Legal, Infrastructure, Circulation, Mapping Flashcards
Additional Rights which deals with or pertains to the land, but is not necessarily a part of it. Examples include right of way or a buildings. Is carried with the land when it is sold
Appurtenance
Process by which an unincorporated area joints an adjacent city
Annexation
Group that considers variances to planning ordinances for specific developments.
Board of Adjustment
Includes all components of a building that enclose conditioned space.
Building Envelope
Land or water designed to separate one use from another
Buffer Zone
The grouping of a particular development’s residential structures on a portion of available land, reserving a significant amount of the site as a protected open space.
Generally designated for areas that would benefit from increased open space and high concentrations of density
Cluster Development / Housing
Streets Designed and Operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motor vehicle drivers, and transit riders of all ages and abilities.
Complete Streets
The central organizing document for planning a community
A strategic framework generally used to anticipate future growth of development. Not a legally binding document. Can be amended as needed.
A statement of development policies; includes diagrams and text setting forth objectives, principles, standards, and plan proposals. Required of every county and city.
Legal document governing physical growth and change in a community. Long-term policy framework. Reviewed and revised on a regular basis
Comprehensive Plan / General Plan
Needed services must be in place or planned for before new development may be approved
Concurrency / Phased Development Controls
Grants the right of a person, government agency, or public utility company to use public or private land owned by another for a specific purpose, such as access to power lines
Enforced by the grantee.
Landowner’s use within this area is restricted only if such use interferes with the use of the grantee.
Easement
The taking (with due compensation) of private land by a government agency for public good
Eminent Domain
An unauthorized invasion or intrusion of a fixture or other real property on another’s property. Often permits are issued for temporary encroachments for construction purposes.
Encroachment
Land including accessory buildings and structures used for the removal, refinement, and or processes of raw material resources.
Extractive Use
Government agency that maps and sets national standards for development in flood prone areas
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
A lot which has a narrow access strip connected to a public street or right of way. Contains a driveway
Flag Lot
A ratio of the gross floor area of a building to the total area of the site.
Floor Area Ratio
A linear measurement along the front of a property
Frontage
A band of countryside surrounding a town, development, or neighborhood on which building is generally prohibited
Greenbelt
Total floor area contained within a building envelope. How this is calculated may vary around the world.
Gross Floor Area (GFA)
Regulations that increase housing choice by establishing requirements and providing incentives for constructing a wide variety of housing types.
Inclusionary Zoning
Developing smaller vacant parcels of land in urban areas that had been previously passed over for development.
Infill
The basic facilities that serve a community, such as streets and highways, schools, water, sewer, storm drainage
Infrastructure
Used by municipalities (through police powers) as a means of controlling density of development, flood impact, land use, parking requirements, and setback + height requirements. They DO NOT govern life-safety requirements or project costs
A written regulation that defines how property in a specific geographic zone may be used, including land uses and lot sizes as well as structure height, bulk, and placement. Can be amended as needed.
Usually defines permitted rate of density in ‘dwelling units per acre’
Zoning Ordinance
Examples of typ. land use types outlined in a zoning ordinance
residential commercial industrial mixed use recreation open space wetland
Law adopted by state / local gov. that establish minimum design standards to protect human health, safety, and welfare. (examples: fire, building design, seismic)
Applies to construction, erection, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, improvement, removing, conversion, demolition, and use / occupancy of all buildings and structures.
Building Code
Sets national standards for access to buildings, facilities, parks, etc. for individuals with disabilities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act
The legal process by which a governmental body exercises its right of “eminent domain” to acquire private property for public uses, such as redevelopment or highways. Usually occurs when a property is deemed unfit (various reasons). May occur if a negotiated sale is unable to be agreed upon.
Condemnation
A comprehensive, long-range site plan for a project that includes multiple land uses and / or is expected to be developed in phases. Another term for “specific plan”
Master Plan
Established a policy for clean air, water, and the protection of natural resources.
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act of 1970)
The total square footage of occupied area of a building
Net Flood Area
Any use which does not conform to the use regulations of the Zoning Ordinance for the zone in which it is located.
Non-Conforming Use
Refers to the type of use of the building - as used in Building Codes
Occupancy
Laws passed by local government which support the General or Comprehensive Plan
Ordinances
A project or subdivision that consists of common property and improvements (varied and complementary land uses) that are owner and maintained by an owner’s association for the benefit and use of the individual units within the project. The owner’s association must require automatic, non-severable membership for each individual unit owner, and provide mandatory assessments. Zoning is not a basis for classifying a project or subdivision as this type.
