Appendix_A_Glossary

							                                   Appendix A
                                   Glossary


Access – A way or means of entry.             low percentage of the site covered by
Residential subdivisions and commercial       buildings.
or industrial sites are usually required to
have direct access to a street or             Auto-Oriented Village – A form of
highway. Good access recognizes traffic       development that corresponds to the
safety as well as providing direct            Auto-Oriented Major Activity Center
passage for police, fire and emergency        pattern, except that it is scaled to fit
vehicles.                                     within a village setting.

Accessory Use – An activity or                Average Annual Growth Rate –
structure incidental or secondary to the      Growth rates are calculated as annual
principal use on the same lot.                averages and represented as
                                              percentages. For example the average
Affordable Housing – Housing units            annual population growth rate in
where the occupant is paying no more          Chesapeake between 1985 and 1995
than 30 percent of gross household            was 4.5%. The average annual growth
income for housing costs, or up to 40         rate is not to be confused with the
percent including taxes and utilities.        annual rate of change measured at a
                                              one-year interval.
Amenity – Characteristics of a
development that increase its                 Best Management Practices – That
desirability to a community or its            combination of conservation measures,
marketability to the public. Amenities        structures, or management practices
include swimming pools, tennis courts,        that reduces or avoids adverse impacts
bicycle and pedestrian paths,                 of development on adjoining site’s land,
landscaping that compliments the              water or waterways, and water bodies.
environment, attractive site design, etc.
                                              Bioretention Area – Bioretention areas
Auto-Oriented Major Activity Center           are landscaping features adapted to
– An area of development designed with        treat stormwater runoff on the
an emphasis on customers who use              development site. They are commonly
automobiles to travel to the site, rather     located in parking lot islands or within
than those with an emphasis on                small pockets in residential land uses.
pedestrians. This type of development         Surface runoff is directed into shallow,
usually has more than the minimum             landscaped depressions that contain a
required number of parking spaces. The        combination of mulch and prepared soil
main entrance of retail/commercial sites      to act as a surface water filter. These
is oriented to the parking area. In many      depressions are designed to incorporate
cases, buildings will have parking            many of the pollutant removal
between the street and the building.          mechanisms that operate in forested
Other typical characteristics are blank       ecosystems.
walls along much of building facades,
more than one driveway to sites, and a



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Blueway – A network of water trails           CBPA – Acronym for Chesapeake Bay
(e.g. rivers, streams, canals) linked         Preservation Area.
through integrated, coordinated plans.
Like greenways, blueways provide              Cluster Development – A development
protection to natural systems and             pattern in which residential, commercial,
sensitive areas; enhance alternate            industrial and institutional uses, or
transportation options; increase              combinations thereof, are grouped
recreational and healthy lifestyle            together, leaving portions of the land
options; and help to coordinate               undeveloped. Such development usually
transportation planning and land use          involves density transfer where unused
development.                                  allowable densities in one area are
                                              permitted in another. A zoning
Brownfield – Abandoned, idled, or             ordinance may authorize such
underused industrial and commercial           development by permitting smaller lot
facilities where expansion or                 sizes if a specified portion of the land is
redevelopment is complicated by real or       kept in permanent open space.
perceived environmental contamination.
                                              Compact Development – An
Buffer – An area of land, including           alternative development pattern
landscaping, berms, walls, fences, and        characterized by a dense growth pattern
building setbacks, that is located            inside a well-defined boundary, dense
between land uses of different character      but pedestrian-scaled neighborhoods;
and is intended to mitigate negative          activity nodes around transit lines, and
impacts of the more intense use on a          significant redevelopment and infill of
residential or vacant parcel.                 older areas and waterfront.

