The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Any office referred to in this chapter by title means the person employed or appointed by the city in that two position, or his duly authorized representative. Definitions not expressly prescribed herein are to be construed in accordance with customary usage in municipal planning and engineering practices.
means a minor public right-of-way, not intended to provide the primary means of access to abutting lots, which is used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or sides of properties otherwise abutting on a street.
means the developer as defined by this section.
See major arterial or minor arterial.
means 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 or a block in a subdivision that consists of a grouping of lots that are contiguous or phases in a development plat.
means any structure built for the support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or movable property of any kind.
means the line within a property defining the minimum horizontal distance between a building and the adjacent street right-of-way line or adjoining properties. Capital improvement means a public facility or project with a life expectancy of three or more years, to be owned and operated by or on behalf of the local government.
means Cameron County Drainage District No. 3
means Cameron County Drainage District No. 5.
means certificate of convenience and necessity that grants a CCN holder (e.g. HWWS), the exclusive right to provide retail water and/or sewer utility service to an identified geographic area.
means the City of Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas. Any reference to an act of the city shall be deemed to include acts of the city commission, or other such elected governing body of the city.
means the guidebook as adopted by the City of Harlingen published to aid developers in the design of public infrastructure within subdivisions. This manual sets forth the design and construction standards and details pertaining to the subdivision process.
means streets that carry traffic from the interior of neighborhoods or developments to adjoining arterial streets. Their primary role is land access but with a higher level of traffic movement than local streets.
Collectors should provide two traffic lanes and two parking lanes, and in a few cases four travel lanes. (Requires 80-foot right-of-way dedication.) |
means the most current plan or collection of land use plans promulgated by the city commission or administration, including, but not limited to, arterial street plans or a combination thereof.
means collectively all of the documents associated with the design and construction of a subdivision, including but not limited to subdivision construction plans, drawings, front-end documents, the engineering letter report, project manual, submittals, as-builts, material reports, and testing reports.
means a street having only one (other than an alley or easement), outlet to another street, and terminated on the opposite end by a vehicular turnaround. The length of a cul-de-sac shall be measured from the near side right-of-way line of the intersection street to the center of the cul-de-sac turnaround.
means a street, other than a cul-de-sac, with only one outlet, other than an alley or easement.
means the owner of land proposed to be subdivided or the owner's representative who is responsible for any undertaking that requires review and/or approval under this chapter. The term "developer," unless expressly limited to the owner(s) of the land being subdivided, includes the developer's duly authorized agents acting on behalf of the developer including engineers, architects, surveyors, contractors, and bonding agents.
means all water distributed by any agency or individual, public or private, for the purpose of human consumption, and for the use in the preparation of foods or beverages, cleaning any utensil or article used in the course of preparation or consumption of food or beverages for human beings, human bathing, or clothes washing. (Also sometimes referred to as potable water.)
means a nonpossessory interest that authorizes its holder or beneficiary to use another property only for particular purposes (such as for utilities, access, ingress or egress, etc.).
means a person licensed and duly authorized under the provision of Texas Engineering Practice Act to practice the profession of engineering.
means a report containing all of the required engineering studies and reports for construction of the proposed subdivision. These may include but are not limited to:
Drainage study;
Geotechnical report (to include proposed pavement section);
Subsurface utility engineering report (SUE);
Developer's report;
Traffic impact analysis;
Environmental studies;
Water distribution analysis and fire flow calculations; and
Wastewater collection system and lift station calculations.
means that territory outside corporate city limits defined in the Texas Local Government Code as the area that is subject to city subdivision regulations. For the purpose of subdivision regulations, that area is defined in the Texas Local Government Code § 212.001 as the area five miles outside the city limits.
means the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
means the day the administrative review process is finished, the application is accepted and paid and the preliminary and final plat is placed on the planning and zoning commission or city commission agenda.
means a map or drawing of a subdivision to be recorded after approval by the planning and zoning commission or the city commission and any accompanying material of a proposed subdivision prepared in a manner suitable for recording in the county records and prepared as described in these regulations.
means a lot not meeting minimum frontage requirements and where access to the public road is by a narrow, private right-of-way or driveway. (See section 109-224, exhibit D.)
