§ 20.93.100. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

"Alteration(s)" means a change or rearrangement of the structural parts of existing facilities or an enlargement by extending the side or increasing the height or depth or the moving from one location to another.

"AMC" means the Arlington Municipal Code.

"Applicant" means a person who applies for any permit or approval to do anything governed by this code and who is either the owner of the subject property, the authorized agent of the owner, or the city.

"Classes" means taxonomic classification system of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Cowardin, et al 1978).

"Commercial" means activity with goods, merchandise, or services for sale or rent.

"Compensation" means in-kind replacement of damaged wetlands with substitute wetlands whose characteristics closely approximate those destroyed or degraded by a regulated activity. It does not mean replacement-in-category. When compensatory measures are appropriate pursuant to the mitigation priority sequence above, preferential consideration shall be given to measures that replace the impacted functions directly and in the immediate vicinity of the impact. However, alternative compensatory mitigation within the watershed sub-basin that addresses limiting factors or identified critical needs for shoreline resource conservation based on watershed or comprehensive resource management plans applicable to the area of impact may be authorized. If there are no previously identified mitigation opportunities in the impacted sub-basin identified in local watershed or comprehensive plans the applicant will use a watershed approach in selecting mitigation sites utilizing Selecting Wetland Mitigation Sites Using a Watershed Approach ( Western Washington ) (Publication #09-06-32).

"Constructed stormwater wetland" means a stormwater management system that is designed and built to function similar to the naturally occurring wetland including native trees and shrubs allowed to grow to maturity.

"Critical areas" means fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, streams, wetlands, areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, frequently flooded areas; and geologically hazardous areas.

"Dedication" means deliberate appropriation of land by an owner for public use or purpose, reserving no other rights than those that are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the public use or purpose to which the property has been devoted.

"Degraded wetland" means a wetland in which the vegetation, soils, and/or hydrology have been adversely altered, resulting in lost or reduced functions and values.

"Developable area" means land outside of critical areas and environmentally critical area setbacks and buffers.

"Development" means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials located within the area of special flood hazard, subdivision of land, removal of substantial amounts of vegetation, or alteration of natural site characteristics.

"Development permit" means any permit or approval under this code or the AMC that must be issued before initiating a use or development activity.

"Ditch" means a long narrow excavation dug in the earth for drainage with its top width less than ten feet at design flow and that does not meet the definition of a stream. A ditch may be regulated if it conveys stream flow.

"Easement" means land which has specific air, surface or subsurface rights conveyed for us by an entity other than the owner of the subject property or to benefit some property other than the subject property.

"Edge" means the boundary of a wetland as delineated based on the criteria contained in this chapter.

"Emergent wetland" means a wetland with at least thirty percent of its surface covered by erect, rooted, herbaceous vegetation at the uppermost vegetative strata.

"Enhancement" means alteration of an existing resource to improve or increase its characteristics and processes without degrading other existing functions. Enhancements are to be distinguished from resource creation or restoration projects.

"Erosion hazard area" means a landform or soil type subject to being worn away by the action of water, wind, freeze-thaw or ice.

"Exotic species" means plants or animals that are not native to the Puget Sound Lowlands region.

"Extraordinary hardship" means prevention of all reasonable economic use of the parcel due to strict application of this chapter and/or programs adopted to implement this chapter.

"Fish and wildlife habitats (of local importance)" means a seasonal range or habitat element with which a given species has a primary association, and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long-term. These might include areas of relative density or species richness, breeding habitat, seasonal range, and movement corridors. These also include habitats of limited availability or high vulnerability to alteration, such as cliffs and wetlands.

"Forested wetland" means wetlands with at least thirty percent of the surface area covered by woody vegetation greater than twenty feet in height or ≥ three-inch diameter at breast height.

"Forest land" means land used for growing trees, not including Christmas trees, for commercial purposes (as shown by record of any income) that has long-term (six years or more) commercial significance.

"Functions" means the beneficial roles served by critical areas including, but not limited to, water quality protection and enhancement, fish and wildlife habitat, food chain support, flood storage, conveyance and attenuation, groundwater recharge and discharge, erosion control, wave attenuation, and aesthetic value protection, and recreation. These roles are not listed in order of priority.

"Geologically hazardous areas" means includes areas susceptible to erosion, sliding, seismic activity, or other geological events. They pose a threat to the health and safety of citizens when used as sites for incompatible commercial, residential or industrial development.

"Grading" means the physical manipulation of the earth's surface and/or drainage pattern in preparation of an intended use or activity.

"High quality native wetlands" will be classified by the state wetland rating system for Western Washington. However, the following elements may be considered when identifying locally important functions of a wetland:

(1)

No, or isolated, human alteration of the wetland topography;

(2)

No human-caused alteration of the hydrology or else the wetland appears to have recovered from the alteration;

(3)

Low cover and frequency of exotic plant species;

(4)

Relatively little human-related disturbance of the native vegetation, or recovery from past disturbance;

(5)

If the wetland system is degraded, it still contains a viable and high quality example of a native wetland community; and

(6)

No known major water quality problems.

"Hydric soil" means soil that is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part. The presence of hydric soil shall be determined following the methods as defined by the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils. The presence of hydric soil shall be determined following the methods described in the Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast Region.

"Hydrophyte or hydrophytic vegetation" means plant life growing in water or on a substrate that is at least periodically deficient in oxygen as a result of excessive water content. The presence of hydrophytic vegetation shall be determined following the methods described in the Washington State Wetland Delineation Manual adopted pursuant to RCW 90.58.380.

