GLOSSARY
Accessory Housing: Dwellings constructed within an existing single-family home, usually for use as a rental unit. Accessory Unit: An attached or detached dwelling with housekeeping facilities independent of, and incidental to, a principle single-family dwelling and on the same lot. Adopt: Method by which the City Council may gross household income for housing and utilities Agricultural Land: Land meeting any one or more of the following definitions: 1) Land primarily devoted to commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, finfish in upland hatcheries, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production; or 2) Land that is currently in use for agriculture as evidenced by its current enrollment in the open space taxation program pursuant to RCW 84.34. Amend: Method by which the City Council may officially alter or change a policy, resolution, or ordinance. Anchor: center. A major employment or commercial shopping districts. Principal arterials also move traffic between communities, utilize traffic lights, and provide little or no direct access to adjoining properties. Best Management Practices: Physical, structural, and/or managerial practices that prevent or reduce water pollution. Types of BMP’s include source control, runoff treatment, and stream bank erosion control. Bond: Contract to pay a specified sum of money (the principal or face value) at a specified future date (maturity) plus interest paid at an agreed percentage of the principal. Bond and Levy Financing: Local governments can raise revenues by selling tax-exempt municipal bonds or by increasing property taxes through property tax levies. Bonds require a 60 percent voter approval; levies require a simple majority. The City can issue a limited amount of debt without voter approval. This is called limited general obligation debt. Voter approved bonds are retired with property tax revenues. Building Design Code: See Design Guidelines. Capacity: The maximum number of vehicles, which can travel on a given section of roadway during a specific time period. Capital Facilities Element: One of the thirteen state-mandated elements required by the GMA. Capital Facility: Generally refers to land, improvements, structures, equipment or other major assets that have a useful life of at least 10 years and are used for public purposes and services. They include facilities for fire and rescue, government, law enforcement, recreation, public health and public schools. and meets the needs of moderate or low-income vote to officially accept a policy, resolution, or ordinance. Affordable Housing: housing, which costs no gross household income and meets the needs of households. Generally defined as more than 30 percent of for housing and utilities moderate or low-income
Annexation: The act of incorporating an area into the domain of a city, county, or state. Aquifer Recharge Areas: The exposed ground level portion of the aquifer. Arterial, Minor: A street which serves as a distributor of traffic from a principal arterial to streets with less intensive use, such as collectors; serves secondary traffic generators such as neighborhood shopping areas and high schools, and serves traffic between neighborhoods. Less intensively used than principal arterials, minor arterials also may have little or no direct access to adjoining properties. Arterial, Principal: A street designed to provide the most efficient movement of traffic between a regional arterial, such as a highway, and major activity areas and points of destination such as
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GLOSSARY
Capital Improvement Program (CIP): A plan for future capital expenditures which identifies each capital project, its anticipated start and completion, and allocates existing funds and known revenue sources over a six-year period. CDBG: Grant. See Community Development Block development programs targeted primarily to lowincome persons and neighborhoods. Community Green: See Village Green. Community Identification: A community’s sense of their own character and place. Primarily a selfassessment that varies between individuals, it may include physical manifestations that represent the community such as boundaries, historic or important places, and architectural style. Commute: Describes travel or trip taken by those who work outside of their community. Comprehensive Plan: Mandated by the Growth Management Act (GMA), it is statutory document, which sets forth long-range goals and policies concerning the desirable future and physical development of a community. The City of North Bend’s plan is made up of five required elements including land use, housing, utilities, capital facilities and recreation and three supplemental elements including economic development, recreation and sensitive areas. Concurrency: A GMA requirement that the transportation facilities needed to maintain the adopted level of service standards for arterials and transit routes are available within six years of development. Congestion: A situation that occurs when traffic arrives at a segment of road or an intersection at a higher rate than traffic departs a segment of road or an intersection. Consistency: A measure of whether any feature of the Plan or a regulation is incompatible with any other related feature, plan, or regulation. The GMA requires that the Plan be both internally and externally consistent. Countywide Planning Policies: As required by the GMA, the King County Council adopted a series of policies that embody a vision of the future of King County and guide the development of North Bend’s Comprehensive Plan. Critical Areas: Natural areas of important areas, wildlife habitat, frequently flooded areas, and ecological value such as wetlands, aquifer recharge
