Chapter 17.40
GLOSSARY
Sections:
17.40.010 Purpose.
This chapter provides definitions of terms and phrases used in this title that are technical or specialized, or which may not reflect common usage. If any of the definitions in this chapter conflict with other definitions stated elsewhere in the Municipal Code, these definitions shall control only for the purpose of interpreting and enforcing this title.
(Ord. No. 17-9 (Exh. A))
17.40.020 Definitions.
(a) “A” terms.
(1) Alley means a public or private driveway or roadway not intended for general traffic circulation that provides vehicle access to the rear or side of parcels having other public street frontage.
(b) “B” terms.
(1) Bicycle facility means a bicycle path, lane, or route, and any improvement intended to facilitate bicycle circulation, including but not limited to bicycle storage facilities, traffic calming measures, intersection bikeway crossings, and wayfinding signage.
(2) Block means an area of land separated from other areas by adjacent streets (excluding alleys), railroads, rights-of-way, public areas, or the subdivision boundary.
(3) Building Official means the City of Concord Building Official or his or her designee.
(c) “C” terms.
(1) California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) means state law, pursuant to California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq. or any successor statute, that requires public agencies to document and consider the environmental effects of a proposed action before a decision.
(2) Certificate of compliance/conditional certificate of compliance means a written declaration issued by the city in accordance with Government Code Section 66499.35, recorded in the office of the Contra Costa County Recorder, stating that a parcel was created in conformance with this title and the Subdivision Map Act or will be considered in conformance upon the fulfillment of certain conditions.
(3) City Engineer means the City Engineer of the City of Concord or his or her designee.
(4) Community street means a street identified as a community street by the general plan. A community street serves and connects to work, regional shopping, downtown, office, and civic destinations that are accessed by people coming from throughout Concord. Community streets accommodate medium to high volume of traffic with slow to moderate speeds, extensive vehicle and transit use, and extensive bicycle and pedestrian use.
(5) Condominium-related terms. The following terms are related to condominium conversions and new condominium construction:
a. Common interest community means a community or development with individually owned units or parcels combined with common areas and facilities for the shared use of residents or tenants.
b. Community apartment project means a development of real property in which an undivided interest in the land is coupled with the right of exclusive occupancy of a designated residential unit located thereon or therein as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 11004. Community apartment project shall mean the same thing and shall be treated in the same way as a residential condominium. For purposes of this title, a limited equity housing cooperative as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 11003.4 shall not be considered to be a community apartment project.
c. Condominium means a residential or commercial development designed to allow individually owned residential units or business spaces, which are supported by a formal arrangement of common areas and facilities as is further defined in Section 1351(f) of the California Civil Code.
d. Condominium association means an organization composed of persons who own a condominium unit or right of exclusive occupancy in a community apartment, and who are organized to operate and maintain common areas for condominiums.
e. Condominium conversion means a change in the type of ownership of a parcel or parcels of real property, together with the existing attached structures, to that defined as a condominium project or a community apartment project, regardless of the present or prior use of such land and structures and whether substantial improvements have been made or are to be made to such structures.
f. Consumer Price Index means a statistical measure of change over time, in the price of residential rent, as reported periodically by the U.S. Department of Labor. For purposes of this title, the index for the San Francisco-Oakland area, for the 12-month period most recently reported, shall be applicable.
g. Cooperative, stock means a corporation holding title to improved real property in which shareholders receive rights to exclusive occupancy of portions of the real property, which rights of occupancy are transferable concurrently with transfer of the shares. The term stock cooperative does not include a limited equity housing cooperative as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 33007.5.
h. Low income household means a household whose combined annual income does not exceed the qualifying limit of 80 percent of area median income, adjusted for household size, for “lower income households” established pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 50079.5.
i. Moderate income household means a household whose combined annual income does not exceed the qualifying limit of 120 percent of area median income, adjusted for household size, for “persons and families of low or moderate income” established pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 50093.
j. New condominium means a condominium established as part of new construction and not from the conversion of existing development into condominiums.
k. Tenant means the person(s) in actual possession, or entitled to immediate possession, of the unit pursuant to a written or oral rental agreement, lease, or sublease. A person who sublets a unit to another, who does not live in the unit himself, is not a tenant.
l. Unit means an element of a condominium project which is not owned in common with the owners of other condominiums in the project or is an apartment in a community apartment project to which an owner of an undivided interest in common in a community apartment project has a right of exclusive occupancy.
