Amenity Package: A set of additional requirements designed to significantly improve the livability of a project which, if included in a project, allows a bonus density increase. Annexation: The process by which a municipality or other governing authority absorbs surrounding land and brings it under its jurisdiction.
Arterial Streets Classification Policy: A policy adopted by City Council in June 1977, which defines the transportation uses and level of activities on city streets.
Auto-oriented Land Uses: Functional activities of two types: 1) those which are auto-related (such as gas stations and auto repair shops); and 2) those which by their design attract primarily customers and employees arriving by automobile (such as drive-in restaurants).
Baker v. City of Milwaukie: A landmark zoning decision in Oregon which found that the comprehensive plan, whether adopted by ordinance or resolution, is the controlling document regulating land uses and that the zoning ordinance must be consistent with the principles and specifications established therein.
Building Codes: Legislative regulations that prescribe the materials, requirements and methods to be used in the construction, rehabilitation, maintenance and repair of buildings. Several national building codes have been established for adoption by individual states. Oregon has adopted the Uniform Building Code (UBC), developed by the International Conference of Building Officials.
Bureau of Planning: The professional staff responsible for providing the Portland Planning Commission with the research and information necessary for the Commission's recommendations to the Portland City Council.
Capital Improvements Program (CIP): A five-year program to identify improvement projects which may result in a major expenditure of public funds for such facilities as sewers, streets and parks.
Center: A medium- to high-density concentration of apartment and/or commercial land uses.
Central Business District (CBD): The business code of a city which contains the major concentration of retail, office and service functions.
Citizen Involvement: A term used to describe citizen participation. LCDC Goal 1 requires that citizens be involved in all phases of the comprehensive planning process.
Columbia Region Association of Governments (CRAG): The regional planning agency whose functions were merged into the reorganized Metropolitan Service District (Metro).
Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI): An advisory board of citizens responsible for designing and evaluating citizen involvement opportunities in the comprehensive planning process.
Community Development: Activities and programs designed to strengthen the physical, social and economic conditions of an area with a view toward making it a more healthful, prosperous and gratifying place to live. The City of Portland receives federal funds for community development through the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
Conditional Use: A use only permitted when certain conditions governing the development are established. Schools, churches and hospitals are common conditional uses in residential zones.
Corridor: A three- to five-block wide area running along the length of a major transit street which is designated for medium density apartment and commercial land uses.
Cumulative Zoning: A system for zoning that begins with a low-intensity land use, such as a large-lot, single-family detached home and permits more intensive uses with each step up the ladder. At each step of the ladder not only are the uses for that step allowed but so are the uses for the steps below. The most intense zone, at the top of the ladder, would permit all uses below. Portland's Zoning Code is generally cumulative, some exceptions are found in the most intense zones.
Density: The average number of persons, households or dwellings per acre of land.
Downzoning: A change from the current zoning classification of land to reduce the intensity or density of development permitted. The opposite is upzoning.
Drainageway: An open linear depression, whether manmade or natural, for the collection and drainage of surface water. It may be permanently or temporarily inundated. 109
Ecologically and Scientifically Significant Natural Areas: Land and water that has substantially retained its natural character but is not necessarily completely natural or undisturbed, which is significant for historical, scientific, paleontological or natural features. 110
Effluent: Discharged sewage.
Fasano v. Washington County Board of Commissioners: A landmark zoning decision in Oregon which found that:
Floodplain: Areas which are dry in some seasons but inundated when heavy rain, snow melt, tide, increased rate of surface runoff or other conditions cause streams or rivers to overflow their normal channels. A 100-year floodplain is an area that would be submerged by a flood likely to occur once every 100 years. Federal Insurance Administration has declared that 100-year floodplain areas require special controls. Standards for development in 100-year floodplains, which are specified in the federal Flood Hazard Insurance Act, must be met for a jurisdiction to qualify for federal flood insurance assistance.
