For the purpose of this title, certain terms and words are defined in this section. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular tense shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; the word “shall” is always mandatory, and the word “may” denotes a use of discretion.
“Access” means a means of approaching, entering and leaving a property, providing for the vested rights of an owner or lessee of land ingress and egress to and from the property to and from a public street or road.
“Access road” means a privately held and maintained unobstructed way of specified width containing a drive or round way which provides vehicular access within a manufactured home park.
“Active solar energy systems” means a system which collects the sun’s radiation in a specially designed structure or device for heating air, water or another liquid medium which is hydraulically/mechanically delivered to the point of use for space and/or water heating or is stored for future use. Pumps, piping, thermostats, fans and other devices characterize an active system. See “solar energy system.”
“Actual cost of inspection” means the cost, including overhead, to the department of public works supervisor or his designee of inspecting subdivision improvements.
“Administrator” means the director of public works or their designee.
“Alley” means a passage or way, open to public travel and dedicated to public use, affording a secondary access to lots at their side or rear lot lines and not intended for general traffic circulation.
“APWA specifications” means the current edition of the “Standard Specifications for Municipal Public Works Construction” of the Washington Chapter of the American Public Works Association, as may be amended and except as superseded by standards adopted by the city.
“As-built drawings or plans” means revised construction plans in accordance with all approved field changes reflecting the improvements on the site as they actually exist.
“Block” means a well-defined parcel of land bounded on all sides by streets, railroad right-of-way, physical barriers such as watercourses, public or common parks or open space, unsubdivided acreage, or a combination thereof and not traversed by a through street.
“Boundary line adjustment” means a change in the location of lot lines which does not result in an increase in the number of lots contained therein and conforms to the standards set forth in Chapter 16.14 KMC.
“Buffer strip” means a landscaped strip of land at least ten feet in width providing visual separation.
“Building site” means a parcel of land occupied or intended to be occupied by one main building and its accessory buildings, together with all of the required yards, open space and setbacks.
“City” means Kalama, Washington.
“City planner” means the Kalama city planner.
“Clearing” means removal of trees, snags, brush, rubbish and any structures not intended for use in a subdivision.
“Collector street” means a street that collects and distributes traffic within an area or neighborhood to the arterial system. It may supply access to abutting property but access should be minimized and may be restricted if other access from local streets is available. Collector streets are given priority over local streets in any traffic control installations. Streets providing egress from a subdivision to connecting streets outside are generally collectors.
“Commission” means the planning commission of the city of Kalama.
“Common land” means a parcel or parcels or land reserved primarily for the leisure and recreational use of subdivision residents and owned and maintained in common by them, generally through a property owners’ association.
Common Open Space. See “Common land.”
“Complete application” means the elements required in Section 16.32.020(A) of this title to be submitted before the planning commission will consider a preliminary plat. “Comprehensive plan” means a coordinated plan for the physical development of the city, designating among other things, elements and programs to encourage the most appropriate use of land and to lessen congestion throughout the city in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare and promote efficiency and economy. For purposes of this chapter, the “comprehensive plan” is the text and map as adopted by the council and thereafter amended.
“Condominium subdivision” means a subdivision with co-ownership or cooperative ownership of common property as defined in Chapter 64.32 of the Revised Code of Washington.
“Contiguous common parcels” means land adjoining or touching other land at a common point and having a common owner, regardless of whether or not portions of the parcels have separate tax lot numbers, or were purchased in different sections, different government lots or are separated from each other by roads or rights-of-way, unless such roads and rights-of-way are improved and maintained by the city.
“Council” means the city council of the city of Kalama.
“Covenant” means a private legal restriction on the use of land, contained in the deed to a property or otherwise formally recorded.
“Cul-de-sac” means a local street closed at one end. Cul-de-sacs are required by this chapter to terminate in a turning circle for the safe and convenient reversal of traffic movement.
“Day” means the days that the office of the administrator is open for business, unless otherwise specified.
“Dedication” means the deliberate appropriation of land or improvements by the owner thereof for any general or public use. In making a dedication, the owner reserves to himself no other rights than are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the public uses to which the property has been devoted. The intention to dedicate shall be evidenced by the owner on the final plat, and the acceptance by the public shall be evidenced by the approval of such plat for filing by the city council.
Deed Restriction. See “Covenant.”
“Difficult development land” means land which the administrator has found to be environmentally sensitive or unsuitable for division due to flooding, bad drainage, steep slopes, slide areas and potential slide areas, rock formations, or other features likely to be harmful to the safety and general health of the future residents and adjacent land owners.
