§ 118-1-6. Definitions.

For the purposes of this Chapter:

(a)

Agricultural land means:

(1)

Any area of land of five acres or more upon which crops are produced or raised, except trees that are produced for timber;

(2)

Any tract of land used as a nursery on which plants are raised or kept for transplanting, for use as stock for budding or grafting, or for sale, regardless of the area of the tract; and

(3)

Any tract of land on which kennels, horses, poultry, or livestock are maintained regardless of the area of the tract.

(b)

Applicant means a person who has submitted a plan of development to Land Development Services or an exception request to the Director.

(c)

Average land cover conditions means the average percent of impervious area within the County, as set forth in the Fairfax County Public Facilities Manual.

(d)

Best Management Practice or BMP means a practice, or combination of practices, that is determined by the Director to be the most effective, practicable means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by nonpoint sources to a level compatible with water quality goals.

(e)

Buffer area means an area of natural or established vegetation managed to protect other components of a Resource Protection Area and state waters from significant degradation due to land disturbances.

(f)

Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area or CBPA means any land designated by the County pursuant to Part III of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations and § 62.1-44.15:72 of the Code of Virginia. A Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area shall consist of a Resource Protection Area and a Resource Management Area.

(g)

Development means the construction, rehabilitation, rebuilding or substantial alteration of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, transportation, or utility uses, facilities or structures.

(h)

Director means the Director of Land Development Services.

(i)

Highly erodible soils means soils (excluding vegetation) with an erodibility index (EI) from sheet and rill erosion equal to or greater than eight. The erodibility index for any soil is defined as the product of the formula RKLS/T, where K is the soil susceptibility to water erosion in the surface layer; R is the rainfall and runoff; LS is the combined effects of slope length and steepness; and T is the soil loss tolerance.

(j)

Highly permeable soils means soils with a given potential to transmit water through the soil profile. Highly permeable soils are identified as any soil having a permeability equal to or greater than six inches of water movement per hour in any part of the soil profile to a depth of 72 inches (permeability groups "rapid" and "very rapid") as found in the "National Soil Survey Handbook" of November, 1996, in the "Field Office Technical Guide" of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

(k)

Impervious area or impervious surface means a surface composed of any material that significantly impedes or prevents natural infiltration of water into the soil. Impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, roofs, buildings, streets, and concrete, asphalt, or compacted gravel surfaces.

(l)

Intensely Developed Area or IDA means an area of existing development and infill sites where development is concentrated and little of the natural environment remains as of the date of adoption of this Chapter and which is so designated on the map of Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas adopted by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to Section 118-1-9. An IDA must satisfy at least one of the following conditions as of July 1, 1993: development has severely altered the natural state of the area such that it has more than 50 percent impervious surface; public sewer and water systems, or a constructed stormwater drainage system, or both, have been constructed and serve the area as of the date of adoption of this Chapter; or housing density is equal to or greater than four dwelling units per acre.

(m)

Land disturbing activity means any land change which may result in soil erosion from water or wind and the movement of sediments into state waters or onto lands in the Commonwealth, including, but not limited to, clearing, grading, excavating, permanent flooding associated with the impoundment of water, and filling of land.

(n)

Lot means a parcel of land that is designated at the time of application for a special permit, a special exception, a site plan, a building permit, residential/non-residential use permit, or other plan of development, as a tract of land which is to be used, developed or built upon as a unit under single ownership. A parcel of land shall be deemed to be a lot in accordance with this definition, regardless of whether or not the boundaries thereof coincide with the boundaries of lots or parcels as shown on any map of record or other plans of development.

(o)

Major floodplain means those land areas in and adjacent to streams and watercourses subject to continuous or periodic inundation from flood events with a one percent chance of occurrence in any given year (i.e., the 100-year flood frequency event) and having a drainage area equal to or greater than 360 acres.

(p)

Nonpoint source pollution means pollution consisting of constituents such as sediment, nutrients, and organic and toxic substances from diffuse sources, such as runoff from agriculture and urban land development and uses.

(q)

Nontidal wetlands means those wetlands other than tidal wetlands that are inundated or saturated by surface 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, as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Sec. 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act, in 33 CFR 328.3b, dated November 13, 1986, or as subsequently amended.

