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Ridgeland City Zoning Code

ARTICLE 7

- DEFINITION OF TERMS

This Article provides definitions for terms in this Code that are technical in nature or that otherwise may not reflect a common usage of the term. If a term is not defined in this Article, then the CRC shall determine the correct definition. Items in italics refer to Articles, Sections, or Tables in the SmartCode.

A-Grid: Cumulatively, those Thoroughfares that by virtue of their pre-existing pedestrian-supportive qualities, or their future importance to pedestrian connectivity, are held to the highest standards prescribed by this Code. See B-Grid. (Syn: primary grid.) See Section 3.9.

Accessory Building: An Outbuilding with an Accessory Unit.

Accessory Unit: An Apartment not greater than 440 square feet sharing ownership and utility connections with a Principal Building; it may or may not be within an Outbuilding. See Table 6 and Table 12. (Syn: ancillary unit)

Adjusted Pedestrian Shed: A Pedestrian Shed that has been adjusted according to Section 3.2, creating the regulatory boundary of a Community Unit.

Affordable Housing: Dwellings consisting of rental or for-sale units that have a rent (including utilities) or mortgage payment typically no more than 30% of the income of families earning no more than 80% of median incomes by family size for the county. (Alt. definition: Rental or for-sale dwellings that are economically within the means of the starting salary of a local elementary school teacher.)

Allee: A regularly spaced and aligned row of trees usually planted along a Thoroughfare or Path.

Apartment: A Residential unit sharing a building and a Lot with other units and/or uses; may be for rent, or for sale as a condominium.

Arcade: A Private Frontage conventional for Retail use wherein the Facade is a colonnade supporting habitable space that overlaps the Sidewalk, while the Facade at Sidewalk level remains at the Frontage Line.

Attic: The interior part of a building contained within a pitched roof structure.

Avenue (AV): A Thoroughfare of high vehicular capacity and low to moderate speed, acting as a short distance connector between urban centers, and usually equipped with a landscaped median.

B-Grid: Cumulatively, those Thoroughfares that by virtue of their use, location, or absence of pre-existing pedestrian-supportive qualities, may meet a standard lower than that of the A-Grid. See A-Grid. (Syn: secondary grid)

BRT: See Bus Rapid Transit.

Backbuilding: A single-Story structure connecting a Principal Building to an Outbuilding. See Table 12.

Base Density: The number of dwelling units per acre before adjustment for other Functions and/or TDR. See Density.

Bed and Breakfast: An owner-occupied Lodging type offering 1 to 5 bedrooms, permitted to serve breakfast in the mornings to guests.

Bicycle Lane (BL): A dedicated lane for cycling within a moderate-speed vehicular Thoroughfare, demarcated by striping.

Bicycle Route (BR): A Thoroughfare suitable for the shared use of bicycles and automobiles moving at low speeds.

Bicycle Trail (BT): A bicycle way running independently of a vehicular Thoroughfare.

Block: The aggregate of private Lots, Passages, Rear Alleys and Rear Lanes, circumscribed by Thoroughfares.

Block Face: The aggregate of all the building Facades on one side of a Block.

Boulevard (BV): A Thoroughfare designed for high vehicular capacity and moderate speed, traversing an Urbanized area. Boulevards are usually equipped with Slip Roads buffering Sidewalks and buildings.

Brownfield: An area previously used primarily as an industrial site.

Bus Rapid Transit: A rubber tire system with its own right-of-way or dedicated lane along at least 70% of its route, providing transit service that is faster than a regular bus.

By Right: Characterizing a proposal or component of a proposal for a Community Plan or Building Scale Plan (Article 3, Article 4, or Article 5) that complies with the SmartCode and is permitted and processed administratively, without public hearing. See Warrant and Variance.

CLD or Clustered Land Development: A Community Unit type structured by a Standard Pedestrian Shed oriented toward a Common Destination such as a general store, Meeting Hall, schoolhouse, or church. CLD takes the form of a small settlement standing free in the countryside. See Table 1 and Table 10 a. (Syn: Hamlet, Conservation Land Development, cluster)

CRC: Consolidated Review Committee.

