FREQUENTLY USED PLANNING & ZONING TERMS

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1 City Of Mustang FREQUENTLY USED PLANNING & ZONING TERMS Abut: Having property lines, street lines, or zoning district lines in common. Accessory Structure: A structure of secondary importance or function on a site. Accessory structures may be attached or detached from the primary structure. Examples of accessory structures include: barns, storage buildings, sheds, workshops, and other structures. Arterial Street: A street having the primary purpose of carrying large volumes of traffic and does not usually provide direct access to individual properties. Arterials are designed to provide cross-city travel. Base Flood: A flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Board of Adjustment (BOA): A 5 member quasi-jurisdictional body appointed to hear appeals from decisions of the Planning Commission and consider requests for variances and exceptions from provisions of the zoning ordinance. Buffer: A buffer is a strip of land with existing or planted vegetation used to protect a less intense land use. Example: trees and shrubs planted in a buffer on an industrial property to protect a residential property. Building Area: The amount of space remaining on a lot after the minimum requirements for building coverage and setbacks have been met. Building Elevation: A scale drawing of the front, rear, or side of a building or structure showing dimensions and architectural details. Building Envelope: The width, depth and height dimensions, as regulated by zoning, within which a structure may be built on a lot. Building Line: A line designating the area outside of which structures may not be erected. Collector Street: A street that collects traffic from local streets and provides connections to arterial streets. Compatibility: The characteristics of different uses or activities that permit them to be located near each other in harmony and without conflict. Comprehensive Plan: Regional, state, or local documents that describe community visions for future growth. Comprehensive plans describe general plans and policies for how communities will grow and the tools that are used to guide land use decisions, and give general, long-range recommendations for community growth. Typical elements include, land use, housing, transportation, environment, economic development, and community facilities. Conditional Use: A use allowed with conditions in the applicable zoning district as determined by the Planning and Zoning Board. Covenant: A private legal restriction on the use of land contained in the deed to the property or otherwise formally recorded. Curb Cut: A curb cut is an angled cut in the edge of a curb that permits vehicular access from a street to a driveway, garage, parking lot or loading dock. Dedication: The transfer of property rights from private to public ownership. 1

2 Density: The amount of development permitted per acre. It may be expressed in dwelling units per acre for residential development or as building square footage per acre. Detention area: An area that is designed to capture specific quantities of stormwater and to gradually release the stormwater at a sufficiently slow rate to avert flooding Easement: A legal right to use someone else s land for a particular purpose. There are several types of easements, including utility easements, private easements, easements by necessity, and prescriptive easements (acquired by use of property). Building on an easement is prohibited. Eminent Domain: The legal right of government to acquire or take private property for public use or benefit upon payment of just compensation to the owner. Encroachment: Any obstruction or protrusion into a right of way or adjacent property, whether on the land or above it. Flood, 100-Year: The magnitude of a flood expected to occur on the average every 100 years, based on historical data. The 100-year flood has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year. Floodplain: The area adjoining a watercourse which, although not lying in the floodway, has been or may hereafter be inundated by flood water. Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM): An official map of a community on which FEMA has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community. Floodplain Management: The operation of an overall program of corrective and preventive measures for reducing flood damage, including but not limited to, emergency preparedness plans, flood control works, and floodplain management regulations. Floor Area: The area included within the surrounding walls of a building measured from outside to outside, excluding vents, shafts, and courts. Floor Area Ratio (FAR) - A measure of density, intended to give some flexibility of design; can be expressed in one of the following ways. FAR = Gross Floor Area Lot Area Grandfathered: Describes the status accorded to certain properties, uses, and activities that may legally continue because they existed prior to the adoption date of changes to the Zoning Ordinance. Impervious Surface: Any surface that prevents or significantly impedes the infiltration of water into the underlying soil, including buildings, parking lots, sidewalks, compacted gravel, pavement, asphalt, and concrete. Intensity: A measure of the extent to which a tract of land is developed. Residential density in units per acre is a measure of intensity; floor area ratio is also a measure of intensity, as is square feet per acre. Land Survey: A land survey is performed for the purpose of locating, describing, monumenting and mapping the boundaries and corners of a parcel of land. It may also include mapping of the topography of the parcel, and the location of buildings or other improvements upon the parcel. Land Use: The types of buildings and activities that exist in an area or on a specific site. Zoning regulates existing and future land uses. 2

