Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 8A > Article 7 - Zoning Ordinance

• Abandonment: means the relinquishment of property or a cessation of the use of the property by the owner or lessee without any intention of transferring rights to the property to another owner or resuming the nonconforming use of the property for a period of one year. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Conditional use: means a use which because of special requirements or characteristics may be permitted in a particular zoning district only after review by the board of zoning appeals and upon issuance of a conditional use permit, and subject to the limitations and conditions specified in the zoning ordinance. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Contiguous: means lots, parcels, municipal boundaries or county boundaries that are next to, abutting and having a boundary, or portion thereof, that is coterminous. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Essential utilities and equipment: means underground or overhead electrical, gas, communications not regulated by the federal communications commission, water and sewage systems, including pole structures, towers, wires, lines, mains, drains, sewers, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, public telephone structures, police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants, regulating and measuring devices and the structures in which they are housed, and other similar equipment accessories in connection therewith. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Exterior architectural features: means the architectural character and general composition of the exterior of a structure, including, but not limited to, the kind, color and texture of the building material, and the type, design and character of all windows, doors, massing and rhythm, light fixtures, signs, other appurtenant elements and natural features when they are integral to the significance of the site, all of which are subject to public view from a public street, way or place. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Factory-built homes: means modular and manufactured homes. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Governing body: means the body that governs a municipality or county. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Historic district: means a geographically definable area, designated as historic on a national, state or local register, possessing a significant concentration, linkage or continuity of sites, buildings, structures or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Historic landmark: means a site, building, structure or object designated as historic on a national, state or local register. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Historic site: means the location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building or structure whether standing, ruined or vanished, where the location itself possesses historical, cultural or archaeological value regardless of the value of any existing structure and designated as historic on a national, state or local register. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Land development: means the development of one or more lots, tracts or parcels of land by any means and for any purpose, but does not include easements, rights-of-way or construction of private roads for extraction, harvesting or transporting of natural resources. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Permitted use: means any use allowed within a zoning district, subject to the restrictions applicable to that zoning district and is not a conditional use. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Plan: means a written description for the development of land. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Planning commission: means a municipal planning commission, a county planning commission, a multicounty planning commission, a regional planning commission or a joint planning commission. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein, except chattel interests. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
• Zoning: means the division of a municipality or county into districts or zones which specify permitted and conditional uses and development standards for real property within the districts or zones. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2
• Zoning map: means a map that geographically illustrates all zoning district boundaries within a municipality or county, as described within the zoning ordinance, and which is certified as the official zoning map for the municipality or county. See West Virginia Code 8A-1-2