Civic: The term defining not-for-profit organizations dedicated to arts, culture, education, recreation, government, transit, and municipal parking.

Civic Building: A building operated by not-for-profit organizations dedicated to arts, culture, education, recreation, government, transit, and municipal parking, or for use approved by the legislative body.

Civic Parking Reserve: Parking Structure or parking lot within a quarter-mile of the site that it serves. See Section 5.9.2.

Civic Space: An outdoor area dedicated for public use. Civic Space types are defined by the combination of certain physical constants including the relationships among their intended use, their size, their landscaping and their Enfronting buildings. See Table 9.

Civic Zone: Designation for public sites dedicated for Civic Buildings and Civic Space.

Commercial: The term collectively defining workplace, Office, Retail, and Lodging Functions.

Common Destination: An area of focused community activity, usually defining the approximate center of a Pedestrian Shed. It may include without limitation one or more of the following: a Civic Space, a Civic Building, a Commercial center, or a transit station, and may act as the social center of a neighborhood.

Common Yard: A planted Private Frontage wherein the Facade is set back from the Frontage line. It is visually continuous with adjacent yards. See Table 4.

Community Unit: A regulatory category defining the physical form, Density, and extent of a settlement. The Community Unit types addressed in this Code are CLD and TND. Variants of TND (Article 4) are called Infill TND. The TOD Community Unit type may be created by an overlay on TND.

Configuration: The form of a building, based on its massing, Private Frontage, and height.

Consolidated Review Committee (CRC): Usually part of the Planning Office, a CRC is comprised of a representative from each of the various regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over the permitting of a project, as well as a representative of the Development and Design Center. See Section 1.4.3.

Corridor: A lineal geographic system incorporating transportation and/or Greenway trajectories. A transportation Corridor may be a lineal Transect Zone.

Cottage: An Edgeyard building type. A single-family dwelling, on a regular Lot, often shared with an Accessory Building in the back yard.

Courtyard Building: A building that occupies the boundaries of its Lot while internally defining one or more private patios. See Table 5.

Curb: The edge of the vehicular pavement that may be raised or flush to a Swale. It usually incorporates the drainage system. See Table 3A and Table 3B.

DDC: Development and Design Center.

Density: The number of dwelling units within a standard measure of land area.

Design Speed: Is the velocity at which a Thoroughfare tends to be driven without the constraints of signage or enforcement. There are four ranges of speed: Very Low: (below 20 MPH); Low: (20—25 MPH); Moderate: (25—35 MPH); High: (above 35 MPH). Lane width is determined by desired Design Speed.

Developable Areas: Lands other than those in the O-1 Preserved Open Sector.

Development and Design Center (DDC): A component of the Planning Office assigned to advise on the use of this Code and to aid in the design of the Communities and buildings based on it.

Disposition: The placement of a building on its Lot. See Table 5 and Table 12.

Dooryard: A Private Frontage type with a shallow Setback and front garden or patio, usually with a low wall at the Frontage Line. See Table 4. (Variant: Lightwell, light court.)

Drive: A Thoroughfare along the boundary between an Urbanized and a natural condition, usually along a waterfront, Park, or promontory. One side has the urban character of a Thoroughfare, with Sidewalk and building, while the other has the qualities of a Road or parkway, with naturalistic planting and rural details.

Driveway: A vehicular lane within a Lot, often leading to a garage. See Section 5.10.

Edgeyard Building: A building that occupies the center of its Lot with Setbacks on all sides. See Table 5.

Effective Parking: The amount of parking required for Mixed Use after adjustment by the Shared Parking Factor. See Table 8.

Effective Turning Radius: The measurement of the inside Turning Radius taking parked cars into account. See Table 12.

Elevation: An exterior wall of a building not along a Frontage Line. See Table 12. See: Facade.

Encroach: To break the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit with a structural element, so that it extends into a Setback, into the Public Frontage, or above a height limit.

Encroachment: Any structural element that breaks the plane of a vertical or horizontal regulatory limit, extending into a Setback, into the Public Frontage, or above a height limit.

Enfront: To place an element along a Frontage, as in "porches Enfront the street."