(r)

Noxious weeds means Johnson grass, kudzu, poison ivy, ragweed, poison oak, poison sumac, purple loosestrife, multiflora rose, running bamboo and any other species hereinafter designated by the State as a noxious weed.

(s)

Passive recreation means recreational activities that are commonly unorganized and non-competitive, including, but not limited to, picnicking, bird watching, kite flying, bicycling, and walking. Site amenities for such activities include, but are not limited to, picnic tables, photo stands, open play areas where substantial clearing is not required, rest rooms, tot lots, boardwalks, paved paths, pathways, benches, and pedestrian bridges and appurtenant structures.

(t)

Plans of development means plans, including but not limited to, development plans, conceptual development plans, final development plans, generalized development plans, special exception plats, special permit plats, variance plats, PRC plans, minor site plans, site plans, preliminary subdivision plats, final subdivision plats, subdivision waivers and exceptions, conservation plans, construction plans, rough grading plans, grading plans, and plans associated with wetlands permits.

(u)

Public roads means roads that satisfy construction, siting and water quality standards applicable to roads constructed by the Virginia Department of Transportation or other publicly owned roads that meet such standards.

(v)

Redevelopment means the process of developing land that is or has been previously developed.

(w)

Resource Management Area or RMA means that component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area comprised of lands that, if improperly used or developed, have a potential for causing significant water quality degradation or for diminishing the functional value of the Resource Protection Area.

(x)

Resource Protection Area or RPA means that component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area comprised of lands adjacent to water bodies with perennial flow that have an intrinsic water quality value due to the ecological and biological processes they perform or are sensitive to impacts which may result in significant degradation of the quality of state waters. In their natural condition, these lands provide for the removal, reduction, or assimilation of sediments, nutrients, and potentially harmful or toxic substances from runoff entering the Bay and its tributaries, and minimize the adverse effects of human activities on state waters and aquatic resources.

(y)

Silvicultural activity means any forest management activity, including but not limited to the harvesting of timber, the construction of roads and trails for forest management purposes, and the preparation of property for reforestation that is conducted in accordance with the silvicultural best management practices developed and enforced by the State Forester pursuant to Virginia Code § 10.1-1105 and is located on property defined as real estate devoted to forest use under Virginia Code § 58.1-3230.

(z)

Substantial alteration means expansion or modification of a structure or development that would result in disturbance of any land within a Resource Protection Area or land exceeding an area of 2,500 square feet within a Resource Management Area.

(aa)

Tidal shores or shore means land contiguous to a tidal body of water between the mean low water level and the mean high water level.

(bb)

Tidal wetlands means vegetated and nonvegetated wetlands as defined in Chapter 116, Wetlands Zoning Ordinance, of the Fairfax County Code.

(cc)

Use means any purpose for which a structure or a tract of land may be designed, arranged, intended, maintained, or occupied; also, any activity, occupation, business or operation carried on, or intended to be carried on, in or on a structure or on a tract of land.

(dd)

Water body with perennial flow means a body of water flowing in a natural or man-made channel year-round during a year of normal precipitation. The term "water body with perennial flow" includes, but is not limited to, perennial streams, estuaries, and tidal embayments and may include drainage ditches or channels constructed in wetlands or from former natural drainageways, which convey perennial flow. Lakes and ponds through which the perennial stream flows are a part of the perennial stream. Generally, the water table is located above the streambed for most of the year and groundwater is the primary source for stream flow.

(ee)

Watercourse means a stream with incised channel (bed and banks) over which waters are conveyed.

(ff)

Water-dependent development or Water-dependent facility means the development of land or a facility that cannot exist outside of a Resource Protection Area and must be located within a Resource Protection Area, either in whole or in part, by reason of the intrinsic nature of its operation. These facilities include, but are not limited to (i) ports; (ii) the intake and outfall structures of power plants, water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, and storm sewers; (iii) marinas and other boat docking structures; (iv) beaches and other public water-oriented recreation areas; (v) fisheries or other marine resources facilities; and (vi) stream bank stabilization measures.

(gg)

Wetlands means tidal and nontidal wetlands.

(32-03-118; 29-06-118; 07-14-118; 29-17-118; 05-19-118.)

(32-03-118; 29-06-118; 07-14-118; 29-17-118; 05-19-118.)