For the purposes of these Regulations, the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this Section. Any office referred to in these Regulations by title means the person employed or appointed by the City in that position, or his duly authorized representative.
(Ordinance 88-14, sec. 2.11, adopted 7/26/88; Ordinance 98-11, sec. 1(B), adopted 2/10/98)
Those words or phrases not expressly prescribed herein are to be defined in accordance with the Zoning Ordinance or other applicable Ordinances of the City, or in the absence of such Ordinances, then in accordance with customary usage in municipal planning and engineering practices.
1. 
Acreage, Gross:
The total acreage of a subdivision, including areas dedicated to the public use such as streets and alley rights-of-way, floodplains, and any areas that are nonresidential in use.
2. 
Acreage, Net:
The total acreage of a subdivision less those areas dedicated to public use such as street and alley rights-of-way, floodplains, and any areas that are nonresidential in use. Easements, however, shall be included in net acreage calculations.
3. 
Alleys:
A Minor public right-of-way which is used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or the side of properties otherwise abutting on a street. (Alleys will generally be discouraged in all future subdivisions in Midlothian.)
4. 
Block:
A tract of land bounded by streets, or by a combination of streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad rights-of-way, shorelines of waterways, or boundary lines of municipalities.
5. 
Building Setback Line:
A line defining an area on the building lot between the street right-of-way or property line and the building line within which no building shall be constructed, encroach or project except as specifically authorized in an adopted ordinance of the City of Midlothian, as shown in Appendix C.[1]
a) 
Front Building Setback Line:
A line parallel to the street right-of-way line which the building faces.
b) 
Side Building Setback Line:
A line parallel to the side property line, or street right-of-way on a corner lot.
c) 
Rear Building Setback Line:
A line parallel to the rear lot line, alley, or rear street right-of-way line in the case of double frontage lots.
[1]
Editor’s note—Appendix C is included as an attachment to this chapter.
6. 
Capacity:
The capacity of a sewer facility means the measurement of the ability to accommodate sewage flow.
7. 
Carrying capacity:
The carrying capacity of a sewer facility means the ability to accommodate sewage flow without overflow.
8. 
City:
The word “City” shall be the City of Midlothian, Texas, together with all its governing and operating bodies.
9. 
City Planner:
The duly authorized employee or representative of the City in charge of the planning function for the City and charged with implementation and enforcement of the subdivision, zoning and other growth-related ordinances.
10. 
City Engineer:
The duly authorized person in charge of engineering and construction inspection for the City, or his designated representative.
11. 
City Standards:
As referred to in these Regulations, shall mean the City’s standards and specifications, together with all tables, drawings, and other attachments hereinafter approved by the Council, and those standards so approved shall become a part of these Regulations.
12. 
Commission:
The Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Midlothian, Texas.
13. 
Comprehensive Master Plan:
The phrase “Comprehensive Master Plan” shall be the Comprehensive Plan of the City and adjoining areas adopted by the City Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council, including all its revisions. The Plan indicates the general locations recommended for various land uses, transportation routes, public and private buildings, streets, parks and other public and private developments and improvements.
14. 
Construction Plans:
The drawings and technical specifications including bid documents and contract conditions, where applicable, providing a graphic and written description of the character and scope of the work to be performed in construction of a subdivision.
15. 
Council:
The word “Council” or “City Council” shall be the duly elected governing body of the City of Midlothian.
16. 
Cul-de-Sac:
A short, minor street having but one outlet to another street and terminating on the opposite end by an appropriate vehicular turnaround as shown in Appendix C.[2]
[2]
Editor’s note—Appendix C is included as an attachment to this chapter.
17. 
Dead-End Street:
A street, other than a cul-de-sac, with only one outlet, as shown in Appendix C.
18. 
Dedication:
A gift or donation of property by the owner to the City of Midlothian.
19. 
Density:
The number of dwelling units per gross acre of subdivision including public or private streets, floodplains and any areas that are nonresidential in use.
20. 
Developer:
An individual, partnership, corporation, or governmental entity undertaking the subdivision or improvement of land and other activities covered by these regulations, including the preparation of a subdivision plat showing the layout of the land and the public improvements involved therein. The term “developer” is intended to include the term “subdivider” even though personnel in successive stages of a project may vary.
21. 
Development:
The construction of one or more new buildings or structures on one or more building lots, or the use of open land for a new use. “To Develop” shall mean to create development.
22. 
Development Plan:
The first or introductory plan of a proposed subdivision, in such case where the developer intends to develop and record only an individual portion of said subdivision, and which exhibits the proposed successive order of development of the balance of the subdivision.
23. 
Easement:
An interest in land granted to the City or other governmental entity, to the public generally, and/or to a private utility corporation.
24. 
Engineer:
A person duly authorized under the provisions of the Texas Engineering Registration Act, as heretofore or hereafter amended, to practice the profession of engineering.
25. 
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ):
The unincorporated area, not a part of any other city, which is contiguous to the corporate limits of the City of Midlothian, the outer limits of which are measured from the extremities of the corporate limits of the City outward for such distances as may be stipulated in the Texas Municipal Annexation Act in accordance with the total population of the incorporated City.