Estate House: An Edgeyard building type. A single-family dwelling on a very large Lot of rural character, often shared by one or more Accessory Buildings. (Syn: country house, villa)

Expression Line: A line prescribed at a certain level of a building for the major part of the width of a Facade, expressed by a variation in material or by a limited projection such as a molding or balcony. (Syn: transition line.)

Extension Line: A line prescribed at a certain level of a building for the major part of the width of a Facade, regulating the maximum height for an Encroachment by an Arcade Frontage.

Facade: The exterior wall of a building that is set along a Frontage Line. See Elevation.

Forecourt: A Private Frontage wherein a portion of the Facade is close to the Frontage Line and the central portion is set back. See Table 4.

Frontage: The area between a building Facade and the vehicular lanes, inclusive of its built and planted components. Frontage is divided into Private Frontage and Public Frontage. See Table 3A and Table 4.

Frontage Line: A Lot line bordering a Public Frontage. Facades facing Frontage Lines define the public realm and are therefore more regulated than the Elevations facing other Lot Lines. See Table 12.

Function: The use or uses accommodated by a building and its Lot, categorized as Restricted, Limited, or Open, according to the intensity of the use. See Table 6 and Table 8.

Gallery: A Private Frontage conventional for Retail use wherein the Facade is aligned close to the Frontage Line with an attached cantilevered shed or lightweight colonnade overlapping the Sidewalk. See Table 4.

GIS (Geographic Information System): A computerized program in widespread municipal use that organizes data on maps. The protocol for preparing a Regional Plan should be based on GIS information. See Section 2.1.

Green: A Civic Space type for unstructured recreation, spatially defined by landscaping rather than building Frontages. See Table 9.

Greenfield: An area that consists of open or wooded land or farmland that has not been previously developed.

Greenway: An Open Space Corridor in largely natural conditions which may include trails for bicycles and pedestrians.

Greyfield: An area previously used primarily as a parking lot. Shopping centers and shopping malls are typical Greyfield sites. (Variant: Grayfield.)

Growth Sector: One of four Sectors where development is permitted By Right in the SmartCode, three for New Communities and one for Infill. See Article 2.

Hamlet: See CLD. (Syn: cluster, settlement)

Highway: A rural and suburban Thoroughfare of high vehicular speed and capacity. This type is allocated to the more rural Transect Zones (T-1, T-2, and T-3).

Home Occupation: Non-Retail Commercial enterprises. The work quarters should be invisible from the Frontage, located either within the house or in an Outbuilding. Permitted activities are defined by the Restricted Office category. See Table 6.

House: An Edgeyard building type, usually a single-family dwelling on a large Lot, often shared with an Accessory Building in the back yard. (Syn: single)

Infill: Noun - New development on land that had been previously developed, including most Greyfield and Brownfield sites and cleared land within Urbanized areas. Verb - To develop such areas.

Infill TND: A Community Unit type within an Urbanized, Greyfield, or Brownfield area based on a Standard Pedestrian Shed and consisting of T-3, T-4, and/or T-5 Zones. An Infill TND is permitted By Right in the G-4 Infill Growth Sector and is regulated by Article 4. See Section 4.2.2. (Var: neighborhood)

Inn: A Lodging type, owner-occupied, offering 6 to 12 bedrooms, permitted to serve breakfast in the mornings to guests. See Table 6.

Layer: A range of depth of a Lot within which certain elements are permitted. See Table 12.

Lightwell: A Private Frontage type that is a below-grade entrance or recess designed to allow light into basements. See Table 4. (Syn: light court)

Linear Pedestrian Shed: A Pedestrian Shed that is elongated along an important Mixed Use Corridor such as a main street. A Linear Pedestrian Shed extends approximately ¼ mile from each side of the Corridor for the length of its Mixed Use portion. The resulting area is shaped like a lozenge. It may be used to structure a TND or Infill TND. (Syn: elongated pedestrian shed)

Liner Building: A building specifically designed to mask a parking lot or a Parking Structure from a Frontage.

Live-Work: A Mixed Use unit consisting of a Commercial and Residential Function. The Commercial Function may be anywhere in the unit. It is intended to be occupied by a business operator who lives in the same structure that contains the Commercial activity or industry.

