1103.02 TERMS DEFINED.

   Words and terms not defined herein should be defined in accord with their normal dictionary meanings and customary usage. The following is a list of terms and their definitions used in these Subdivision and Site Development Regulations. If not found in this list of definitions, the common dictionary definition of a word used or the standard engineering meaning of that word shall be followed:

   (1)   "Acceptance" means formal acceptance of a right-of-way, easement, or improvement by the City, or other person approved by the City, for the purpose of public use or other use.

   (2)   "Access drive" or "access driveway" means an area approved for vehicular travel from a road to a lot.

    (3)   "Applicant" means the person requesting approval under these Regulations, and may be the owner of the property, or any designated agent of the owner or applicant.

"Applicant" means any person, including any agent of the applicant, dividing or proposing to divide land so as to constitute a subdivision as herein defined.

"Applicant" also means a person, including any agent of the applicant, who undertakes improvements or proposes improvements in a subdivision or site development which are governed by these Regulations.

   (4)   "Best Management Practices (BMPs)" means structural and nonstructural facilities or activities that control soil erosion and /or storm water runoff at a development site, and are included in Engineering Construction Standards.

   (5)   "Bikeway" means any right-of-way, easement, or other area which provides for bicycle travel including facilities existing within road rights-of-way and facilities along separate and independent corridors.

   (6)   "Block" means an area of land bounded by a road, or by a combination of roads and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines of waterways, lakes, or ponds, or corporate boundaries.

   (7)   "City" means the City of Aurora, Ohio.

   (8)   "City Engineer" means the Director of Engineering, Utilities and Inspection or an engineer working under the direction of the Director of Engineering, Utilities and Inspection

   (9)   "City Council" or "Council" means the City Council of the City of Aurora, Ohio.

(10)   "City Staff" means the Planning and Zoning Director, Director of Engineering, Utilities, and Inspection, or other employee of the City authorized to administer or enforce the provisions of this Code.

   (11)   "Clear-cutting" means the act of removing more than fifty percent (50%), of a stand of trees on a lot or subdivision or part thereof.

   (12)   "Clearing" means the act of cutting and/or removing vegetation. This definition shall include grubbing vegetation.

   (13)   "Common access driveway" means a private roadway providing access to no more than three sublots in a common access driveway minor subdivision as provided in these Regulations. See 1109.08 .

   (14)   "Condominium development" means a condominium development as defined and regulated by Chapter 5311 of the Ohio Revised Code. With reference to condominium developments in these Regulations, "Unit", except in the case of a water slip, means a part of the condominium property consisting of one or more rooms on one or more floors of a building and designated as a unit in the declaration and delineated on the drawings provided for in Section 5311 of the Ohio Revised Code. (ORC Section 5311.01). Each unit of a condominium property, together with the undivided interest in the common areas and facilities appurtenant to it, is real property for all purposes and is real estate within the meaning of all provisions of the Revised Code.

      (ORC Section 5311.03).

   (15)    "Cul-de-sac". See Road.

   (16)   "Curb cut" means an approved location along the edge of a road pavement, often an opening in the curb, at which point vehicles may enter or leave the road via a driveway apron or access drive onto a property abutting the right-of-way.

   (17)    "Dead-end road". See "Cul-de-sac".

   (18)   "Dedication" means the acceptance of the appropriation of land or an easement thereon by the owner for the use of the public and accepted by such use by and on behalf of the public by the City of Aurora. See also "Acceptance".

   (19)   "Detention basin" means a permanent facility which is designed and used for temporary storage of storm water and which generally does not contain water during periods of normal weather. See also "retention facility."

   (20)   "Detention facility" means any structure which is designed to collect and store surface water for subsequent gradual discharge, and includes in its meaning detention basins and retention facility.

   (21)   Editor’s Note: This subsection is reserved for future legislation.

   (22)   "Development Agreement" means a written agreement, executed by the City and a property owner, establishing the conditions under which the approval for and construction of a development of land shall occur.

   (23)   "Director of Engineering, Utilities, and Inspection" means the Director of Public Service of the City of Aurora.