“Director” means the director of public works or their designee.
“Division of land” means any conveyance, not otherwise exempt or provided for in this chapter, which alters the legal description of any lot or parcel that was segregated and recorded prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter and shall include development of two or more building sites on an existing parcel.
“Dwelling unit” means a building or portion thereof providing complete housekeeping facilities for one family.
“Easement” means a written grant by a land owner to another person, the public or the public’s agencies authorizing use of a portion of land for a specified purpose or purposes.
“Engineer” means the director of public works or their designee.
“Environmental checklist” means the form required by WAC Chapter 197-10 to be filled out by the proponent of an action, as defined in WAC 197-10, before a threshold determination is made on the action’s environmental significance.
“Environmental impact statement (EIS)” means an environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to RCW Chapter 43.21C (the State Environmental Policy Act) and WAC Chapter 197-10 (Guidelines implementing the act).
“Final plat” means the final drawing and accurate representation of a subdivision showing lots, blocks, street and crosswalk rights-of-way, alleys, common areas, easements, dedications, distances, monuments, certificates of approval, and other matters specified in Chapter 16.48 of this title, prepared for filing for record with the county auditor.
“Final short plat” means the final drawing of the short subdivision, including dedication, prepared for filing for record with the Cowlitz county auditor and containing all the elements and requirements that are set forth in this chapter and regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
“Fire district representative” means a representative of fire district no. 5.
“Flag lot” means a lot which has access to a public right-of-way by means of a narrow strip of land, which is part of the lot.
“Flag stem” means that portion of a flag lot which connects a lot or a grouping of continuous small lots to a developed city street. A flag stem shall be a minimum of twelve and one-half feet wide, for a single-family residence and twenty feet wide for multiple-family dwellings.
“Grade” means the slope of a street or other public way, specified in percentage terms.
“Gross acreage” means the total acreage lying within the boundaries of the plat.
“Grubbing” means removal of stumps, roots, rocks and other material in the ground.
“Hearing examiner” means an individual that is appointed to hear and decide land use matters in accordance with the provisions set forth in Chapter 2.34 KMC.
“Homeowners’ association” means an incorporated organization operating under recorded agreement through which: (1) each lot owner is automatically a member; and (2) each lot is automatically subject to a proportionate share of the expenses for the organization’s activities, such as maintaining common property.
“IFC” means the International Fire Code.
“Improvements” means any structures, works or components thereof, including, but not limited to, streets, curbs, sidewalks, crosswalks, water and sanitary sewer lines and connections, drainage ditches, storm sewer systems, streetlight systems, landscaping, and electrical, gas, telephone and television lines, cables and appurtenant equipment.
“Integral curb and sidewalk” means an approach to construction and installation of curbs, sidewalks and underground utilities by which the sidewalk abuts the curb and the underground utilities are located outside the sidewalk abutting the lots.
“Kalama urban area” means the area within the urban sphere of influence as specified by the city under its adopted “urban services area program.”
“KMC” means the Kalama Municipal Code.
“Land surveyor” means a surveyor registered or licensed in the state of Washington.
“Loading” means the weight, as from structures, that a soil can hold before it shears or fails.
“Local street” means a street that serves primarily to provide access to abutting property, that offers the lowest level of traffic mobility of city street classes, and on which through-traffic is deliberately discouraged.
“Lot” means a fractional part of subdivided land having fixed boundaries, being of sufficient area and dimensions to meet minimum requirements of the zoning ordinance, and intended as a unit for transfer of ownership and occupancy by one principal use or structure. The term shall include tracts, parcels or building sites.
“Lot area” means the total horizontal area within the boundary lines of a lot.
“Lot of record” means a lot legally existing as of the date on which this title is adopted, which does not meet the applicable area, frontage, width or depth requirements of the subdivision and zoning ordinances.
“Major (primary) arterial” means a street for moving large volumes of intra-traffic, including traffic to and from the freeway-expressway system. Major arterials connect areas of high traffic generation within and around the city and provide links with important rural routes. Major arterials shall be as indicated on the street classification map maintained by the city.
“Manufactured home” is as defined by Title 17.
“Manufactured home park” means a tract of land under single ownership upon which multiple manufactured homes occupied as dwellings may be situated.
“Manufactured home space” means a plot of ground within a park designed for the accommodation of one manufactured home.
“Master plan” means the map showing the ultimate, intended development pattern of a parcel to be developed in successive phases of subdivision, prepared in conformance with Title 16.