Business Improvement District – A             Conditional Use Permit – A use
special assessment district in which          category of a zoning ordinance wherein
property owners agree to have an              the governing body may, on a case-by-
additional charge placed on their tax bill    case basis and subject to certain
in order to fund special activities such as   conditions, allow land uses that may
capital improvements or business              have some characteristics which are
promotion.                                    incompatible with adjacent uses. When
                                              the governing body reserves the right to
CIB – Acronym for Capital                     grant such permits, guidelines or
Improvements Budget. The CIB is a             standards need not be contained in the
schedule for financing and constructing       zoning ordinance but the public
major public improvements and facilities      health/safety morals and general
needed by a locality. The CIB covers a        welfare and the public objectives of
five-year period, is updated annually,        zoning must be considered. Requests
and extended another year into the            for conditional use permits require public
future. It includes major projects such       notice and hearings before they can be
as road and utility improvements which        adopted.
are expensive, have a long life and may
need to be planned well in advance.           Conservation District – A district
The estimated annual operating cost of        established to provide a means of
operating and maintaining the facilities      conserving and area’s distinctive
to be constructed or acquired is also         atmosphere or character by protecting
included in the CIB. Because such             or enhancing its significant architectural
projects often generate land                  or cultural attributes.
development, the CIB is an important
tool for implementation of the
Comprehensive Plan.



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Density – The average number of             GIS – Acronym for Geographic
families, persons, or housing units         Information System. GIS is a computer
situated on a unit of land; usually         system that stores and links non-graphic
expressed as dwelling units per acre.       attributes or geographically referenced
                                            data with graphic map features to allow
Dispersed Development – An                  a wide range of information processing
alternative development pattern             and display operations, as well as map
characterized by absence of urban           production, analysis, and modeling.
growth boundaries; unrestricted water
and sewer line extensions throughout        Greenway – A linear park, alternative
the locality; possible loss of rural        transportation route, or open space
landscape; no new major activity areas      conservation area approved by the
are developed; the need for greater         locality that provides passive
environmental management at the             recreational opportunities, pedestrian
development plan stage; no new transit      and/or bicycle paths, and/or the
development; limited access                 conservation of open spaces or natural
management on roadways; and some            areas, as indicated in a greenway plan.
redevelopment of older neighborhoods
and areas.                                  HRSD – Acronym for Hampton Roads
                                            Sanitation District – HRSD, a political
Easement – The right to use property        subdivision of the Commonwealth of
owned by another for specific purposes      Virginia, was created by public
or to gain access to another property.      referendum in 1940 to eliminate sewage
For example, utility companies often        pollution in the tidal waters of the
have easements on the private property      Chesapeake Bay. HRSD’s mission is to
of individuals                              protect and enhance the environment
                                            through quality wastewater treatment in
Floodplain – A relatively flat or low       the Hampton Roads area. HRSD returns
land area adjoining a river, stream, or     treated effluent to nature in a way that
watercourse which is subject to partial     will continue to nurture the region’s
or complete inundation; or, an area         delicate ecosystems.
subject to the unusual and rapid
accumulation of runoff or surface waters    Hydric Soil – Soil that is saturated,
from any source.                            flooded, or ponded long enough during
                                            the growing season to develop an
Floor Area Ratio (FAR)– A formula for       anaerobic condition in the upper part.
determining permitted building volume
as a multiple of the area of the lot. FAR   IDA – Acronym for Intensely Developed
gives developers flexibility in deciding    Area. This is a designated
whether to build a low building covering    redevelopment area within the
most of the lot or a high building          Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area
covering only a small part of the lot, so   Overlay District which incorporates
long as the total allowed ratio is not      portions of the RPA and RMA. The IDA
exceeded.                                   as displayed on the IDA Map includes
                                            areas in which development was
Gateway – An entrance corridor that         concentrated as of January 21, 1992, so
heralds the approach of a new landscape     that little of the natural environment
and defines the arrival point as a          remains, and where at least one of the
destination.                                three conditions as described in Section
                                            26-516.E of the Chesapeake City Code
Gentrification – The rehabilitation and     existed as of that date.
resettlement of low- and moderate-
income urban neighborhoods by middle-
and high-income professionals.