(6) Cul-de-sac means a street which connects to another public street only at one end with provisions for turning around and is not planned for later extension.
(d) “D” terms.
(1) Dead-end street means a street that connects to another street at only one end without provisions for turning around.
(2) Dedication means an official act of granting to the city an easement or fee title for land to accommodate public streets, utilities, parks, trails, open space, and/or other special public purposes.
(3) Department means the City of Concord Community and Economic Development Department.
(4) Design. Design shall include all of the following:
a. Street alignments, profiles, cross sections, structural sections, grades, and widths;
b. Water, stormwater and sanitary sewer facilities, including alignments and grades;
c. Facilities for public utilities, including gas, electric, telephone, and cable television;
d. Location and size of all required easements and rights-of-way;
e. Fire roads and firebreaks;
f. Facilities for vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian circulation and transit access;
g. Lot size, dimensions, orientation, and configuration;
h. Features to avoid development impacts to environmental resources;
i. Traffic access;
j. Grading;
k. Land to be dedicated for park or recreational purposes; and
l. Other specific requirements in the plan and configuration of the entire subdivision as may be necessary to ensure consistency with, or implementation of, the general plan or any applicable specific plan as required pursuant to Government Code Section 66473.5.
(5) Development means the uses to which the land which is the subject of a map shall be put, the buildings to be constructed on it, and all alterations of and construction incident thereto.
(6) Development Code means Title 18.
(7) Driveway means a private roadway providing vehicle access between a street or alley and a parking space, garage, dwelling, or other area on private property.
(e) “E” terms.
(1) Easement means a grant of certain property rights or limitations of use by the property owner to the public or other person or entity. Includes private access easements and public easements for utilities and other municipal infrastructure and services.
(f) “F” terms.
(1) Final map means a map prepared in accordance with this title and the Map Act which is designed to be recorded in the office of the recorder of the County, for subdivisions of five or more parcels and as otherwise provided in the Map Act and this title.
(2) Flag lot means a lot with access to a street by means of a strip of land having less than the required lot width as required by the Development Code.
(g) “G” terms.
(1) General plan means the general plan of the City of Concord, including any amendments or revisions thereto.
(h) “H” terms.
(1) Hammerhead street means a street that connects to another street at only one end and that terminates with two rectangular turnouts directly opposite each other and oriented perpendicular to the street centerline.
(i) “I” terms.
(1) Improvement includes all of the following:
a. Bridges, curbs, driveways, flood control or storm drainage facilities, freeways, gutters, interchanges, landscaping and fences, lighting, overcrossings, public utilities, sanitary sewers and facilities, sidewalks, streets, stormwater drainage facilities, traffic controls, water facilities, and other necessary infrastructure to be installed by the subdivider on the land to be used for public rights-of-way, private streets and easements as a condition of map approval; and
b. Any other improvements necessary to implement the general plan or a specific plan and as defined by Government Code Section 66419.
(2) Improvement plan means an engineering plan submitted by a registered civil engineer showing the location and construction details of the streets, roads, drainage facilities, sanitary sewers, water mains and the pertinent structures, and other subdivision improvements.
(j) “J” terms.
(k) “K” terms.
(l) “L” terms.
(1) Lot means a parcel or portion of land separated from other parcels or portions by description, as on a subdivision, parcel, or record of survey map or by metes and bounds, for purpose of sale, lease, or separate use.
(2) Lot frontage means the portion of a lot that fronts on or adjoins a street.
(3) Lot line means a recorded boundary of a lot.
(4) Lot line adjustment means a shift or rotation of an existing lot line of four or fewer existing adjoining parcels where the land is taken from one parcel and added to an adjoining parcel where a greater number of parcels than originally existed is not created.
(m) “M” terms.
(1) Major subdivision means a subdivision of five or more parcels, five or more condominiums as defined in Section 783 of the State Civil Code, a community apartment project containing five or more parcels, or the conversion of a dwelling to a stock cooperative containing five or more dwelling units, except where:
a. The land before division contains less than five acres, each parcel created by the division abuts upon a maintained public street or highway and no dedications or improvements are required by the legislative body; or
b. Each parcel created by the division has a gross area of 20 acres or more and has an approved access to a maintained public street or highway; or
c. The land consists of a parcel or parcels of land having approved access to a public street or highway that comprises part of a tract of land zoned for industrial or commercial development, and that has the approval of the governing body as to street alignments and widths; or
d. Each parcel created by the division has a gross area of not less than 40 acres or is not less than one-quarter of a quarter section; or
e. The land being subdivided is solely for the creation of an environmental subdivision pursuant to Section 66418.2 of the Subdivision Map Act.