means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties from:
Overflow of inland or tidal waters; or
Unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source;
Mudflow; or
Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in a flood as defined above.
means the channel of a watercourse and portions of the adjoining floodplain that are reasonably required to carry and discharge the regulatory flood.
means that side of a lot abutting on a street or way and ordinarily regarded as the front of the lot; the side of a corner lot is considered frontage for road assessment purposes. For lot frontage requirements, only the front of the lot shall be considered in the measurements.
means a type of plat consisting of a site plan or master plan submitted for the purpose of establishing a street system for a larger tract of land to be developed in sections.
means a street that is one-half the required street width constructed adjacent to a development for an interim period of time.
means a water and wastewater utility owned and operated by the City of Harlingen. HWWS is governed by the utility board of trustees, a separate and independent section of the city administrative government subject only to its appointment by and accountability to the city commission of the city as provided for in Article X of the city charter.
means Harlingen Irrigation District or Cameron County Irrigation District No. 1.
means a private association often formed by a real estate developer for the purpose of marketing, managing and selling homes and lots and for the maintenance of a subdivision common areas and property.
means Harlingen Waterworks System. Where approvals or additional information is required HWWS means the HWWS system engineer.
means the most current plans or collection of plans for capital improvements approved by the HWWS utility board of trustees, including infrastructure for water for water and/or sewer conveyance and treatment.
means streets that serve primarily residential areas and commercial/industrial areas to some extent to provide access to individual properties. Through traffic on such streets should be discouraged by discontinuous and often curving street layout. The paved width would desirably provide for two travel lanes and one or two parking lanes with sidewalks.
means an undivided tract or parcel of land having frontage on a public street 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 for record.
means any building, structure, work of art, or other object situated on a lot.
means a street similar to minor arterial street in their function but serve higher traffic volumes, act as principal crosstown surface routes, and in some cases serve as urban extensions of major intercity routes. These streets are normally four to six travel lanes depending on average daily traffic volumes, with considerable access control as necessary.
means a large pipe or open channel that has the capacity to accept drainage runoff collected through smaller systems (pipes, manholes, inlets, gutters, ditches, etc.) from a given drainage basin and has the ability to convey the volume of runoff generated on such basin to a discharge point on a stream that becomes the ultimate receiver.
means plats of all subdivisions, including, but not limited to, subdivisions of more than four lots, or any number lots and size subdivision requiring any new street, drainage, extension of utilities or the creation of any other public improvements.
means streets that provide direct access between various sectors of the city and connect residential areas with commercial and industrial land uses. Their width and directness promotes efficient traffic movement. Minor arterial streets are normally two to four travel lanes with parking an optional feature. Since traffic movement is their key function, land access from minor arterial streets may be legitimately restricted.
means an easement placed across the edge of lots generally used to prevent access driveways and curb cuts onto an arterial or collector road or to prohibit access near intersections.
means on-site sewage facilities as that term is defined in rules and/or regulations adopted by TCEQ, including, but not limited to, 30 TAC ch. 285.
means the portion of a street available for vehicular traffic. Pavement width is the pavement surface from the back of the curb to the back of the curb.
means any individual, association, firm corporation, governmental agency, or political subdivision.
means an application for subdivision approval submitted pursuant to a specific plan in which the applicant proposes to immediately subdivide the property but will develop in one or more individual phases over a period of time. A phased subdivision application may include an application for approval of, or conversion to, commercial or noncommercial developments.
means the City of Harlingen Planning and Zoning Commission, an advisory board governed by Texas Local Government Code chapter 211 which makes recommendations to the City of Harlingen City Commission regarding the implementation of and amendments to the City of Harlingen Zoning Ordinances, and verifies their conformance with the city comprehensive plan; examines all proposed subdivisions of land within the city and its ETJ; determines whether all plans, plats, replats, additions, and subdivisions conform to the city comprehensive plan; and provides recommendations on all other issues pursuant to state law. Plat includes a preliminary plat, general plan, final plat, and replat.
means recorded with the county in an official plat record.
