The following words and phrases as used in this article shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this division:
Alley.
Shall mean any minor way which is used primarily for vehicular
service access to the back [or] side of properties otherwise abutting
on a street.
Block.
Is a tract or parcel of land designated as such [on] a duly
recorded plat and may be entirely surrounded by public streets or
by a combination of public streets and public parks, cemeteries, railroad
rights-of-way, or natural or man-made physical features that disrupt
what would otherwise be an unbroken landscape (for example, ditches,
gullies, ridges, et cetera).
Building.
Is any structure which is built for the support, shelter,
or enclosure of persons, animals, chattel, machinery, equipment, or
movable property of any kind.
Building line or building setback line.
Shall refer to a line parallel to the street right-of-way
line and defines an area on the building lot between the street right-of-way
line and the building line, within which no building shall be constructed.
City attorney.
Shall mean the person employed as city attorney of the city,
and duly appointed by the city council.
City manager.
Shall mean the person employed as the chief administrative
officer of the city, and duly appointed by the city council.
City representative.
Is that person, persons, or department so designated by the
city council to represent the city.
Collector street.
Are those which carry traffic from minor streets to the major
system of arterial streets and highways, including the principal entrance
streets of a residential development and streets for circulation within
such a development.
County.
Shall refer to the County of Fayette, Texas.
Crosswalk.
Shall mean a public right-of-way not more than six (6) feet
in width between property lines which provides pedestrian circulation.
Cul-de-sac.
Shall mean a street having but one (1) outlet to another
street and terminated on the opposite end by a vehicular turnaround.
Dead-end street.
Shall mean a street, other than a cul-de-sac, with only one
(1) outlet.
Developer.
Shall mean any person or persons, firm, or corporation subdividing
a tract or parcel of land to be sold or otherwise handled for their
own personal gain or use.
Easement.
Shall mean a strip of land reserved for the public by the
grantor, usually at the rear or side of lots or parcels of land, in
which to install and maintain utility lines, drainage ditches or channels,
or for other city or public services; the ownership of title to the
land encompassed by the easement being retained by the owner. In granting
the easement, the grantor is in effect vesting the public with authority
to control the use of land within the easement and in exercising such
control, the city may specify that no building or part of a building
or other permanent structure or fence, in case of drainage easement,
may be located within the limits of the easement.
Engineer.
Shall mean a person duly authorized and licensed under the
provisions of the Texas Engineering Registration Act, as heretofore
or hereinafter amended, to practice the profession of engineering.
Extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Within the terms of the Texas Municipal Annexation Act, shall
mean the unincorporated area, not a part of any other city, which
is contiguous to the corporate limits of the city, the outer boundaries
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 in which area, within the terms of the Act,
the city may enjoin the violation of its subdivision control ordinance.
Filing date.
Shall refer to the date which is ten (10) days prior to the
regular meeting of the city council at which the subdivision plat
(preliminary or final) is to receive consideration.
Filing fee.
Shall refer to the prescribed plat and lot fee rates, as
hereinafter stipulated, to accompany the filing with the city council
and said plat shall be prepared in accordance with this article.
Floodplain.
(1)
Floodplain, intermediate.
That land which lies within a stream channel or adjacent
to a stream channel within which flooding frequently occurs, the elevation
above sea level of which shall be as established by the city and made
of record. It is land which is required to be kept open and non-urbanized
in order to maintain upstream floodplain characteristics and insure
continued adequate drainage of adjacent land.
(2)
Floodplain, standard.
That land which includes the intermediate floodplain and
that land which lies immediately outside of and adjacent to the intermediate
floodplain in which flooding only occasionally occurs, the elevation
above sea level of which shall be as established by the city and made
of record.
Front or frontage.
Shall be that portion of a tract of land which abuts on a
public street to which it has direct access.
Local streets.
Are those streets providing for local traffic and direct
access to abutting property.
Lot.
Shall mean an undivided tract or parcel of land under one
(1) ownership having access to a street, either occupied or to be
occupied by a building or building group, together with accessory
buildings, which parcel of land is designated as a separate and distinct
tract, and is identified by a tract or lot number or symbol in a duly
approved subdivision plat filed of record.
Lot depth.
Shall mean the length of a straight line connecting the midpoint
of the front and rear lot lines.
Lot width.
Shall mean the average length of the front and rear property
lines.
Minor street.
Shall refer to any public street which is not classified
as a major thoroughfare or secondary street.
Pavement width.
Shall mean the portion of the surface of a street available
for vehicular traffic and, where curbs are laid, it is the portion
between the face of curbs.
Plat.
Shall mean a map, drawing, chart, or plan showing the layout
of a proposed subdivision into lots, blocks, streets, parks, school
sites, commercial or industrial sites, drainageways, building lots,
easements, alleys, or any similar type of plat, which a developer
submits for approval and a copy of which he intends to record in final
form.
Preliminary plat.
Shall mean the first or introductory plat of a proposed subdivision.
Public easements.
A “public easement” is a right granted or dedicated
to the public or governmental agency in, on, across, over or under
property for specified use or uses by an instrument or map duly recorded
in the records of the County Clerk of Fayette County, Texas.
Public street.
Is a right-of-way dedicated to public use for pedestrian
and vehicular traffic and public utility purposes.
Reserve.
Shall refer to a tract, parcel, or unit of land not physically
divided, having frontage on a public street, which is proposed and
intended for other than single-family residential use and which is,
or in the future may be, offered for sale, conveyance, transfer, lease,
or improvement, and which is designated as a distinct separate tract
and which is identified by reserve symbol on a duly approved subdivision
plat which has been properly recorded with the County Clerk of Fayette
County, Texas.
Shall, may.
The word “shall” shall be deemed as mandatory;
the word “may” shall be deemed as permissive.
Sidewalk.
Shall mean a minimum forty-eight-inch (48") width Portland
cement paved pedestrian walkway, extending for the entire length of
a block or blocks parallel to a street right-of-way line or street
pavement edge, which walkway shall be constructed within the right-of-way
of any public street.
Street.
Shall mean a way for vehicular traffic, whether designated
a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, road, avenue,
boulevard, lane, place or however other [otherwise] designated.
Subdivider.
Shall mean a person who causes land to be divided into a
subdivision for himself or herself or other or seeks authorization
therefor.
Subdivision.
Shall mean the division or proposed division of a parcel
of land into two (2) or more lots or parcels for the purpose of transfer
of ownership or building development; provided, that a division of
land for agricultural purposes into lots or parcels of five (5) acres
or more not involving a new street or alley shall not be deemed as
subdivision. The term includes resubdivision and, when appropriate
to the context, shall relate to the process of subdividing or to the
land subdivided.
Surveyor.
Shall mean a licensed state land surveyor or a registered
public surveyor, as authorized by the Texas Land Surveyors Registration
Act.
(2001 Code, sec. 10.400)