Census Tracts: A spatial unit of measurement used by the Federal Bureau of Census to collect demographic data. CIP: See Capital Improvement Program. Clean Air Act: Federally mandated air-quality goals for urbanized areas requiring state implementation plans. Cluster Development: A site design technique that concentrates building density in specific areas to allow the remaining land to be used for recreation, open space, or preservation of environmentally critical areas. Housing types could include detached single-family homes, duplexes, townhouses, or apartments. Co-housing: A housing development concept imported from Denmark where units are individually owned and some level of communal facilities are provided; typically dining, socializing and daycare. Co-housing emphasizes creation of an intentional community based on shared values, owner participation in community design, and selfmanagement. Collector: A street designed to move traffic from local streets and funnel it onto arterials. It may provide access to adjoining properties and is usually wider than local streets. Commercial: Describes business enterprises engaged in the buying, selling, or production of non-industrial goods and services such as retail or offices. Commercial Land Uses: See Commercial. Community Development Block Grant: Annual federal funding provided to eligible local governments for housing and community
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GLOSSARY
areas, wildlife habitat, frequently flooded areas, and geologically hazardous areas. Current Expense Fund: See General Fund. Density: The number of families, persons, or dwelling units per unit of land usually expressed as “per acre” which describes the intensity of development. Design Guidelines: An element of the Development Regulations describing those standards and regulations which directs the appearance of development and redevelopment projects, site and street design and seeks to preserve and/or enhance the aesthetic qualities of an area. Development Pattern: Pattern. See Rural Development Duplex: A single structure containing two dwelling units, either side by side or above one another. Dwelling Unit: Describes a building or portion thereof providing complete housekeeping facilities for one family. The term “dwelling” shall not be deemed to include motel, tourist court, rooming house, or tourist home. Easement: A right or privilege that a person or agency may have in another’s land. East King County Ground Water Management Plan: See Ground Water Management Plan. Economic Development Plan Element: A voluntary Comprehensive Plan Element that seeks to increase community prosperity through expanded employment opportunities and commercial activities, utilization of economic assistance programs and coordination among community businesses. Employment Anchor: See Anchor. Employment Park: A new zoning classification designating the location of major future employment growth in order to meet the GMA job target. Such uses include, but are not limited to, research and development, heavy and light industry, finance, office, commercial excluding retail, and support services. Environmental Nuisance: An annoyance or potentially hazardous situation that substantially threatens the environment or quality of life. Erosion: Natural process, including weathering, dissolution, abrasion, corrosion, and transportation by which material is removed from the earth’s surface. Endangered Species Act: A Federal rule to protect certain species listed as either endangered (in danger of extinction) or threatened (likely to become endangered). The National Marine Fisheries Service adopted a ESA 4(d) rule prohibiting the taking of certain listed salmonids Drawdown: A lowering or depletion of the water table.
Development Performance Standards: An element of the Development Regulations describing those standards and regulations which directs and specifies the quality level of the development process to minimize adverse impacts to the land, wildlife and community. Development Regulations: Describes the umbrella title that encompasses various elements, which together, regulate all development and redevelopment. Discretionary Review Process: A Development Regulation procedure that affords staff the opportunity to closely examine those developments proposed in areas of concern to the community. Downtown Commercial: A new zoning category identifying downtown area uses which will include services, specialty retail, and mixed use development. Downtown Economic Development Plan: Economic Development Plan Element. See
Downtown Revitalization: Downtown Revitalization seeks to impart new life or vigor to downtown. Also, see Economic Development Plan Element. Drainage Basin: An area that drains to a common outlet or an identifiable water body such as a river, stream lake, or wetland.
