Portola Valley Municipal Code Art. II Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter certain terms used herein are defined as set forth below:

1. "As graded" means the surface conditions extant on completion of grading.

2. "Bedrock" means in-place solid rock.

3. "Bench" means a relatively level step excavated into earth material on which fill is to be placed.

4. "Borrow" means earth material acquired from an off-site location for use in grading on a site.

5. "Building" means a roofed structure built for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or property of any kind. When a structure is divided into separate parts by unpierced walls extending from the ground to the roof or when the parts of a structure are joined only by a breezeway, each such part is a separate building.

6. "Building permit" means a permit issued by the town for the construction, erection or alteration of a structure or building.

7. "Certify" or "certification" means that specific inspections and tests where required have been performed, and that such tests comply with the applicable requirements of this chapter.

8. "Civil engineer" means a professional engineer registered in the state in the field of civil works.

9. "Compaction" means the densification of a fill by mechanical means.

10. "Cubic yards" means the amount of material in an excavation or fill or in both, measured by the method of "average end areas."

11. "Drip line" means a line on the surface of the ground occurring directly below the greatest horizontal limit of a tree's canopy of leaves and branches.

12. "Driveway" means a way or route for use by vehicular traffic leading from a parking area or from a house, garage or other structure, to the road or street.

13. "Earth material" means any rock, natural soil or fill or any combination thereof.

14. "Engineering geologist" means a person registered by the state as a certified engineering geologist.

15. "Engineering geology" means the application of geologic knowledge and principles in the investigation and evaluation of naturally occurring rock and soil for use in the design of civil works.

16. "Erosion" means the wearing away of the ground surface as a result of the movement of wind, water or ice.

17. "Excavation" means any act by which organic matter, earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other similar material is cut into, dug, quarried, uncovered, removed, displayed, relocated or bulldozed, and includes the conditions resulting therefrom.

18. "Fill" means any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock or any other material is deposited, placed, replaced, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported or moved by man to a new location and includes the conditions resulting therefrom.

19. "Grade" means the vertical location of the ground surface.

20. Grade, Existing. "Existing grade" means the grade prior to grading.

21. Grade, Finished. "Finished grade" means the final grade which conforms to the approved plan.

22. Grade, Rough. "Rough grade" means the stage at which the grade approximately conforms to the approved plan.

23. "Grading" means any excavating or filling or combination thereof.

24. "Key" means a designated compacted fill placed in a trench excavated in earth material beneath the toe of a proposed fill slope.

25. "Parcel" means all contiguous land held in one ownership as indicated on the records of the county recorder, except each lot of record which complies with one of the following provisions may be considered a separate parcel: (a) lots which are excepted from the area requirements of the zoning ordinance by Section 18.50.030 of this code; and (b) lots excepted from the merger requirements of the zoning ordinance by Section 18.50.070 of this code.

26. "Permittee" means any person to whom a site development permit is issued.

27. "Person" means any person, firm or corporation, public or private, the state and its agencies or political subdivisions, and the United States of America, its agencies and instrumentalities, and any agent, servant, officer or employee of any of the foregoing.

28. "Removal" means cutting vegetation to the ground or stumps, complete extraction, or killing by spraying.

28a. "Significant tree" means: a tree listed in the historic element of the general plan; or a tree native to the Portola Valley area which is listed below, having a trunk or multiple trunks with a total circumference (C) or diameter (D) greater than the size indicated, measured fifty-four inches above means natural grade.

29. "Site" means a lot or parcel of land, or a contiguous combination thereof, where grading work is performed as a single unified operation.

30. "Site development" means altering terrain or vegetation or constructing driveways, or any combination of such activities.

31. "Site development committee" consists of the town engineer, town planner, town geologist, health officer, fire marshal, designated member of the architectural and site control commission, designated member of the conservation committee and designated member of the trails committee.

32. "Soil" is naturally occurring deposits overlying bedrock.

33. "Soil engineer" means a registered civil engineer of the state specializing in soil mechanics and foundation engineering, which sciences deal with the application of the principles of soil mechanics in the investigation and analysis of the engineering properties of earth material.

34. "Soil engineering" means the application of the principles of soil mechanics in the investigation, evaluation and design of civil works involving the use of earth materials and the inspection and testing of the construction of such civil works.

35. "Structure" means anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or which is attached to something having location on the ground, excluding vehicles designed and used only for the transportation of people or goods.

36. "Terrace" is a relatively level step constructed in the face of a graded slope surface for drainage and maintenance purposes.

37. "Vacant" means land on which there are no structures or only structures which are secondary to the use or maintenance of the land itself.

(Ord. 2006-363, § 1, 2006; Ord. 1993-274 § 1 (part), 2, 1993; Ord. 1984-201 § 1 (7200), 1984)