means a building or part thereof used for the
storage and sale of quantities of goods, wares, merchandise and materials for
resale or commercial / industrial use.
Y
'Yard, Front' means a yard extending across the full width of the lot between
the front lot line of the lot and the nearest part of any main building or structure
on the lot.
'Yard, Rear' means a yard extending across the full width of the lot between
the rear lot line, or where there is no rear lot line the apex of the triangle
formed by the side lot lines, and the nearest part of any main building or
structure on the lot.
'Yard, Required' means any yard defined in this By-law which must be
provided so as to comply with a specified building setback requirement or a
specified yard depth / width requirement of this By-law.
'Yard, Side' means a yard, extending from the required front yard to the
required rear yard and from the side lot line to the nearest part of the main
building or structure on the lot.
'Yard' means a space appurtenant to a building, structure or use, located on
the same lot as the building, structure or use, and which space is open,
uncovered and unoccupied from the ground to the sky except for such uses as
are specifically permitted elsewhere in this By-law.
'Yard Depth, Front' means the minimum horizontal distance between the
front lot line and the nearest part of any main building or structure on the lot.
'Yard Depth, Rear' means the minimum horizontal distance between the rear
lot line, or where there is no rear lot line, the apex of the triangle formed by
4 - 22
Section 4 - Definitions
Updated: December 2023
the side lot lines, and the nearest part of any main building or structure on the
lot.
'Yard Width, Side' means the minimum horizontal distance between the side
lot line and the nearest part of any main building or structure on the lot.
'Yard, Exterior Side' means a side yard immediately adjoining a street,
unopened road allowance or lane.
'Yard, Interior Side' means a side yard other than an exterior side yard.