§ 30-175. Definitions.

This article provides definitions for terms in this chapter 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.

A-grid means 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 chapter. See B-grid. (Syn: Primary grid.)

Access lane means an outer vehicular lane or lanes of a thoroughfare, designed for slow speeds and separated from inner lanes that carry higher speed traffic.

Accessory building means an outbuilding with an accessory unit.

Accessory unit means an apartment not greater than 640 square feet sharing ownership and utility connections with a principal building; it may or may not be within an outbuilding.

Adjusted pedestrian shed means a pedestrian shed that has been adjusted according to section 30-87, creating the regulatory boundary of a community unit.

Allee means a regularly spaced and aligned row of trees usually planted along a thoroughfare or path.

Apartment means 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.

Attic means the interior part of a building contained within a pitched roof structure.

Avenue (AV) means 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 means 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.)

Base density means the number of dwelling units per acre before adjustment for other functions. See Density.

Bed and breakfast means an owner-occupied lodging type offering one to five bedrooms, permitted to serve breakfast in the mornings to guests.

Bicycle lane (BL) means a dedicated lane for cycling within a moderate-speed vehicular thoroughfare, demarcated by striping.

Bicycle route (BR) means a thoroughfare suitable for the shared use of bicycles and automobiles moving at low speeds.

Bicycle trail (BT) means a bicycle way running independently of a vehicular thoroughfare.

Block means the aggregate of private lots, passages, rear alleys and rear lanes, circumscribed by thoroughfares.

Block face means the aggregate of all the building facades on one side of a block.

Boulevard (BV) means 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 means an area previously used primarily as an industrial site.

Buffer means an area of natural or established vegetation directly adjacent to surface waters through which stormwater runoff flows in a diffuse manner to protect surface waters from degradation due to development activities. The width of a buffer is measured horizontally from the normal pool elevation of impounded structures, from the top of bank for each side of streams or rivers, and from the mean high waterline of tidal waters, perpendicular to the shoreline. The definitions set out in 15A NCAC 02H .1002 (Definitions) and G.S. 143-212 and 143-213 shall be used when not in conflict with the definitions set out specifically in this chapter.

By right means characterizing a proposal or component of a proposal for a community plan or building scale plan (article III, IV, or V of this chapter) that complies with the FlexCode and is permitted and processed administratively, without public hearing.

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

Civic building means 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 means a parking structure or parking lot within a quarter-mile of the site that it serves.

Civic space means an outdoor area permanently 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 10.

Civic zone means designation for public sites dedicated for civic buildings and civic space.

CLD or Clustered Land Development means 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 Framework plan and Table 2. (Syn: Hamlet, Conservation land development, cluster.)

Commercial means the term collectively defining workplace, office, retail, and lodging functions.

Common destination means 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 means a planted private frontage wherein the facade is set back from the frontage line. It is visually continuous with adjacent yards. See Table 14.

Community plan area means an area marked on the town's official zoning map activating the use of this chapter.

Community unit means a regulatory category defining the physical form, density, and extent of a settlement. The three community unit types addressed in this chapter are CLD, TND, and RCD. Variants of TND and RCD for Infill (article V of this chapter) are called Infill TND and Infill RCD.

Configuration means the form of a building, based on its massing, private frontage, and height.

Corridor means a lineal geographic system incorporating transportation and/or greenway trajectories. A transportation corridor may be a lineal transect zone.

Cottage means an edgeyard building type. A single-family dwelling, on a regular lot, often shared with an accessory building in the back yard.

Courtyard building means a building that occupies the boundaries of its lot while internally defining one or more private patios. See Table 14.

Curb means the edge of the vehicular pavement that may be raised or flush to a swale. It usually incorporates the drainage system. See Tables 5 and 6.

Density means the number of dwelling units within a standard measure of land area.

Design speed means 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); and high (above 35 mph). Lane width is determined by desired design speed. See Table 3.

Developable areas means lands other than those in the S-1 Preserved Open Sector.

Disposition means the placement of a building on its lot. See Table 12 and Table 23.

Dooryard means a private frontage type with a shallow setback and front garden or patio, usually with a low wall at the frontage line. See Table 16. (Variant: Lightwell, light court.)

Drive means 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 means a vehicular lane within a lot, often leading to a garage.

Edgeyard building means a building that occupies the center of its lot with setbacks on all sides.

Effective parking means the amount of parking required for mixed use after adjustment by the shared parking factor.

