The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning.
ALLEY. A dedicated public way affording a secondary means of access to abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.
BLOCK. That property abutting 1 side of a street and lying between the 2 nearest intersecting streets, or between the nearest such street and railroad right-of- way, unsubdivided acreage, river or live stream; or between any of such properties and any other barrier to the continuity of development.
CITY ENGINEER or ENGINEER. The staff engineer or consulting engineer of the city.
CITY PLANNER or PLANNER. The staff planner or consulting planner of the city.
COMMISSION. The Planning Commission of the city.
EASEMENT. A specific area of land over which a liberty, privilege or advantage is granted by the owner to the public, a corporation or some particular person or part of the public for specific uses and purposes and which shall be designated a "public" or "private" easement, depending on the nature of the user.
IMPROVEMENTS. Grading, street surfacing, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, crosswalks, water mains, fire hydrants, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, culverts, bridges and other additions to the natural state of land which increase its value, utility or habitability.
LOT. A parcel of land separated from other parcels on a preliminary or recorded plat for the purpose of sale, lease or separate use.
MAJOR STREETS OR THOROUGHFARE PLAN. The part of the Master Plan which sets forth the location, alignment and dimensions of existing and proposed streets and thoroughfares.
MASTER PLAN. The comprehensive land use plan for the city, including graphic and written proposals indicating the general locations recommended for the streets, parks, schools, public buildings, zoning districts and all physical developments of the city, including any unit or part of such plan separately adopted, and any amendment to such plan or parts thereof adopted by the Planning Commission.
PARCEL or TRACT. A continuous area or acreage of land which can be described as provided for in the Subdivision Act.
PLAT. A map, chart or diagram of a subdivision of land.
(1) SKETCH PLAN. An informal plan or sketch drawn to scale and in pencil, if desired, showing the existing features of a site and its surroundings and the general layout of a proposed subdivision.
(2) PRELIMINARY PLAT. A map showing the salient features of a proposed subdivision of land required by the Subdivision Act, and as required by this chapter and submitted for purposes of preliminary consideration.
(3) FINAL PLAT. A map of a subdivision of land ready for approval and recording in a form required by the Subdivision Act.
PROPRIETOR. A natural person, firm, association, partnership, corporation or combination of any of them, which may hold any ownership interest in land, whether recorded or not.
PUBLIC RESERVATION. A portion of a subdivision which is set aside for public use and made available for public use and acquisition.
PUBLIC UTILITY. Any person, firm or corporation, municipal department, board or commission, duly authorized to furnish and furnishing, under governmental regulations, to the public gas, steam, electricity, sewage disposal, communication, telegraph, transportation or water.
PUBLIC WALKWAY. A right-of-way dedicated for the purpose of a pedestrian access through residential areas, and located so as to connect to 2 or more streets, or a street and a public land parcel.
STREET. Any street, avenue, boulevard, road, lane, parkway, viaduct, alley or other way which is an existing state, county or city roadway; a street or way shown in a plat approved pursuant to law or approved by official action; or a street or way on a plat duly filed and recorded in the office of the County Register of Deeds. A STREET includes the land between the
street lines, whether improved or unimproved, and may comprise pavement, shoulders, gutters, sidewalks, parking areas and lawns.
(1) MAJOR THOROUGHFARE. An arterial street of great continuity which is intended to serve as a large volume traffic way for both the immediate city area and region beyond and may be designated on the city's major thoroughfare plan as a major thoroughfare, parkway, expressway or equivalent term to identify those streets comprising the basic structure of the Street Plan.
(2) COLLECTOR STREET (SECONDARY THOROUGHFARE). A street used primarily to carry traffic from minor streets to major thoroughfares.
(3) MINOR STREET. A street of limited continuity used primarily for access to abutting residential properties.
(4) MARGINAL ACCESS STREET. A minor street paralleling and adjacent to a major thoroughfare which provides access to abutting properties and protection from through traffic.
(5) BOULEVARD STREET. A street developed to 2, two-lane, one-way pavements, separated by a median.
(6) TURNAROUND. A short boulevard street permanently terminated by a vehicular turnaround.
(7) CUL-DE-SAC STREET. A minor street of short length, having 1 end open to traffic and being permanently terminated at the other end by a vehicular turnaround.
(8) LOOP STREET. A minor street of short length with 2 openings to traffic beginning from the same street and projecting parallel to each other and connecting at their termination by a loop.
SUBDIVISION. The partitioning or dividing of a parcel or tract of land by the proprietor thereof or
by his heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors or assigns for the purpose of sale or lease of more than 1 year or of building development, where the act of division creates 5 or more parcels of land, each of which is 10 acres or less in area, or 5 or more parcels of land, each of which is 10 acres or less in area, are created by successive divisions within a period of 10 years.
SUBDIVISION ACT. The Subdivision Control Act, Public Act 288 of 1967, being M.C.L.A. §§ 560.101 et seq., as amended.
ZONING CHAPTER. The zoning ordinance of the city, Chapter 82 of this Code.
(1993 Code, § 62-2)
Cross reference:
Definitions and rules of construction generally, see § 1-2