For the purpose of this code, certain terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall be construed as specified in this chapter and elsewhere in this code where specific definitions are provided. The definition of any words not listed in this article shall have the meaning given in any other titles of the University Place Municipal Code (UPMC). Where terms, phrases and words are not defined, they shall have their ordinary accepted meanings within the context in which they are used. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, copyright 1986, shall be considered as providing ordinary accepted meanings. Terms, phrases, and words used in the singular include the plural and the plural the singular. Terms, phrases and words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and the feminine the masculine.
(Ord. 395 § 3, 2003; Ord. 518 § 1, 2008)
As used in this chapter:
“Applicant”
means the person or entity that applies for a permit or his duly authorized representative.
“Average daily traffic (ADT)”
means the average number of vehicles passing a specified point during a 24-hour period. “Annual average daily traffic (AADT)” denotes that daily traffic that is averaged over one calendar year.
“Building”
means any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
“Building code”
means the building construction codes as adopted and amended by UPMC Title 14.
“City”
means the City of University Place or its duly authorized representative.
“Clearing”
means the cutting, moving on site, or removal of standing or fallen timber, the removal or moving of stumps on site; or the cutting or removal of brush, grass, ground cover, or other vegetative matter from a site in a way which exposes the earth's surface of the site.
“Commercial driveway”
means a driveway that is used to provide access to business, multifamily complexes, or nonresidential enterprises, including but not limited to sales, service, industry, churches or other quasi-public buildings.
“Critical area”
means wetlands, flood hazard areas, fish and wildlife habitat areas, aquifer recharge areas, geologically hazardous areas and associated buffer areas.
“Development”
means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate including but not limited to buildings or the structures, placement of manufactured home/mobile home, mining, dredging, clearing, filling, grading, stockpiling, paving, excavation, drilling or the subdivision of property.
“Director”
means the City of University Place Director of Engineering or duly authorized representative.
“Drainage course”
means the natural or constructed path of surface water.
“Driveway”
means a vehicular access connecting a development to a street.
“Driveway approach”
means that portion of a driveway located in the right-of-way.
“Easement”
means a grant of an interest in land by the property owner for a specific use by another person, entity, or for the public in general.
“Emergency vehicle access”
means an access way to real property for emergency vehicles.
“Engineer”
means any Washington State licensed professional engineer.
“Engineer of record”
means the licensed professional engineer designated by the applicant as the responsible engineer for the project.
“Facility”
means a building or use in a fixed location.
“Grading”
means any excavating or filling or combination thereof.
“Grubbing”
means the digging up of unwanted vegetative matter from a site including but not limited to sod, stumps, roots, buried logs, or other debris. The action of grubbing exposes the surface of the earth such that it is susceptible to erosion.
“Horizon year”
means the year in which future conditions are to be evaluated.
“Landslide and erosion hazard areas”
means areas that are potentially subject to risk of mass movement or severe erosion due to a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors.
“Level of service (LOS)”
means a qualitative measure describing operational conditions within a traffic stream, based on service measures such as speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, traffic interruptions, comfort, and convenience.
“Major improvement”
means all improvements to a structure (excluding normal maintenance and repair and life/safety improvements) which within a 12-month period exceeds a cumulative value of 25 percent of the assessed value of the structure. The value of the structure shall be conclusively determined from the current records of the Pierce County Assessor’s Office.
“Parcel”
means any portion, piece, or division of land, fractional part or subdivision of block, according to plat or survey.
“Project”
means a general term encompassing all phases of the work to be performed. A “project” is synonymous with “improvement” or “work.” A project may entail work on one or more parcels of land.
“Residential driveway”
means a driveway that is used to provide access to a single-family residence.
“Right-of-way”
means all public streets and property granted or reserved for, or dedicated to, public use for street and storm drainage purposes, walkways, sidewalks, bikeways and horse trails, whether improved or unimproved, including the air rights, subsurface rights and easements related thereto.
“Sensitive areas”
means critical areas or shorelines of the State.
“Shared driveway”
means a driveway used to provide access to two dwelling units.
“Street”
means a facility providing public or private access. Streets include the traveled way and all other improvements within the right-of-way or easement. The term “street” is used interchangeably with the term “road.”
“Street frontage”
means the distance between the two points where the lot lines of a parcel intersect the boundary of a street right-of-way or easement.
“Structure”
means anything that is built or constructed, an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner.
“Substandard street”
means a street that is not constructed in conformance with the City’s design standards.
“Tract”
means any parcel of land, lot, building site, or contiguous combination thereof under common ownership.
“Traffic signal warrants”
means a list of criteria that establish the need to install a traffic signal as outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
“Utility provider”
means any public or private entity providing public services including, but not limited to: natural gas, oil, electric power, street lighting, telephone, telegraph, telecommunications, water, sewer, storm drainage, or cable television.
“Wetlands”
means those areas 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. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands generally do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities. However, wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from non-wetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands, if permitted by the City.
(Ord. 395 § 3, 2003; Ord. 423 § 35, 2004; Ord. 518 § 1, 2008; Ord. 679 § 1 (Exh. A), 2016)