Effective turning radius means the measurement of the inside turning radius taking parked cars into account. See Table 23.

Elevation means an exterior wall of a building not along a frontage line. See Table 23. See Facade.

Encroach means 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 means 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 means to place an element along a frontage, as in "porches enfront the street."

Estate house means 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 means 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. See Table 13. (Syn: Transition line.)

Extension line means 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. See Table 13.

Facade means the exterior wall of a building that is set along a frontage line. See Elevation.

Forecourt means a private frontage wherein a portion of the facade is close to the frontage line and the central portion is set back. See Table 14.

Frontage means 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 14.

Frontage buildout means the percentage of the lot width that is occupied by the building facade at the setback.

Frontage line means 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 23.

Function means 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 Tables 14, 15, and 17.

Gallery means 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 14.

Green means a civic space type for unstructured recreation, spatially defined by landscaping rather than building frontages. See Table 10.

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

Greenway means an open space corridor in largely natural conditions which may include trails for bicycles and pedestrians.

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

Growth sector means one of four sectors where development is permitted by right in the FlexCode, three for new communities and one for infill. See article II of this chapter.

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

Highway means 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 means nonretail 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.

House means 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 means:

(1)

Noun—New development on land that had been previously developed, including most greyfield and brownfield sites and cleared land within urbanized areas.

(2)

Verb—To develop such areas.

Infill RCD means a community unit type within an urbanized, greyfield, or brownfield area based on a long or linear pedestrian shed and consisting of T-4, T-4O, and/or T-5 Zones. An infill RCD is permitted by right in the G-4 Infill Growth Sector and is regulated by article V of this chapter. See section 30-116(2). (Var: Downtown.)

Infill TND means a community unit type within an urbanized, greyfield, or brownfield area based on a standard pedestrian shed and consisting of T-3, T-4, T-4O and/or T-5 Zones. An infill TND is permitted by right in the G-4 Infill Growth Sector and is regulated by article V of this chapter. (Var: Neighborhood.)

Inn means a lodging type, owner-occupied, offering six to 12 bedrooms, permitted to serve breakfast in the mornings to guests.

Layer means a range of depth of a lot within which certain elements are permitted. See Table 23.

Lightwell means a private frontage type that is a below-grade entrance or recess designed to allow light into basements. See Table 14. (Syn: Light court.)

Linear pedestrian shed means a pedestrian shed that is elongated along an important mixed use corridor such as a main street. A linear pedestrian shed extends approximately one-fourth 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, RCD, infill TND, or infill RCD. (Syn: Elongated pedestrian shed.)

Liner building means a building specifically designed to mask a parking lot or a parking structure from a frontage.

Live-work means 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. (Syn: Flexhouse.)

Lodging means premises available for daily and weekly renting of bedrooms.

Long pedestrian shed means a pedestrian shed that is an average one-half-mile radius or 2,640 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 means 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 coverage means the percentage of a lot that is covered by buildings and other roofed structures.

Lot line means the boundary that legally and geometrically demarcates a lot.

Lot occupation means category for the width and coverage metrics of a lot.

Lot width means the length of the principal frontage line of a lot.

Main civic space means the primary outdoor gathering place for a community. The main civic space is often, but not always, associated with an important civic building.

Manufacturing means 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 means a building available for gatherings, including conferences, that accommodates at least one room equivalent to a minimum of ten square feet per projected dwelling unit within the pedestrian shed in which it is located.

Mixed use means multiple functions within the same building through superimposition or adjacency, or in multiple buildings by adjacency.

Natural cover condition means a condition that existed prior to significant alterations by humans.

Net site area means all developable land within a site, including thoroughfares but excluding land allocated as civic zones.

Network pedestrian shed means a pedestrian shed adjusted for average walk times along thoroughfares. This type may be used to structure infill community plans. See Table 23.

Office means premises available for the transaction of general business but excluding retail, artisanal and manufacturing uses. See Tables 16 and 17.

Open space means land intended to remain undeveloped; it may be for civic space.

Outbuilding means 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 23.

Park means a civic space type that is a natural preserve available for unstructured recreation. See Table 10.

Parking structure means a building containing one or more stories of parking above grade.

Passage (PS) means 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) means 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 means 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 pedestrian shed, long pedestrian shed, linear pedestrian shed or network pedestrian shed. (Syn: Walkshed, walkable catchment.)