   (24)   "Director of Law" means the Director of Law of the City of Aurora, Ohio.

   (25)   "Planning and Zoning Director" means the Planning and Zoning Director of the City of Aurora.

   (26)   "District" or "Zoning District" means an area of the City as defined and established by the Zoning Code.

   (27)    "Drainage facility" means any component of the drainage system.

   (28)   "Dwelling" means a building which contains one or more dwelling units. Types of dwellings are as defined by the Zoning Code.

   (29)   "Easement" means a grant by the property owner of the use of an area of land by for a specific purpose or purposes.

   (30)   "Engineering Construction Standards" means rules, standards, guidelines, drawings, plans, references, and other documents which are consistent with the provisions, spirit and intent of these Regulations and of the Zoning Code, and which are approved in writing by the Director of Engineering, Utilities, and Inspection for the design and installation of improvements in subdivisions or site developments. See Section 1109.01 .

   (31)   "Erosion" means the process by which the land surface is worn away by the action of the wind, water, ice, gravity or any combination of those forces.

   (32)   "Exception" means permission, granted by the Planning Commission and City Council, to depart from one or more of the literal requirements of these Regulations, typically as a means of relief from the practical difficulty or hardship of complying with these Regulations in a subdivision or site development which exhibits unusual conditions. Note: Chapter 1101 provides procedures and standards for granting an exception.

   (33)   "Establishment of a new use" means the location, conduct, or operation of a use on a lot or in a structure or part of a lot or structure which was previously vacant or used in a different purpose.

   (34)    "Excess storm water runoff" means that portion of storm water which exceeds the safe storm drainage capacity of storm sewers or natural drainage channels serving a specific watershed.

   (35)   "Floodplain" or "100-Year floodplain" means any land susceptible to being inundated by water from a base flood. The base flood is the flood that has a one percent (1%) or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. For the purposes of these Regulations, the 100-year floodplain shall be defined by FEMA or site-specific floodplain delineation in conformance with standard engineering practices and approved by the City.

   (36)   "Frontage" means the distance for which the front line of a lot and the road right-of-way are coincident.

   (37)   "Grubbing" means the act of removing vegetation by the roots or the removal of roots from cleared land.

   (38)   "Hydrologic unit code" means a cataloging system developed by the United States Geological Survey and the Natural Resource Conservation Service to identify water sheds in the United States.

   (39)   "Impervious area" means any area that cannot effectively absorb or infiltrate water. This may include roads, parking lots, rooftops, sidewalks and similar paved or covered areas.

   (40)   "Improvements" means roads, sidewalks, crosswalks, water mains, sanitary and storm sewers, culverts, bridges, grading, street trees and other forms of construction in a subdivision or site development as regulated by the provisions of these Regulations.

   (41)   "Intersection" means the area at which the rights-of-way of two or more roads meet.

   (42)   "Landscaping" means grasses, ground covers, vines, shrubs, trees and inanimate durable material such as organic mulches and decorative features such as sculpture, patterned walks, fountains, rocks, posts, and pools, but excluding signs, structures and buildings otherwise regulated.

      A.   "Landscape buffer zone" means that area adjacent to any vehicular use area or along common boundaries in which the perimeter landscape requirements are to be met.

      B.   "Interior landscaping" means the use of landscape materials within the inner most boundaries of the landscape buffer zone and perimeter landscaping.

      C.   "Perimeter landscaping" means the use of landscape materials within the landscape buffer zone to achieve the required opacity.

   (43)   "Level of Service" means a quality measure describing operational conditions within a traffic stream, generally in terms of such service measures as speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, traffic interruptions, and comfort and convenience.

   (44)   "Lot" means a parcel of land recorded as a single property occupied or capable of being occupied by one or more buildings and the accessory buildings or uses customarily incidental to it, including such open spaces as required by the Zoning Code and these Subdivision Regulations.

   (45)   "Lot, corner" means a lot at the point of intersection of and abutting on two or more intersecting roads, the angle of intersection being not more than 135 degrees.