(2) Merger means the joining of two or more contiguous parcels of land under one ownership into one parcel.
(3) Minor subdivision means a subdivision of four or fewer parcels, or a subdivision of five or more parcels that is not classified as a major subdivision.
(4) Municipal Code means the City of Concord Municipal Code.
(n) “N” terms.
(o) “O” terms.
(p) “P” terms.
(1) Parcel means a legally subdivided plot of land shown on a map of record. Also referred to as “lot.”
(2) Parcel map means a map showing a division of land of four or fewer parcels as required by this title, prepared in accordance with the provisions of this title and the Map Act.
(3) Pedestrian facility means any physical improvement intended to facilitate pedestrian circulation including but not limited to sidewalks, paths, trails, crosswalks, curb extensions, curb ramps, median refuge islands, and lighting.
(4) Planning Commission means the Planning Commission of the City of Concord.
(5) Planning Division means the Planning Division of the Planning and Economic Development Department of the City of Concord.
(q) “Q” terms.
(r) “R” terms.
(1) Regional street means a street identified as a regional street by the general plan. A regional street is a high volume corridor with moderate to higher speeds serving vehicles traveling through Concord and to other destinations.
(2) Remainder means the portion of an existing parcel which is not designated by the subdivider on the tentative map or tentative parcel map as part of the subdivision for the purpose of sale, lease, or financing, whether immediate or future.
(3) Record of survey means a map prepared by a registered civil engineer or licensed land surveyor for the purpose of depicting a field survey of the land made in conformance with the Land Surveyors Act.
(4) Registered civil engineer means a civil engineer registered by the state and doing work consistent with the engineer’s authority under the California Business and Professions Code and the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
(5) Review authority means the city official or official body authorized by this title to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove a subdivision map and other matters governed by this title.
(s) “S” terms.
(1) Street means a permanently reserved public or private right-of-way or easement which affords a principal means of vehicular and pedestrian access to abutting or adjacent property.
(2) Street, private means any street or accessway that is privately owned and maintained and provides access to a development.
(3) Standard plans and specifications means the standard plans and specifications of the City of Concord as approved and maintained by the City Engineer establishing required construction specifications for physical improvements within the public right-of-way, private streets, and easements.
(4) Subdivider means a person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association who proposes to divide, divides or causes to be divided real property into a subdivision. Employees and consultants of such persons or entities, acting in that capacity, are not “subdividers.”
(5) Subdivision means the division, by any subdivider, of any unit or units of improved or unimproved contiguous land shown on the latest equalized County assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units for the purpose of sale, lease or financing, whether immediate or future. Property shall be considered as contiguous units, even if it is separated by roads, streets, utility easements or railroad rights-of-way. Subdivision includes a condominium project, as defined herein or in subdivision (f) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code, or a community apartment project, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code, or the conversion of existing dwelling units to a stock cooperative, as defined in subdivision (m) of Section 1351 of the Civil Code. Subdivision includes any division of land by gift or inheritance (probate). Any conveyance of land to a governmental agency, public entity, public utility or subsidiary of a public utility for conveyance to that public utility for rights-of-way shall not be considered a division of land for purposes of computing the number of parcels.
(6) Subdivision Map Act means State of California Government Code Sections 66410 to 66499 and any successor statute.
(t) “T” terms.
(1) Tentative map means a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvements of a proposed subdivision of land into five or more parcels and the existing conditions in and around it.
(2) Tentative parcel map means a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvements of a proposed division of land into four or fewer parcels and the existing conditions in and around it.
(u) “U” terms.
(v) “V” terms.
(1) Vesting tentative map means a tentative map that confers a vested right to proceed with development in substantial compliance with the city’s ordinances, policies, and standards in effect at the time the vesting tentative subdivision map application is deemed complete.
(w) “W” terms.
(x) “X” terms.
(y) “Y” terms.
(z) “Z” terms.
(1) Zoning Administrator means the Zoning Administrator of the City of Concord, or his or her designee.
(2) Zoning district means a portion of the city within which certain uniform regulations and requirements apply in accordance with the Development Code.
(Ord. No. 17-9 (Exh. A))