Planter means the element of the public frontage which accommodates street trees, whether continuous or individual.

Playground means an open space designed and equipped for the recreation of children.

Plaza means 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 means the main building on a lot, usually located toward the frontage.

Principal entrance means the main point of access for pedestrians into a building.

Principal frontage means, 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 means the privately held layer between the frontage line and the principal building facade. See Tables 14 and 23.

Public frontage means the area between the curb of the vehicular lanes and the frontage line. See Tables 5 and 6.

RCD. See Regional center development.

Rear alley (RA) means 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) means 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 means a building that occupies the full frontage line, leaving the rear of the lot as the sole yard. (Var: Rowhouse, townhouse, apartment house).

Recess line means 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.

Regional center means regional center development or RCD.

Regional center development (RCD) means a community unit type structured by a long pedestrian shed or linear pedestrian shed, which may be adjoined without buffers by one or several standard pedestrian sheds, each with the individual transect zone requirements of a TND. RCD takes the form of a high-density mixed use center connected to other centers by transit. See Infill RCD and Table 2a. (Var: Town center, downtown. Syn: Regional center.)

Regulating plan means 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 FlexCode.

Residential means premises available for long-term human dwelling.

Retail means characterizing premises available for the sale of merchandise and food service.

Retail frontage means 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) means 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 through T3).

Rowhouse means 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 means the extent of potential urban growth as determined by existing geographical determinants. The rural boundary line is permanent.

Secondary frontage means, 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 23.

Sector means a neutral term for a geographic area. In the FlexCode and framework plan there are six specific sectors for regional planning that establish the legal boundaries for open space and development.

Setback means 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. (Var: Build-to line.)

Shared parking factor means an accounting for parking spaces that are available to more than one function.

Shopfront means 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.

Shopping mall means a group of commercial establishments planned, developed and managed as a unit with a singular structure or series of structures and with coordinated parking and service areas. Outparcels shall be included.

Sidewalk means the paved section of the public frontage dedicated exclusively to pedestrian activity.

Sideyard building means 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.

Special district (SD) means 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 FlexCode. Special districts may be mapped and regulated at the regional scale or the community scale.

Special District 1 (SD1). The SD1 district is established to provide areas for warehousing, storage and limited industrial uses. Limited industries, for purposes of this chapter, are generally characterized as light industries, with small physical plants, low land requirements and high worker-to-land ratios. This shall not include heavy manufacturing activities which typically produce excessive noise, odor, smoke, dust, airborne debris and other objectionable elements. This district may also accommodate a mixture of light manufacturing wholesale, commercial service and repair, and distributive business type uses.

Square means 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 10.

Standard pedestrian shed means a pedestrian shed that is an average one-fourth mile radius or about the distance of a five-minute walk at a leisurely pace. See Pedestrian shed.

Stepback means a building setback of a specified distance that occurs at a prescribed number of stories above the ground.

Stoop means 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.

Story means a habitable level within a building, excluding an attic or raised basement.

Street (ST) means a local urban thoroughfare of low speed and capacity.

Streetscreen means 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.)

Strip mall means retail development designed for or intended to be operated as a total entity with customer and employee parking provided on-site. The center's size and orientation are generally determined by the market characteristics of the trade area served by the center. The center is generally oriented for automobile traffic.

Substantial modification means alteration to a building that is valued at more than 50 percent of the appraised value of the entire building, as determined by the most recent assessed depreciated value established by county tax records.

Swale means a low or slightly depressed natural area for drainage.

T-zone means transect zone.

Technical review committee (TRC). Usually part of the planning office, a TRC is comprised of a representative from each of the various regulatory agencies and town departments that have jurisdiction over the permitting of a project.

Terminated vista means 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 means 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 means 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 2. (Syn: Village. Variant: Infill TND, neighborhood.)

Townhouse. See Rearyard building. (Syn: Rowhouse.)

Transect means a cross-section of the environment showing a range of different habitats. The rural-urban transect of the human environment used in the FlexCode 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) means one of several areas on a zoning map regulated by the FlexCode. 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.

TRC means the technical review committee.

Turning radius means 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.

Urbanism is a 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 means generally, developed. Specific to the FlexCode, developed at T-3 (sub-urban) density or higher.

(Code 2003, § 31-42; Ord. No. 13-04, § 1(exh. A), 2-21-2013; Ord. No. 14-20, § 1, 1-15-2015)