Work-Live. (Syn.: flexhouse)

Lodging: Premises available for daily and weekly renting of bedrooms. See Table 6 and Table 8.

Long Pedestrian Shed: A Pedestrian Shed that is an average ½ mile radius or 2640 feet, used when a transit stop (bus or rail) is present or proposed as the Common Destination. A Long Pedestrian Shed represents approximately a ten-minute walk at a leisurely pace. It is applied to structure an RCD Community Unit type. See Pedestrian Shed.

Lot: A parcel of land accommodating a building or buildings of unified design. The size of a Lot is controlled by its width in order to determine the grain (i.e., fine grain or coarse grain) of the urban fabric.

Lot Line: The boundary that legally and geometrically demarcates a Lot.

Lot Width: The length of the Principal Frontage Line of a Lot.

Main Civic Space: The primary outdoor gathering place for a community. The Main Civic Space is often, but not always, associated with an important Civic Building.

Manufacturing: Premises available for the creation, assemblage and/or repair of artifacts, using table-mounted electrical machinery or artisanal equipment, and including their Retail sale.

Meeting Hall: A building available for gatherings, including conferences, that accommodates at least one room equivalent to a minimum of 10 square feet per projected dwelling unit within the Pedestrian Shed in which it is located.

Mixed Use: Multiple Functions within the same building through superimposition or adjacency, or in multiple buildings by adjacency, or at a proximity determined by Warrant.

Net Site Area: All developable land within a site including Thoroughfares but excluding land allocated as Civic Zones.

Network Pedestrian Shed: A Pedestrian Shed adjusted for average walk times along Thoroughfares. This type may be used to structure Infill Community Plans. See Table 12.

Office: Premises available for the transaction of general business but excluding Retail, artisanal and Manufacturing uses. See Table 6.

Open Space: Land intended to remain undeveloped; it may be for Civic Space.

Outbuilding: An Accessory Building, usually located toward the rear of the same Lot as a Principal Building, and sometimes connected to the Principal Building by a Backbuilding. See Table 12.

Park: A Civic Space type that is a natural preserve available for unstructured recreation. See Table 9.

Parking Structure: A building containing one or more Stories of parking above grade.

Passage (PS): A pedestrian connector, open or roofed, that passes between buildings to provide shortcuts through long Blocks and connect rear parking areas to Frontages.

Path (PT): A pedestrian way traversing a Park or rural area, with landscape matching the contiguous Open Space, ideally connecting directly with the urban Sidewalk network.

Pedestrian Shed: An area that is centered on a Common Destination. Its size is related to average walking distances for the applicable Community Unit type. Pedestrian Sheds are applied to structure Communities. See Standard, Long, Linear or Network Pedestrian Shed. (Syn: walkshed, walkable catchment)

Planter: The element of the Public Frontage which accommodates street trees, whether continuous or individual.

Plaza: A Civic Space type designed for Civic purposes and Commercial activities in the more urban Transect Zones, generally paved and spatially defined by building Frontages.

Principal Building: The main building on a Lot, usually located toward the Frontage. See Table 12.

Principal Entrance: The main point of access for pedestrians into a building.

Principal Frontage: On corner Lots, the Private Frontage designated to bear the address and Principal Entrance to the building, and the measure of minimum Lot width. Prescriptions for the parking Layers pertain only to the Principal Frontage. Prescriptions for the first Layer pertain to both Frontages of a corner Lot. See Frontage.

Private Frontage: The privately held Layer between the Frontage Line and the Principal Building Facade. See Table 2 and Table 12.

Public Frontage: The area between the Curb of the vehicular lanes and the Frontage Line. See Table 3A and Table 3B.

Rear Alley (RA): A vehicular way located to the rear of Lots providing access to service areas, parking, and Outbuildings and containing utility easements. Rear Alleys should be paved from building face to building face, with drainage by inverted crown at the center or with roll Curbs at the edges.

Rear Lane (RL): A vehicular way located to the rear of Lots providing access to service areas, parking, and Outbuildings and containing utility easements. Rear Lanes may be paved lightly to Driveway standards. The streetscape consists of gravel or landscaped edges, has no raised Curb, and is drained by percolation.

