§ 2-01. Words and terms.

For the purpose of this ordinance, certain words and terms used herein shall be interpreted or defined as follows:

Words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the singular number include the plural, and the plural the singular unless the natural construction of the word indicates otherwise; the word "lot" includes the word "parcel"; the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory; the word "approve" shall be considered to be followed by the words "or disapprove"; any reference to this ordinance includes all ordinances amending or supplementing the same; all distances and area refer to measurement in a horizontal plane.

2-01.1.

Agent. The city manager, a representative of the governing body, who has been appointed to serve as the agent of the city council in the approving of subdivision plats.

2-01.2.

Alley. A permanent service way providing a secondary means of access to abutting properties.

2-01.3.

Building setback. The minimum distance that a building must be set back from the front property line or front boundary line.

2-01.4.

City. Corporation of the City of Newport News, Virginia.

2-01.5.

Commission (or planning commission). The city planning commission of Newport News, Virginia. ^[2]

2-01.6.

Comprehensive city plan. Any plat or part thereof officially adopted pursuant to Virginia Law for the physical development of the City of Newport News or any territory within its jurisdiction showing the long-range proposals for the general development of the city and including but not necessarily limited to:

(1)

A land use plan designating area for various types of public and private development and use;

(2)

A major thoroughfare and transportation plan designating a comprehensive system of transportation facilities;

(3)

A community facilities plan designating a comprehensive system of community facilities such as parks and recreational areas, schools, public buildings, community centers, waterworks, sewage disposal, refuse disposal and the like;

(4)

A plan for designating areas for urban renewal and neighborhood rehabilitation.

2-01.7.

Cul-de-sac. A singular public street with no adjoining public streets along its length, terminating in an appropriate turnaround for a safe and convenient reverse traffic movement.

2-01.8.

Design Criteria Manual, City of Newport News. A statement of the minimum acceptable criteria and guidelines that will be used in the design and review of all public facilities and also in the review and approval of site and subdivision plans.

2-01.9.

Developer. An owner of property being subdivided, whether or not represented by an agent.

2-01.10.

Development plans. Plans and specifications for the construction of the physical improvements required in this ordinance.

2-01.11. Director. The director in charge of the department of planning for the City of Newport News.

2-01.12.

Easement. A grant by a property owner of the use of land for a specific purpose or purposes.

2-01.13.

Engineer or land surveyor. A certified professional engineer or land surveyor licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

2-01.14.

Final plat. A plat prepared in conformity with this ordinance showing metes and bounds of all lots and land within a subdivision to be recorded at the clerk's office as a permanent record of the property so subdivided.

2-01.15.

Governing body. The city council of Newport News, Virginia.

2-01.16.

Jurisdiction. The area or territory subject to the legislative control of the governing body.

2-01.17.

Lot. Any piece, parcel, or portion of property created in a subdivision.

2-01.18.

Lot, corner. A lot abutting upon two (2) or more streets at their intersection. The shortest side fronting upon a street shall be considered the front of the lot, and the longest side fronting upon a street shall be considered the side of the lot.

2-01.19.

Lot, depth of. The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines.

2-01.20.

Lot, double frontage. An interior lot having frontage on two (2) streets.

2-01.21.

Lot, front. That part of a lot which abuts any vehicular right-of-way, except as provided in section 2-01.18.

2-01.22.

Lot, interior. A lot other than a corner lot.

2-01.23.

Lot of record. A numbered and recorded portion of a subdivision intended for the purpose of transfer of ownership or building development which has been recorded in the office of the clerk of the appropriate court's office.

2-01.24.

Lot width. The horizontal distance between the side lot lines of a lot at the minimum building setback line established by front yard setback requirements of the zoning ordinance [Appendix A] and/or by a recorded subdivision plat.

2-01.25.

Outlots. Lots that do not meet the requirements of the zoning ordinance [Appendix A] as to minimum width and depth.

2-01.26.

Plat. [Repealed by Ord. No. 3479-86.]

2-01.27.

Property. Any tract, lot, parcel of land or several of the same, collected together for the purpose of subdividing.

2-01.28.

Standard Specification Manual. A city document that specifies acceptable construction materials, methods, techniques, testing procedures and general contract conditions for construction of public improvements to be accepted into the city system.

2-01.29.

Street. The principal means of access to properties having frontage on same.

2-01.30.

Street, collector (secondary thoroughfares). A street that conducts traffic or is intended to conduct traffic between major and local streets and/or provides for the collection of traffic, or is intended to provide for the collection of traffic, as a principal entrance into, or a principal means of circulation within one (1) or more subdivisions.

2-01.31.

Street frontage. All the property abutting one (1) side of a street between two (2) crossing or terminating intersecting streets measured along the line of the street, or if the street is dead-ended, then all of the property abutting one (1) side between an intersecting street and the dead-end of the street. On the turnaround portion of a cul-de-sac, the frontage is that portion of the property abutting upon the turnaround as measured along the circumference of the circular right-of-way.

2-01.32.

Street, local or minor service. A street that is used primarily as a means of public access to the abutting properties but is not a collector street or major street as defined herein.

2-01.33.

Street, major. A heavily traveled thoroughfare or highway that carries or is intended to carry a large volume of through traffic. The term "major street" is synonymous with the term "major thoroughfare" or "arterial thoroughfare."

2-01.34.

Street, service drive. A public right-of-way generally parallel and contiguous to a major highway, primarily designed to promote safety by eliminating promiscuous ingress and egress to the right-of-way by providing safe and orderly points of access to the highway.

2-01.35.

Street width. The total width of the strip of land dedicated or reserved for public travel, including the roadway, curbs, gutters, sidewalks and planting strips.

2-01.36.

Subdivide. To subdivide shall mean the division of a parcel of land by the owner thereof into lots for the purpose of transfer of ownership or building development and shall specifically include the division of a lot or parcel of land by an owner in order to create within, on, or through that lot or parcel of land a street meeting the specifications of this ordinance to be dedicated to the public.

2-01.37.

Subdivision. The land subdivided as defined herein; and, when appropriate to the context, the process of subdividing or resubdividing.

2-01.38.

Subdivider. An individual, corporation or partnership, owning any tract, lot or parcel of land to be subdivided, or a group of two (2) or more persons owning any tract, lot or parcel of land to be subdivided, who have given their power of attorney to one (1) of their group or to another individual to act on their behalf in planning, negotiating, in representing or executing the legal requirements of the subdivision.

2-01.39.

Concept plat. A plat prepared in conformity with city policy showing metes and bounds of all lots and land within a subdivision and on record in the department of engineering.

2-01.40.

Certificate. A document to be recorded in the clerk of the court's office prepared in conformity with city policy describing metes and bounds of all lots and land within a subdivision to be recorded at the clerk's office as a permanent record of the property so subdivided.

2-01.41.

Legal plat. A plat prepared in conformity with this ordinance showing metes and bounds of all lots created in a subdivision for the purposes of public streets and/or public improvements.

2-01.42.

Neotraditional Overlay District. Neotraditional Overlay District is defined as that overlay district established in the Zoning Ordinance of the City Code which regulates that development of property defined as "neotraditional" in Section 45-201 of the Zoning Ordinance.

2-01.43.

Appendix A. Appendix A is defined as the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Newport News, Virginia, and designated as Chapter 45, Zoning Ordinance.

(Ord. No. 3479-86; Ord. No. 5634-01, § 1; Ord. No. 7501-18)

Footnotes:

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Cross reference— Planning commission, § 2-462 et seq.