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GLOSSARY
including the steelhead trout found in the Snoqualmie River basin below Snoqualmie Falls on March 24, 1999. The US Fish and Wildlife Service adopted a 4(d) rule prohibiting the taking of bull trout listed as occurring in the entire Snoqualmie river basin on November 1, 1999. Fair Share Housing: It is based upon the concept that each community should plan and zone for the affordable and special needs housing requirements of its citizens to ensure the equitable distribution of the costs to governments and the social integration of various groups. FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency provides technical guidelines and assistance to prevent and mitigate losses due to natural disasters and states of emergencies. Floodplain: The areas of land adjacent to lakes, rivers, and streams that are subject to periodic flooding. A floodplain designation is assigned based upon the predicted frequency of flooding for a particular area. For example, a 100-year flood plain is a land area that has a 1% probability of flooding in any given year. Forecasted Traffic Volume: The number of vehicles forecasted to travel on all or part of the street and highway network over a given period of time for a future year. Forest land: Land primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, and that has longterm commercial significance. General Commercial (CG): A former zoning district of King County governing commercial land uses. General Fund: The fund used to account for all financial resources except those required to be accounted for in another fund. General Obligation Bonds: Bonds for the payment of which the full faith and credit of the issuing government are pledged. GMA: See Growth Management Act. Goals and Policies: The goals and policies summarize the intent of the plan and are derived from public discussions and the vision plan. They will provide guidance to future community leaders in the decision making process of city government particularly when establishing regulations. For example, regulations must accommodate land uses that meet the goals and policies. Greenway Connectors: Those non-greenway streets or paths that serve as links between sections of the Greenway Trail System. Greenway Trail System: A network of existing and proposed bike and walkways to provide an alternative method of travel in and around North Bend. Ground Water Management Plan (GWMP): Describes the area’s groundwater resource, contain a detailed exploration of groundwater protection issues, including Sensitive Aquifer Areas, and propose solutions to perceived threats. Growth Management Act (GMA): Enacted in 1990 (ESHB 2929) and amended in 1991, the GMA requires counties and cities to develop Comprehensive Plans to address growth over the next twenty years in Washington State. Growth Reserve (GR): A former zoning district of King County prescribing low-density and lot clustering and assigned to areas which will eventually be annexed to the nearby city. Hazardous Waste: Wastes that pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or living organisms. High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV): A vehicle carrying more than one person, including a carpool, vanpool, or bus. Household: A non-profit housekeeping unit consisting of any number of related persons, eight or fewer non-related, non-transient persons, or eight or fewer related and non-related persons other than fraternities, sororities, boarding houses, or groups occupying a club. Housing Authority: A public corporation that manages housing assistance programs.
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GLOSSARY
Housing Plan Element: Required by the GMA to establish a housing inventory, goals and policies, and land use for all types of housing, and analyze existing and future housing needs. Housing Sharing: A policy to permit the sharing of dwelling units by non-related persons and to create accessory units in existing single-family residences in order to increase the housing supply Housing Stock: The quantity of livable dwelling units within the city. Housing Type: Different kinds of residences such as single-family detached; multi-family duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses; and multi-family lowrise, mid-rise and high-rise apartments. Human Scale: One way of describing a type of physical proportion that is more comfortable to people. Also, see Pedestrian Scale. Incorporated Area: An area of a region that is made a part of or annexed into a city. Impact Fees: A fee imposed on new development to pay for the community’s cost of providing facilities and services to new development. Impervious Surfacing: A surface that cannot be easily penetrated such as asphalt or concrete pavement. Incompatible: Land uses that are not able to exist in harmony or agreement due to fugitive light, noise, odors, traffic, air pollution, water pollution, health or safety hazards or view blockage that is perceived as a conflict between abutting uses. Incompatible Land Uses: Incompatible Land Uses in North Bend are residential (LDR, HDR) zoning abutting commercial (DC, IC, IMU, NB) and/or industrial (EP-1, EP-2) zoned areas. Indigenous Landscaping: Types of plantings that are native to the region. Infill Development: Typically, residential development occurring on vacant lots which relieves the existing neighborhood of a nuisance while increasing the vitality. Infrastructure: The public facilities and services that support the functions and activities of a community. Interlocal Agreement: An arrangement between jurisdictions to regarding areas of mutual concern. Interchange Commercial: A new zoning category designating the location of business and service activities that primarily serve the traveling public and regional trade, as well as larger scale commercial uses. Interchange Mixed Use: A new zoning category occurring where Interchange Commercial (IC) is adjacent to Residential Zoning (LDR and HDR) and provides transitional zoning between commercial and residential zoning. Joint Planning Area: Areas outside the City’s UGA subject to planning management by King County and North Bend because of their proximity to North Bend and potential annexation at some future time beyond the scope of the current Comprehensive Plan. Land Use Designations: Refers to the function assigned to all the land within the city. See Downtown Commercial, Employment Park, Neighborhood Residential, Interchange Commercial and Open Space. Land Use Plan Element: The major component of the Comprehensive Plan as required by the GMA which designates the location and extent of land uses, identifies population and building densities, estimates population growth, protects groundwater, and addresses sensitive areas. Level of Service (LOS): Usually a qualitative rating of how well some unit of transportation supply serves its current or projected demand. Load: The amount of electric power or water required at a given point in a system. Local Improvement District (LID): A small district formed for the purpose of carrying out local improvements such as street paving, storm sewer construction, and park system development. Property owners within the LID are assessed for the cost of the improvements.