Floodway: The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land area that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot. The actual floodway boundaries are computer-activated and approximate. These boundaries are depicted on the Floodway Map. Boundaries for other water courses may be subject to identification by the Sewage System Administrator. The width of the floodway for unidentified water courses should not be less than 15 feet. 112
Flood Desynchronization: Modification of the timing of stormwater runoff from various parts of a watershed through water retention, detention or other means which will result in a decrease in flood elevations. 113
Floor Area Ration (FAR): A method for determining the maximum gross floor area permitted for all buildings or building on a given site through the use of an assigned ratio. For example, given a ration of 6:1 on a downtown city block of 40,000 square feet, the maximum floor area permitted would be 240,000 square feet. This might translate into a 30-story apartment building with each floor containing 8,000 square feet.
Groundwater Sensitive Areas: Areas from which groundwater is replenished and the flow enables contaminants to be carried into aquifers (aquifer recharge areas), or areas of an aquifer in which the groundwater level and flow characteristics are influenced by the withdrawal of groundwater (areas of influence). 114
Hazardous Substances: Substances which could threaten human health, as are described in City Code §33.455.125, Use of Hazardous Materials and in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Federal Register 40 CFR 261.33) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (Federal Register 40 CFR Part 302, Table 302.4). 115
Historic District: An area containing a number of lots, blocks and buildings that has special historical, architectural or cultural significance as part of the heritage of the city. In Portland, these districts are identified by the Historical Landmarks Commission.
Impervious Surface: Solid surfaces, such as streets, parking lots and roofs, which prevent the absorption of rain into the soil, thereby increasing the amount of stormwater runoff.
Incubator Industry: A recently-formed small industrial business which is not yet well established.
Infill: Infill development is the construction on scattered vacant lots in developed neighborhoods as opposed to building on large parcels of vacant land in relatively undeveloped areas.
Infrastructure: The utilities and basic services, such as roads and sewers, essential for the development, operation and growth of a city.
Intensity: The type or level of such things as traffic, pedestrian activity, number and height of structures or noise generated by a land use. The more activity, the greater the intensity of use.
Interceptor: Large sewer pipes that divert the flow of sewage from entering a river or creek and carry it to a treatment facility.
Labor-intensive: A business or industry employing a high number of people per acre.
Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC): A state agency empowered by Oregon State legislation to establish and enforce state-wide planning goals and guidelines and coordinate land use planning for the state of Oregon. LCDC has established goals in 19 substantive areas which are binding on local governments throughout the state. Each goal is accompanied by a set of guidelines listing the suggested directions which would aid local governments in achieving the goals.
Land Use: The way in which land is used. Land use is generally described in terms of such things as the size of the lot, the size and location of the structure on the lot and the activities that take place within the structure. Activities not directly associated with land, such as housing construction, population growth, traffic flow and job development are influenced by the way land is used.
Local Improvement District (LID): A system whereby adjacent and benefiting property owners share in the expense of public improvements.
Major Traffic Street: A city street which is intended to serve as a principal route for movement of traffic to and within major areas of the city.
Manufactured Housing: Housing, such as mobile homes, that is shipped to the site either as a completed unit or as a number of complete sections or rooms which can be joined on-site with a minimum of effort.
Metropolitan Service District (Metro): A directly-elected regional government, the first of its kind in the nation, responsible for metropolitan aspects of land use planning and other regional services.
Mitigate: To rectify, repair or compensate for impacts which result from other actions. 116
Nonconforming Use: A building or use that in inconsistent with the zoning regulations. If erected before the enactment of the regulations, it may continue its use, but a new nonconforming or different nonconforming use may not be substituted. Most zoning ordinances prohibit the enlargement of a nonconforming use. Many ordinances permit the rebuilding of the nonconforming premises when destroyed by fire. Once the use is abandoned, however, the right to its restoration is lost and the future use of the premises must conform to the zoning.
Office of Neighborhood Associations: A City of Portland bureau which provides assistance in developing organizations and information exchange within the city network of neighborhood associations.
Overlay Zones: Overlay zones a special "supplementary" restrictions on the use of land beyond the requirements in the underlying zone. A parcel of land may have more than one overlay zone.
Plat: A map or chart of a city, town section or subdivision, indicating the location and boundaries of individual properties.