3 Lot: Any parcel of land platted and placed on record in accordance with laws and ordinances; a parcel described by metes and bounds and having frontage on a public right-of-way. Lot, abutting: Two or more lots joined by a common boundary line or point. Lot, area: Determined by multiplying lot width times the lot depth. Lot, interior: A lot having only one street frontage. Lot, through: A lot other than a corner lot having more than one street frontage. Examples of types of lots Lot Split (Short Form Subdivision): A lot-split is the process of legally dividing a lot of record into two, three or four tracts of land, and is required for any division of land resulting in tracts of five acres or less. Manufactured Dwelling: A dwelling unit constructed off of the site which can be moved on the public roadways. Manufactured dwellings include residential trailers, mobile homes, and manufactured homes. Metes and Bounds: A system of describing and identifying land by measures (metes) and direction (bounds) from an identifiable point of reference such as a monument or other marker; the corner of intersection streets. Nonconforming Use/Structure: A use or building that was lawful when established and continues to be lawful, but no longer conforms to the requirements of the zone in which it is located because of the adoption or amendment of the Zoning Ordinance or the Zoning Map. Nuisance: A legal action to redress harm arising from the use of one's property. A public nuisance is an act or omission that obstructs, damages, or inconveniences the use or enjoyment of property. Ordinance: Local law; a legislative enactment by a local governing body. Permitted Use: A use listed in the zoning ordinance that is allowed by right at all locations in a zoning district. Planning Commission: A seven member body of citizens that serve local government. The Planning Commission is an advisory group to the City Council on issues and policies related to planning and land use regulation. The Planning Commission has the ability to make a final decision on short-form subdivision requests. Plat: A map representing a tract of land, showing the boundaries and location or individual properties and streets. Plot Plan: A plat of a lot, drawn to scale, showing the actual measurements, the lot lines and building lines, the size and location of any existing structures and proposed structures, and the location of setbacks and easements. Principal Use: The main use of a lot or building as distinguished from a secondary or accessory use on the same lot. A dwelling is a principal use on a residential lot, a shed or swimming pool is an accessory use. 3

4 Public Notice: Information about a public hearing to be held regarding a land use decision. Such notice is either published in a newspaper, mailed to property owners of adjacent property, or both. Residence: A residence consists of one or more dwelling units or rooming units, and any common areas, including one-family and two-family houses, or multifamily dwellings. Single-Family Residence is a building on a zoning lot containing one dwelling unit occupied by one household. Two-Family Residence is a building on a zoning lot containing two dwelling units occupied by two households. Multifamily Residence is a building on a zoning lot containing at least three dwelling units Rezoning: An amendment to the map and/or text of a zoning ordinance to effect a change in the nature, density, or intensity of uses allowed in a zoning district and/or on a designated parcel or land area. Right-of-way: The public right of way is a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for transportation purposes, it is typically a strip of land 50 to 60 feet wide that contains the public street, sidewalks, and utilities. Setback: A building setback is defined as the minimum allowable horizontal distance from a given point or line of reference, such as a street right-of-way or property line. Setbacks vary by zoning district, structure and use. Each zoning district has minimum front, side, and rear yard setbacks. Front Setback: A setback that is measured from a front lot line Rear Setback: A setback that is measured from a rear lot line. Side Setback: A setback that is measured from a side lot line. Example of setbacks for a residential property. 4

5 Site Plan: A detailed plan, required only for certain projects, that shows proposed development on a site in relation to immediately adjacent areas. It indicates roads, walks, parking areas, buildings, landscaping, open space, common space, lighting, etc. Stormwater Management: The collection, conveyance, storage, treatment and disposal of stormwater runoff to prevent accelerated channel erosion, increased flood damage, and degradation of water quality. Subdivide: The process whereby land is divided into lots or parcels according to the standards and requirements of a subdivision ordinance. Use: The specific purpose for which a piece of land or a building is designed, arranged, intended occupied or maintained. Variance: An exception from those zoning ordinance provisions regulating the size or area of a lot or parcel of land, or the size, area or location of a building or structure when the strict application of the ordinance would result in undue hardship to the property owner. Authority to decide variances is vested in the Board of Adjustments (BOA). Watershed: A basin in which all surface water drains to a centrally located stream, river or other body of water. Zoning: Zoning is the legal regulation of the use of the land. Zoning District: A land area in which the zoning regulations are uniform. For example, R-1 Single Family Residential, all homes are subject to the same regulations and standards. A Glossary of Zoning, Development, and Planning Terms, APA Planning Advisory Service Report Number 491/492 (1999) 5