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GLOSSARY
LOS: See Level of Service. Low-Income Households: Households whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area. Low-Income Housing: Housing economically feasible for families whose income level is categorized as low within the standards promulgated by H.U.D. or the State of Washington. Manufactured Home: Housing that is built partly or entirely in a factory rather than at the site where it is later transported. Manufacturing Park: A former zoning district of King County Median Household Income: Average amount of income per household in a given geographical area. Minimum Density: A development regulation or zoning method that provides incentives for higher residential concentrations in order to enhance the character and/or function of an area, such as Downtown. Mini-Park: A very small open space area with limited recreational amenities, such as a tot-lot, for the use of nearby residents. Mitigation: The act of alleviating, abating, or lessening some problem or affliction. Mixed Use: The presence of more than one use in an individual structure or development such as apartments over retail. Mobile Home: A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is at least 8 feet in width and 32 feet in length. It is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit, and is with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities. Moderate Income: Households whose incomes are between 81 percent and 95 percent of the median income for the area. Mountains To Sound Greenways (MTS): A regional non-profit organization whose goal is to support the creation of a greenway from the Cascades to Puget Sound along I-90 as well as support other efforts to enhance the public’s access and enjoyment of the natural environment. Multi-Family Housing: Residential dwelling units which take the form of apartment buildings, townhouses, condominiums, row houses, and duplexes. Multi-Family Residential Zone: A district with land use standards and regulations geared to develop multi-family housing. Municipal Campus: Refers to a parcel of land purchased to house the future city hall, police and fire stations; it could also describe the concept of locating all city services in one location. NCHRP 187: A publication of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Report 187: “Quick response urban travel estimation techniques and transferable parameters, users guide.” Neighborhood: A predominantly residential area identifiable by its character, boundaries, or other feature such as a Neighborhood Center. Neighborhood Amenity: A park, trail, or community facility or service that specifically serves a particular neighborhood. Neighborhood Center: A focus area within a neighborhood such as a park, eatery, or service center which helps define the neighborhood and bring people together. Neighborhood Plan: A plan, adopted by the City Council, which guides neighborhood growth and development and addresses other neighborhood issues including housing, transportation, economic development, institutions, and other community activities. Neighborhood Planning Area: Refers to predefined areas in the plan based upon existing or emerging neighborhoods. Each of the 11 residential areas will have the opportunity of working with the City to develop their own neighborhood plan. Neighborhood Residential: A new zoning category that collapses single and multi-family
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GLOSSARY
zones into one category and emphasizes smaller lots and neighborhood centers. Neighborhood Scale Retail: A type of commercial business whose purpose is to serve the residential area around it and whose physical design and size is suitable for a residential area. Non-Profit Housing: Usually refers to HUD owned and operated residential properties such as housing for seniors and low-income families but can include housing developed by non-profit corporations to be offered for sale or rent at below market prices to eligible households. Nuisance: Everything that endangers life or health, gives offense to senses, violates the laws of decency, or obstructs reasonable and comfortable use of property. Open Space: Land and/or water area with its surface open to the sky or predominantly undeveloped, which set aside to serve the purposes of providing park and recreation opportunities, conserving valuable resources, and restructuring urban development and form. Opportunity Area: Special areas that provide a significant opportunity to improve the quality of life for the community and therefore merit special land use and design attention. Overlay District: See Overlay zone. Overlay Zone: An area of the City with its own set of land use regulations that guide development beyond the underlying zone. Park and Ride Lot: Describes a parking area specifically designed to permit transit riders to park their cars as they utilize public transportation, vanpools, and carpools. Parks Commission: A voluntary committee appointed by the Mayor to assess and plan for the recreational requirements of the community and forward recommendations to the City Council. Parks, Open Space, and Public Facilities: A new zoning classification designating open space uses such as trails and parks, as well as facilities such as schools, park buildings, and museums. Peak Hour: One-hour intervals when traffic volume is usually the highest, e.g., 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 4:30-5:30 p.m. Peak Load: The maximum load consumed or produced in a stated period of time. Pedestrian Amenity: Those features that serve or enhance the experience of people on foot or in wheelchairs such as benches, curb ramps, traffic separators, landscaped walkways or view points. Pedestrian Orientation: Describes a major focus where the location and access to buildings, types of uses permitted on the street level, and storefront or street level design are based on the needs of the customers. Pedestrian Scale: One way of describing a physical proportion, that is more comfortable for, and relates to, people walking or running. Planned Unit Development (PUD): A planning technique that provides increased flexibility for the developer of large-scale projects in exchange for a higher quality of development. Mixed use, innovative housing types, open space and recreational facilities are often included. Planning Area: See Neighborhood Planning Area. Planning Commission: Area residents appointed by the Mayor to advise the city council in matters relating to urban development. Planning Goals: See Goals and Policies. Platting: A map of a piece of land detailing the location, boundaries, size, proposed streets, utilities and all other necessary data to demonstrate compliance with city and state regulations. PM Peak Hour: See Peak Hour. Potential Impact Areas: Areas that, when developed, may affect the municipal services and quality of life in North Bend such as sensitive areas and the Joint Planning Areas of River Bend and Cedar Village. Pre-Annexation Agreement: An agreement setting the conditions under which land is annexed into the city.
