§ 154.009 DEFINITIONS.

   For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

   ACCESS, PRIVATE. A means of ingress and egress for one or more lots on, over and across an easement or a portion of a lot of record that begins at the right-of-way line of a public or private street and terminates at a location selected by the user of said private access, and is not governed by the standards set forth in this chapter.

   AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. Farming, dairying, pasturage, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, ornamental horticulture, olericulture, pomiculture, and animal and poultry husbandry.

   APPLICANT. The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land proposed to be subdivided, including the holder of an option or contract to purchase, or other person having an enforceable proprietary interest in such land. Written consent shall be required from the legal owner of the land.

   BLOCK. A tract of land bounded by streets or by a combination of streets, public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, waterways or the corporate limits of the village.

   BRIDLE TRAIL EASEMENT. The granting of the use of land by a property owner to the village for the specific purpose of permitting licensed bridle trail riders to travel over and across the land pursuant to § 91.11 of the Code of Ordinances.

   BUFFER. An area of natural or planted vegetation adjoining or surrounding a land use and unoccupied in its entirety by any building structure, paving or portion of such land use, for the purposes of screening and softening the effects of the land use, no part of which buffer is used for recreation or parking.

   BUILDING. A structure designed or used for the shelter of persons, animals or chattels.

   CANOPY FOREST, MATURE. An area or stand of trees whose total combined canopy covers an area of one acre or more and at least 50% of which is composed of canopies of trees having a diameter at breast height (DBH) of at least 16 inches, or any grove consisting of eight or more individual trees having a DBH of at least 16 inches whose combined canopies cover at least 50% of the area encompassed by the grove, provided, however, that no trees kept or grown for commercial purposes shall be considered a mature canopy forest.

   CANOPY FOREST, YOUNG. An area or stand of trees whose total combined canopy covers an area of one-half acre or more and at least 50% of which is composed of canopies of trees having a diameter at breast height (DBH) between four inches and 16 inches, provided, however, that no trees kept or grown for commercial purposes shall be considered young canopy forest.

   CLEARABLE LAND AREA. The acreage of land available for constructing the principal and accessory residential structures and other public or private site improvements as a result of the calculations done pursuant to § 154.110 through 154.116 and the appendix to this chapter.

   COMMISSION. The Planning Commission of the village.

   CONCEPT PLAN. A generalized plan, accompanied by the information described in § 154.035, prepared, or caused to be prepared, by an applicant.

   COUNCIL. The Council of the City of the Village of Indian Hill, Ohio.

   CUL-DE-SAC. A local residential street with only one outlet and having an appropriate terminal for the safe and convenient reversal of traffic movement.

   DETENTION BASIN. Temporary storage of storm water runoff in a natural or man-made impoundment accompanied by a controlled release/discharge of the stored water over a determined period of time and/or flow that completely empties between runoff events.

   DRIVE, SERVICE (ACCESS STREET). A public or private street, generally paralleling and contiguous to a principal or secondary village street primarily designed to promote safety by reducing ingress and egress to the right-of-way and providing safe and orderly points of access.

   DWELLING. Any structure designed or used as an abode, except boarding or lodging houses, hotels and tourist camps and trailers, mobile homes, travel trailers, campers, relocatable or portable homes and houses and other like structures.

   EASEMENT. A grant by a property owner of the use of land for a specific purpose.

   EASEMENT OF ACCESS. A right-of-way, for immediate or future use, to provide vehicular access and accommodation for utilities, from a street to a lot, a rear dwelling, or an accessory building used as a residence.

   ENGINEER, VILLAGE. The engineer of the City of the Village of Indian Hill, or such firm or individual as is retained by the village to perform the duties and responsibilities set forth in § 154.173.

   FIELD. Any farm field, meadow, or land in the old field stage of succession that does not qualify as a canopy forest.

   FLOODPLAIN. An area which is defined on the official FEMA floodplain maps or otherwise is contiguous to a pond, stream, or stream bed whose elevation is greater than the normal water pool elevation but equal to or lower than the projected 100-year flood elevation.

