(a) Ornamental Towers and Belfries, and Areas Below Ground:

(1) Monuments, belfries, cupolas, minarets, pinnacles, church gables, spires, or ornamental towers not for human occupancy shall not be considered part of the "gross floor area" as used in the regulations for this district;

(2) Towers of mechanical or structural necessity shall not be considered part of the "gross floor area" as used in the regulations for this district, except where the area of such towers exceeds an area equal to 20% of the ground floor level of the building of which they are a part, in which case they shall be considered a part of the "gross floor area" of the building in the same manner as any other part;

(3) Any floor area in any building, below ground level, not used for residential purposes shall not be considered a part of the "gross floor area" as used in the regulations for this district;

(4) Any floor area in any building, above or below ground level, used exclusively for off-street parking of automobiles, shall not be considered as part of the "gross floor area" as used in the regulations for this district.

(b) Fences. Fences shall be permitted in this District; provided, they shall not exceed six feet in height, except fences surrounding athletic fields shall be permitted to a maximum of fifteen feet in height.

(c) Retaining Walls. Retaining walls shall be considered as fences, and controlled under this paragraph to the extent that such walls protrude above the actual ground level at the highest point of such walls.

(d) Decks and Patios.[258] Decks and patios shall be permitted only in accordance with the following requirements:

(.1) Front yard. Any deck or patio shall be prohibited between the street line and front wall of any building;

(.2) Side yard. Any deck or patio shall be prohibited;

(.3) Rear yard. Any deck or patio may be permitted between the rear wall and the rear property line of any building and shall not be considered as occupied area provided the following conditions are met;

(i) Extension of commercial use. No deck or patio shall extend the commercial use of the property.

(ii) Roofs, walls and stairs. No deck may be enclosed by walls and/or a roof above the usable surface of the deck, nor enclosed by walls below the usable surface. Stairs from the ground level shall not be permitted;

(iii) Access to garage. No deck or patio shall be constructed and/or located so as to prevent access to any existing garage whether or not the garage is providing required off street parking for the use of the lot;

(iv) Minimum distance from the driveway and/or rear property line. The deck or patio shall be constructed so that it is not closer at any point than three (3) feet from the edge of any driveway and/or rear property[259] line, serving two or more lots;

(v) Minimum distance from lot lines. The deck or patio shall be constructed so that all vertical support elements are located a minimum distance of one foot (1) six inches (6) from all lot lines.