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GLOSSARY
Public Amenity: Those features, services, and facilities that serve or enhance the experience of citizens in public spaces. Public Facilities: Any building or service center purchased with public funds, used to serve the public or available for community activities such as the city hall, library, schools, community centers, trailheads, and parking lots. Public Viewshed: See View Corridor. Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency (PSAPCA): The lead agency for developing air quality standards for the Central Puget Sound Region in compliance with federal laws. Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC): The regional planning and decision-making body for growth and transportation issues in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. PSRC is identified under federal transportation law as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). PSRC manages the adopted regional growth strategy, Vision 2020. Redevelopment: Describes a process to restore or improve. Recycling: Recycling involves separating a given waste material from the waste stream and processing it so that it may be used again as a raw material for products which may or may not be similar to the original. Reserve Fund: Reserve funds are used to set aside funds to ensure financial stability and provide for unanticipated emergencies, expenses, revenue decreases, and legal claims, and for major maintenance of capital facilities. The level of reserves is an important criterion for establishing a jurisdiction’s credit rating for general obligation bond sales. Residential Land Uses: Any land use that provides for a variety of housing types. Residential Neighborhood: Any district within the City that is primarily made up of dwelling units. It may have some commercial uses that serve the area. Resource Lands: Describes agricultural and forest areas usually outside of urban growth boundaries. Rezoning: Describes a legislative change in the designation or boundary of a zone. Right-of-Way: Describes the right to pass over the property of another. It refers to a strip of land legally established for the use of pedestrians, vehicles, or utilities. Right to Farm: Ordinance that protects farmers and farm operations from private or public nuisance lawsuits. Runoff: Precipitation that flows over land surface and enters the sewerage system during and immediately following a storm. Rural Activity Center: Defined by King County as a town within the rural areas of the County where commercial/industrial development and higher density housing will locate such as North Bend, Snoqualmie, and Fall City. Rural Area: The GMA requires that counties designate a rural area in order to conserve the rural character and quality of the existing rural lands in Washington. Rural Character: Defined by the King County Countywide Planning Policies to include natural features, resource based industries, rural towns, rural neighborhoods, rural infrastructure and services, open space system, rural housing, rural economy, and rural cities. Rural City: North Bend is designated as such by King County to join in the region’s planning process on an equal legal basis with the suburban cities and Seattle. Rural Development Pattern: Refers to the historic development of uninhabited areas into agricultural tracts, farms and small towns and their continued growth into smaller parcels unrelated to agricultural due to a host of factors such as topography and location of highways and urban areas. Sedimentation: The process of depositing or settling of rock fragments carried by water.