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Impermeable Soil – Soil that does not        Lot – The basic development unit. An
readily permit fluids or gases to pass       area with fixed boundaries, used or
through.                                     intended to be used by one building and
                                             any accessory building(s) and usually
Infill – The utilization of vacant land in   not divided by a highway, street or
previously developed areas for buildings,    alley.
parking lots, recreational facilities and
other uses.                                  Low-Impact Development – This
                                             environment is characterized by very
Infrastructure – Public facilities and       low-intensity land uses primarily related
governmental services which support          to natural resources use and diffuse
the population of a community. The           recreational development, relatively low
term primarily includes the physical         land values, relatively minor public and
attributes of a loclality (e.g. streets,     private capital investment, and/or
water and sewer lines, parks), as well as    relatively major biophysical development
the services (e.g. police and fire           limitations.
protection).
                                             Major Activity Center – A form of land
Landscaping – The modification of the        use characterized by regional scale
landscape for an aesthetic or functional     retail, commercial, and industrial
purpose. It includes the preservation of     development that is oriented toward a
existing vegetation and the continued        recognizable corridor or area. Major
maintenance thereof together with            activity centers can be automobile-
grading and installation of minor            oriented or transit-oriented.
structures and appurtenances.
                                             Mixed-Use Development – The
Lane Mile – A unit of distance               development of a tract of land or
corresponding to actual lengths of           building or structure with two or more
roadway lanes, utilized for various          different uses such as but not limited to
transportation planning and engineering      residential, office, retail, public, or
purposes, including traffic management       entertainment, in a compact urban form
and capital cost planning.                   that can result in measurable reductions
                                             in traffic impacts.
Level of Service Standard – An
indicator of the extent or degree of         Node – An identifiable grouping of uses
service provided by, or proposed to be       subsidiary and dependent upon a larger
provided by, a facility based on, and        urban grouping of similar or related
related to, the operational                  uses.
characteristics of the facility. Level of
service shall indicate the capacity per      Open Space – Land and water areas
unit of demand for each public facility.     retained for use as active or passive
                                             recreation areas or for resource
Light Rail – Street cars or trolley cars     protection in an essentially undeveloped
that typically operate entirely or           state.
substantially in mixed traffic and in non-
exclusive, at-grade rights-of-way.           Ordinance – A law or regulation set
Passengers typically board vehicles from     forth and adopted by a governmental
the street level (as opposed to a            authority, usually a city or county.
platform that is level with the train) and
the driver may collect fares. Vehicles       Overlay District – An overlay district is
are each electrically self-propelled and     a specific area that has been designated
usually operate in one or two-car trains.    to receive special consideration due to a
                                             unique or special circumstance. Overlay
                                             districts are typically found in the zoning

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ordinance and provide supplemental           Plat – A document, prepared by a
development standards for unique             registered surveyor or engineer, that
circumstances. Examples of overlay           delineates property lines and shows
districts in the Zoning Ordinance include    monuments and other landmarks for the
the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas        purpose of identifying property.
and the Fentress Overlay District.
Overlay districts may also be included in    Point-Source Pollution – In reference
the Comprehensive Plan as “policy            to water quality, a discrete source from
overlays” to provide special provisions to   which pollution is generated before it
a defined area. The Transportation           enters receiving waters, such as a sewer
Corridor Overlay District (TCOD) is an       outfall, a smokestack, or an industrial
example of a Comprehensive Plan              waste pipe. Conversely, nonpoint
overlay.                                     source pollution is less definable and
                                             usually covers broad areas of land, such
Pedestrian-Oriented Development –            as agricultural land with fertilizers that
Development which is designed with a         are carried from the land by runoff, or
primary emphasis on the street sidewalk      automobiles.
or connecting walkway access to the site
and building, rather than on automobile      Proffer – A condition voluntarily offered
access and parking lots. In pedestrian-      by a developer that limits or qualifies
oriented developments, buildings are         how the property in question will be
typically placed relatively close to the     used or developed. Proffers are made
street and the main entrance is oriented     under the terms of conditional zoning to
to the street sidewalk or a walkway.         lessen the possible negative effects of
Although parking areas and garages           an unrestricted zoning. The conditions
may be provided, they are not given          proffered must relate to the rezoning
primary emphasis in the design of the        itself and be in accord with the
site.                                        community’s comprehensive plan.
                                             Terms of any proffer must be submitted
Permeable Soil – Soil having pores or        in writing by the developer prior to a
openings that permit liquids or gases to     public hearing before the governing
pass through.                                body. Upon approval, the conditions
                                             (proffers) become part of the rezoning
Planned Unit Development (PUD) –             and remain in effect even if the property
An area for which a unitary development      is sold. Proffers are subject to
plan has been prepared indicating, but       enforcement.
not being limited to, the following land
uses: open space, on-site circulation for    Redevelopment – The process of
both pedestrians and vehicles, parking,      developing land which is, or has been,
setbacks, housing densities, building        previously developed.
spacings, land coverage, landscaping,
relationships, streets, building heights,    Rezoning – An amendment to the
accessory uses, and architectural            zoning ordinance. Ordinarily, rezonings
treatment. A PUD may also include            can take three forms: (1) a
cluster developments, which are a            comprehensive revision or modification
development design technique that            of the zoning text and map; (2) a text
concentrates buildings in a specific area    change in zone requirements; and (3) a
on a site to allow the remaining land to     change in the map, e.g., an area zoned
be used for recreation, common open          for residential use is rezoned to
space, or preservation of                    commercial use. Applications for
environmentally sensitive areas.             rezonings are reviewed by the locality’s
                                             planning staff and planning commission.
                                             After receiving a recommendation from
                                             the planning commission and holding a

