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. Words used in the
present tense include the future tense. Words used in the plural number
include the singular, and words in the singular include the plural.
The word “shall” is always mandatory. The word “herein”
means in this Ordinance. The word “regulations” means
the provisions of any applicable ordinance, rule, regulation or policy.
The word “person” means any human being or legal entity
and includes a corporation, a partnership, and an incorporated or
unincorporated association. The words “used or occupied”
as applied to any land or building shall be construed to include the
words intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied.
Access
means a way of approaching or entering a property.
Adjacent
means abutting and directly connected to or bordering.
Alley
means a minor right-of-way, dedicated to public use, which
gives a secondary means of vehicular access to the back or side of
properties otherwise abutting a street, and which may be used for
public utility purposes.
Applicant
means a person applying for plan approval under this Ordinance.
Approval
means the final approval in a series of required actions.
For instance, the approval date of a plat requiring approval of the
Commission and then the Council is the date of Council approval.
Arterial Street
means a street designed to provide a connection between major
arterial streets.
Auxiliary Building
means any building (a) subordinate to and serves a principal
building or principal use; (b) is subordinate in area, extent or purpose
to the principal building or principal use served; (c) contributed
[contributes] to the comfort, convenience and necessity of occupants
of the principal building or principal use served.
Block
means a parcel of land, intended to be used for urban purposes,
which is entirely surrounded by public streets, highways, railroad
right-of-way, public walks, parks or green strips, rural land, drainage
channels, or a combination thereof.
Bond
means any form of security including a cash deposit, surety
bond, collateral, property, or instrument of credit in an amount and
form satisfactory to the City Council.
Buffer
means a barrier constructed of wood, masonry, vegetation,
and/or other landscape material in such a manner that adjacent uses
will be separated to such a degree that objectionable noise, heat,
glare, visual clutter, dust, loss of privacy, air circulation, and
other negative externalities shall be abated.
Building or Setback Line
means a line or lines designating the interior limit of the
area of a lot within which structures may be erected. The building
lines generally provide the boundaries of the buildable area of any
given lot and no structure or building may be erected between a building
and the corresponding lot line.
Building Permit
means a permit issued by the City of Cameron which is required
prior to commencing construction or reconstruction of any structure.
Centerline,
when referring to a waterway or drainage, means the centerline
of the waterway and refers to existing topographically defined channels.
If not readily discernible, the centerline shall be determined by
(first) the low flow line, or (second) the center of the two (2) year
flood plain.
City
means the City of Cameron, Texas.
City Engineer
means the City Engineer for the City or his/her designated
representative.
City Limits
means within the incorporated boundaries of the City.
City Manager
means the chief administrative officer of the City of Cameron,
Texas or his/her designated representative.
City Staff
means the officers, employees and agents of the City assigned
and designated from time to time by the City Administrator [Manager]
and/or Council, including but not limited to the City Engineer, to
review and/or comment and report on development plans.
City Standard Details and Specifications
means a library of City approved drawings and technical data
representing typical drainage, transportation, erosion and sedimentation
control, and utility appurtenances to be constructed for City acceptance.
Collector Street
means a street that collects traffic from local streets and
serves as the most direct route to a major or minor arterial street.
Commission
means the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City, or
the City Council if a Planning and Zoning Commission is not operational.
Concept Plan
means a generalized plan that meets the requirements of this
Ordinance and that indicates the boundaries of a tract or tracts under
common ownership, identifies the purpose of the proposed development
and the proposed land use, general lot or parcel layout, community
use or public areas, and street alignments.
Construction Plans
means the maps, drawings, plans and specifications indicating
the proposed location and design of improvements to be installed as
part of a development.
Contiguous
means adjacent property whose property lines are shared or
are separated by only a street, alley, easement or right-of-way.
Corner Lot
means a lot located at the intersection of and abutting on
two (2) or more streets.
County
means Milam County, Texas.
Critical Root Zone
means the area showing designation for the removal or acceptance
of Significant Trees during construction.
Crossfall
means the transverse slope as related to a given longitudinal
slope and measured by the rise to run ratio.
Crosswalk
means a strip of land dedicated for public use and which
is reserved across a lot or block for the purpose of providing pedestrian
access to adjacent areas.
Cul-de-Sac
means a minor street having one (1) end open to vehicular
traffic and having one (1) closed end terminated by a permanent turnaround.