“Minor (secondary) arterials” means a street that carries primarily through-traffic but has a secondary function of providing access to abutting property. Minor arterials offer less mobility and carry a lesser volume of traffic than major arterials as well as between major arterials. Minor arterials shall be as indicated on the street classification map maintained by the city.
“Off-site” means and refers to premises not located within the boundary of the property to be subdivided, regardless of whether it is owned by the applicant for subdivision approval.
“Open record hearing” is as defined by Chapter 15.10 KMC.
“Open space” means improved or unimproved area that is (1) designated and maintained for active or passive recreation, other activities normally carried on outdoors, visual buffering, or for preservation in a natural state because of natural assets or unsuitability for development, and (2) not covered by buildings, accessory structures, parking structures, parking lots, except that structures appropriate for the authorized recreational use of the open space used to conserve or enhance the amenities of the open space may be sited on the open space. Open space does not include street right-of-way, parking lots or yards in platted lots. Depending upon authorization by the city, open space may be owned either in common by and for the use of the subdivision residents or by a public agency through dedication to the public.
“Original tract” means a unit of land which the owner holds under single or unified ownership, or which the owner holds controlling interest on the effective date of the short subdivision ordinance codified in this chapter, as hereafter amended, configuration of which may be determined by the fact that all land abutting a tract is separately owned by others, not related to or associated by business partnership with the owner.
“Other security” means one of the methods or instruments other than a plat performance bond assuring completion of improvements and including a personal bond, letter of credit from a bank, certified or cashier’s check, and assignment of funds. Provision of such methods or instruments shall conform to Title 16.
“Owner” means the person or group of persons having legal title to the land sought to be subdivided or the contract purchaser, mortgagee or person or group of persons who controls a deed of trust as beneficiary or grantor if such interest controls disposition of the property to be subdivided.
“Parking space” means an area not less than nine feet by eighteen feet long designed to accommodate one vehicle.
“Passive solar energy system or design” means a system or design for space heating and cooling which uses the building itself for collection and storage of solar energy and relies primarily upon natural paths of warm and cool air flow for distribution. Collection is through south-facing windows and storage is in an interior inanimate mass such as a concrete and tile floor, concrete and brick wall or water containers. See “Solar energy system.”
“Person” means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, unincorporated organization, trust or any other legal or commercial entity, including a joint venture, municipality, county or state agency.
“Planned unit development” means a type of subdivision characterized by a unified site design, clustering of buildings, provision of common open space, density increases, and a mix of building types and land uses and subject to Title 16.
“Planning commission” means the planning commission of the city of Kalama.
“Plat” means the map or representation of the subdivision showing thereon the division of a tract or parcel of land into more than four lots if any one of the divisions is less than five acres in size with blocks, streets, alleys and other divisions and dedications.
“Plat performance bond” means a form of security executed by a surety company authorized to transact business in the state of Washington, securing to the city the satisfactory completion of required improvements and fulfilling the requirements of Chapter 16.36 of this title.
“Preliminary plat” means a neat and approximate drawing of a proposed subdivision furnishing a basis for the approval, conditional approval, or disapproval of the proposed subdivision, showing lots, blocks, street and crosswalk rights-of-way, alleys, common open space, easements, dedications, and distances and conforming in detail to Title 16.
“Private road” means a particular ingress and egress in private ownership and used by the owner or those having an express or implied permission from the owner, but not other persons.
“Public hearing” means a duly advertised proceeding of the planning commission or city council, acting fairly and impartially and in accordance with law and adopted rules of procedure, at which persons affected by a proposed action have opportunity to appear to be heard, to present evidence or testimony, and to challenge opponents’ evidence or testimony.
“Public meeting” means a proceeding of the planning commission or city council, open to the public and held in conformance with state law, at which action is taken. Action means the transaction of official business, including but not limited to a collective decision made by a majority of the members of the body, a collective commitment or promise by a majority of the members of the body to make a positive or negative decision, or an actual vote by a majority of the members of the body when sitting as a body or entity.
“Public works standards” means the current edition of the adopted city of Kalama development guidelines and public works standards.
“PUD” means a planned unit development.
“Radius of curvature” means a term referring to the sharpness of a horizontal curve. For a street, the centerline radius of a simple curve is measured from the point of intersection of city lines drawn to the two points on the centerline where the curve begins and ends. The centerline radius or curvature is the length of either line so drawn.
“RCW” means the Revised Code of Washington.