"Improvement" means any structure or manmade feature.

"Isolated wetlands" will be classified by the state wetland rating system for Western Washington. However, the following elements may be considered when identifying locally important functions of a wetland.

(1)

Are outside of and not contiguous to any wetland system of one acre or more, or the one hundred-year floodplain of a lake, river, creek, or stream; and,

(2)

Have no contiguous hydric soil or hydrophytic vegetation between the wetland and contiguous wetlands of one acre or more or any surface water.

"Landslide hazard areas" means areas potentially subject to risk of mass movement due to a combination of factors, including historic failures.

"Land uses, high intensity" means a zone classification allowing more than one dwelling unit per acre.

"Land uses, low intensity" means includes land uses which are associated with low levels of human disturbance or low habitat impacts, including, but not limited to, passive recreation, open space, or those uses listed in Section 20.93.220 (Allowed Activities).

"Land uses, medium intensity" means includes land uses which are associated with moderate levels of disturbance such as open space parks with biking and jogging, etc., conversion of moderate-intensity agriculture (orchards, hay fields, etc), paved trails, gravel roads, utility corridors or right-of-way shared by several utilities including access/maintenance roads.

"Mineral resource lands" means lands primarily devoted to the extraction of gravel, sand, other construction materials, or valuable metallic or mineral substances.

"Native vegetation" means plant species that are indigenous to the Puget Sound Lowlands region.

"Natural condition" means lands that retain native vegetation, forest duff and naturally occurring contours and drainage patterns not modified by human activity.

"Natural resource lands" means agriculture, forest, and mineral resource lands as defined in this section.

"Nonconforming" means any use, structure, lot, condition, activity, or any other feature or element of private property or the use or utilization of private property that does not conform to any of the provisions of this code or that was not approved by the city through the appropriate decision-making process required under this code.

"Open space" means land not covered by buildings, roadways, parking areas, or other surfaces through which water cannot percolate into the underlying soils.

"Ordinary high water mark" means as defined by RCW 90.58.030(2)(b), as now or hereafter amended.

"Palustrine wetland" means freshwater with open water, emergent herbaceous vegetation, scrub-shrub vegetation, and/or trees.

"Pond" means any inland body of water, either naturally or artificially formed or increased, that has a surface area of one thousand square feet or more, except: These do not include ponds deliberately designed and created from dry sites such as canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities.

"Practicable alternative" means an alternative that is available and capable of being carried out after taking into consideration cost, existing technology, and logistics in light of overall project purposes, and having less impacts to environmentally critical areas. It may include an area not owned by the applicant that can reasonably be obtained, utilized, expanded, or managed in order to fulfill the basic purpose of the proposed activity.

"Priority habitats" means areas with which priority species have a primary association, as determined by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Priority habitats have one or more of the following attributes: comparatively high or significant species density or richness, significant breeding habitat, significant seasonal ranges, significant wildlife movement corridors, limited availability, and/or high vulnerability.

"Priority species" means wildlife species of concern due to their population status and their sensitivity to habitat alteration.

"Riparian habitat" means an ecosystem that occurs in the transition zone between aquatic and upland environments.

"Scrub-shrub wetlands" means a wetland with at least thirty percent of its surface area covered with woody vegetation less than twenty feet in height or ≤ three-inch diameter at breast height.

"Seismic hazard areas" means areas subject to the risk of damage as a result of earthquake induced ground shaking, slope failure, settlement, soil liquefaction or surface faulting. Ground shaking is a primary risk, followed by some unstable slopes causing damage below them.

"Slope." See Section 20.93.600 (Geological Hazardous Areas—Classification).

"Sphagnum" means any of a large genus of mosses that grows only in wet acidic soils and whose remains become compacted with other plant debris to form peat.

"Streams" means those areas where surface waters flow sufficiently to produce a defined channel or bed. A defined channel or bed is indicated by hydraulically sorted sediments or the removal of vegetative litter or loosely rooted vegetation by the action of moving water. The channel or bed need not contain water year-round. This includes DNR Stream Types S, F, F-ESA, Np, Ns (WAC 222-16-030, or as amended hereafter). This definition is not meant to include irrigation ditches, canals, stormwater runoff devices or other entirely artificial watercourses unless they are used to convey any stream naturally occurring prior to construction. Those topographic features that resemble streams but have no defined channels (i.e. swales) shall be considered streams when hydrologic and hydraulic analyses done pursuant to a development proposal predict formation of a defined channel after development.

"Steep slope." See Section 20.93.600 (Geological Hazardous Areas—Classification).

"Structure" means anything which is built or constructed; an edifice or building of any kind, or any piece of work artificially built-up or composed of parts joined together in some definite manner. Not included are fences less than six feet in height, retaining wall, rockeries, and similar improvements of a minor character less than three feet in height.

"Unavoidable" means impacts that remain after a person proposing to alter environmentally critical areas has demonstrated that no practicable alternative exists for the proposed project.

"Use" means "development" as that term is defined in Chapter 90.58 RCW. Also means the nature of the activities taking place on private property or within structures thereon.

"Water-dependent" means a use for which the use of surface water would be essential in fulfilling the purpose of the proposed project.

"Wetlands" means "wetland" or "wetlands" means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from non-wetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities, or those wetlands created after July 1, 1990, that were unintentionally created as a result of the construction of a road, street, or highway. Wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from non-wetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands.

(Ord. No. 2011-029, § 1, 12-5-2011; Ord. No. 2016-013, §§ 4, 5, 7-18-2016)