Dedication
means the grant of an interest in property for public use.
Design Storm
means a probable rainfall event the frequency of which is
specified in periods of years and which is used to design drainage
facilities and determine flood elevations.
Developed Area
means that portion of a lot, easement, or parcel upon which
a building, structure, pavement or other improvements have been placed.
Developer
means the legal owner of land to be improved and/or subdivided
or his/her authorized representative.
Development
means a subdivision of land as defined herein or the construction
or placement of any buildings, utilities, access, roads or other structures,
excavation, mining, dredging, grading, filling, clearing or removing
vegetation, and the deposit of refuse, waste or fill. Lawn and yard
care, including mowing of tall weeds and grass, gardening, tree care
and maintenance, removal of trees or other vegetation damaged by natural
forces, and ranching and farming shall not constitute development.
Utility, drainage, and street repair, and any construction maintenance
and installation which does not require land disturbance or result
in additional impervious cover shall also not constitute development.
Development Plan
means a scaled drawing representing an area of land to be
improved/developed and indicating the legal boundary of said property
and the nature and extent of all existing and proposed improvements
to said project.
Double Frontage Lot
means a lot which runs through a block from street to street
and which abuts two (2) or more streets.
Drainfield
means private sewage facility, disposal area, trench or bed
utilized for final wastewater disposal.
Drive Approach
means a paved surface connecting the street to a front lot
line.
Driveway
means the surface connecting a drive approach with a parking
space, parking lot, loading dock or garage.
Dwelling Uni
t means a residential unit designed to accommodate one (1)
household
Easement
means a grant by the property owner of the use of a strip
of land for stated purposes.
Environment
means the aggregate of social and physical conditions that
influence the life of the individual and/or community.
Escrow Funds
means a deposit of cash or other approved security with the
local government or approved bank or other financial institution in-lieu
of a performance or maintenance bond.
ETJ Limits
means the limits of the City’s extra-territorial jurisdiction
as granted under Chapter 43, Local Government Code.
Filing Date
means, with respect to plats and plans, the date of their
first public hearing before the Commission regarding such plat or
plan; provided that, with respect to the required Council approval
of Concept Plans, the Filing Date for such Council approval shall
be the date of the first public hearing by the Council.
Final Plat
means a map of a land subdivision prepared in a form suitable
for filing of record with necessary affidavits, dedications and acceptances,
and with complete bearings and dimensions of all lines defining lots
and blocks, streets, alleys, public areas and other dimensions of
land.
Flood Plain
means channel of a waterway and the adjacent land area subject
to inundation during the design storm.
Floodway
means channel of a waterway and the adjacent land areas that
must be reserved in order to discharge the design storm without cumulatively
increasing the water surface elevation.
Frontage
means that side of a lot, parcel or tract of land abutting
a street right-of-way and ordinarily regarded as the frontal orientation
of the lot.
Front Yard
means a space extending the full width of the lot between
any building set back line and the front lot line, and measured perpendicular
to the building at the closest point to the front lot line.
Grade
means the slope of a road, street, other public way or utility
line specified in terms of percent (%); the topographic relief of
a parcel of land; the average elevation at ground level of the buildable
area of a lot or parcel of land.
Grading
means any stripping, cutting, filling or stockpiling of earth
or land, including the land in its cut or filled condition.
Improvements
means any street, alley, roadway, barricade, sidewalk, bikeway,
pedestrian way, water line system, wastewater system, storm drainage
network, public park land, landscaping, or other facility or portion
thereof for which the local government may ultimately assume responsibility
for maintenance and operation or which may affect an improvement for
which local government responsibility is established.
Individual On-Site Wastewater System or Private Sewage Facility
means all systems and methods used for the disposal of sewage,
other than organized sewage disposal systems. Private sewage facilities
are usually composed of three (3) units: the generating unit (the
residence, institution, etc.), treatment unit, and the disposal unit
(the drainfield that may be an absorption trench or bed, or an evapotranspiration
bed). A Private Sewage Facility includes a septic tank, seepage tile
sewage disposal system or any other on-lot sewage treatment device
approved and installed in accordance with all local, state and federal
laws and regulations.
Industrial
means non-residential use of any site involved in manufacturing
and/or external storage of goods; any site generating significant
negative externalities, such as noise, dust, glare, etc. and/or any
site where hazardous materials are stored and/or generated.
