Zoning District Boundaries.

1.

Zoning categories are assigned according to land suitability along all public roadways for Commercial (C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4); Industrial (I-1, I-2, I-3, I-4); and Residential (R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4) land uses and include all land areas up to a distance of five hundred (500) feet adjacent to and parallel to the centerline of all public roadways and within St. Martin Parish, State of Louisiana. The road data listing with individual road zoning designations is to indicate the most intense land use allowable (the land use having the highest environmental impact allowable) in the area adjacent to or accessed from that public road and not the absolute zoning for each individual lot or the entire road access area.

e.g., A road designated as C-2 on the road data sheet defines the highest land use intensity allowed (because of land suitability, infrastructure limitations, historic/current area land uses, etc.) is Commercial C-2. (All land uses with lesser intensity/environmental impacts: Commercial C-1, all residential, all agricultural, and all woodland land uses are also allowed.)

2.

Site zoning classifications are based on current land use, adjacent property and immediate area land use; air and water quality, and geographical considerations (slope, elevation, water table, etc.); parish development plans (Enterprise Zones, public services availability, proposed infrastructure construction, etc.); and historical, cultural, and social considerations.

3.

Land suitability is, in part, as recorded by:

(1)

The Coastal Resources Atlas—St. Martin Parish (prepared for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Baton Rouge, Louisiana).

(2)

Atchafalaya—Bayou Teche Basin, Atlas of Floodplains and Flooding Problems (The U.S. Geological Survey/Federal Insurance Administration, current issue).

4.

Zoning designations apply to both sides (adjacent sides) of the entire length of a roadway except where specific sites zoning (including any required buffer area) designations along that roadway are approved and assigned by the St. Martin Parish [Council] or the council's designated representative. Each lane of a divided roadway is considered a separate roadway.

5.

All areas within a designated floodplain or flood zone are zoned as "Woodland/Floodplain" lands and must comply with the appropriate federal, state, or parish regulatory uses and be designated as: W-1 (Conservation Area), W-2 (Recreational/Residential Uses), or W-3 (Commercial/Light Industrial Uses).

6.

All land and water areas within the Parish of St. Martin and distanced beyond the five hundred (500) feet adjacent to public roadways zoned as Commercial, Industrial, or Residential uses is designated and zoned as Light Industrial (I-1), Agricultural (A-1, A-2), or Woodland/Floodplain zone area sites (as appropriate).

7.

Minimum lot sizes (square footage) and dimensions are in accordance with Louisiana State Sanitary Code, Chapter 13: Minimum residential lot requirements as defined; "13:019-1 Individual Sewage Systems Allowable: . . . For parishes in which the parish governing authority has enacted and enforces a formal sewage permitting system (requiring approval of individual sewage disposal systems by the State Health officer prior to issuance of any parish permits) and when the lots or sites in question meet any of the following criteria:

a.

Minimum area of 22,500 square feet and a minimum frontage of 80 feet.

b.

Minimum area of 16,000 square feet and a minimum frontage of 80 feet where an approved individual mechanical plant is to be utilized (Appendix A, Section 6.7 - Individual mechanical plants must be located at least 50 feet from any well or suction line supplying potable water. Appendix A, Section 6.8 - Individual mechanical plants must be located at least 10 feet from the property line.)

c.

Minimum area of 12,000 square feet and a minimum frontage of 60 feet where an approved individual mechanical plant is utilized and is followed by a modified absorption field (see appendix A, Section 6.9). ["]

The minimum lot size requirements for Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Woodland/Floodplain zoned sites must satisfy the appropriate area/dimensions as required for sanitary sewage treatment by the Louisiana State Sanitary Code, Chapter 13.

8.

[Reserved.]

9.

Discontinuance. Whenever a building or land use in whole or in part for nonconforming purposes becomes and remains vacant for a continuous period of six (6) months, or when the operations normally carried on in such building or on such land have been discontinued for a period of six (6) months, such nonconforming use shall not thereafter be re-established and any future use shall be in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance.

Exceptions: In case of hardship, whereby the owner or operator of a nonconforming use site is unable to continue normal operations due to physical injury, medical condition or the sale of the business is being negotiated, an automatic six-month extension is granted upon request. An additional six-month extension may be granted provided that lender proof or a court registered letter of intent to purchase is submitted to the [Parish Council] as evidence of a pending sale of the nonconforming use site and nonconforming use activity (business).