In general, words and terms used in these regulations shall have their customary dictionary meanings. Any word or term defined in the Gray Zoning Ordinance shall have the definition contained in that ordinance, unless defined differently below. Other words and terms used herein are defined as follows:
Section 401.3 - Definitions
Applicant: The person applying for subdivision approval under these regulations.
Average Daily Traffic (ADT): The average number of vehicles per day that enter and exit the premises or travel over a specific section of road.
Capital Improvements Program (CIP): The Town’s proposed schedule of future projects listed in order of construction priority together with cost estimates and the anticipated means of financing each project.
Capital Investment Plan: The portion of the comprehensive plan that identifies the projects for consideration for inclusion within the capital improvements program, together with an estimate of the order of magnitude for the cost of each project.
Cluster Development: A subdivision in which the lot sizes are reduced below those normally required in the zoning district in which the development is located in return for the provision of permanent open space.
Common Open Space: Land within or related to a subdivision, not individually owned or within an individual lot, which is designed and intended for the common use or enjoyment of the residents of the development or the general public. It may include complementary structures and improvements, typically used for maintenance and operation of the open space, such as for outdoor recreation.
Complete Application: An application shall be considered complete upon submission of the required fee and all information required by these regulations unless waived, after the applicant's written request, by a vote by the Board . The Board shall issue a written statement to the applicant upon its determination that an application is complete.
Complete Substantial Construction: The completion of a portion of the improvements which represents no less than thirty percent of the costs of the proposed improvements within a subdivision. If the subdivision is to consist of individual lots to be sold or leased by the subdivider, the cost of construction of buildings on those lots shall not be included. If the subdivision is a multifamily development, or if the applicant proposes to construct the buildings within the subdivision, the cost of building construction shall be included in the total costs of proposed improvements.
Comprehensive Plan: A document or interrelated documents adopted by the Town Council, containing the elements established under Title 30-A M.R.S.A. §4326 sub-§§ 1 to 4, including the strategies for an implementation program which are consistent with the State goals and guidelines established under Title 30-A M.R.S.A. §§4311 through 4350.
Condominium: A form of property ownership based upon building occupancy and use rather than traditional lot boundaries as defined in the Maine Condominium Act, Chapter 31 of the Maine Revised Statutes as amended from time to time.
Conservation Easement: A nonpossessory interest in real property imposing limitations or affirmative obligations, the purposes of which include retaining or protecting natural, scenic or open space values of real property; assuring its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational or open space use; protecting natural resources; or maintaining air or water quality.
Density: The number of dwelling units per acre of land.
Direct Watershed of a Great Pond: That portion of the watershed which drains directly to the great pond without first passing through an upstream great pond.
Driveway: A vehicular accessway serving two lots or less.
Dwelling Unit: A room or suite of rooms used as a habitation which is separate from other such rooms or suites of rooms, and which contains independent living, cooking, and sleeping facilities; includes single family houses, and the units in a duplex, apartment house, multifamily dwellings, and residential condominiums.
Engineered Subsurface Waste Water Disposal System: A subsurface waste water disposal system designed, installed, and operated as a single unit to treat and dispose of two thousand (2,000) gallons of waste water per day or more; or any system designed to be capable of treating waste water with higher BOD5 and total suspended solids concentrations than domestic waste water.
Final Plan: The final drawings on which the applicant's plan of subdivision is presented to the Board for approval and which, if approved, may be recorded at the Registry of Deeds.
Forested Wetland: A freshwater wetland dominated by woody vegetation that is six (6) meters tall (approximately twenty (20) feet) or taller.
Freshwater Wetland: Areas which are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and for a duration sufficient to support, and which under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of wetland vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soils; and are not part of a great pond, coastal wetland, river, stream or brook. Freshwater wetlands may contain small stream channels or inclusions of land that do not conform to the above criteria.
Great Pond: Any inland body of water which in a natural state has a surface area in excess of ten (10) acres, and any inland body of water artificially formed or increased which has surface area in excess of thirty (30) acres, except for the purposes of these regulations, where the artificially formed or increased inland body of water is completely surrounded by land held by a single owner.
High Intensity Soil Survey: A soil map prepared by a qualified professional showing soil types, composition, and limitations at a scale detailed enough to provide important information for the development of engineering, stormwater management, septic and other design components of the subdivision process.