means any street, drainage appurtenance, roadway, parkway, sidewalk, pedestrian way, off-street parking area, lot improvement, or other facility for which the local government may ultimately assume the responsibility for maintenance and operation, or which may affect an improvement for which local government responsibility is established.
means a system for providing potable water to the public for human consumption through pipes, which includes all uses described under the definition for drinking water. The term "public water system" includes any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under the control of the operator of such system and used primarily in connection with such system.
means an individual or entity who acquires title to real property for consideration; for purposes of this chapter, it also includes an individual or entity to whom the transfer of title requires an action by one or more of the parties to the conveyance at some time in the future (for example conveyances made through executory contracts).
means a flood which is representative of large floods known to have occurred generally in the area and reasonably characteristic of what can be expected to occur on a particular stream. The regulatory flood generally has a flood frequency of approximately 100 years determined from an analysis of floods on a particular stream and other streams in the same general region.
means the elevation of the regulatory flood.
means any change in a map of an approved or recorded subdivision plat that affects any street layout on the map or area reserved thereon for public use or any lot line, or that affects any map or plan legally recorded prior to the adoption of any regulations controlling subdivisions.
means a type of easement which may involve a place where the public may travel, or where utility facilities will be located. Common examples include streets, crosswalks, sidewalks, railroads, roads, electric transmission lines, oil or gas pipelines, water mains, sanitary sewer or storm drains, or other similar uses. The usage of the term "right-of-way" for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a 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. Rights-of-way intended for streets, crosswalks, sidewalks, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains, or any other use involving maintenance by a public agency shall be dedicated to public use by the maker of the plat on which such right-of-way is established.
means a person registered as a professional sanitarian by the Texas Department of Health under the authority of Texas Occupations Code ch. 1953.
means the pipeline network, manholes, lift stations, force mains and related appurtenances that transport municipal wastewater from private or public property to a wastewater treatment plant, in accordance with the minimum state standards and as referenced, amended, and supplemented in this code.
means a public right-of-way, however designated, which provides vehicular access to adjacent land.
means a division of any tract of land situated within the corporate limits of the city or within the extraterritorial jurisdiction referred to in Texas Local Government Code ch. 212, subch. A (Texas Local Government Code § 212.001 et seq.), into one or more parts for the purpose of laying out suburban lots or building lots, or any lots and streets, alleys or parts or other portions intended for public use or the use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting thereon or adjacent thereto. The term "subdivision" includes resubdivision (replat) of land divided into one or more parts that results in the creation of two or more lots of five acres or less, but it does not include the division of land for agricultural purposes in parcels of tracts of five acres or more and not involving any new street, alley, or easement of access.
means the plans and documents that convey the design requirements for public improvements to a contractor within a proposed subdivision in accordance with the requirements of the subdivision ordinance and the City Engineer as a condition of the approval of a plat.
is an extension of the subdivision ordinance adopted by city ordinance and posted in the city website. It contains the infrastructure requirements for new subdivisions.
means the departments of the city and entities listed in section 109-227, exhibit H responsible for review of a developer's proposed plat, plans for associated infrastructure, and other required development document submittals.
means a licensed state land surveyor or a registered public land surveyor, as authorized by state statute to practice the profession of surveying.
means Texas Administrative Code, as compiled by the Texas Secretary of State.
means Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The term "tract" is used interchangeably with the term "lot," particularly in the context of a subdivision, where a tract is subdivided into several lots, blocks, parcels, sites, units, tracts, or interests.
means Texas Department of Transportation.
means an interest in land granted to the city, or to a private utility corporation, for installing or maintaining utilities across, over or under private land, together with the right to enter thereon with machinery and vehicles necessary for the maintenance of said utilities, for the benefit of the public.
mean any sanitary sewers, manholes, cleanouts, lift stations, force mains, and treatment facilities for the collection, treatment, and discharge of municipal wastewater.
mean any devices and systems that are used in the supply, collection, development, protection, storage, transmission, treatment, or distribution of water for safe human use and consumption.
(Ordinance 2022-52, § 1, adopted 12/21/2022; Ordinance 2024-44 adopted 9/4/2024)