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GLOSSARY
Sensitive Areas Overlay District: Designated area within the North Bend Urban Growth Area that includes: (1) floodways, (2) channel migratory areas, (3) streams and associated buffers, and (4) wetlands and associated buffers. Imposes special regulations on the use and development of property in order to protect environmentally sensitive areas. These sensitive areas present severe constraints to development. Aquifer Recharge Areas and Seismic Hazards Areas are not included in the SAOD because both areas completely engulf the North Bend UGA and can be developed with proper design. Shared Housing: A style of living where more than one household resides in a single dwelling unit usually for sharing expenses. Single Family Zone: A classification describing an area of the city that only permits the development of housing for individual households. Site Design: Refers to the placement of buildings, parking, paths, streets, and landscaping on a parcel of land usually depicted by a site plan. Small Lot: Generally describes a legal parcel of land suitable for the development of a single-family dwelling unit that is smaller than allowed by current zoning. SMSA: Area. See Standard Metropolitan Statistical Special Revenue Funds: Revenues derived from specific taxes, grants, loans, or other sources designated to finance certain City activities. Sprawl: The uncontrolled, inefficient spread of low-density development over rural or undeveloped land. Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA): A federal Census Bureau term describing a county or group of counties containing at least one city (or twin cities) having a population of 50,000 or more plus adjacent counties which are metropolitan in character and are economically and socially integrated with the central city. State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA): The state law passed in 1971 requiring state and local agencies to consider environmental impacts in the decision-making process. A determination of environmental significance must be made for all non-exempt projects or actions that require a permit, license, or decision from a government agency. Where significant adverse environmental impacts are not found, a Declaration of NonSignificance (DNS) is issued. Major adverse impacts require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Storm Drain: A system of gutters, pipes, or ditches used to carry storm water from surrounding lands to streams, lakes, or the Puget Sound. Stormwater: Water that is generated by rainfall and is often routed into drain systems in order to prevent flooding. Streams: This plan identifies four different categories of streams: Category 1: Streams inventoried as "Shorelines of the State" under the city's shoreline management regulations and its Shoreline Master Program. Category 2: Streams smaller than Class 1 streams that flow year-round (perennial) during years of normal rainfall or those used by salmonids. Category 3: Streams that are intermittent during years of normal rainfall and are not used by salmonids.
Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan: King County’s long range plan for the Snoqualmie Valley which will guide all future land use decisions particularly in these areas: Snoqualmie River protection, flood protection measures, protections of rural, resource and sensitive lands, economic development, and I-90 scenic corridor. Special Needs Housing: Housing that is provided for low income or indigent persons and their dependents, and who, by virtue of disability or other personal factors, face serious impediments to independent living and who require special assistance and services in order to sustain appropriate housing on a permanent, long-term or transitional basis.
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Category 4: Streams which are intermittent, within currently developed residential areas, not in their natural state and do not provide habitat for fish. In the city, these streams include the Silver Creek network between E.J.Roberts Park and the extension of Ballarat Avenue, and the unnamed swale areas that flow through the Stow-Si View addition. Streetscape: Refers to an overall view of a street or to the visual character of a street as determined by elements such as building scale and design, access, amenities, street width, landscaping, open space, view, etc. Strip Development: A linear pattern of piecemeal, low-density commercial development along a major street or highway characterized by the inefficient extension of city services, traffic problems from increased driveways and incompatibility with pedestrians. Subdivision: A tract of land that has been divided into separate lots for sale and development. TModel Z: A transportation modeling system that replicates driver behavior through application of a statistical gravity type model. Townhouse: Another name for row house where individual dwelling units are attached along at least one common wall to at least one other dwelling unit. Each unit typically occupies space from the ground to the roof and has direct access to private open space. Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZ): An imaginary geographic area delineated for transportation purposes to show desire for travel. Traffic Calming Devices: Physical features designed for a specific road and traffic condition. These may include chicane, bulbed corners, landscaping, “Boulevard” design, speed bumps, and passive speed control devices. Traffic Counts: Number of vehicles observed s they pass by a manual count station or recorded as they cross an automatic counting device on a street or highway over a given time period. Transfer of Development Rights: A voluntary program that allows individuals to purchase and sell residential development credits from lands that provide a public benefit. The TDR program uses sending and receiving sites to redirect urban growth to the desired areas. Transit: Public transportation. Transitional Areas Overlay District: Area located between Residential (LDR, HDR) and Commercial (IC, IMU, DC, NB) and/or Industrial (EP-1, EP-2) zoning. The transitional area includes the 150-feet extending from the boundary of parcels located between incompatible zoning districts or from the edge of the right of way located between incompatible zoning districts. Where adjoining parcels that are less than 150-feet dimensionally and satisfy all of the performance standards for incompatibilities, there is no need for other parcels within the 150-foot area and not adjoining the incompatible boundary to meet the same performance standard. Transportation Demand Management (TDM): Refers to developing policies plus public and private programs to manage the demand placed on transportation supply. TDM measures are frequently directed toward increasing the use of transit and carpools. Treatment Plant: Facility that provides either primary or secondary treatment of wastewater before discharge into receiving water. UGA: See Urban Growth Area. Uniform Building Code (UBC): A book containing standards and regulations pertaining to the construction of buildings adopted by the North Bend. Unincorporated Islands: Refers to those land areas not currently in the city limits but are surrounded by the city. Unincorporated King County: Areas outside any city and under King County’s jurisdiction. Urban Growth Area (UGA): As enacted by the GMA, they are areas within which urban growth shall be encouraged and outside of which growth can occur only if it is not urban in nature.