Planned Unit Development (PUD)
Land and its permanently affixed buildings or structures.
Real Property
An agreement restricting the use of real property which is attached to the conveyance (deed) and which is binding on subsequent purchasers of the property.
Restriction on the right to use land that applies to the owner of the property.
Restrictive Covenant
A tract of land, usually consisting of a series of connected parcels, that is used for the operation of a public utility.
Right-of-Way
The right of an owner to the use and enjoyment of water which flows across or along their land. It includes a right to install piers, boat houses, other waterfront access.
Riparian Rights
A required minimum horizontal distance between a structure and the related front, side, or rear property line
Setback
A means to allow an applicant for a development permit to alleviate a hardship that is inherent in a piece of land
A deviation from current zoning requirements. Does not constitute a change in zoning law, only a waiver from the ordinance requirements.
Variance / Zoning Variance
Most popular / common housing type in the US
Single Family Housing
Mainly relies on BMPs, planting, and other hydrologic techniques to manage stormwater. Often the goal is to keep all stormwater on site.
Low-Impact Development (LID)
A public works project typically within a Capital Improvement Plan. A zone with specified properties - (rural __, utilities __)
Local Improvement District (LID)
Section
1 sq mile = 640 acres = 260 hectares
When describing a parcel within a section and township the order is small to large - “ Lot 2 is the SE ¼ of the SW ¼ of Section 14”
Section Numbering
06 05 04 03 02 01 07 08 09 10 11 12 18 17 16 15 14 13 19 20 21 22 23 24 30 29 28 27 26 25 31 32 33 34 35 36
Township (aka survey township / congressional township)
36 square miles = 6 x 6 sections = 23,040 acres
Located off of a baseline (horz., N/S) and meridian (vert - E/W Range)
A document that maps ecological and cultural resources such as forests, floodplains, farmland, aquifers, and historic structures.
Community Resource Inventories
Linetype used to indicate a ridge or watershed boundary on plans
__ . __ . __ . __ (dash-dot-dash)
Linetype used to indicate a property line
__ .. __ .. __ .. __ (dash-dot dot-dash)
A survey technique that uses of observed height of a 6FT tall object to infer HORZ DISTANCE.
A way of determining DISTANCE based on the height of observation of a 6ft object. NOT used to survey a site boundary.
Stadia Measurement
Outlines city services to be repaired, expanded, or otherwise upgraded.
Capital Improvements Program
Ratio Method (to describe slopes)
RISE : RUN
Describes a slope as a ratio between the horizontal distance that a slope travels FOR EVERY ONE FOOT of vertical elevation.
e.g. 1:12 = 8.33%
A survey technique that describes an area of land by means of a series of connected lines. May be either open or closed depending on what is being surveyed. Roads are typically “open” while property boundaries are “closed”
Traverse / Traversing
The act of determining the ELEVATIONS of certain points / arbitrary points. A technique used to determine a site’s topography.
Leveling
A process for taking vertical measurements. Typically used on extremely hilly sites
Chaining (in survey)
Quadrangle
24 x 24 miles; usually 16 townships
Would show topography, streams / waterbodies, townships, range, sections, and new construction since last printing (purple)
A point of reference by which something can be measured
Benchmark
The process by which a surveyor references a known point, such as a benchmark point on a curb, a building floor elevation, etc. The point to which the survey backchecks is known as a benchmark.
Backsiting
The process surveyors use to determine a new point and elevation wen they are looking through the instrument.
Foresiting
Hierarchy of roads
Arterial > Collector > Local > Cul-de-sac
Arterial Road = provides for large volumes of traffic to flow w/ minimal stops
Collector Road = road that gathers traffic from several local roads and directs traffic toward arterials
Local Road = most commonly associated with residential streets
Cul-de-sacs = a residential street with very limited traffic volume
Tree-lined street
Boulevard
Used to determine the location of vehicular access points and take into account visibility, location of the proposed access point, its relationship to other existing access points, and the speed and volume of traffic flowing along the proposed point of access.