   GRADE. The slope of a road, street or other public way, specified in percent (%) and shown on street profile plans as required in this chapter.

   GREEN AREAS GIFT. The conveyance of land to the village as trustee of "The Green Areas and Recreational Fund," in accordance with § 155.08.

   IMPROVEMENT. Any man-made change to any land.

   IMPROVEMENT, PUBLIC. Streets and highways, public grounds, ways for public service facilities, parks, playgrounds, school grounds, storm water drainage, water supply and distribution, sanitary sewers and sewage collection and treatment.

   KOPE FORMATION. A bedrock formation com-posed of about 80% gray shale and 20% interbedded limestone. The average thickness of this bedrock formation is between 60 feet and 220 feet. Upon exposure, this formation weathers rapidly, slaking into a highly plastic, very unstable clayey mass which makes Kope formations susceptible to landslides.

   LOT. Any parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by one structure and its accessory structures and uses, including the open spaces required by this chapter and other ordinances and laws.

   LOT, CORNER. A lot which has two adjacent sides abutting on a street or streets, provided that the interior angle at the intersection of such two sides is less than 135 degrees.

   LOT, INTERIOR. Any lot other than a corner lot.

   LOT, REAR. An interior lot that does not abut a public village street or a private street.

   LOT LINES. The lines bounding a lot.

   LOT LINE, FRONT. In case of an interior lot, the line separating the lot from the street.

   LOT LINE, REAR. The lot line which is generally opposite the front lot line.

   LOT LINE, SIDE. Any lot line not a front lot line or a rear lot line. A side lot line separating a lot from a street shall be called a street side lot line; a side lot line separating a lot from another lot or lots shall be called an interior side lot line.

   LOT FRONTAGE. The greater of the following two distances: either the length of the front lot line or the length of a line substantially parallel to the front lot line, at the required least front yard depth.

   LOT DEPTH. The average distance from the front lot line to the rear lot line, measured in the mean direction of the side lot lines.

   LOT AREA. The total horizontal area included within the lot lines of the lot. No street shall be included in the circulation of the lot area nor cross the lot area.

   MONUMENT. A permanent visible marker that identifies the boundaries of a lot or a resource protected area.

   NATURAL RESOURCE CREDIT. The additional amount of clearable land in a green areas gift and/or bridle trail easement that may be added to the Clearable Land Area calculated pursuant to § 154.120 through 154.123 and the appendix to this chapter.

   NATURAL RESOURCES. All areas of kope formation, floodplain, forests, and steep slopes as defined in this chapter.

   OWNER. Any person, group of persons, firm or firms, corporation or corporations, or any other legal entity having legal title to the land sought to be subdivided under this chapter.

   PARCEL. A contiguous quantity of land in single ownership or under single control.

   PLAT, FINAL. The map or plan or record of a subdivision, and any accompanying material, as described in § 154.037.

   PLAT, PRELIMINARY. The drawings and documents described in § 154.036.

   RESOURCE PROTECTION AREA. An area of land within a subdivision on which no clearing or development is permitted and which must be preserved in its natural state.

   RIGHT-OF-WAY. A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a road, railroad, electric transmission line, gas pipe line, water main, sanitary sewer or storm sewer or for other special uses. The usage of the term RIGHT-OF-WAY for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a final record plat is to be separate and distinct from the lots or parcels adjoining such rights-of-way and not included within the dimensions or areas of such lots or parcels, provided that the size of the lot for zoning purposes shall be determined by the zoning code of the village. Rights-of-way intended for streets, sidewalks, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, or any other uses involving future maintenance by the village or other public entity shall be dedicated to public use by the maker of the plat on which such right-of-way is established.

   STREET. A right-of-way, publicly or privately owned, which provides public or private vehicular and pedestrian circulation and access to adjacent properties.