Rearyard Building: A building that occupies the full Frontage Line, leaving the rear of the Lot as the sole yard. See Table 5. (Var: Rowhouse, Townhouse, Apartment House)

Recess Line: A line prescribed for the full width of a Facade, above which there is a Stepback of a minimum distance, such that the height to this line (not the overall building height) effectively defines the enclosure of the Enfronting public space. Var: Extension Line. See Table 8.

Regulating Plan: A Zoning Map or set of maps that shows the Transect Zones, Civic Zones, Special Districts if any, and Special Requirements if any, of areas subject to, or potentially subject to, regulation by the SmartCode.

Residential: Characterizing premises available for long-term human dwelling.

Retail: Characterizing premises available for the sale of merchandise and food service. See Table 6 and Table 8.

Retail Frontage: Frontage designated on a Regulating Plan that requires or recommends the provision of a Shopfront, encouraging the ground level to be available for Retail use. See Special Requirements.

Road (RD): A local, rural and suburban Thoroughfare of low-to-moderate vehicular speed and capacity. This type is allocated to the more rural Transect Zones (T1-T3). See Table 3C.

Rowhouse: A single-family dwelling that shares a party wall with another of the same type and occupies the full Frontage Line. See Rearyard Building. (Syn: Townhouse)

Rural Boundary Line: The extent of potential urban growth as determined by existing geographical determinants. The Rural Boundary Line is permanent.

Sector: A neutral term for a geographic area. In the SmartCode there are six specific Sectors for regional planning that establish the legal boundaries for Open Space and development.

Secondary Frontage: On corner Lots, the Private Frontage that is not the Principal Frontage. As it affects the public realm, its First Layer is regulated. See Table 12.

Setback: The area of a Lot measured from the Lot line to a building Facade or Elevation that is maintained clear of permanent structures, with the exception of Encroachments listed in Section 5.7. See Table 10 g. (Var: build-to-line)

Shared Parking Factor: An accounting for parking spaces that are available to more than one Function. See Table 7.

Shopfront: A Private Frontage conventional for Retail use, with substantial glazing and an awning, wherein the Facade is aligned close to the Frontage Line with the building entrance at Sidewalk grade. See Table 4.

Sidewalk: The paved section of the Public Frontage dedicated exclusively to pedestrian activity.

Sideyard Building: A building that occupies one side of the Lot with a Setback on the other side. This type can be a Single or Twin depending on whether it abuts the neighboring house. See Table 5.

Slip Road: An outer vehicular lane or lanes of a Thoroughfare, designed for slow speeds while inner lanes carry higher speed traffic, and separated from them by a planted median. (Syn: access lane, service lane)

Specialized Building: A building that is not subject to Residential, Commercial, or Lodging classification. See Table 5.

Special District (SD): An area that, by its intrinsic Function, Disposition, or Configuration, cannot or should not conform to one or more of the normative Community Unit types or Transect Zones specified by the SmartCode. Special Districts may be mapped and regulated at the regional scale or the community scale.

Special Flood Hazard Area: A designation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that may include the V (Velocity) Zones and Coastal A Zones where building construction is forbidden, restricted, or contingent upon raising to the Base Flood Elevation.

Special Requirements: Provisions of Section 3.9, Section 4.7, and Section 5.3 of this Code and/or the associated designations on a Regulating Plan or other map for those provisions.

Square: A Civic Space type designed for unstructured recreation and Civic purposes, spatially defined by building Frontages and consisting of Paths, lawns and trees, formally disposed. See Table 9.

Standard Pedestrian Shed: A Pedestrian Shed that is an average ¼ mile radius or 1,320 feet, about the distance of a five-minute walk at a leisurely pace. See Pedestrian Shed.

Stepback: A building Setback of a specified distance that occurs at a prescribed number of Stories above the ground.

Stoop: A Private Frontage wherein the Facade is aligned close to the Frontage Line with the first Story elevated from the Sidewalk for privacy, with an exterior stair and landing at the entrance. See Table 4.