“Resubdivision” means within an existing subdivision established under RCW Chapter 58.16 or 58.17, the division of an individual lot or parcel into any number of smaller lots or parcels for the purpose of sale or lease, the combining of lots, or the creation or extension of a street. Resubdivisions as herein defined do not require compliance with RCW Chapter 58.11 or 58.12.
“Right-of-way” means a strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, crosswalk, railroad, pipeline, power line, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main, shade trees, or for another special use. Rights-of-way are separate and distinct from the lots or parcels adjoining such right-of-way and are not included in the dimensions or areas of lots or parcels.
“Road” means the improved and maintained portion of a right-of-way which provides vehicular circulation, or principal means of access to abutting property.
“Secretary” means the secretary of the planning commission.
“SEPA” means the State Environmental Policy Act, as amended (RCW Chapter 43.21C).
“SEPA guidelines” means the state regulations interpreting and implementing the State Environmental Policy Act (WAC Chapter 197-10).
“Service building” means a structure housing toilet, lavatory, shower and such other facilities as may be required by these rules and regulations.
“Shear strength” means the maximum resistance of soil to shearing stresses. A shear test indicates the ability of a soil to hold after cutting.
“Short plat” means the map of the short subdivision.
“Short subdivision” means the division or redivision of land into four of fewer lots, tracts, sites, parcels or division, each of which is less than five acres in size.
“Significant tree” means an existing healthy tree which, when measured four feet above grade, has a minimum diameter of eight inches for evergreen trees, or twelve inches for deciduous trees.
“Site plan” means a drawing to scale specified by local ordinance and which:
1. Identifies and shows the areas and locations of all streets, roads, improvements, utilities, open spaces, and other matters specified by local regulations;
2. Contains inscriptions or attachment setting forth such appropriate limitations and conditions for the use of the land.
“Sketch plan” means a generalized map preparatory to a preliminary plat, prepared for review at a pre-application conference and showing the general layout of a prospective subdivision in conformance with this title.
“Slope” means a term referring to the steepness of terrain, expressed in percentage terms, and determined by dividing the vertical raise in elevation by the distance over which the rise occurs.
“Soil survey” means the “Soil Survey for the Cowlitz Area, Washington,” 1974, with 1979 update, prepared by the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Solar easement” means a right expressed as an easement, restriction, covenant or other written instrument executed by or on behalf of any landowner for the purpose of assuring adequate access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems (RCW 64.04.150(1)(b)). A solar easement allows a solar system owner to use the airspace above the southern neighbor’s property in order to receive uninterrupted sunlight for agreed upon times during the year.
“Stand” means that part of a manufactured home space reserved for the placement of the home.
“State Environmental Policy Act” means RCW Chapter 43.21C, as amended.
“Street” means for the purposes of this title, a public way that provides vehicular circulation or primary access to abutting properties, inclusive of arterials, collector streets and local streets and exclusive of alleys. Physically, a street is the improved and maintained portion of a right-of-way that is designed for vehicular use.
“Street classification system” means the categorization of street and alleys by the following classes: freeway or expressway, major (primary) arterial, minor (secondary) arterial, collector street, local street in multifamily housing areas, local street in single-family housing areas and alleys. Classification of any given street is based upon its location, present and prospective traffic volume, and relative importance and function. Additional guidelines on street classification are provided in the public works standards. Authority for determination of the class of a street shall rest with the public works director.
“Subdivider” means any person who files for approval of or who has undertaken a subdivision or resubdivision of land or one who has an interest in title to the land.
“Subdivision” means a division of or the act of dividing land into five or more lots, parcels, tracts or sites for the purpose of sale, lease or transfer of ownership and including resubdivision.
“Subdivision agent” means any person who represents or acts on behalf of a subdivider in selling, leasing or developing or offering to sell, lease or develop any interest, lot or parcel in a subdivision, except an attorney-at-law whose representation of another person consists solely of rendering legal service.
“Supervisor” means the department of public works supervisor of the city.
“The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)” means the State Environmental Policy Act as defined by RCW Chapter 43.21C as it now exists or is hereafter amended.
“Title” refers to Title 16 of the Kalama Municipal Code.
“WAC” means Washington Administrative Code.
“Zero lot line development” means for the purposes of this title, a development approach permitted in single-family detached dwellings in planned unit developments, in which a single-family detached dwelling is sited on one side lot line with no side yard provided. The intent is to allow for a housing design benefiting small lots and to increase the amount of usable space on a lot. The approach is subject to standards specified in this title. (Ord. 1211 § 2 (part), 2007).