§ 18.44.030. Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words have the meaning set forth in this section:
A.
"Best management practices" ("BMP") means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices such as effective integration of stormwater management systems (storage/controlled discharge), with appropriate combinations of landscape conservation, enhancement, structural controls, and impervious cover, which provide an optimum way to eliminate soil erosion and prevent soil from leaving the site though water runoff and/or wind during construction.
B.
"Clearing" means the removal of surface vegetation without modifying, impacting or improving the drainage pattern.
C.
"Dripline" means a vertical line run through the outermost portion of the crown of a tree and extending to the ground.
D.
"Engineer" means a professional engineer currently licensed and registered with the State of Texas.
E.
"Excessive erosion" — soil particle movement from a destabilized graded site that causes an off-site impact, public nuisance and/or creates a hazardous condition as determined by the permit official.
F.
"Flood" or "flooding" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from (1) the overflow of waters or (2) the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of surface waters from any source.
G.
"Grading" means any disturbance of the surface of the land with heavy equipment that may modify or impact existing drainage patterns.
H.
"Grading stabilization plan" ("GSP") means a plan for the purposes of stabilizing sites after completion of the grading operation or if the site becomes idle for more than one hundred eighty calendar days to prevent excessive erosion.
I.
"Heavy equipment" means self-powered, self-propelled or towed mechanical devices, equipment and vehicles of the nature customarily for use in agriculture, mining, industry, business, transportation, building or construction such as tandem axle trucks, backhoes, trenchers, loaders, tractors, bulldozers, graders, cranes, forklifts, or similar like equipment but excluding automobiles, recreational vehicles and boats and their trailers.
J.
"Natural drainage path" - a flowpath/channel/watercourse/wash/stream as delineated in the city's natural drainage path map, plus an additional twenty feet buffer on each side of the rim, as delineated in said map.
K.
"Natural state" means the topography that existed prior to any disturbance of land as certified by a licensed surveyor.
L.
"Owner" shall mean the person or entity that has any ownership interest in the property on which grading is proposed or has taken place or such owner's authorized agent.
M.
"Permittee" means the governmental entity, utility company, contractor, person or business entity that has received a permit pursuant to this chapter.
N.
"Processed material" means naturally occurring, materials such as sand, gravel and rock that have been subjected to any process other than initial excavation such as, but not limited to, screening, crushing, washing and segregating.
O.
"Revegetation" means the restoration of formerly undisturbed areas through the replanting of appropriate native, non-invasive, adaptive and drought tolerant vegetation.
P.
"Site" means the land or water area where any facility or activity is physically located or conducted, including adjacent land and slopes used in connection with the facility or activity.
Q.
"Slope" means the ratio of elevation change to horizontal distance, expressed as a percentage. The slope is computed by dividing the vertical distance by the horizontal distance and multiplying the ratio by one hundred.
R.
"Soil" means dirt, sand and other similar earth matter, rocks and other solid or semisolid mass material, whether produced by man or nature, but shall not include the matter consisting of the infrastructure or appurtenances thereto.
S.
"Special flood hazard area" is defined in Chapter 18.60.
T.
"Stabilization measure" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices such as effective integration of stormwater management systems (storage/controlled discharge), with appropriate combinations of landscape conservation, enhancement, structural controls, and impervious cover, which provide an optimum way to eliminate soil erosion and prevent soil from leaving the site though water runoff and/or wind after the grading is complete or the site becomes idle for more than one hundred eighty calendar days.
U.
"Stormwater" means stormwater runoff, snowmelt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.
V.
"Structurally stabilized site" means a slope that is constructed with a factor of safety as established in this chapter.
(Ord. No. 17516, § 1, 3-29-2011)