   (46)   "New construction, substantial renovation, or expansion of a building" means construction of a new building, expansion of the floor area of an existing building, change of the location of a building on a lot, or significant reconstruction or alteration of an exterior wall, roof, or other exterior part of a main building or of an accessory building, but not including repair or replacement of a building or part of a building

   (47)   "New construction, substantial renovation, or expansion of site improvements" means construction of new site improvements, expansion or relocation of existing site improvements, or significant reconstruction or alteration of existing site improvements. "Site improvements" means a curb cut, parking area, drive, loading area, utilities or drainage facilities, or similar improvements.

   (48)   "Opacity" means an imaginary vertical plane extending from the established grade to a required height of which a required percent of the vertical plane shall be visually screened from adjacent property use.

   (49)   "Open space" means an area of land which is in its natural state or is developed only for the raising of agricultural crops, or for public outdoor recreation.

   (50)   "Parcel". See "Lot".

   (51)   "Parking" means the temporary holding of a vehicle for a period longer than required to load or unload persons or goods.

      A.   "Parking area or structure" means an off-street area or structure, for required parking or loading spaces, including driveways, access ways, aisles, parking and maneuvering space, but excluding required front yard, or public right of way.

      B.   "Parking lot or structure" means an off-street area or structure, other than the parking or loading spaces or areas required or permitted under this section for the parking of automobiles and available to the public customarily for a fee.

   (52)   "Plan" means a drawing and associated texts, exhibits, or materials prepared to describe the intended nature and layout of uses and structures on a lot or lots.

      A.   "Landscape Plan" means a plan for the installation or construction of landscaping as required by the Zoning Code or Subdivision and Site Development Regulations.

      B.   "Master Plan" means the long-range plan for the City as defined in the Charter.

      C.   “Site Plan", "Site Plan, Preliminary" and "Site Plan, Final" means plans for the development of a site or lot as required by the Zoning Code or Subdivision and Site Development Regulations.

      D.   "Development Plan" means a plan for the uses and improvements in a specific PD Planned Development District, as provided in the Zoning Code.

   (53)   "Planning Commission" "or Commission" means the Planning Commission of the City of Aurora as established by the Charter.

   (54)   "Plat" means a map of a tract or parcel of land as divided or as proposed to be subdivided.

      A.   "Minor Subdivision Plat" is a plat for a proposed minor subdivision as provided in these Regulations.

      B.   "Sketch plat" means a conceptual drawing of a project providing basic information such as, but not limited to, streets, access ways, building locations, water courses, ponds and lakes and any other information which graphically depicts a project.

      C.   "Preliminary Plat" means a plat of a proposed major subdivision as required in these Regulations.

      D.   "Final Plat" means a plat of a proposed major subdivision as required in these Regulations.

   (55)   "Plot". See "Lot".

   (56)   "Pond or lake" includes all surface bodies or accumulations of standing water and all areas in which such bodies or accumulations of standing water are collected or are intended to be collected either temporarily or permanently including but not limited to ponds, lakes, retention basins and reservoirs but not including swimming pools.

   (57)   "Protected channel" means a channel which receives storm water discharge and which is paved, rip-rapped or otherwise improved by addition of man-made materials so as to reduce the potential for erosion.

   (58)   "Qualified delineator" means one who is familiar with and utilizes delineation protocols accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and who also utilizes functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which shall also include the current version of the Ohio Rapid Assessment Method for wetland evaluation.

   (59)   "Redevelopment" means, for the purposes of storm water management practices, alteration of a previously developed property which results in the disturbance of more than one acre of land.

   (60)   "Reserve strip" means a strip of land parallel and abutting a road or easement controlling the means of access onto the property.

   (61)   "Retention facility" means a permanent facility which contains a permanent pool of water and which is designed and used for temporary storage of additional storm water." See also "detention facility."

   (62)   "Right-of-way" means a strip of land used or intended to be used by the City, State of Ohio, or the federal government for the purposes of public vehicular, pedestrian, or bicycle movement and other purposes. The right-of-way is bound by right-of-way lines.