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Urban Separator Overlay Zone: Corridors of land that define community or municipal identities and boundaries, provide visual breaks in the urban landscape, and link parks and open space within and outside the Urban Growth Area. These urban corridors should link parks and other lands that contain significant environmentally sensitive features, provide wildlife habitat or critical resource protection, contain defining physical features, or contain historic resources. The residential density for land so designated should be maintained at one unit per acre. Utilities Plan Element: A required element of the Comprehensive Plan addressing location and capacities of all existing and proposed utilities. Vehicle Capacity: The number of motor vehicles a highway or road is designed to carry over a given period of time at a given level-of-service. Vernacular: Describes the character, style, architecture, or language peculiar to a region. Very Low-Income Households: Households whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median income for the area. View Corridor: Describes a scenic vista. Village Green: A centrally located, community owned open space area. According to historic settlement patterns, a village green is a community shared pasture in a central location. Also called a town commons. Vision Plan: A. Nelessen Associates produced a document outlining the visual preferences of North Bend residents and recommending strategies for implementation. Watershed: The geographic region within which water drains into a particular river, stream, or body of water. A watershed includes hills, lowlands, and the body of water into which the land drains. WRIA - Water Resource Inventory Areas: Major watershed basins designated by the State of Washington Department of Ecology. North Bend is located in the Snoqualmie Branch of the Snohomish River Basin WIRA # 7. The presence of plant associations of infrequent occurrence. These include, but are not limited to, mature forested communities and bog systems. Category 2 Wetlands: Wetlands which do not meet the criteria for Category 1 wetlands, and: Are greater than 2,500 square feet in size and have the presence of heron rookeries or raptor nesting trees, or; Are greater than 1 acre in size and have either three or more wetland classes, or have a forested wetland class. Category 3 Wetlands: Wetlands that do not meet the criteria of Category 1, 2 or 4 wetlands. Category 4 Wetlands: Wetlands that do not meet the criteria of Category 1, 2 or 3 wetlands, and: Isolated wetlands that are less than equal to one acre and have only one wetland class which has Wetlands: An area inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that, under normal circumstances, does support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as hydrophytic vegetation. Also, see Streams. King County Wetlands Inventory, 1983 assigns wetlands to four different categories. Category 1 Wetlands: Wetlands assigned the Unique/Outstanding #1 rating in the King County Wetlands Inventory, 1983; or wetlands which meet the following criteria: The presence of species listed by the federal government or state as endangered or threatened, or the presence of critical or outstanding actual habitat for those species; or Wetlands having 40 to 60 percent permanent open water in dispersed patches with two or more classes of vegetation; or Wetlands equal to or greater than 10 acres in size and having three or more wetland classes, one of which is open water; or
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only one dominant plant species (monotypic vegetation); or Isolated wetlands that are less than or equal to two acres and have only one wetland class which is dominated by exotic species. Wetlands Inventory: A 1991 document formally identifying the location and type of most wetlands in the UGA; includes a map and definitions. Zero Lot Line Development: A siting technique that allows single-family houses to be built along one lot line. This helps to preserve privacy and usable yard space, especially in small-lot areas. Variations include angled “Z-lots,” alternative width lots, “zipper-lots,” and shared lot lines, which give the appearance of a duplex. Zoning Classification: A method of assigning a body of regulations to an area to ensure a type of growth that protects, preserves or enhances the area through the designation of allowed uses, building placement and lot size. Zoning Code: An element of the Development Regulations that describe land use standards and regulations. Zoning Incentive: A planning technique granting additional development capacity in exchange for the developer’s provision of a public benefit or amenity. Zoning Ordinance: A set of land use regulations enacted by the City to create districts within which the type, location, density, bulk, height, and lot coverage of land uses are restricted. Zoning Map: The official Land Use Map that classifies all land within the city with on of the land use zoning classifications.
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