Article 22 — Glossary.

County land use approval. A discretionary permit or approval granted by the county pursuant to Chapter 25, 26, or 26C of this code.

Cut. See excavation.

Dam. Any artificial barrier, together with appurtenant works, which does or may impound or divert water.

Demolition permit. See Section 7-5 of this code.

Department. The permit and resource management department of the county (Permit Sonoma).

Department's best management practices for construction grading and drainage. The best management practices adopted or amended by the director pursuant to Section 11.02.060.

Design discharge. See the Flood Management Design Manual.

Development area. All areas subject to ground disturbance related to construction grading or drainage, including the grading or drainage alteration area, staging areas for vehicles, supplies, and equipment, and material storage areas.

Director. The director of the department or his or her authorized representative.

Discretionary permit application. A permit application for construction grading or drainage that includes a request pursuant to Section 11.08.030.D for relief from the standards in Article 14.

Down drain. A device for collecting water from a swale or ditch located on or above a slope, and safely delivering it to an approved drainage facility.

Drainage. Refers to the collection, conveyance, containment, and/or discharge of stormwater runoff.

Drainage alteration. Construction or modification of any drainage facility or system.

Drainage alteration area. The area subject to construction drainage.

Drainage facility. A constructed component of a drainage system.

Drainage system. Constructed and/or natural features that work together to collect, convey, channel, hold, inhibit, retain, detain, infiltrate, divert, treat, or filter stormwater runoff, including detention and retention basins, overland flow paths, pipes, channels, and the inlets and outlets to these features.

Driveway. A vehicular access that serves no more than two (2) residential buildings, containing no more than three (3) dwelling units, and any number of accessory buildings on a single parcel.

Earth material. Any rock or natural soil or combination thereof.

Embankment. A fill consisting of a deposit of soil, rock, or other materials mechanically placed.

Encroachment permit. See Section 15-8 of this code.

Erosion. The process by which soil particles are detached and transported by the actions of wind, water, or gravity.

Excavation. The removal of earth material by artificial means, also referred to as a cut.

Existing grade. The grade prior to construction grading.

Existing slope. The slope prior to construction grading.

Fill. The deposition of earth material by artificial means. Fill does not include soil amendment and fertilizing materials.

Finished grade. The grade at the conclusion of all construction grading efforts.

Flood management design manual. The Flood Management Design Manual, Sonoma County Water Agency, latest edition.

Flood-prone urban area. The area within the boundaries defined on the north by River Road; on the west by the easterly boundary of the Laguna de Santa Rosa to its intersection with Highway 12 and continuing with the easterly limit of the city of Sebastopol to Highway 116; on the south by Highway 116 to its intersection with Old Redwood Highway then south to East Cotati Avenue and east to its intersection with Petaluma Hill Road; and on the east by Petaluma Hill Road, north to Highway 12 then west to Highway 101 and north to River Road.

General plan. The Sonoma County General Plan.

Geologic hazard. Slope instability, landsliding, fault displacement, liquefaction, flooding, subsidence, differential settlement, expansive soil, creeping soil, or other similar geologic condition, either mapped or observed in the field.

Geotechnical engineer. A civil engineer licensed by the state to practice geotechnical engineering.

Geotechnical report. A soils report prepared by a geotechnical engineer.

Grade. The vertical location of the ground surface.

Grading. An excavation or fill or combination thereof. Grading does not include routine farming practices, such as soil preparation, planting, seeding, and other similar activities.

Grading area. The area subject to construction grading.

Ground disturbance. Any activity that disturbs or compacts the ground.

Invasive plant species. A plant species that has a rating of moderate or higher level of invasiveness on the most recent California Invasive Plant Council Invasive Plant Inventory. Examples of invasive plants include Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), giant reed (Arundo donax), salt cedar (Tamarix sp.) and star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis).

Key. A compacted fill placed in a trench excavated in earth material beneath the toe of a slope.

Lake. A permanent natural body of water, or an artificially impounded body of water, isolated from the sea, with at least one (1) acre of open water of sufficient depth and permanency to prevent complete coverage by rooted aquatic plants.

Land clearing. The removal of trees, stumps, brush, rocks, and other obstacles from an area.

Landscape architect. An individual licensed by the state to practice landscape architecture and to use the title, landscape architect.

Licensed professional. An architect, civil engineer, landscape architect, professional forester, or professional geologist.

Listed species. Any plant or animal species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) or the state Fish and Game Code.

Local coastal program. The Sonoma County Local Coastal Program.

Ministerial permit application. A permit application that does not include a request pursuant to Section 11.08.030.D for relief from the standards in Article 14.

Ms4 permit. A Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit.

Permit application. An application for a permit required by this chapter.

Permit holder. The property owner or an easement holder. See Section 11.10.020.C.

Permittee. The permit holder or an authorized agent of the permit holder.

