Albemarle County Unincorporated

Half story means a space under a sloping roof, which has the line of intersection of roof decking and wall face not more than three feet above the top floor level, and in which space not more than two-thirds of the floor area is finished off for use.

Front yard means an open space on the same lot as a building between the front line of the building (excluding steps) and the front lot or street line, and extending across the full width of the lot.

Frontage means the continuous uninterrupted distance along which a parcel abuts a single adjacent road or street.

Lot means a parcel of land either shown on a plat of record or described by metes and bounds or other legal description.

Main building means the principal building or one of the principal buildings on a lot, or the building or one of the principal buildings housing the principal use on the lot.

Private garage means an accessory building designed or used for the storage of automobiles owned and used by the occupants of the building to which it is accessory.

Private road means any road, street, or other way or means of vehicular access to a lot that is not maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, regardless of ownership, approved as a private road pursuant to County Code §§ 14-232 through 14-235 or any prior ordinance regulating the subdivision of land.

Off-street parking area means space provided for vehicular parking outside of any public street right-of-way.

Inoperable vehicle means any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer, as those vehicles are defined in Virginia Code § 46.2-100, which has one or more of the following characteristics: (i) it is not in operating condition; (ii) it does not display valid license plates if the vehicle is required by State law to display valid license plates; (iii) it does not display an inspection decal if the vehicle is required by State law to display a valid inspection decal; or (iv) it displays an inspection decal that has been expired for more than 60 days.

Junk means any scrap, discarded, dismantled or inoperable: vehicles, including parts or machinery thereof; household furniture and appliances; construction equipment and materials; tanks, containers, drums, and the contents thereof; and tires, pipes, wire, wood, paper, metals, rags, glass, plastic, food and related types of waste material.

Heavy equipment means equipment that requires an oversize/overweight permit from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to be transported over public highways.

Exploratory drilling means the process of excavation, drilling, boring, or core boring of wells or other holes in the earth, by any process, for purposes of determining the presence of coal, petroleum, natural gas, sand, gravel, ore, or other minerals, other than water, and not including the extraction of any soil, rock or other material except for purposes of analysis.

Impounding structure means a man-made structure, whether a dam across a watercourse or other structure outside a watercourse, used or to be used to retain or store waters or other materials and includes: (i) all dams that are 25 feet or greater in height and that create an impoundment capacity of 15 acre-feet or greater; and (ii) all dams that are six feet or greater in height and that create an impoundment capacity of 50 acre-feet or greater.

Fall zone means a zone on the surface of the ground that is a circle whose center is the proposed or standing personal wireless service facility or small wind turbine (the facility or turbine), where the radius is measured from the outer surface of the facility's or turbine's pole or other vertical structure immediately above its foundation, and where the radius is: (i) for facilities, equal to the height of the facility; and (ii) for turbines, equal to the height of the turbine plus a distance of 20 feet.

Existing tower or existing base station means as referred to in the definition of eligible support structure, a constructed tower or base station that has been reviewed and approved under the applicable zoning process, provided that a tower that has not been reviewed and approved because it was not required to be reviewed when it was built, but was lawfully constructed, is existing for purposes of this definition.

Farm means one or more parcels of land, whether such parcels are abutting or not, operated under the same management and whose primary use is agriculture.

Family day home means a child day program offered in the dwelling unit of the provider or the dwelling unit that is the home of any of the children in care for 12 or fewer children under the age of 13, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, when at least one child receives care for compensation.

Major home occupation means an occupation, not expressly prohibited by section 5.2A, conducted for profit within a dwelling unit solely by one or more members of the family residing within the dwelling unit and up to two additional persons not residing within the dwelling unit, with or without the use of accessory structures; provided that nothing herein prohibits the occupation from engaging other persons who work off-site and do not come to the dwelling unit or to any accessory structure to engage in the occupation.

Hospital means a building or group of buildings designed, used or intended to be used, for the care of the sick, aged or infirmed, including the care of mental, drug-addiction or alcoholic cases. This terminology shall include, but not be limited to, skilled nursing facilities.

Office means a room or group of rooms used for conducting the affairs of a business, profession, medical or dental practice, or government. The uses previously identified in this chapter as administrative office and professional office are offices.