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GLOSSARY
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Agriculture
:
Use of land for the production of food and fiber, including the
growing of crops and/or the grazing
of animals on natural prime or improved pasture.
Annexation
:
To incorporate a land area into an existing district or
municipality, with a resulting change in the
boundaries of the annexing jurisdiction.
Area
:
An area of
a town that has a unique character identifiable as different from surrounding
areas because of distinctive architecture, streets, geographic features,
culture, landmarks, activities, or land uses.
Arterial
:
Medium-speed (30-40 mph), medium-capacity (10,000-35,000 average daily trips)
roadway that provides intra-community travel and access to the county-wide
highway system. Access to community arterials should be provided at collector
roads and local streets, but direct access from parcels to existing arterials is
common.
Bicycle
Lanes
These are on-street facilities, typically 5.5 feet wide, designed for bicycle,
created by means
of
pavement striping.
Bond
An interest-bearing promise to pay a stipulated sum of money, with the principal
amount due on a
specific date. Funds raised through the sale of bonds can be
used for various public purposes.
Central
Business District
The commercial centroid of a community and typically, the historic origin for
subsequent growth
of the community.
Town’s
Water Distribution System
The infrastructure that enables water to be delivered from its source to the
user.
Collector
Street
Relatively low-speed (25-30 mph), relatively low-volume (5,000-20,000 average
daily trips) street
that provides circulation within and between neighborhoods.
Collectors usually serve short trips
and are intended for collecting trips from local streets and
distributing them to the arterial network
Commercial
A land use classification that permits facilities for the buying and selling of
commodities and services.
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Community
Facilities District
A special district that can issue tax-exempt bonds for the planning, design,
acquisition,
construction, and/or operation of public facilities, as well as
provide public services to district
residents. Special tax assessments levied by the district are used
to repay the bonds.
Community
Park
A publicly owned land site, usually in the range of 25 to 50 acres in size, with
full public access
intended to provide recreation opportunities beyond those
supplied by neighborhood parks.
Community parks are larger in scale than neighborhood parks but
smaller than regional parks.
Conservation
The management of natural resources to prevent waste, destruction, or
degradation.
Development
The
physical extension and/or construction of urban land uses. Development
activities include: subdivision of land; construction or alteration of
structures, roads, utilities, and other facilities; grading; and clearing of
natural vegetative cover (with the exception of agricultural activities).
Routine repair and maintenance activities are exempted.
Dwelling
Unit
A room or group of rooms (including sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation
facilities, but not
more than one kitchen), which constitutes an independent
housekeeping unit, occupied or
intended for occupancy by one household on a long-term basis for
residential purposes.
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Flood
Plain
The
relatively level land area on at least one side of a continuous elevated land
form, such as a canal or railroad embankment, regularly subject to flooding.
That part of the flood plain subject to a 1 % chance of flooding in any given
year is designated as an "area of special flood hazard" by the Federal Insurance
Administration.
General
Plan
A compendium of Town goals, objectives, and policies regarding its long-term
development, in
the form of maps and accompanying text.
Goal
A general, overall, and ultimate purpose, aim, or end toward which the town will
direct effort.
Infrastructure
Public
services and facilities, such as sewage-disposal systems, water-supply systems,
other utility systems, and roads.
Land
Use
The
occupation or utilization of land or water area for any human activity or any
purpose defined in the General Plan.
Master
Plan
A plan
for a large area that may address land use, landscaping, infrastructure,
circulation or services provision.
Mixed-use
Properties on which various uses, such as office, commercial, institutional, and
residential, are combined in a single building or on a single site in an
integrated development project with significant functional interrelationships
and a coherent physical design. A "single site" may include contiguous
properties.
Neighborhood
Park
Town-owned land intended to serve the recreation needs of people living or
working within a 1
mile area. Neighborhood parks serve as a neighborhood’s
recreational and social focus.
Open
Space
Any
parcel or area of land or water that is improved or unimproved, and devoted to
an open space use for the purposes of (1) the preservation of natural resources,
(2) the managed production of resources, (3) outdoor recreation, or (4) public
health and safety. Open spaces include functional open space, agriculture,
retention/detention areas and floodways and floodplains. Open space may be
publicly or privately owned and maintained.
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Parks
Open space lands whose primary purpose is recreation or passive enjoyment by the
public.
Paths
and Trails
Trails
and paths include on-street bicycle lanes, equestrian; multiple use paths and
trails; pedestrian, equestrian and multiple use easements; and trailheads and
staging areas. These facilities will continue to be publicly and privately owned
and maintained. Trailheads may be privately or publicly owned and maintained,
and may be constructed privately and dedicated to the Town.
Planned
Area Development (PAD)
A description of a proposed unified development, consisting at a minimum of a
map and adopted
ordinance setting forth the regulations governing, and the
location and phasing of all proposed
uses and improvements to be included in the development.
Planning
Area
The area directly addressed by the general plan. A town's planning area
typically encompasses
the existing town limits, and potentially annexable land that
will ultimately form the town limits at
buildout, and for which the town will provide services.
Real
Estate Transfer Tax (RETT)
A tax
that is paid when there is a sale of new or existing residential homes and
commercial buildings. It provides funding for infrastructure in the same manner
as impact fees, but is not limited to new homes.
Regional
Pertaining to activities or economies at a scale greater than that of a single
jurisdiction, and affecting a broad geographic area.
Rezoning
An amendment to the official zoning 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
A strip
of land occupied or intended to be occupied by certain transportation and public
use facilities, such as roadways, railroads, and utility lines.
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Setback
The horizontal distance between the property line and any structure.
Site
A
parcel of land used or intended for one use or a group of uses and having
frontage on a public or an approved private street.
Solid
Waste
Any unwanted or discarded material that is not a liquid or gas. Includes organic
wastes, paper
products, metals, glass, plastics, cloth, brick, rock, soil,
leather, rubber, yard wastes, and wood,
but does not include sewage and hazardous materials.
Subdivision
The division of a tract of land into defined lots, either improved or
unimproved, which can be
separately conveyed by sale or lease, and which can be altered or developed.
Trailhead
The
beginning-point of a trail. A trailhead includes parking, trail information,
rubbish containers, water and sanitary facilities.
Wildlife
Animals or plants existing in their natural habitat.
Zoning
The division of a town or county by legislative regulations into areas, or
zones, which specify
allowable uses and required development standards for real
property within these areas; a
program that implements policies of the General Plan.
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