Person. Any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association; city, county, state, or district; tribe; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other similar representative thereof.

Pit. An earthen excavation designed to store water.

Pond. A body of still freshwater smaller than a lake, often artificially impounded.

Private road. Any way or place in private ownership that provides vehicular access to more than one (1) parcel, to a commercial building or agricultural operation on a single parcel, or to more than two (2) residential buildings or two (2) residential buildings, containing more than three (3) dwelling units, on a single parcel.

Professional biologist. A person possessing academic and professional experience in biological sciences and related resource management activities who is able to identify biotic resources and can recognize and is familiar with the habitats and behaviors of listed species that may be present in the county. The person must have specialized skills and training and any required licenses/permits/certifications specific to the study being conducted.

Professional forester. A person licensed by the state to practice forestry.

Professional geologist. A person licensed by the state to practice geology.

Public agency. Any state or federal agency, any city, county, or special district.

Qualifying rain event. Any weather pattern that is forecasted by the National Weather Service to have a fifty percent (50%) or greater chance of producing one-half inch (0.5") or more precipitation on a site within a 48-hour or greater period between rain events.

Rain event. Any weather pattern producing precipitation.

Rainy season. The period of the year during which there is a substantial chance of precipitation. For the purposes of this chapter, the rainy season is defined as starting on October 1 and ending on April 30.

Registered environmental health specialist. A person licensed by the state to practice as an environmental health specialist.

Reservoir. A water storage structure made by constructing a dam, embankment, or pit with an impermeable liner such as clay or synthetic material.

Septic permit. See Section 24-7 of this code.

Setback area. The area within a setback required by Section 11.14.090, 11.14.100, or 11.14.110.

Site. All or part(s) of a parcel or adjoining parcels where construction grading or drainage subject to the provisions of this chapter is performed or permitted.

Slope. An inclined surface, the inclination of which is expressed as a ratio of horizontal distance to vertical distance (e.g., 2:1) or as a percentage [e.g., fifty percent (50%)]. Slope shall be calculated using a method acceptable to the director.

Soil amendment and fertilizing materials. Organic and in-organic substances applied to the existing soil to improve physical properties of the soil or increase available nutrients in the soil. Soil amendment and fertilizing materials include commercial fertilizers, agricultural minerals such as gypsum and lime, pumice, straw, and manure.

Soil loss. The wearing away of the ground surface as a result of the movement of wind, water, or ice.

Soil preparation. Deep ripping, chisel plowing, field cultivating, disking, plowing, harrowing, cultipacking, rototilling, application of soil amendment and fertilizing materials, and other similar activities.

Soils engineer. A civil engineer experienced in the practice of soils engineering.

Soils report. A report prepared by a soils engineer that contains not less than the following:

The nature and distribution of existing soils.

Conclusions and recommendations for grading procedures.

Soil design criteria for any structures or embankments required to accomplish the proposed grading.

Where necessary, slope stability studies, and recommendations and conclusions regarding site geology.

Special flood hazard area. Any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as subject to flooding by the one-percent annual chance flood (100-year flood).

Spillway. An open channel conveyance for the passage of surplus water.

State ceqa guidelines. California Code of Regulations, title 14, section 15000 et seq.

Stormwater runoff. Surface runoff generated by a rain event.

Storm water low impact development technical design manual. The Storm Water Low Impact Development Technical Design Manual, City of Santa Rosa and County of Sonoma, latest edition.

Stream. Any natural or modified channel with bed and banks containing flowing water or showing evidence of having contained flowing water, such as deposit of rock, sand, gravel, or soil. Stream includes creeks and rivers.

Surface runoff. Any water that flows over the land surface.

Terrace. A relatively level step constructed in the face of a graded slope for drainage and maintenance purposes.

Timber operations. See Public Resources Code section 4527.

Tribe. A California Native American tribe that is on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission.

Vegetation. All natural, non-cultivated plant life, including the root system, stem, trunk, crown, branches, leaves, and blades.

Vegetation removal. The cutting, breaking, burning, or uprooting of vegetation, the application of herbicide to vegetation, the covering over of vegetation with earth, or the compacting of the soil under and around vegetation. Vegetation removal does not include removal of invasive plant species.

Watercourse. Any stream, or any artificial channel constructed to facilitate the use of water or convey stormwater runoff.

Well permit. See Section 25B-5 of this code.

Wetland. Those areas that meet either the federal definition of wetlands, as set forth in 33 CFR § 328.3, as that section may be amended from time to time, or the state of California definition of wetland as adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board as a State Wetland Definition, as that definition may be amended from time to time. In the event of a conflict between the federal and state definitions, whichever definition is more protective shall control.

Wetlands report. A report prepared by a professional biologist in compliance with department guidelines to identify and evaluate wetlands present on a site.

Zoning code. Chapters 26 and 26C of this code.