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public hearing, the governing body may      Setback – The minimum distance by
approve or disapprove an application for    which any building or structure must be
a rezoning.                                 separated from a street right-of-way or
                                            lot line.
Riparian Corridor – The area adjacent
to a river, lake or stream, consisting of   Site Plan – A plan, to scale, showing
the area of transition from an aquatic      uses and structures proposed for a
ecosystem to a terrestrial ecosystem        parcel of land as required by the
and including vegetative and wildlife       regulations. Includes lot lines, streets,
normally associated with a riparian         building sites, reserved open space,
habitat.                                    buildings, major landscape features –
                                            both natural and manmade – and
RMA – Acronym for Resource                  depending on requirements, the
Management Area. The RMA is an area         locations of proposed utility lines.
within the Chesapeake Bay Preservation
Area Overlay District that includes those   Special Taxing District – A subarea of
lands contiguous to the inland boundary     a community designated by city
of the RPA which have a potential for       ordinance to assess payments for
degrading water quality or diminishing      construction or installation of public
the functional value of the RPA, if not     facilities that primarily benefit the
properly managed. The RMA is depicted       property owners within the district.
on the CBPA map and includes, but is
not limited to, the following land use      Sprawl – Low-density land-use patterns
categories: floodplains; highly erodible    that are automobile-dependent, energy
soils, including steep slopes and highly    and land consumptive, and require a
permeable soils; and non-tidal wetlands     very high ratio of road service to
not included in the RPA.                    development served. The landscape
                                            created by sprawl generally has four
RPA – Acronym for Resource Protection       dimensions: (1) a population that is
Area. The RPA is an area within the         widely dispersed in low-density
overall Chesapeake Bay Preservation         development; (2) rigidly separated
Area Overlay District that includes: all    homes, shops, and workplaces; (3) a
tidal wetlands; non-tidal wetlands          network of roads marked by huge blocks
connected by surface flow and               and poor access; and (4) a lack of well-
contiguous to tidal wetlands or water       defined thriving activity centers such as
bodies with perennial flow; shorelines;     downtowns or town centers. Most other
and a one hundred (100) foot vegetated      features usually associated with sprawl
buffer around each such feature and         (e.g. the lack of transportation choices,
around all water bodies with perennial      relative uniformity of housing options, or
flow. The buffer area is designed to        the difficulty of walking) are the results
retard runoff, prevent erosion and filter   of these conditions.
non-point source pollutants from runoff.
The buffer area is also designed to         Stormwater – The flow of water which
achieve a level of 75% reduction in         results from precipitation and which
sediments and 40% reduction in              occurs immediately following rainfall or a
nutrients.                                  snow melt.

Rural Development – An alternative          Streetscape – An area that may either
development pattern characterized by        abut or be contained within a public or
sparsely developed areas where the land     private street right-of-way or accessway
is primarily used for farming, forestry,    that may contain sidewalks, street
resource extraction, very low-density       furniture, landscaping or trees, and
residential uses (e.g. one unit per 3       similar features.
acres or less), or open space uses.

