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What is the definition of property?
MONTEREY - Part of the discussion at the Jan. 24 hearing on slaughterhouses involved the definition of property. Supervisor Jerry Rexrode asserted that property line and lot line were not the same.
County attorney Melissa Dowd said property and lot were the same, at least as far as the county's zoning ordinance was concerned.
Rexrode suggested the ordinance change be rewritten to define distance from a building line, if distance were to be considered at all. From the discussion, both interpretations might be correct.
The subdivision ordinance defines property as "any tract, lot, parcel, or several of the same collected together for the purpose of subdividing." It defines lot as: "A numbered and recorded portion of a subdivision intended for transfer of ownership or for building development for a single building and its accessory buildings."
The zoning ordinance says a lot is the same as a plot or parcel.
It also says "building includes structure."
A building is: "Any structure designed or intended for support, enclosure, shelter, or protection of persons, animals, or property." A building could be a fence, of which there are many in Highland County marking prop- erty boundaries and located at some distance from other structures, such as houses.
The zoning ordinance defines lot as: "A measured portion or parcel of land separated from other portions or parcels by description in a site plan or a recorded plat, or by metes and bounds, intended to be a unit for the purpose, whether immediate or future, for transfer of ownership, or of development or separate use. The term applies to units of land whether in a subdivision or a development."
The zoning ordinance does not define property, leaving the connection between property and lot subject to interpretation.
Merriam-Webster Online defines property as "something owned or possessed; specifically, a piece of real estate."
Real estate is defined by Webster's as "property in buildings and land." Property, therefore, could be a building, while a lot is clearly land under the zoning ordinance and subdivision ordinance. A look at property throughout the ordinances suggests that the term is used mostly to describe land, not structures.
A lot could be construed to be a subset of property, but property may not necessarily be a subset of lot.
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