26. 
Floodplain:
Any and all land area adjoining the channel of a river, stream, lake, watercourse, marshy area, or other drainage element, which has been or may be inundated by stormwater runoff. The extent of the floodplain shall be determined by the crest of a flood having an average frequency of occurrence of once in one hundred (100) years, as established by FEMA.
27. 
Floodway:
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood, as defined by the Corps of Engineers or FEMA, without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.
28. 
Lot:
An undivided tract or parcel of land having frontage on a public street or an approved open space having direct street access, and which is, or in the future may be, offered for sale, conveyance, transfer, or improvement, which is designated as a distinct and separate tract, and which is identified by a tract, or lot number, or symbol in a duly approved subdivision Plat which has been properly filed or recorded, as shown in Appendix C.[3]
a) 
Lot Depth:
The length of a line connecting the midpoints of the front and rear lot lines.
b) 
Lot, Double Frontage or Through:
Any lot, not a corner lot, with frontage on two streets which are parallel to each other or within forty-five degrees of being parallel to each other.
c) 
Lot, Frontage:
The length of street frontage between property lines.
d) 
Lot, Irregular:
Any lot not having equal front and rear lot lines, or equal side lot lines; a lot, the opposite lot lines of which vary in dimension and the corners of which have an angle of either more or less than ninety (90) degrees.
e) 
Lot Width:
The average distance between the side lot lines.
[3]
Editor’s note—Appendix C is included as an attachment to this chapter.
29. 
Non-reserved status:
Non-reserved status means that a lot for which final plat approval has been granted cannot be served by one or more sewer facilities due to overcapacity of such facilities.
30. 
Open Space:
Private property under common ownership designated for recreational area, private park (for use of property owners within the subdivision), play lot area, plaza area, building setbacks (other than those normally required), and ornamental areas open to the general view within the subdivision. Open space does not include streets, alleys, utility easements, public parks or required setbacks.
31. 
Overcapacity:
Overcapacity of a sewer facility means the facility is operating or will operate beyond its carrying capacity based upon existing connections to the facility, and approved or proposed finally platted lots.
32. 
Park:
Land dedicated to, or purchased by, the City for the purpose of providing public recreational and/or open areas.
33. 
Pavement Width:
The portion of street available for vehicular traffic; where curbs are laid, it is the portion between the face of curbs.
34. 
Person:
Any individual, association, firm, corporation, governmental agency, or political subdivision.
35. 
Planned Development:
A subdivision that consists of commercial and/or residential land uses, public land uses, and common open space and recreational areas, adequate to service the needs of the tract when fully developed and populated, which is to be developed as a single entity, under unified control.
36. 
Plat:
A map, drawing, chart, or plan showing the exact layout and proposed construction of a proposed subdivision into lots, blocks, streets, parks, school sites, commercial or industrial sites, drainageways, easements, and/or any other elements as required by these Regulations, and which a subdivider shall submit for approval in accordance with these Regulations.
37. 
Plat, Amended:
A minor change of an existing subdivision to a lot line or setback contained within. No new lots are created, existing lots are not combined and the size of any one lot is not substantially increased or decreased.
38. 
Plat, Final:
A Plat that has been submitted and approved in preliminary form, has been corrected by the applicant, has conformed to all of the provisions of these Regulations, and has been submitted for final approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission.
39. 
Plat, Preliminary:
A Plat that is submitted to the City for its review of the concept and performance of the subdivision as related to the provisions of these Regulations. The preliminary plan and the review thereof are intended to produce a subdivision design in which all planning factors are recognized and reconciled, prior to submission of the Final Plat.
40. 
Potential overcapacity:
Potential overcapacity of a sewer facility means the facility is operating or will operate beyond its carrying capacity based upon existing connections and approved or proposed lots for which preliminary plat approval has been granted.
41. 
Preliminary Approval:
Approval expressed by the City as to the arrangement and approximate size of streets, parks, reserves, easements, blocks, and lots indicated on a Preliminary Plat.
42. 
Public Right-of-Way:
A strip of land used or intended to be used, who y [wholly] or in part, as a public street, alley, crosswalk, sidewalk, drainageway or other public way.
43. 
Replat:
A Plat vacating an existing subdivision in lieu of a new pattern of development; the subdivision of an existing or duly recorded lot or lots, the combining of two or more lots to create one lot, or the subdividing of an existing platted but undeveloped subdivision into a new pattern of lots and blocks.
44. 
Reserve Strip:
A privately owned strip of land, normally one foot in depth, adjacent to a public right-of-way or easement preventing the extension of said right-of-way or easement without the expressed consent of the owner.
45. 
Reserved capacity:
Reserved capacity means the estimate of capacity in a sewer facility that equals the capacity attributable to existing connections to the facility together with the capacity associated with lots in approved final plats having reserved status.
46. 
Reserved status:
Reserved status means that a lot for which final plat approval has been granted can be served by sewer facilities with adequate carrying capacity.
47. 