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Strip Development – A pattern of              that would have gone to other taxing
commercial development located along          bases and then uses the “tax
one or both sides of a street which is        increments” to finance the development
generally one lot in depth and is             costs.
characterized by multiple and relatively
closely spaced driveways, low open            Trail – A way or path designed for and
space and landscaping rations, and high       used by pedestrians, equestrians,
floor area ratios.                            cyclists using non-motorized bicycles,
                                              and others. Trails may include
Subdivision – The division or redivision      trailheads, which can consist of parking
of a lot, tract, or parcel of land by any     lots, drinking fountains, restrooms and
means into two or more lots, tracts,          signage.
parcels, or other divisions of land,
including changes in existing lot lines for   Traffic Calming – A concept
the purpose, whether immediate or             fundamentally concerned with reducing
future, of lease, transfer, or ownership,     the adverse impact of motor vehicles on
or building or lot development.               built-up areas. Usually involves
                                              reducing vehicle speeds, providing more
Suburban – The low- to medium-                space for pedestrians and cyclists, and
intensity development patterns which          improving the local environment.
surround the downtown or other more
intense, urban areas of the city.             Transit – Passenger services provided
                                              by public, private, or nonprofit entities,
Sustainable Development –                     which may include the following
Development that maintains or                 transportation modes: commuter rail;
enhances economic opportunity and             rail rapid transit; light rail transit; light
community well-being while protecting         guideway transit; express bus; and local
and restoring the natural environment         fixed route bus.
upon which people and economies
depend. Sustainable development               Transit-Oriented Major Activity
meets the needs of the present without        Center – A form of development that
compromising the ability of future            maximizes investment in transit
generations to meet their own needs.          infrastructure by concentrating the most
                                              intense types of development around
Swale – An elongated depression in the        transit stations and along transit lines;
land surface that is at least seasonally      development in such areas is designed
wet, is usually heavily vegetated, and is     to make transit use as convenient as
normally without flowing water. Swales        possible. This type of development is
direct stormwater flows into primary          characterized by moderate and high-
drainage channels and allow some of the       density housing concentrated in mixed-
stormwater to infiltrate into the ground      use developments, making it convenient
surface.                                      for residents and employees to travel by
                                              transit, bicycle, foot, or car.
Tax Increment Financing – A tool
used by cities and other development          Transit-Oriented Village – A form of
authorities to finance certain types of       development that corresponds to the
development costs. The public purposes        transit-oriented major activity center
of TIF are the redevelopment of blighted      pattern, except that it is scaled to fit in a
areas, construction of low- and               village setting.
moderate-income housing, provision of
employment opportunities, and
improvement of the tax base. With TIF,
a city “captures” the additional property
taxes generated by the development

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Tree Canopy – The area within the            Wetland – Lands transitional between
circumference of the drip line of the        terrestrial and aquatic systems where
tree. Canopy-generating trees are of         the water table is usually at or near the
the deciduous variety whose mature           surface or the land is covered by shallow
height and branch structure provide          water. For purposes of this definition,
foliage primarily on the upper half of the   wetlands must have the following three
tree. The purpose of a canopy tree is to     attributes: (a) have a predominance of
provide shade and protection to              hydric soils; (b) are inundated or
adjacent ground areas.                       saturated by surface or ground water at
                                             a frequency and duration sufficient to
USGS – Acronym for United States             support a prevalence of hydrophytic
Geological Survey. The USGS, created         vegetation typically adapted for life in
by an act of Congress in 1879, is the        saturated soil conditions; and (c) under
sole science agency for the Department       normal circumstances support a
of the Interior. The USGS serves the         prevalence of such vegetation.
nation as an independent fact-finding
agency that collects, monitors, analyzes,    Workforce Housing – Workforce
and provides scientific understanding        housing is typically considered housing
about natural resource conditions,           for individuals whose income is between
issues, and problems. Localities rely        thirty and eighty percent of the area
heavily on topographic maps produced         median income.
by the USGS, which show all principal
physical features of an area, including      Zoning – The legislative process by
elevations.                                  which a local government classifies land
                                             within the community into areas and
Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) – VMT           districts referred to as zones. Zoning
is a transportation planning term.           regulates building and structure
Average vehicle miles traveled per day       dimensions, design, placement, and use.
are collected for various roadways based     Requirements vary from district to
on continuous traffic counts for specified   district, but they must be uniform within
periods. This indicator shows, in            districts.
combination with other transportation
indicators, the extent of reliance upon
automobile transportation. Assessing
population growth alongside increases in
vehicle miles traveled shows the extent
to which the VMT growth results from
more people driving or from people
driving more miles.

Village – A small, compact center of
predominantly residential character but
with a core of mixed-use commercial,
residential, and community services. It
often incorporates local-scale economic
and social functions that are integrated
with housing. A village typically has a
recognizable center, discrete physical
boundaries, and a pedestrian scale and
orientation. This term does not
necessarily refer to the form of
incorporation of a municipality and is
often smaller than a municipality.



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