§ 90-663. Definitions.  


Latest version.
  • The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

    Agricultural lands means those lands that are currently (i.e., natural or native vegetation has been removed) used and managed primarily for the commercial sale of crops and livestock and consist of a minimum of five acres.

    Best management practices (BMPs) means a practice, or combination of practices, that are determined by a state or designated area wide planning agency to be the most effective, practical means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by nonpoint sources to a level compatible with water quality goals.

    Buffer area means an area of natural or established vegetation managed to protect other components of a resource protection area and state waters from significant degradation due to land disturbances.

    Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area means any land designated by the board of supervisors pursuant to part III of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations, 9 VAC 10-20-et seq., and Code of Virginia, § 10.1-2107. A Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area shall consist of a resource protection area and a resource management area.

    Construction footprint means the area of all impervious surface, including, but not limited to, buildings, roads and drives, parking areas, sidewalks and the area necessary for construction of such improvements.

    Development means the construction or substantial alteration of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, transportation, or utility facilities or structures.

    Diameter at breast height (DBH) means the diameter of a tree measured outside the bark at a point 4.5 feet above the ground.

    Drip-line means a vertical projection to the ground surface from the furthest lateral extent of a tree's leaf canopy.

    Floodplain means all lands that would be inundated by floodwater as a result of a storm event of a 100-year return interval.

    Highly erodible soils means soils (excluding vegetation) with an erodibility index (EI) from sheet and rill erosion equal to or greater than eight. The erodibility index for soils is defined as the product of the formula RKLS/T, where K is the soil susceptibility to water erosion in the surface layer; R is the rainfall and runoff; LS is the combined effects of slope length and steepness; and T is the soil loss tolerance.

    Highly permeable soil means soils with a given potential to transmit water through the soil profile. Highly permeable soils are identified as any soil having a permeability equal to or greater than six inches of water movement per hour in any part of the soil profile to a depth of 72 inches (permeability groups "rapid" and "very rapid") as found in the "National Soil Survey Handbook" of November 1996 in the "Field Office Technical Guide" of the U. S. Department Of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

    Impervious cover means a surface composed of any material that significantly impedes or prevents natural infiltration of water into the soil. Impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to: roofs, buildings, streets, parking areas, and any concrete, asphalt, or compacted gravel surface.

    Intensely Developed Area (IDA) means a portion of a resource protection area or resource management area designated by the board of supervisors where little of the natural environment remains and where development is currently concentrated.

    Land disturbance means any activity upon land which causes, contributes to, or results in the removal or covering of the vegetation upon such land, including, but not limited to, clearing, grading, filling, dredging, or excavating. This term shall not include minor activities such as home gardening, planting of trees and shrubs, and home maintenance.

    Lot coverage means the impervious area of any lot or parcel including, but not limited to, buildings, drives, parking areas, sidewalks, patios, decks, etc.

    Nonpoint source pollution means pollution consisting of constituents such as sediment, nutrients, and organic and toxic substances from diffuse sources, such as runoff from agricultural and urban land development and use.

    Nontidal wetlands means those wetlands other than tidal wetlands that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater 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, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, in 33 CFR 328.3b, as now or hereafter amended.

    Noxious weeds means weeds that are difficult to control effectively, such as Johnson grass, kudzu, and multiflora rose.

    Plan of development means the process for site plan or subdivision plat review to ensure compliance with Code of Virginia, § 10.1-2109 and this article, prior to any clearing and grading of a site and the issuance of a building permit.

    Public road means a publicly owned road designed and constructed in accordance with water quality protection criteria at least as stringent as requirements applicable to the state department of transportation, including regulations promulgated pursuant to the Erosion and Sediment Control Law (Code of Virginia, § 10.1-603.1 et seq.). This definition includes those roads where the state department of transportation exercises direct supervision over the design or construction activities, or both, and cases where roads are constructed and maintained, or both, by the county in accordance with the standards of the county.

    Redevelopment means the process of developing land that is or has been previously developed.

    Resource management area (RMA) means that component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area that is not classified as the resource protection area. RMAs include land types that, if improperly used or developed, have the potential for causing significant water quality degradation or for diminishing the functional value of the resource protection area.

    Resource protection area (RPA) means that component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area comprised of lands adjacent to water bodies with perennial flow that have an intrinsic water quality value due to the ecological and biological processes they perform or are sensitive to impacts which may result in significant degradation to the quality of state waters.

    Silvicultural activities means forest management activities, including but not limited to, the harvesting of timber, the construction of roads and trails for forest management purposes, and the preparation of property for reforestation that are conducted in accordance with the silvicultural best management practices developed and enforced by the state forester pursuant to Code of Virginia, § 10.1-1105, and are located on property defined as real estate devoted to forest use under Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3230.

    Substantial alteration means expansion or modification of a building or development that would result in a disturbance of land exceeding an area of 2,500 square feet in the resource management area only.

    Tidal shore or shore means land contiguous to a tidal body of water between the mean low water level and the mean high water level.

    Tidal wetlands means vegetated and nonvegetated wetlands as defined in Code of Virginia, § 28.2-1300.

    Water-dependent facility means a development of land that cannot exist outside of the resource protection area and must be located on the shoreline by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operation. These facilities include, but are not limited to, (i) ports; (ii) the intake and outfall structures of power plants, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and storm sewers; (iii) marinas and other boat docking structures; (iv) beaches and other public water-oriented recreation areas; and (v) fisheries or other marine resources facilities.

    Wetlands means tidal and nontidal wetlands.

    (Ord. of 8-10-2004, § 17-533)

    Cross reference— Definitions generally, § 1-2.

(Ord. of 8-10-2004, § 17-533)

Cross reference

Definitions generally, § 1-2.