Story: A habitable level within a building, excluding an Attic or raised basement.

Street (ST): A local urban Thoroughfare of low speed and capacity.

Streetscreen: A freestanding wall built along the Frontage Line, or coplanar with the Facade. It may mask a parking lot from the Thoroughfare, provide privacy to a side yard, and/or strengthen the spatial definition of the public realm. (Syn: streetwall) See Section 5.7.5f.

Substantial Modification: Alteration to a building that is valued at more than 50% of the replacement cost of the entire building, if new.

Swale: A low or slightly depressed natural area for drainage.

T-zone: Transect Zone.

TDR: Transfer of Development Rights, a method of relocating existing zoning rights from areas to be preserved as Open Space to areas to be more densely urbanized.

TDR Receiving Area: An area intended for development that may be made more dense by the purchase of development rights from TDR Sending Areas.

TDR Sending Area: An area previously zoned for development within a designated Reserved Open Sector (O-2), from which development rights may be transferred to a Growth Sector.

Terminated Vista: A location at the axial conclusion of a Thoroughfare. A building located at a Terminated Vista designated on a Regulating Plan is required or recommended to be designed in response to the axis.

Thoroughfare: A way for use by vehicular and pedestrian traffic and to provide access to Lots and Open Spaces, consisting of Vehicular Lanes and the Public Frontage.

TND: Traditional Neighborhood Development, a Community Unit type structured by a Standard Pedestrian Shed oriented toward a Common Destination consisting of a Mixed Use center or Corridor, and in the form of a medium-sized settlement near a transportation route. See Table 8 and Table 10 a. (Syn: village. Variant: Infill TND, neighborhood.)

TOD: Transit Oriented Development. TOD is created by an overlay on all or part of a TND, or by designation on a Regional Plan, permitting increased Density to support rail or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as set forth in Section 5.9.2d.

Townhouse: See Rearyard Building. (Syn: Rowhouse)

Transect: A cross-section of the environment showing a range of different habitats. The rural-urban Transect of the human environment used in the SmartCode template is divided into six Transect Zones. These zones describe the physical form and character of a place, according to the Density and intensity of its land use and Urbanism.

Transect Zone (T-zone): One of several areas on a Zoning Map regulated by the SmartCode. Transect Zones are administratively similar to the land use zones in conventional codes, except that in addition to the usual building use, Density, height, and Setback requirements, other elements of the intended habitat are integrated, including those of the private Lot and building and Public Frontage. See Table 1.

Turning Radius: The curved edge of a Thoroughfare at an intersection, measured at the inside edge of the vehicular tracking. The smaller the Turning Radius, the smaller the pedestrian crossing distance and the more slowly the vehicle is forced to make the turn. See Table 3C.

Urban Boundary Line: The extent of potential urban growth as determined by the projected demographic needs of a region. The Urban Boundary Line may be adjusted from time to time.

Urbanism: Collective term for the condition of a compact, Mixed Use settlement, including the physical form of its development and its environmental, functional, economic, and sociocultural aspects.

Urbanized: Generally, developed. Specific to the SmartCode, developed at T-3 (Sub-Urban) Density or higher.

Variance: A ruling that would permit a practice that is not consistent with either a specific provision or the Intent of this Code (Section 1.3). Variances are usually granted by the Board of Appeals in a public hearing. See Section 1.5.

Warrant: A ruling that would permit a practice that is not consistent with a specific provision of this Code, but that is justified by its Intent (Section 1.3). Warrants are usually granted administratively by the CRC. See Section 1.5.

Work-Live: A Mixed Use unit consisting of a Commercial and Residential Function. It typically has a substantial Commercial component that may accommodate employees and walk-in trade. The unit is intended to function predominantly as work space with incidental Residential accommodations that meet basic habitability requirements. See Live-Work. (Syn: Live-With)

Yield: Characterizing a Thoroughfare that has two-way traffic but only one effective travel lane because of parked cars, necessitating slow movement and driver negotiation. Also, characterizing parking on such a Thoroughfare.

Zoning Map: The official map or maps that are part of the zoning ordinance and delineate the boundaries of individual zones and districts. See Regulating Plan.