Sewer facility:
Sewer facility means a sanitary sewer collection line, a segment thereof or any appurtenance thereto.
48. 
Shall/May:
The word “shall” is always mandatory, while the word “may” is merely permissive.
49. 
Sidewalk:
A paved pedestrian way generally located within public street right-of-way, but outside of the roadway, and built in accordance with City specifications.
50. 
Site Plan:
A map, drawing or chart showing the location of all existing and planned structures, landscaping, design ingress and egress, parking, height of structures and/or any other elements as required by these Regulations, and which a subdivider shall submit for approval in accordance with these Regulations.
51. 
Steep Slope:
Areas that contain slopes over fifteen (15) percent grade and are characterized by increased runoff, and erosion.
52. 
Street:
A public right-of-way which provides primary vehicular access to adjacent land, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, avenue, lane, boulevard, road, place, drive, or however otherwise designated.
a) 
Street, Major Arterial:
A street whose primary function is to provide traffic movement between major traffic generators such as principal neighborhoods, commercial centers, and industrial areas, and to connect with surrounding municipalities.
b) 
Street, Minor Arterial:
A street whose primary function is to serve secondary traffic generation, such as community shopping areas, office complexes, high schools, and larger parks and recreation areas. They also serve to collect and distribute traffic from streets of lower classification to major arterials.
c) 
Street, Major Collector:
The function of a collector street is to collect and distribute traffic from local access streets and to convey it to the arterial system. Major collectors provide limited access to abutting property and parking is generally limited or restricted.
d) 
Street, Minor Collector:
Minor collectors in residential areas collect traffic from local streets within a residential district and are not intended to continue through several districts. In commercial/industrial areas minor collectors generally serve one district providing access for abutting property and providing the most direct access to other collectors and arterials.
e) 
Street, Local:
A street that is used primarily for access to abutting residential property and circulation of traffic within residential neighborhoods. It is of a width and design to discourage through traffic, thereby protecting the residential area.
f) 
Street, Private or Service Drive:
A vehicular access way under private ownership and maintenance, that has not been dedicated to the City and accepted by the City.
53. 
Structure:
That which is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner.
54. 
Subdivider:
Any person or any agent thereof dividing or proposing to divide land so as to constitute a subdivision as that term is defined herein. In any event, the term subdivider shall be restricted to include only the owner, equity owner, or authorized agent of such owner or equity owner, of land to be subdivided.
55. 
Subdivision:
The term subdivision shall mean a division of a lot, tract, or parcel of land into two (2) or more parts, lots or sites or combination of the same for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, division of ownership or development. Subdivision includes the division or development of residentially and non-residentially zoned land, whether by deed, metes and bounds description, devise, map, plat or other recorded instrument, but shall exclude any division resulting from inheritance (by intestacy, will, or trust distribution), dissolution of marriage, condemnation or agreement in lieu thereof, or the granting of any rights other than ownership of land (such as licenses, easements, and rights-of-way). Subdivision includes resubdivision of land or lots, which are part of a previously recorded subdivision. All transfers of ownership, division, or development of land shall be governed by this ordinance. This definition shall exclude divisions of land that result in parcels that each contain an area greater than 5.00 acres, provided that each resulting parcel has access and no public improvement is being dedicated.
56. 
Surveyor:
A Registered Public Surveyor as authorized by the State Statutes to practice the profession of surveying.
57. 
Thoroughfare Plan:
Street plan which is part of the Comprehensive Master Plan of the City of Midlothian.
58. 
Vacation:
To cancel, rescind, or render an act that has the effect of voiding a subdivision Plat as recorded in the County Clerk’s office.
59. 
Wastewater Service:
The collection of waste-bearing water that requires treatment prior to its return to nature and the system of pipes and equipment used to collect and transmit this water to treatment facilities; also called Sanitary Sewer Service.
a) 
Sewerage System, Public:
A system designed for the wastewater collection, treatment and disposal that is wholly owned and operated by the City of Midlothian, its successors and assigns, or other governmental entity authorized and empowered to own and operate such a system.
b) 
Sewerage Disposal System, Individual Private:
Any system designed to provide on-site treatment and disposal of sewage flows from individual residences, duplexes, businesses, or any other buildings. The system may be anaerobic, e.g. a septic transpiration bed, or other. The system must not require a permit from the Texas Department of Water Resources.
60. 
Water System, Public:
A system designed for the distribution and treatment of potable water that is wholly owned and operated by the City of Midlothian, its successors and assigns, or other governmental entity authorized and empowered to own and operate such a system.
61. 
Yard:
A required open space, other than a court, unoccupied and unobstructed by any structure or portion of a structure form the general ground level of the graded lot upward; provided, however, that fences, walls, poles, posts, and other customary yard accessories, ornaments, and furniture are not deemed to be obstructions if height limitations and requirements limiting obstruction of visibility are observed.
(Ordinance 88-14, sec. 2.12, adopted 7/26/88; Ordinance 98-11, sec. 1(B), adopted 2/10/98; Ordinance 2001-34, sec. 1(A), adopted 8/14/01; Ordinance 2004-17 adopted 4/6/04)