Michigan Administrative Code › Department - Natural Resources › Fisheries Division › Natural River Zoning (13 Rivers) › Section R. 281.51 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 24-12, July 15, 2024
Rule 1.
(1) As used
				in these rules:
(a) "Applicant" means a person
				who requests on a form provided by the department and via proper procedures, a
				zoning permit for a principal use, special use, or variance.
(b) "Appurtenance" means a structure or
				accessory building incidental to a principal or exempt use including all of the
				following:
(i) Detached garage.
(ii) Residential storage shed.
(iii) Barn and other agricultural storage and
				livestock structure.
(iv) Pump
				house.
(v) Private access roads and
				driveway.
(vi) Electrical service
				line.
(c) "Bankfull"
				means the width of the stream that corresponds to the depth where water fills a
				main channel to the point of overflowing.
(d) "Bed and breakfast" means a single-family
				dwelling providing not more than 3 bedrooms for rent and breakfast served to
				transient overnight guests only and is the owners primary residence and is
				occupied by the owner at the time of rental.
(e) "Bluff" means a bank that rises at a
				slope of 33 degrees or greater from within 10 feet of the rivers edge. The
				crest of the bluff is the first riverward facing area (approximately parallel
				to the river) that breaks to a slope of less than 18 degrees for a distance
				away from the river of at least 25 feet.
(f) "Bridge" means any structure of any span
				length designed to provide a pedestrian, vehicle, livestock, or any other
				stream crossing, including but not limited to, a culvert, open bottom arch, and
				clear-span or multi-span structure.
(g) "Building inspector" means the agency or
				individual who is appointed by the appropriate governmental subdivision to
				issue a building permit and to administer the state construction code act, 1972
				PA 230, MCL 125.1501 to 125.1531.
(h) "Campground" means a parcel or tract of
				land in which sites are offered for the use of the public or a member of an
				organization, either free of charge or for a fee, for the establishment of
				temporary living quarters for 5 or more recreational units; "campground" does
				not include a seasonal mobile home park licensed under the mobile home
				commission act, 1987 PA 96, MCL 125.2301 to 125.2349.
(i) "Certificate of zoning compliance" means
				a certificate issued by the zoning administrator upon determination that the
				construction and use of land and any structure, as authorized by a zoning
				permit, including the approved site plan, is in compliance with the approved
				zoning permit and site plan.
(j)
				"Cutting edge of the river" means the outside bend of a river or stream channel
				where the water velocity is such that it may cause soil or streambank
				erosion.
(k) "Designated natural
				river" means a river designated by the director under the authority of part
				305, natural rivers, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.30501 to 324.30515.
(l) "Dock" means a seasonal or permanent
				platform located at the waters edge or extending into the river channel,
				intended for securing and facilitating access to watercraft or to facilitate
				access to deeper water for swimming, fishing, or other water-oriented
				recreational activity and does not include a wall, railing, a storage locker,
				an attached bench, or any similar structure attached thereto.
(m) "Effective date of these rules" means the
				zoning rule promulgation date for each designated natural river as follows:
(i) Jordan river September 25,
				1974.
(ii) Betsie river June 11,
				1977.
(iii) White river - May 5,
				1979.
(iv) Huron river June 2,
				1980.
(v) Rogue river June 2,
				1980.
(vi) Boardman river June 2,
				1980.
(vii) Pere Marquette river
				July 15, 1981.
(viii) Rifle river
				April 24, 1984.
(ix) Flat river
				June 21, 1984.
(x) Pigeon river
				February 13, 1985.
(xi) Au Sable
				river August 15, 1990.
(xii) Pine
				river December 27, 2004.
(xiii)
				Upper Manistee river December 27, 2004.
(xiv) Two Hearted river effective date of
				these rules.
(xv) Lower Kalamazoo
				river - effective date of these rules.
(xvi) Fox river - effective date of these
				rules.
