The following general rules of construction
shall apply to the regulations of this chapter:
A.
The singular number includes the plural and the plural
the singular, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary.
B.
Words used in the present tense include the past and
future tenses, and the future the present.
C.
The word "shall" is always mandatory. The word "may"
is permissive.
D.
Words and terms not defined herein shall be interpreted
in accord with their normal dictionary meaning and customary usage.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The official charged with the enforcement of this chapter
as designated by the governing body.
Those lands used for the planting and harvesting of crops
or plant growth of any kind in the open, pasture, horticulture, dairying,
floriculture or raising of poultry and/or livestock.
Any person who is responsible for any undertaking that requires
a site plan development process or a building permit.
A practice, or a combination of practices, that is 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.
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.
Any land designated by Northumberland County pursuant to
Part III of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management
Regulations, 9VAC10-20 et seq., and § 10.1-2107 of the Code
of Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area consists of Resource
Protection Areas and Resource Management Areas.
The Circuit Court of Northumberland County, Virginia.
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.
The County of Northumberland, Virginia.
The construction or substantial alteration of residential,
commercial, industrial, institutional, recreation, transportation
or utility facilities or structures.
The diameter of a tree measured outside the bark at a point
4.5 feet above ground.
The Board of Supervisors of Northumberland County, Virginia.
Soils (excluding vegetation) with an erodibility index (EI)
from sheet and rill erosion equal to or greater than eight. The erodibility
index for any soil 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.
Soils with a given potential to transmit water through the
soil profile, specifically those 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 United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
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.
Pollution consisting of constituents such as sediment, nutrients
and organic and toxic substances from diffuse sources, such as runoff
from agriculture and urban land development and use.
Those wetlands other than tidal wetlands 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, as defined by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency pursuant to Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act, in
33 CFR 328.3b.
Weeds that are difficult to control effectively, such as
Johnson grass, kudzu and multiflora rose.
An individual, trustee, executor, other fiduciary, corporation,
firm, partnership, association, organization or any other entity acting
as a unit.
The process of developing land that is or has been previously
developed.
That component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area that
is not classified as the Resource Protection Area. Resource Management
Areas 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.
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.
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
§ 10.1-1105 of the Code of Virginia and are located on property
defined as real estate devoted to forest use under § 58.1-3230
of the Code of Virginia.
The process for site plan or subdivision plat review to ensure
compliance with § 10.1-2109 of the Code of Virginia and
this chapter, prior to any clearing or grading of a site or the issuance
of a building permit.
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.
[Added 10-14-2004]
Land contiguous to a tidal body of water between the mean
low-water level and the mean high-water level.
Vegetated and nonvegetated wetlands as defined in § 28.2-1300
of the Code of Virginia.
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 ports; the intake and outfall structures of power
plants, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants and storm
sewers; marinas and other boat docking structures; beaches and other
public water-oriented recreation areas; and fisheries or other marine
resources facilities.
Tidal and nontidal wetlands.