Portland City Council: The City Council is composed of the Mayor and four Commissioners. This body is responsible for adopting Portland's Comprehensive Plan after a series of public hearings.
Portland City Planning Commission: The Planning Commission is composed of nine citizen members appointed by the Mayor and approved by City Council. The Commission's role is advisory to the City Council.
Portland Metropolitan Region: The urban portions of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington and Clark counties.
Principal Use: The main purpose for which land or a building is designated or occupied.
Purveyor: A city or district responsible for the supply of a product or service. In this document, a city or district engaged in supplying water.
Resource Enhancement: Modification of a natural resource or resources to improve the quality or quantity of the resource and resource values. It can include actions that result in increased animal and plant species, increased numbers of types of natural habitat and/or increased amount of area devoted to natural habitat. It may also include improvements in scenic views and sites, increased capacity for stormwater detention or other improvements to resource values. 117
Riparian Areas: Lands which are adjacent to rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and other water bodies. They are transitional between aquatic and upland zones, and as such, contain elements of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They have high water tables because of their close proximity to aquatic systems, soils which are usually largely of water-carried sediments and some vegetation that requires free (unbound) water or conditions that are more moist than normal. 118
Rowhouses: Single-family houses built on narrow lots and without side yards. These houses are built to the property line without any space between them and so when seen, can give the impression of a row of houses.
Short Tons: An amount equal to 2,000 pounds. The term's use in this document refers to the volume of air pollutants.
Sound Transmission Classification (STC): A measure that is equal to the number of decibels (dB) a sound is reduced as it passes through material. Decibels are a statistical measure of sound or vibrations in the air.
Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA): A U.S. Census Bureau term describing a geographic area consisting of one or more cities of 50,000 population or more and the contiguous counties which are economically and socially integrated with the county containing the central city. Portland is the central city for the SMSA consisting of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
Stormwater Runoff: The water which is not absorbed into the ground during and after a storm which then flows over the land.
Subdivision: The process of dividing a given area of land into sites, blocks or lots with streets or roads and open spaces; also, an area so divided.
Transit-oriented Land Uses: Activities which by their design attract, or have the potential to attract, a significant proportion of customers and employees by means of transit, bicycle or pedestrian modes. Such land uses have a lower demand for parking than auto-oriented land uses.
Uniform Building Code: See: Building Codes
Uplands: Lands not characterized by the presence of riparian areas, water bodies or wetlands. 119
Upzoning: A change from the current zoning classification of land to increase the intensity or density of development permitted. The opposite is downzoning.
Urban Growth Boundary: A line which delineates the future development of the urban area. Within the boundary, all the facilities and services necessary for urban development will be provided; outside the boundary, service extensions will be restricted and development restricted in intensity. The LCDC goal on urbanization requires that all incorporated cities in Oregon establish such urban growth boundaries.
Water Bodies: Permanently or temporarily flooded lands which may lie below the deepwater boundary of wetlands. Water depth is such that water, and not the air, is the principal medium in which prevalent organisms live, whether or not they are attached to the bottom. The bottom may sometimes be considered nonsoil or the water may be too deep or otherwise unable to support emergent vegetation. Water bodies include rivers, streams, creeks, sloughs, drainageways, lakes and ponds. 120
Wetland: An area that is inundated or saturated by surface or ground water 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. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. 121
Variance and Adjustment: The granting of relief from the terms or conditions of a building or zoning law by a public agency vested with the power to authorize it. The granters of a variance usually require a showing that the controlling zoning regulations inflict a special hardship on the owner of the property in question. An example is where conformance to depth or width standards applied to an odd-shaped lot would prevent the owner from placing a home on his or her property unless the variance were granted. Portland's new zoning code (adopted in 1990 and effective on January 1, 1991) eliminated variances. Exceptions to development standards are allowed through an adjustment process. Adjustments differ from variances in that they may be granted when the proposed development meets the purpose of the provision to which an adjustment is requested. A showing of hardship is not required for an adjustment.
Zoning: In general, the demarcation of a city by ordinance into zones and the establishment of regulations to govern the use of the land and the location, bulk, height, shape, use and coverage of structures within each zone.
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