Interior Lot
means a lot other than a corner lot and, bounded by a street
on only one (1) side.
Legal Lot
means either a lot recorded in the Official County Records
pursuant to and in compliance with the subdivision regulations in
effect at the time of its creation, or a tract of land having existed
in its present configuration prior to October 1, 1927.
Legally Platted Lot
a lot which is part of a subdivision approved by the City
and recorded in the Official County Records.
Letter of Credit
means a letter from a bank or other reputable creditor acceptable
to the City that guarantees to the City that upon failure of the subdivider
to fulfill any improvement requirements that at the City’s request,
funds will be provided to the City to complete the specified improvements.
Local Street
means a street designed primarily for access to abutting
residential properties. A local street does not include a street designed
for through traffic.
Lot
means a subdivision of a block or other parcel intended as
a unit for transfer of ownership, or for development, or for occupancy
and/or use.
Master Plan
means an overall development plan for the community which
has been officially adopted to provide long-range development policies
including all specified individual elements thereof among which are
the plans for means [mean] land intensities; land subdivision; circulation;
and community facilities, utilities and services; and, if none, means
professional urban planning and engineering practices.
Minor Collector
means a street designed for through traffic which connects
neighborhoods and connects land uses with transportation facilities.
Natural Channel
means the topography of a waterway prior to construction,
installation of improvements or any regrading.
Natural Drainage
means a stormwater runoff conveyance system not altered by
development.
Neighborhood
means the area of the City characterized by residential land
uses which is bounded by physical (such as river, major street, back
of access) and/or political features (such as voting districts, subdivision
boundaries).
Neighborhood Park
means a privately owned parcel of land, within a subdivision,
dedicated solely for recreational uses and maintained by the residents
of said subdivision.
One Hundred (100) Year Flood Plain
means that flood which has a probability of occurring once
in a one hundred (100) year period or a one percent (1%) chance in
any given year.
Overland Drainage
means stormwater runoff which is not confined by any natural
or man-made channel such as a creek, drainage ditch, storm sewer,
or the like.
Parent Tract
means tract or lot as described by deed or plat, which includes
one (1) or more lots that are being subdivided.
Park Fund
means a special fund established by the City to retain monies
paid by developers in accordance with the payment in-lieu of park
land dedication provisions of these regulations and to be used for
the purchase of park land or improvements in the vicinity of the subdivided
property for which funds have been collected.
Pavement
means a hot mix asphalt installed on a base designed by a
professional engineer based on core samples and other relevant data.
(NO GRAVEL)
Planning and Zoning Commission
means the City of Cameron Planning and Zoning Commission,
or, absent a Planning and Zoning Commission, the City Council.
Playscape
means any structure permanently anchored to the ground that
is designed for recreational purposes. Sports courts such as basketball
or tennis courts are not considered playscapes.
Preliminary Plan
means a map of a proposed land subdivision showing the character
and proposed layout of the property in sufficient detail to indicate
the suitability of the proposed subdivision of land.
Primary Structure
means a structure in which the principal use of the lot is
conducted. For example, for single family residential lots, the house
is the primary structure.
Privacy Fence
means an opaque fence or screen at least six (6) feet in
height. A fence shall be considered opaque if it is made of opaque
materials and constructed so that gaps in the fence do not exceed
one-half (1/2) inch. Fences using boards placed on alternating sides
of fence runners shall be considered opaque if the boards overlap
at least one-half (1/2) inch.
Public
means, with respect to land and interests in land within
the City limits, the City; and, with respect to land and interests
in land within the ETJ limits, the general public.
Public Use
means places of non-commercial public assembly or administrative
functions where the primary activity is contained within a building(s),
including but not limited to churches, schools and government buildings.
Rear Yard
means a space extending across the full width of the lot
between the principal building and the rear lot line, and measured
perpendicular to the building to the closest point of the rear lot
line.
Required Yard
means the open space between a lot line and the buildable
area within which no structure shall be located except as provided
for herein.
Reserve Strip
means a narrow strip of property usually separating a parcel
of land from a roadway or utility line easement, that is characterized
by limited depth which will not support development and which is intended
to prevent access to the roadway or utility easement from adjacent
property and which are prohibited by these regulations unless their
control is given to the City.