   (63)   "Riparian setback" means a naturally vegetated area located adjacent to watercourses that, if appropriately sized, stabilizes banks, limits erosion, reduces flood size flows and/or filters and settles out runoff pollutants, or performs other functions consistent with the provisions of the Zoning Code and of these Regulations..

   (64)   "Riparian setback area" means those areas of the City defined by the criteria set forth in the Zoning Code.

   (65)   "Road" means an area of land intended for vehicular travel and which affords principle means of access to abutting property.

      A.   "Road, public" means an area of land which has been accepted and dedicated or deeded to the City, County, State of Ohio, or federal government and which has been accepted by the City, County, State of Ohio or federal government for public use for vehicular travel which affords principle means of access to abutting property.

      B.   "Road, private" means an area of land which affords principle means of access to abutting property, but which has not been dedicated to the City, State of Ohio, or federal government.

      C.   "Road right-of-way line" means a line defining the limits of a public road right-of-way.

      D.   "Road, major" means a road, typically a state highway, which is designed and used to move large volumes of traffic through the City and between points of heavy traffic generation.

      E.   "Road, secondary" means a road, typically dedicated to and maintained by the City, which is designed and used to collect traffic from local roads and secondary roads, to move traffic to and from the secondary and major roads, and to move traffic between major local traffic generators.

      F.   "Road, local" means any road, dedicated to and operated by the City, designed and used to provide access to properties, to provide circulation within neighborhoods, and to direct traffic to the secondary roads.

      G.   "Cul-de-sac" means a local road, limited in length by these Regulations, having one end open to motor traffic, the other end being permanently terminated by a vehicular turn-around.

   (66)   "Safe storm drainage capacity" means the quantity of storm water runoff that can be transported by a channel or conduit without having the water surface rise above the top of the channel or conduit.

   (67)   "Sediment" means the soils or other materials transported or deposited by the action of wind, water, ice or gravity as a product of erosion.

   (68)   "Service Director" means the Service Director of the City of Aurora.

   (69)   "Site Development" means construction of improvements, including but not limited to structures, pavements, landscaping, grading, above- or below-ground utilities, on a lot or lots, as provided in these Regulations, except such construction or activities which are clearly regulated as subdivisions herein.

   (70)   "Site Development Plan, Major" means a major site development plan as provided in these Regulations as provided in Chapter 1107 .

   (71)   "Site Development Plan, Minor" means a minor site development plan as provided in these Regulations as provided in Chapter 1107 .

   (72)   "Sketch Plat" means a conceptual drawing of a project providing basic information such as, but not limited to, street, access ways, building locations, water courses, ponds and lakes, and any other information which graphically depicts a project.

   (73)   "Soil-disturbing activity" means clearing, grading, excavating, filling or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or man-made ground cover is destroyed and which may result in or contribute to erosion and sediment pollution. Soil-disturbing activity does not include farming or silvicultural operations or areas regulated by the Ohio Agricultural Sediment Pollution Abatement Rules in the Ohio Administrative Code.

   (74)   "Storm water channel" means a natural or man-made open watercourse with definite bed and banks which periodically or continuously contains moving water, or which forms a connecting link between two bodies of water.

   (75)   "Storm water runoff" means water that results from precipitation which is not absorbed by the soil or vegetation or evaporated and which flows over the ground surface or is collected in channels or conduits.

   (76)   "Storm water runoff release rate" means the rate at which storm water runoff is released from dominant to subservient land.

   (77)   "Storm water Management Practices, Nonstructural" means storm water control and treatment techniques that use natural measures to control runoff and/or reduce runoff, do not require extensive construction efforts, and/or promote runoff control by eliminating the runoff source.

   (78)   "Storm water Management Practice, Structural" means any facility, structure, or device that is constructed to provide temporary storage or treatment or other management of storm water runoff.

   (79)   "Subdivision" means: the division of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two or more lots, tracts, or parcels;

      A.   "Subdivision, major" means a subdivision of land which:

         1.   Involves the opening, widening, or extension of any public road; or

         2.   Results in more than five (5) lots.

      B.   "Subdivision, minor" means a subdivision of land with frontage on an existing public road and which does not result in more than five (5) lots. A "common access driveway minor subdivision" is a specific type of "minor subdivision". See 1103.02 (11).