Sight Distance Studies
An assessment performed by an environmental professional that includes 3 tasks: interviews and site reconnaissance, review and interpretation of information, and oversight of the report writing process. Consists of the following 4 components
A more thorough review of records
A site visit
Interviews with the owner and / or operator of the property
Report documentation
Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)
Gross Density
The number of units divided by the total site area. Expressed in dwelling units per acre (DU/ac).
(no. of allowable units) x Total Area x % developable land
———————————————————————
Total Area
Net Density
The amount of dwelling units divided by the developable site acreage and is expressed in dwelling units per acre (DU/ac).
(no. of allowable units) x Total Area x % developable land
—————————————————————————
Total Area x % developable
Used to locate building and land in order to establish or determine their worth
Typically includes: lot line location and dimension, lot numbers, road and street right of way, street names, utility and other easements
Assessor’s Map
In agrarian areas, planning tool that allows for land to be preserved as open space and may allow for future recreation. Limits land development.
Farmland preservation plans
An official revision to the currently effective FEMA map. It is used to change flood elevations, flood zones, floodplain, and floodway delineations and planimetric features.
Letter of Map Revision (LOMR)
A detailed survey performed by a registered licensed surveyor, prepared in accordance with the standards specified by the American Land Title Association.
Typically contains boundation information, easements, rights of way, and other access information, flood zone classification, topography, and building locations, among other things.
ALTA Survey
Typical useful information on topographic surveys
1) Property lines w/ bearing and distances 2) Easements 3) Visible utility structures 4) Benchmark (markers) 5) Spot elevations 6) Tree diameter 7) Fences, walls, and other construction site features
Serves as a set of common points of reference generally relevant to all plan sheets. Developed from a synthesis of information from a variety of sources
Existing conditions (legal, topo, planting, built features, utilities, etc) and proposed conditions
Basemap
A regulatory tool that local governments may use to guide development in a localized area and to systematically implement the General Plan. More detailed development plan as compared to the General Plan. Will set forth goals, objectives, policies, and programs for development.Must be consistent with the General Plan. May be in map or text form
Specific Plan
Authority to regulate citizen behavior in order to promote the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
As it relates to development, this power covers: land use planning, zoning, subdivision, buliding regulations
General Plan will guide the exericise of this power through zoning and subdivision
Police Power
The authority to collect revenues and to spend $ to provide services, facilities, infrastructure
The General Plan guides the exercise of this power through the provision of capital facilities and improvements
Corporate Power
A strategic framework generally used to anticipate future growth of development. Not a legally binding document. Can be amended as needed.
Comprehensive Master Plan
A document drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. It gives the legal descriptions of pieces of real property by lot, street, and block number.
Plat map
Historic insurance maps used to trace past land uses.
Sanborn Map
Where the property owner agrees to take certain actions that benefit other parties (usually on adjacent parcels).
May continues to apply when land changes ownership if meets certain requirements
Affirmative Covenant
Building Code construction standards Landscape Architects need to comply with:
architecture Walls and steps Decks, patios, walkways Swimming pools and spas Fences, arbors, trellises Drainage systems and structures Fountains and water features Irrigation systems Site lighting
A triangle at an intersection, formed by the two roads or rights-of-way and a third line, which must be kept clear of obstructions such as hedges so that people in one road can see cars approaching on the other.
Site Line Triangles
Spatial analysis mapping technique that takes a site feature / characteristic, breaks it into categories w/ assigned values, and overlays it on a map with other features / characteristics similarly classed
Overlay Mapping
A spatial analysis mapping technique that isolates and reveals a single feature (e.g. all slopes between 2-10%)
Used in combination with ‘buffering’
Single Attribute Analysis / Partitioning
USGS 7.5 minute map scape
1:24,000
A risk assessment used in planning and feasibility stages of real estate development. Assessments are used to evaluate all types of property for conditions that are indicative of possible environmental contamination.
Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)
First step of an environmental site assessment
Cursory site screening performed by an individual with knowledge of the land or real estate or site design (not an environmental professional) following checklists available from ASTM.
The outcome may be a recommendation to conduct a Phase 1 ESA
Transaction Screen
Assessment (made by an environmental professional) that identifies indications of recognized environmental conditions. Limited to information available through public sources, interviews, or firsthand observation (to keep costs down). Allows buyer / lender to determine whether there is an INDICATION of contamination or increased risk.
Often required by lenders as a minimum acceptable level of investigation
Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment
Assessment (made by an environmental professional) that identifies indications of recognized environmental conditions which includes SAMPLES and TESTING
Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment
