SECTION VII
AREA REGULATIONS
A. YARDS IN RESIDENTIAL ZONING DISTRICT.
1. On Lot Lines. Except as otherwise provided in the next succeeding sentence, in the Residential Zoning District no building or part thereof shall be placed within thirty feet of any lot line. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, in the Residential Zoning District a one-story building or structure of accessory use, having a footprint of not more than 576 square feet, rising to an interior ceiling height of no more than eight feet, and rising to an exterior height (measured from the average of the unaltered grade prior to any construction to the top of the ridge pole or other topping-off structure) of no more than fourteen feet, may be placed within thirty, but not closer than fifteen, feet of a lot line if, after a hearing by the Zoning Board of Adjustment, such Board shall determine
that such placement shall not materially and unreasonably block the view from any residence.
2. On highways. In the Residential Zoning District no building or part thereof shall be built or placed within thirty-five feet of any highway, provided that no building need be set back more than the average of setbacks of the buildings on the lots next thereto on either side, a vacant lot or a lot occupied by a building set back more than thirty-five feet being counted as though occupied by a building set back thirty-five feet; and provided further that the Board of Adjustment may grant permission for the erection or placing of any building or part thereof at such distance less than thirty-five feet from a highway as will not in the opinion of the Board cause injury or offense to the neighborhood under circumstances where environmental factors or geographical conditions such as a slope
or embankment make it desirable in the opinion of the Board to place such building less than thirty-five feet from such highway.
3. On seashore. No building, pier, terrace, or other structure in the Residential Zoning District shall be built, placed, or made to extend at any time nearer to mean high water mark on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean than is allowed in the Bathhouse Zoning District.
B. YARDS IN BUSINESS ZONING DISTRICT. In the Business Zoning District, no building or part thereof shall be built or placed within five feet of any lot line unless there is a party wall, or within ten feet of any highway.
C. YARDS IN BATHHOUSE ZONING DISTRICT. In the Bathhouse Zoning District no building or part thereof shall be built or placed within thirty feet of the center line of the paved portion of the Ocean Boulevard or at any time any nearer to mean high water mark on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean than the distance to mean high water mark at that time from the northwest face of the existing granite breakwater at its end nearest said Bathhouse Zoning District, or within six feet of any other building; and no pier, terrace, or any other structure shall be placed or made to extend more than twenty feet nearer to high water mark than any building may be built or placed.
D. PROJECTIONS. Nothing herein shall prevent the projection of windowsills, cornices, belt courses, and similar ornamental features into any required yard.
E. LOT SIZE. No dwelling, including its accessory buildings, in any zoning district shall hereafter be built or placed on any lot having less than two (2) acres of land and 175 feet of frontage reserved for use of such dwelling or other structure, its accessory buildings, and the occupants thereof, exclusive of land reserved or used for any building not accessory to such dwelling; provided that one dwelling may be erected or placed on a lot containing less than two acres but not less than 15,000 square feet of land, or having a frontage of less than 175 but not less than 100 feet, if prior to 1978 there was no existing lawful building occupying over thirty per cent of the area of such lot, and the lot was then under single or joint ownership or was then shown on a plan recorded in the Rockingham Registry of Deeds, which
plan showed the lot in question as complying with the zoning laws in effect at the time of such recording; and provided further that a lot of less area and/or frontage may be set off or conveyed for the use of an existing dwelling and its accessory buildings located thereon, if the lot in question is shown on a plan recorded in the Rockingham Registry of Deeds and complying with the zoning laws in effect when such plan was recorded.
F. CONVERSION INTO DWELLING. No building not in existing use for dwelling purposes, or constructed for such purposes, shall be converted into or used as a dwelling unless it is located on a lot having a minimum area of 10,000 square feet of land and a minimum frontage of 80 feet reserved for use of such dwelling, its accessory buildings, and the occupants thereof, exclusive of land reserved or used for any building not accessory to such dwelling - provided that this paragraph shall not apply to the accessory use for dwelling purposes of any existing building located in the same lot with a dwelling.
G. APPURTENANT OPEN SPACE. No yard or other open space required for a building by this ordinance shall during the life of such building be occupied or counted as open space for another building.
H. ACTS OF GOD OR PUBLIC ENEMIES. Nothing herein shall prevent any existing building or structure that may be removed from its location by an act of God or public enemies from being moved back to its original location.
I. SIZE AND HEIGHT OF DWELLING.
1. Size dwelling in any zoning district shall hereafter be built or located on any lot unless such dwelling has a ground area of at least eight hundred (800) square feet in the case of a dwelling of two or more stories, or a ground area of at least one thousand (1,000) square feet in the case of a one-story dwelling, provided that the Board of Adjustment may authorize the building or location of a seasonal dwelling of smaller size if in the opinion of the Board the same will not be injurious, offensive, or detrimental to the neighborhood.
2. Height No building or other structure shall exceed 30 feet in height, measured from the average of the unaltered grade prior to any construction to the top of the ridgepole or other topping-off structure, chimneys and aerials excepted. However, up to an additional five feet of height may be allowed so long as the total height, measured in the same manner as described above, shall not exceed 35 feet, and further provided that after a hearing by the Zoning Board of Adjustment it shall be determined by said Board that any such additional height shall not materially and unreasonably block the view from any residence.
J. DOGS AND HOUSEHOLD PETS. Dogs and other household pets are permitted within the District so long as their actions and activities conform to the requirements of this section.
1. Dogs shall be confined within the owner's premises except when on leash.
2. Owners shall not permit protracted or offensive barking by their dogs. Abutters must be protected from such injurious action.
3. Owners whose animals violate these requirements will be subject to fine for each day of violation in accordance with Section XIII G hereof.
K. DISTANCE FROM WETLANDS.
1. On undeveloped lots of record existing as of March 2003 or created subsequently, no septic system, leaching field, dwelling, accessory building, structural addition or impermeable surface shall be located within 100 feet of wetlands, as defined in Section XII; provided that, with respect to any developed or undeveloped lot of record existing prior to March 2003, if the imposition of such 100 foot buffer setback would cause the buildable upland acreage (i.e., land that does not lie in such buffer zone) to be less than 16,000 square feet, the buffer zone setback for such lot shall be 75 feet.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 above, the construction of additions to and/or extensions of buildings or other structures shall be allowed within the aforesaid 100 foot wetlands buffer setback if all of the following criteria are satisfied:
a. the building or structure to be expanded existed lawfully prior to March 2003 or was constructed subject to a building permit validly issued prior to March 2003;
b. the proposed building or structure conforms to all other applicable ordinance provisions;
c. the footprint of any such new addition or extension shall not exceed the greater of 1200 square feet or 25% of the area of the footprint of the heated portion of the existing structure; and
d. such new addition or extension shall not intrude any further into the wetlands buffer setback than the heated portion of such existing structure.
L. FILL. No fill of any sort or description shall be located closer than 75 feet from wetlands as defined in Section XII "Definitions".
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