(n) "Filtered
				view" means the maintenance or establishment of woody vegetation of sufficient
				density to screen development from the river. The vegetation need not be so
				dense as to completely block the river view.
(o) "Floodplain" means an identified or
				documented area of land adjoining a river or stream that will be inundated by a
				100-year flood, as defined in part 13, floodplains and floodways, MCL 324.1301
				to 324.1311.
(p) "Front" means that
				segment of a lot or parcel closest to or abutting the designated natural
				river.
(q) "Ground floor area"
				means the area of the ground covered by a dwelling measured on the outside of a
				building, including a covered porch and attached garage, but not including a
				deck or patio.
(r) "Home-based
				occupation" means a business activity that is secondary to the use as a
				residence of a single-family dwelling and may be conducted on or off the
				premises of a single-family dwelling by the resident of that single-family
				dwelling, and may include storage of vehicles and equipment.
(s) "Impervious surface" means a surface,
				including a paved and unpaved driveway, deck, rooftop, road, patio, swimming
				pool, or parking lot, that does not allow stormwater to infiltrate the
				ground.
(t) "Lot" means a
				continuous area, parcel, or acreage of land that can be described for purposes
				of transfer, sale, lease, rental, or other conveyance.
(u) "Lot area" means the area inside the lot
				lines.
(v) "Lot of record" means a
				lot that exists in a subdivision plat as shown by records of the county
				register of deeds existing before the effective date of these rules or a lot or
				parcel described by metes and bounds and recorded by the county register of
				deeds before the effective date of these rules.
(w) "Lot, vacant" means a lot that does not
				contain a single-family dwelling.
(x) "Natural river district" means a natural
				river area designated by the director.
(y) "Ordinary high-water mark" means the line
				between the upland and bottomland which persists through successive changes in
				water level and below which the presence and action of the water is so common
				or recurrent that the character of the land is marked distinctly from the
				upland and is apparent in the soil itself, the configuration of the surface of
				the soil, and the vegetation.
(z)
				"Reforestation" means renewal of vegetative cover by seeding, planting, or
				transplanting.
(aa) "Setback" means
				the horizontal distance as specified in these rules between any portion of a
				structure and the ordinary high-water mark or crest of a bluff, measured at the
				structure's closest point to the ordinary high-water mark or crest of a
				bluff.
(bb) "Short-term rental
				facility" means a single-family dwelling with not more than 3 bedrooms offered
				as a residential rental facility for a rental period of less than 30
				days.
(cc) "Single-family dwelling"
				means a structure designed to be used exclusively for residential purpose,
				including long-term residential rental purpose, and contains kitchen and
				bathroom facilities.
(dd)
				"Structure" means anything constructed, erected, or moved to or from any lot
				and located above, on, or below the ground, including a building, mobile home,
				road, boardwalk, sign, billboard, satellite dish greater than 32 inches in
				diameter, any communication structure, or a fence. An enclosed, self-contained
				camping unit is not considered a structure if on site fewer than 30 days per
				calendar year and if located landward of the natural vegetation strip, or if
				the structure is located on a campsite within a campground licensed under the
				public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.1101 to 333.25211, if both the
				individual campsite and the campground were established before the effective
				date of these rules.
(ee) "Tent
				camping" means camping within a natural river district on private land with a
				tent, tarp, or other lightweight structure that is temporary and incurs no land
				disturbance or clearing of vegetation.
(ff) "Wetland" means land characterized by
				the presence of hydric soils or water at a frequency and duration sufficient to
				support wetland vegetation or aquatic life as defined in the wetlands
				protection act, part 303, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.30301 to 324.30329.
(gg) "Zoning administrator" means the
				administrator of these zoning rules as delegated by the director.
(hh) "Zoning permit" means written permission
				granted by the zoning administrator.
(ii) "Zoning review board" means a group of
				not more than 7 members appointed by the department to implement these
				rules.