   STREET, PRINCIPAL. A public street in the village's street system, the principal function of which is to carry traffic between secondary and minor streets, but that may also provide direct access to abutting properties. The following streets are principal streets in the village's street system:

   Camargo Road

   Indian Hill Road

   Loveland-Madeira Road

   Miami Road

   Remington Road

   Shawnee Run Road

   STREET, SECONDARY. A public street in the village's street system, the principal function of which is to provide access to abutting properties, but which is also designed to be used or is used to connect minor streets with principal streets. The following streets are secondary streets in the village's street system:

   Blome Road

   Brill Road (between Drake and Miami Roads)

   Buckingham Road

   Burley Hills Drive

   Cunningham Road

   DeMar Road

   Drake Road

   Graves Road (between Drake and Miami Roads)

   Given Road

   Hopewell Road

   Keller Road

   Kugler Mill Road

   Muchmore Road

   Old Indian Hill Road

   Park Road

   Spooky Hollow Road

   Varner Road

   Walton Creek Road

   Weil Road

   STREET, MINOR. A public or private street, the sole function of which is to provide access to abutting properties.

   STREET, PRIVATE. A means of ingress and egress, not dedicated by recorded instrument for public use, that is maintained by the party or parties using said private street.

   STRUCTURE, ACCESSORY. Anything constructed or erected, the use of which is incidental to and associated with the principal structure and requires location on the ground or attachment to something having a location on the ground pursuant to § 155.05 of the zoning ordinance.

   STRUCTURE, PRINCIPAL. Anything constructed or erected, the use of which is the main purpose for the lot and that requires location on the ground, pursuant to § 155.05 of the zoning ordinance.

   SUBDIVIDER (DEVELOPER). Any person or corporation or duly authorized agent of a landowner who undertakes the subdivision of land as defined herein.

   SUBDIVISION. A subdivision shall mean:

      (1)   The division of any parcel of land shown as a unit or as contiguous units of the last preceding, into two or more parcels, sites, or lots, any one of which is less than five acres for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of ownership, provided, however, that the division or partition of land into parcels of more than five acres not involving any new streets or easements of access, and the sale or exchange of parcels between adjoining lot owners, where such sale or exchange does not create additional building sites, shall be exempted.

      (2)   The improvement of one or more parcels of land for residential structures or groups of structures involving the division or allocation of land for the opening, widening or extension of any street or streets except private streets serving industrial structures; the division or allocation of land as open spaces for common use by owners, occupants or leaseholders or as easements for the extension and maintenance of public sewer, water, storm drainage or other public facilities.

   SUBDIVISION DESIGN STANDARDS. The standards detailed in § 154.095 through 154.103 of this chapter with which all subdivisions must comply.

   SUBDIVISION FEE SCHEDULE. The schedule of village fees and charges in connection with the subdivision approval process which are established by the Village Council from time to time upon recommendation by the City Manager.

   SUBDIVISION, MAJOR. Any subdivision containing six lots or more.

   SUBDIVISION, MINOR. Any subdivision containing five lots or less.

   YARD. The open space on the same lot with a principal structure, lying between such structure and a lot line, open, unoccupied and unobstructed by any structure from the ground to the sky, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

   YARD, FRONT. A yard extending across the entire width of the lot, between a principal structure and the front lot line.

   YARD, FRONT, LEAST DEPTH. The shortest distance, measured horizontally, from the nearest portion of a principal structure to the front lot line.

   YARD, REAR. A yard extending across the entire width of the lot, between a principal structure and the rear lot line.

   YARD, REAR, LEAST DEPTH. The shortest distance, measured horizontally, from the nearest portion of a principal structure to the rear lot line.

   YARD, SIDE. A yard extending along a side lot line, from the front yard to the rear yard, between a principal structure and such side lot line.

   YARD, SIDE, LEAST WIDTH. The shortest distance, measured horizontally, from the nearest portion of a principal structure to the nearest side lot line.

   ZONING CODE.   Chapter 155 of this Code of Ordinances, as amended.

(Ord. 25-89, passed 9-25-89; Am. Ord. 03-97, passed 2-24-97; Am. Ord. 05-02, passed 3-25-02)