Reverse Frontage Lot
means a double frontage lot which is to be developed with
the rear yard abutting a major street and with the primary means of
ingress and egress provided on a minor street.
Right-of-Way
means a strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied
by street, crosswalk, railroad, road, electric transmission line,
or oil or gas pipe line, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main,
or for other similar purpose or use. The usage of the term “right-of-way”
for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereinafter
established and shown on the Final Plat is to be separate and distinct
from the lots or parcels adjoining such right-of-way and not included
within the dimensions or areas of such lots or parcels. Right-of-way
intended for streets, crosswalks, water mains, wastewater lines, storm
drains, or any other use involving maintenance by a public agency
shall be dedicated to the public by the maker of the plat where such
right-of-way is established.
Same Ownership
means ownership by the same person, corporation, firm, entity,
partnership, or unincorporated association; or ownership by different
corporations, firms, partnerships, entities, or unincorporated associations
in which a stock holder, partner, or associate or a member of his/her
family owns an interest in each corporation, firm, partnership, entity,
or unincorporated association.
Secondary Structure
means any structure that is subordinate and incidental to
the primary structure; and is subordinate in area, extent and purpose
to the primary structure; and contributes to the comfort, convenience
or necessity of the occupants, business or industry in the primary
structure, and is located on the same lot as the primary structure.
Setback or Building Line
means a line or lines designating the interior limit of the
area of a lot between said line and the corresponding line within
which area structures may not be erected. The building lines generally
provide the boundaries of the buildable area of any given lot.
Side Yard
means a space extending from the front yard to the rear yard
between the setback line and the side lot line measured perpendicular
from the side lot line to the closest point of the setback line.
Slope
means the vertical change in grade divided by the horizontal
distance over which that vertical change occurred. The slope is usually
given as a percentage.
Street
means any public or private right-of-way which affords the
primary means of vehicular access to abutting property.
Street Line
means that line limiting the right-of-way of the street and
being identical with the property line of persons owning property
fronting on the streets.
Street Side Yard
means the side yard of a corner lot abutting the street right-of-way.
Street Yard
means a space extending across the length and/or width of
a lot between the street right-of-way and the closest faces of the
buildings on the lot.
Structural Integrity
means the ability of a structure to maintain stability against
normal forces experienced by said structure.
Structure
means anything constructed or erected on the ground or which
is attached to something located on the ground. Structures include
buildings, telecommunications towers, sheds, parking lots that are
the primary use of a parcel and permanent signs. Sidewalks and paving
shall not be considered structures unless located within a public
utility or drainage easement.
Subdivider
means any person, developer, firm, partnership, corporation
or other entity, acting as a unit subdividing or proposing to subdivide
land as herein defined.
Subdivision
means the division or redivision of land into two (2) or
more lots, tracts, sites or parcels for the purpose of development,
laying out any addition to the City, or for laying out any subdivision
or building lots, or any lot, street, alley, access easement, public
utility easement, park or other portion intended for use by the public,
or for the use of any owner, purchaser, renter, occupant, person or
entity.
TCEQ
means the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Urbanization
means the process of constructing public improvements required
to support suburban or urban land use.
Variances
means a grant of relief to a person from the requirements
of this Ordinance when specific enforcement would result in unnecessary
hardship. A variance, therefore, permits construction or development
in a manner otherwise prohibited by this Ordinance.
Watershed
means area from which stormwater drains into a given basin,
river or creek.
Waterway
means any natural or man-made channel conducting storm water
from a two (2) year storm event at a depth of eight (8) inches or
more and at a rate of fifteen (15) cubic feet per second or more.
Street pavement shall in no instance be considered a waterway.
Working Days
means Monday through Friday exclusive of City recognized
holidays.
Yard
means an open space that lies between the principal or accessory
building or buildings and the nearest lot line.
Yard Depth
means the shortest distance between a lot line and a yard
line.
Yard Line
means a line drawn parallel to a lot line at a distance therefrom
equal to the depth of the required yard.
Zoning Ordinance
means an ordinance adopted by the City Council pursuant to
Chapt. 211, Tex. Loc. Gov’t. Code, regulating the use and occupancy
of land or, if none, any ordinance adopted pursuant to the general
police powers of the City regulating the use and occupancy of land
within the City.
(Ordinance 2003-06-16-007 adopted 6/16/03)