   (80)   "Subdivision and Site Development Regulations" or "Subdivision Regulations" or "these Regulations" means the Subdivision and Site Development Regulations of the City of Aurora, codified as Title One of Part Eleven - Planning and Zoning Code, adopted as Ordinance 2004-013, passed March 22, 2004.

   (81)   "Substantial change of use" means the replacement of an existing use of a lot or structure or part of a lot or structure by a new use which is significantly different from the preceding use, including but not limited to the following:

      A.   Replacement of dwelling unit by any other use; replacement of any other use by a dwelling unit; or any increase in the number of dwelling units within a structure.

       B.   Replacement of a commercial use by an industrial use;

      C.   Replacement of an industrial use by a commercial or institutional use;

      D.   Replacement of an institutional use by a commercial or industrial use;

      E.   Expansion of a use other than a dwelling into existing, unoccupied floor area; or

      F.   Any use which the Planning and Zoning Director determines will create new impacts on abutting properties, will generate additional traffic, will require additional parking or altered curb cuts and drives, or will have other effects significantly different from those created by the preceding use; but not including any change of use which is substantially the same as the preceding use in terms of its status within the provisions of the Zoning Code or of these Regulations.

   (82)   "Surface Waters of the State" means all streams, lakes, reservoirs, marshes, wetlands, or other waterways situated wholly or partly within the boundaries of the state, except those private waters which do not combine or affect a junction with surface water. Waters defined as sewerage systems, treatment works or disposal systems in Section 6111.01 of the Ohio Revised Code are not included.

   (83)   "Tree" means any living woody plant characterized by one main stem or trunk and many branches and having a diameter of six (6) inches or greater as measured twenty-four (24) inches from the ground, or a multi-stemmed trunk system with a definitely formed crown.

   (84)   "Tree removal" means the actual destruction or causing the effective destruction through the damaging, poisoning, or other direct or indirect actions resulting in the death of a tree. See also "clear cutting".

   (85)   "Total maximum daily load" means the sum of the existing and/or projected point source, nonpoint source, and background loads for a pollutant to a specified watershed, water body, or water body segment. A TMDL sets and allocates the maximum amount of a pollutant that may be introduced into the water and still ensures attainment and maintenance of water quality standards.

   (86)   "Walkway" means any right-of-way, easement, or other area which provides for pedestrian travel including facilities existing within road rights-of-way and facilities along separate and independent corridors.

   (87)   "Unstable soils" means land that is prone to slipping, sloughing, or landslides or is identified by the US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service methodology as having lost soil strength.

   (88)   "Vehicular use area" means any area used by vehicles.

   (89)   "Watercourse" means any natural, perennial or intermittent, public stream, river or brook (but not an ephemeral stream) with a defined bed and bank that is contained within, flows through, or borders the City.

      A.   "Intermittent stream" means a natural watercourse that may have some water in pools but where surface flows are non-existent or interstitial for periods of one week or more during typical summer months.

      B.   "Perennial stream" means a natural watercourse that contains water throughout the year except possibly during periods of extreme drought.

   (90)   "Wetland" means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.

      A.   "Category 2 Wetland" means a wetland classified by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as Category 2 wetland under OAC3745-1-54(C)(2), presently in effect and as amended in the future, in accordance with generally accepted wetland functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio EPA.

      B.   "Category 3 Wetland" means a wetland classified by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as Category 3 wetland under OAC3745-1-54(C)(3), presently in effect and as amended in the future, in accordance with generally accepted wetland functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio EPA.

   (91)   "Wetland setback area" means those areas of the City defined by the criteria set forth in the Zoning Code.

   (92)   "Zoning Code" means the Zoning Code of the City of Aurora codified as Title Three of Part Eleven of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Aurora - Planning and Zoning Code.

      (Ord. 2010-181. Passed 2-14-11.)