Site Analysis Flashcards
Public Land Survey System and types of land division
The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is a way of subdividing and describing land in the United States. All lands in the public domain are subject to subdivision by this rectangular system of surveys, which is regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The PLSS typically divides land into 6-mile-square townships. Townships are subdivided into 36 one-mile- square sections. Sections can be further subdivided into quarter sections, quarter-quarter sections, or irregular government lots. Normally, a permanent monument, or marker, is placed at each section corner.
Easement
The right ot use another’s land for a specific purpose, or to prevent the land’s owner from using it for a particular purpose.
Types of Easements
- Utility
- Access (if there is no road, right to cross the property_
- Support (construction of common party wall)
- Joint Use (allow 2 or more owners to share a common feature like a driveway)
- Scenic (protect views and development in scenic areas)
- Conservation (limit land use in large areas)
Right of Way
Legal right of one party or the public to traverse land belonging to another (streets and sidewalks)
Restrictive Covenant
Limits on how a property owner can use or improve the property. Contained in the deed of the property.
Mill Levy
Property taxes expressed as a number of mills, or thousandths of a dollar, that are charged per $1000 of assessed value. Assessed property value is a % of actual land value (% fixed by taxing authority). Yearly Tax = (assessed land value x mill levy) / $1000
3 Ways to Assess Land Value
- market approach (similar properties cost)
- income approach (potential for property to earn a profit)
- cost approach (how much a property would cost to replace (meaning, rebuild) after subtracting accrued depreciation)
Ways to assess existing vegetation
- Look for second growth vegetation as indication of past activities
- Previous disturbance
- Quality of vegetation
- Presence of water-tolerant plants may indicate high water table or floods.
- Poor quality or stressed vegetation may indicate problematic soil or subsurface conditions.
Degree days
Degree days are measures of how cold or warm a location is. Adegree daycompares the mean (the average of the high and low) outdoor temperatures recorded for a location to a standard temperature, usually 65° Fahrenheit (F) in the United States. The more extreme the outside temperature, the higher the number of degree days. A high number of degree days generally results in higher levels of energy use for space heating or cooling.
Sensible heat
Sensible heat is the energy required to change the temperature of a substance with no phase change. The temperature change can come from the absorption of sunlight by the soil or the air itself. Or it can come from contact with the warmer air caused by release of latent heat (by direct conduction). Energy moves through the atmosphere using both latent and sensible heat acting on the atmosphere to drive the movement of air molecules which create wind and vertical motions.
Latent heat
Latent heat is the energy absorbed by or released from a substance during a phase change from a gas to a liquid or a solid or vice versa.
100 Year flood
Statistically 1 in 100 chance of a flood occuring in a given year (1% chance per year). NOT probability that flood will occur once in 100 years. Known as Base Flood for regulating 1st floor building elevation and for insurance purposes.
Special Flood Hazard Area
Area affected by a Base Flood (100 year floodplain). Determined by Base Flood Elevation for a particular area.
FIRM
Flood Insurance Rate Maps. Provided by FEMA based on analysis of previous soils maps, flood data and photos. More flood prone areas have detailed maps, and others have approximate maps.
Water table
Highest point groundwater rises.
