For the purposes of these Subdivision Regulations, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
(1) “Alley” means a public or private way not more than twenty feet wide which provides secondary access to the rear or side of an abutting property.
(2) “Approving Agent” means the Planning Commission of Trotwood.
(3) “Arterial” means a street whose primary function is to move large volumes of traffic.
(4) “As Built Drawings” means a set of drawings supplied by the contractor or developer indicating the final subdivision as constructed. These drawings shall indicate all changes made during construction with respect to the construction drawings and grading; utility plans submitted with the final plat.
(5) “Block” means a parcel of land which is entirely surrounded by public highways and streets, railroad rights of way, waterways or other barriers.
(6) “Channel” means natural stream that conveys water; a ditch or channel excavated for the flow of water.
(7) “City Engineer” and “Director of Public Works” means any person, firm, or organization designated by City Council to review and advise the City concerning the proposed subdivision of land.
(8) “Clearing” means clearing, grubbing, scalping, removal of trees and stumps, and removing and disposing of all vegetation and debris within the site, and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom.
(9) “Collector” means street whose primary purpose is to conduct traffic from local or minor residential streets to an arterial.
(10) “Comprehensive Plan” the officially adopted land use plan of the City as may be amended from time to time.
(11) “Construction” means the erection, alteration, repair, renovation, demolition or removal of any building or structure; and the clearing, stripping, excavating, filling, grading and regulation of sites in connection therewith.
(12) “Covenant” means series of controls included in a record plan which acts to further regulate development within a subdivision.
(13) “Cul-de-sac” means local or minor street of relatively short length with one end open to traffic and the other end terminating in a vehicular turnaround.
(14) “Cut” means excavation; the difference between a point on the original ground and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade. Also, the material removed in excavation.
(15) “Dead-end street” means a street temporarily having only one outlet for vehicular traffic and intended to be extended or continued in the future.
(16) “Debris” means loose refuse or earth material not suitable for use as presently situated or constituted as determined by the approving agent.
(17) “Dedication” means the granting of land by its owner for any of a number of public uses.
(18) “Deed restriction” See “Covenant.”
(19) “Developer” means any individual, subdivider, firm, association, syndicate, partnership, corporation, trust or any other legal entity commencing proceedings under these Subdivision Regulations to effect the development of land for himself or for another.
(20) “Development” means the division of land into two or more parcels, the carrying out of any building, or the making of any material, change in the use or appearance of any structure or land through activities of construction, erection or alteration.
(21) “Development area” means any contiguous area owned by one person or operated as one development unit included within the scope of these regulations, upon which earth disturbing activities are planned or underway.
(22) “Ditch” means an open channel either dug or natural for the purpose of drainage or irrigation with intermittent flow. See “Stream”, “Drainageway,” and “Grassed waterway.”
(23) “Drainageway” means an area of concentrated water flow other than a river, stream, ditch or grassed waterway.
(24) “Dumping” means the grading, pushing, piling, throwing, unloading or placing of soil, dirt, stone or other earthen material.
(25) “Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence of one or more persons, but not including tents, cabins, trailers, hotels and motels.
(26) “Dwelling unit” means a single family, two family or multi- family dwelling used by one family for cooking, living or sleeping purposes.
(27) “Earth-disturbing activity” means any grading, excavation, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or manmade ground cover is destroyed and which may result in or contribute to erosion and sediment pollution.
(28) “Earthen material” means soil, sediment, rock, sand, gravel or organic material or residue associated with or attached to the soil.
(29) “Easement” means authorization by a property owner for the use by another, for a clearly defined purpose, of any designated part of his property.
(30) “Enforcement officer” means that person designated by the City Manager to administer and enforce the provisions contained within the official Subdivision Regulations for the City.
(31) “Erosion” means the wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind, ice or other geological agents, including such processing as gravitational creep; detachment and movement of soil or rock fragments by wind, water, ice or gravity.
A. “Accelerated erosion” means erosion much more rapid than normal, natural or geologic erosion, primarily as a result of the influence of the activities of man.
B. “Rill erosion” means an erosion process in which numerous small channels only several inches deep are formed; occurs mainly on recently disturbed soils.
C. “Sheet erosion” means the removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the land surface by wind or runoff.
(32) “Excavation” means any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any similar material is dug into, cut, quarried, uncovered, removed, displaced, relocated or bulldozed, and the conditions resulting therefrom.
(33) “Fill” means any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported, or moved to a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped surface and shall include the conditions resulting therefrom. “Fill” also means the difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade.
(34) “Final plat” means that map, drawing or chart on which a developer's plan of subdivision, along with applicable construction drawings, is submitted to the Planning Commission in accordance with the Official Subdivision Regulations for the City for approval, and, after the approval, filed with the County Recorder.
(35) “Finished grade” means the final grade or elevation of the ground surface conforming to the approved grading plan.
(36) “Freeboard” means the vertical distance between the design flow level of the water surface and a specific point of interest (i.e. top elevation of a detention/retention basin).
(37) “Grading” means the stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling or any combination thereof of earth-disturbing activity inclusive of land in its cut or filled conditions.
(38) “Grassed waterway” means a broad and shallow natural course or constructed channel with erosion-resistant grasses or similar herbaceous cover and used to conduct surface water runoff.
(39) “Hazard” means any danger to public health, welfare, and safety including exposure to risk or damage to property or liability for personal injury; or risk of harm to land, air or water resulting in environmental degradation. Hazards can include but are not limited to, flooding and ponding, compaction and settling, landslides, earthquakes, toxic chemicals, radiation, fire and disease.
(40) “Improvements” means street pavement or resurfacing, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, water lines, sewer lines, storm drains, street lights, flood control and drainage facilities, utility lines, landscaping and other related matters normally associated with the development of raw land into building sites.
(41) “Landscaping” means the placement of materials such as grass, flowers, shrubs, hedges, trees, decorative walls and fences and berms improved with ground cover, within a designated area.
(42) “Loop street” means a type of local street, each end of which terminates at an intersection with the same arterial or collector street.
(43) “Lot” means a piece or parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a principal building or a group of such buildings and accessory buildings, or utilized by a principal use and accessory uses thereto, together with such open space as required by the Zoning Ordinance, and having frontage on a public street or approved private street.
A. “Lot area” means that area of land contained entirely within the boundary of a lot.
B. “Lot, corner” means a lot located at the junction and abutting on two or more intersecting streets where the intersection does not exceed 135 degrees.
C. “Lot depth” means the average horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.
D. “Lot, double frontage” means an interior lot having frontage on two non- intersecting streets.
E. “Lot frontage” means that the distance between the side lot lines as measured by a line drawn parallel with the front lot line at a point of required minimum front yard depth as established by the setback line.
F. “Lot, interior” means a lot other than a corner lot.
G. “Lot line, front” means in the case of an interior lot, a line separating the lot from the street; and, in the case of a corner lot, a line separating the narrowest lot frontage of the lot from the street.
H. “Lot line, rear” means the lot line opposite and most distant from the front lot line.
I. “Lot line, side” means any lot line other than a front or rear lot line.
(44) “Maintenance bond” means an approved agreement by a developer or subdivider with the City in the amount of ten percent (10%) of the actual cost of all required improvements.
(45) “Minor street” means a local street whose primary function is to move traffic within residential neighborhoods.
(46) “Monument” means a permanent concrete or iron marker used to definitely establish all property lines within a plat.
(47) “Municipal Clerk” means the Municipal Clerk for the City.
(48) “Nuisance” means a public nuisance as known by common law or in equity jurisprudence.
(49) “Official Thoroughfare Plan” means that map or set of maps which establish the official right-of-way width for streets within the corporation limits of the City.
(50) “Parcel” See “Lot.”
(51) “Performance bond” means an approved agreement by a developer or subdivider with the City in the amount of the estimated construction cost necessary to guarantee completion of all required subdivision improvements in accordance with previously approved plans and specifications.
(52) “Permittee” means any person to whom a permit is issued pursuant to these Subdivision Regulations, or who is subject to inspection under it.
(53) “Person” means any individual corporation, partnership, joint venture, agency, unincorporated association, municipal corporation, county or state agency within the State, the Federal government, or any combination thereof.
(54) “Planned unit development” means a land development project which is comprehensively planned as a single entity via a unitary site plan.
(55) “Planning Commission” means that Council-appointed advisory body known as the Planning Commission for the City.
(56) “Plans” means profiles, typical cross sections, working drawings and supplemental drawings of site, grading, drainage and runoff and sedimentation control plans, vicinity map, soil map and other plans as approved or exact reproductions thereof, which show the location, character, dimensions and details of the work with the information/data required and identified within the Subdivision Regulations.
(57) “Pollution” means the man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical and biological integrity of air and water resources.
(58) “Preliminary plat” means a proposed layout of a tract of land which has been submitted by a developer or subdivider to the Planning Commission for approval.
(59) “Public way” means an alley, avenue, boulevard, bridge, channel, ditch, easement, expressway, freeway, highway, land, parkway, right of way, road, sidewalk, street, subway, tunnel, viaduct, walkway, bikeway or other ways in which members of the general public or a public entity have a right, or which are dedicated, whether improved or not.
(60) “Right-of-way” means a strip of land taken or dedicated for use as a public way. In addition to the roadway, the right of way normally includes curbs, gutters, sidewalks, lawn strips, and lighting utilities and drainage facilities.
(61) “Runoff” means the portion of rainfall, melted snow or irrigation water that flows across the ground surface and eventually is returned to streams.
A. “Accelerated runoff” means increased rate and volume of runoff due to less permeable surface primarily caused by urbanization.
B. “Peak rate of runoff”' means the maximum rate of runoff for Type II distribution, 24-hour duration storm of a given frequency, as defined by the Soil Conservation Service.
(62) “Sediment” means solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water, gravity or ice, and has come to rest on the earth's surface either above or below water.
(63) “Sediment pollution” means failure to use management or conservation practices to abate wind or water erosion of the soil or to abate the degradation of waters by soil sediment in conjunction with land grading, excavating, filling or other soil-disturbing activities on land used within the scope of provisions as described in these Subdivision Regulations.
(64) “Service road” means a minor street which is both adjacent and parallel to an arterial, and, which provides access to abutting properties while affording protection from major amounts of through traffic.
(65) “Setback line” means the closest point at which a building or structure may be placed in relation to a lot line.
(66) “Sidewalk” means an improved public way, five feet or more in width, for pedestrian use only, whether along the side of the road or not.
(67) “Site” means any lot or parcel of land or a series of lots or parcels of land adjoining or contiguous or joined together under one ownership where clearing, stripping, grading or excavating is performed.
(68) “Sketch plan” means a concept drawing which has been prepared by a developer or subdivider prior to his or her submission of a preliminary plat to the Planning Commission.
(69) “Slope” means the face of an embankment or cut section; any ground whose surface makes an angle with the plane of the horizon. Slopes are usually expressed in a percentage based upon vertical difference in feet per 100 feet of horizontal distance.
(70) “Sloughing” means a downward movement of an extended layer of soil over a slope frequently resulting from the undermining action of surface water runoff or the earth-disturbing activity of man.
(71) “Soil” means all earthen material that overlies bedrock, and may include the decomposed zone of bedrock which can be readily excavated by mechanical equipment.
(72) “Soil loss” means soil moved from one location by the forces of erosion, and redeposited at another location.
(73) “Steep slope” means a slope over fifteen percent (15%) grade, which is characterized by increased runoff, erosion and sediment hazards.
(74) “Storm frequency” means the average period of time in years within which a storm of a given duration and intensity can be expected to be equaled or exceeded.
(75) “Stream” means a body of water running or flowing on the earth's surface or channel in which such flow occurs. Flow is continuous or seasonally intermittent.
(76) “Stripping” means any activity which removes or significantly disturbs the vegetative surface cover.
(77) “Subdivider” See “ Developer.”
(78) “Subdivision” means the division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any means into two lots, tracts, parcels or other division of land including changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of lease, transfer of ownership or building or lot development.
(79) “Subsoil” means that part of the soil below the surface soil or plow layer.
(80) “Surface soil” means the uppermost part (five to eight inches) of the soil commonly stirred by tillage implements or its equivalent in uncultivated soils.
(81) “Surveyor” means any person registered to practice surveying.
(82) “Swale” means a low lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface water runoff.
(83) “Thoroughfare,” “Street” or “Road” means an improved public right-of-way which provides a public means of access to abutting property.
(84) “Topsoil” means surface and upper surface soils which presumably are darker colored, fertile soil materials, ordinarily rich in organic matter or humus debris.
(85) “Tree” means any self-supporting, woody plant which normally grows to a mature height of at least fifteen (15) feet and normally develops an average mature spread of greater than fifteen (15) feet in southwestern Ohio.
(86) “Variance” means a deviation, owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not resulting from the action of the applicant, from the strict application of the terms of the official Subdivision Regulations for the City.
(87) “Vicinity map” means a drawing included on the final record plan which shows the relationship of the proposed subdivision or use to other nearby developments and thoroughfares.
(88) “Walkway/Bikeway” means a dedicated public way, six feet or more in width depending on the actual use of the path system, for pedestrian and nonmotorized vehicular use, whether along the side of a road or not.
(89) “Watercourse” means any natural or artificial waterway (including, but not limited to, streams, rivers, creeks, ditches, channels, canals, conduits, culverts, drains, drainageways, waterways, gullies, ravines or washes) in which waters flow in a definite direction or course, either continuously or intermittently; and including any area adjacent thereto which is subject to inundation by reason of overflow of flood water.
(90) “Yard” means a space on the same lot with a main building which is open, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward.
A. “Yard, front” means an open space extending the full width of the lot between a building and the front lot line.
B. “Yard, rear” means an open space extending the full width of the lot between a building and the rear lot line. The rear yard for a corner lot is an area bounded by the side lot lines and an imaginary line on an arc of X feet (“X” being the required rear yard setback of the Zoning District of the property) from a point most distant from the front lot lines at which the side lot lines intersect.
C. “Yard, side” means an open space extending from the front yard to the rear yard between a building and the nearest side lot line.
(91) “Zoning Code” means that comprehensive set of Council-adopted regulations known as the official Zoning Code for the City.
(Ord. 45-08. Passed 12-15-08.)