100-Year Flood: The highest level of flood that, on the average, has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year.
Level of Service: A description of the operating conditions a driver will experience while traveling on a particular street or highway calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Highway Capacity Manual, most recent edition, published by the National Academy of Sciences, Transportation Research Board. There are six levels of service ranging from Level of Service A, with free traffic flow and no delays to Level of Service F, with forced flow and congestion resulting in complete failure of the roadway.
Multifamily Development: A subdivision which contains three or more dwelling units on land in common ownership, such as apartment buildings, condominiums or mobile home parks.
Net Residential Area: The net area of a parcel or site that is generally suitable for development in its natural state. Net residential area shall be determined by subtracting unsuitable and marginal areas from the gross land area as calculated in Section 402.6.3 of Chapter 402, the Gray Zoning Ordinance.
Net Residential Density: Net residential density shall mean the number of dwelling units allowed on a parcel or site after unsuitable land is deducted and the minimum area per lot (or dwelling unit in the case of multi-family) for the District is applied to the remaining suitable land area.
Person: Includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation, as well as an individual.
Planning Board: The Planning Board of the Town of Gray.
Preliminary Plan: The preliminary drawings indicating the proposed layout of the subdivision to be submitted to the Planning Board for its consideration.
Professional Engineer: A professional engineer, registered in the State of Maine.
Public Water System: A water supply system that provides water to at least fifteen (15) service connections or services water to at least twenty-five (25) individuals daily for at least 30 days a year.
Recording Plan: An original of the Final Plan, suitable for recording at the Registry of Deeds and which need show only information relevant to the transfer of an interest in the property, and which does not show other information presented on the plan such as sewer and water line locations and sizes, culverts, and building lines.
Sight Distance: The length of an unobstructed view from a particular access point to the farthest visible point of reference on a roadway. Used in these regulations as a reference for unobstructed road visibility.
Sketch Plan: Conceptual maps, renderings, and supportive data describing the project proposed by the applicant for initial review prior to submitting an application for subdivision approval.
Street: Public and private ways such as alleys, avenues, highways, roads, and other rights-of-way, as well as areas on subdivision plans designated as rights-of-way for vehicular access other than driveways.
Street Classification:
Arterial Street: A major thoroughfare which serves as a major traffic way for travel to other communities and through the Town. The following roadways shall be considered arterial streets:
West Gray Road (Route 202) Shaker Road (Route 26)
Lewiston Road (Route 100) Wildlife Park Way (Route 26A)
Portland Road (Route 100/26)
Collector Street: A street with average daily traffic of between 500 and 5000 vehicles per, or streets which serve as feeders to arterial streets, and collect traffic from sub-collectors and minor streets.
Cul-de-sac: A street with only one outlet and having the other end for the reversal of traffic movement.
Industrial or Commercial Street: Streets servicing industrial or commercial uses.
Minor Residential Street: A street servicing only residential properties and which has an average daily traffic of less than 250 vehicles per day.
Sub-collector Street: A street with average daily traffic of between 250 and 500 vehicles per, or streets which serve as feeders to arterial streets or collectors, and collect traffic from minor streets.
Subdivision: The term shall be defined as in Title 30-A M.R.S.A. §4401, sub-§4, as amended. Generally, a legal subdivision is created when a lot or parcel of land is divided into three or more lots in a single, five-year period. State law, however, has numerous exemptions and qualifications that come into play in determining whether a subdivision of land requiring Planning Board approval has occurred.
Subdivision Classification:
Major Subdivision: A subdivision of land into five (5) or more lots or that involves the construction of a new road and/or the extension of public water to serve the proposed lots.
Minor Subdivision: A subdivision of land into four (4) or fewer lots and where there is no street construction or extension of public water to serve the lots.
Town Engineer: Any registered professional engineer hired or retained by the municipality, either as staff or on a consulting basis.
Tract or Parcel of Land: All contiguous land in the same ownership, provided that lands located on opposite sides of a public or private road shall be considered each a separate tract or parcel of land unless such road was established by the owner of land on both sides thereof.
Usable Open Space: That portion of the common open space which due to its slope, drainage characteristics and soil conditions can be used for active recreation, horticulture or agriculture. In order to be considered usable open space, the land must not be poorly drained or very poorly drained, have ledge outcroppings, or areas with slopes exceeding ten (10%) percent.
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