“Abutting” means bordering upon, to touch upon, in physical contact with. Sites are considered abutting even though the area of contact may be only a point.

“Activity” means any use conducted on a site.

“Agricultural activities” means the production of crops and/or raising or keeping livestock, including operation and maintenance of farm and stock ponds, drainage ditches, irrigation systems, and normal operation, maintenance and repair of existing serviceable agricultural structures, facilities or improved areas, and the practice of aquaculture. Forest practices regulated under Chapter 76.09 RCW, Title 222 WAC are not included in this definition.

“Alluvial geologic unit” means geologically recent stream, lake, swamp and beach deposits of gravel, sand, silt and peat.

“Animal containment area” means a site where two or more animal units of large animals per acre or three-quarters of an animal unit of small animals per acre are kept, and where a high volume of waste material is deposited in quantities capable of impacting ground water resources.

“Animal unit” means the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of animal.

“Applicant” means a person, party, firm, corporation, or other legal entity that proposes a development on a site.

“Aquifer” means a saturated geologic formation which will yield a sufficient quantity of water to serve as a private or public water supply.

“Aquifer recharge area” means areas where the prevailing geologic conditions allow infiltration rates which create a high potential for contamination of ground water resources or contribute significantly to the replenishment of ground water with potential to be used for potable water. For the purposes of this title, all of the area located within the Clover/Chambers Creek Basin boundary or the two highest DRASTIC zone boundaries is included in the aquifer recharge area.

“Aquifer susceptibility” means the ease with which contaminants can move from the land surface to the aquifer based solely on the types of surface and subsurface materials in the area. Susceptibility usually defines the rate at which a contaminant will reach an aquifer unimpeded by chemical interactions with the vadose zone media.

“Base flood” means the flood having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, also referred to as the “100-year flood.” The area subject to the base flood is the special flood hazard area designated on flood insurance rate maps as Zones “A” or “V.”

“Base flood elevation” means the elevation of the base flood above the datum of the effective firm.

“Basement” means any area of structure having its floor sub-grade (below ground level) on all sides.

“Best management plan” means a plan developed for a property which specifies best management practices for the control of animal wastes, storm water runoff, and erosion.

“Buffer” means an area contiguous with a critical area that is required for the integrity, maintenance, function, and structural stability of the critical area.

“Building footprint” means the horizontal area measured within the outside of the exterior walls of the ground floor of all principal and accessory buildings on a lot.

“Channel migration area” means that area within the lateral extent of likely stream channel movement due to stream bank destabilization and erosion, rapid steam incision, aggradation, avulsions, and shifts in location of stream channels plus 50 feet.

“Class” means one of the wetland classes used to categorize wetlands by their attributes and characteristics. Wetlands shall be rated using the latest adopted version of the Washington State Wetland Rating System for Western Washington published by the Washington State Department of Ecology.

“Class I injection well” means a well used to inject industrial, commercial, or municipal waste fluids beneath the lowermost formation containing, within one-quarter mile of the well bore, an underground source of drinking water.

“Class II injection well” means a well used to inject fluids: brought to the surface in connection with conventional oil or natural gas exploration or production and may be commingled with wastewaters from gas plants that are an integral part of production operations, unless those waters are classified as dangerous wastes at the time of injection; for enhanced recovery of oil or natural gas; or for storage of hydrocarbons that are liquid at standard temperature and pressure.

“Class III injection well” means a well used for extraction of minerals, including but not limited to the injection of fluids for: in-situ production of uranium or other metals that have not been conventionally mined; mining of sulfur by Frasch process; or solution mining of salts or potash.

“Class IV injection well” means a well used to inject dangerous or radioactive waste fluids.

“Class V injection wells” means all injection wells not included in Class I, II, III, or IV.

“Classification” means defining value and hazard categories to which critical areas and natural resource lands will be assigned.

“Clearing” means the cutting, moving on site, or removal of standing or fallen timber; the removal or moving on site of stumps; or the cutting or removal of brush, grass, ground cover, or other vegetative matter from a site in a way which exposes the earth’s surface of the site. In addition to the above, clearing is an activity which does not require reforestation per an approved forest practices application/notification issued by the Department of Natural Resources.

“Cliff” means a steep vertical or overhanging face of rock or earth greater than 25 feet in height.

“Compensatory mitigation” means mitigation to compensate for loss of wetland habitat due to filling of wetlands or other regulated activities in wetlands.

“Confined aquifer” means an aquifer bounded above and below by beds of distinctly lower permeability than that of the aquifer itself and that contains ground water under sufficient pressure for the water to rise above the top of the aquifer.

“Confining formation” means the relatively impermeable formation immediately overlying an artesian aquifer.

“Contaminant” means any chemical, physical, biological, or radiological substance that does not occur naturally or occurs at concentrations and duration as to be injurious to human health or welfare or shown to be ecologically damaging.

“Critical aquifer recharge area” means areas that are determined to have a critical recharging effect on aquifers used as a source for potable water, and are vulnerable to contamination from recharge.

“Critical areas” means wetlands, flood hazard areas, fish and wildlife habitat areas, aquifer recharge areas, and geologically hazardous areas as defined in this chapter.

“Critical facilities” means those facilities occupied by populations or which handle dangerous substances including but not limited to hospitals, medical facilities; structures housing, supporting or containing toxic or explosive substances; covered public assembly structures; school buildings through secondary including day-care centers; buildings for colleges or adult education; jails and detention facilities; and all structures with occupancy of greater than 5,000 people.

“Degraded” means to have suffered a decrease in naturally occurring functions and values due to activities undertaken or managed by persons, on or off a site.

“Delineation” means identification of wetlands and their boundaries done in accordance with the approved federal wetland delineation manual and applicable regional supplements.

“Delineation report” means a written document prepared by a wetland specialist which includes data sheets, findings of the delineation and a site plan which identifies the wetland boundaries.

“Department” means the City of Lakewood Department of Community Development.

“Designation” means taking formal legislative and/or administrative action to adopt classifications, inventories, and regulations.

“Developed lot” means any lot developed with a primary use and structure(s), not generally subject to further development with additional units or other primary uses.

“Development” means any human-induced change to improved or unimproved real property including, but not limited to, the construction of buildings or other structures, placement of manufactured home/mobile, mining, dredging, clearing, filling, grading, paving, excavation, drilling operations, storage of equipment or materials, subdivision of property, removal of substantial amounts of vegetation, or alteration of natural site characteristics.

“Director” means the Director of the Department of Community Development or his/her designee.

“DRASTIC” means a model developed by the National Water Well Association and Environmental Protection Agency used to measure aquifer susceptibility.

“Dry certificate” means any combination of structural and nonstructural measures that prevent flood waters from entering a structure.

“Earth/earth material” means naturally occurring rock, soil, stone, sediment, or combination thereof.

“Ecotone” means a transition area between two adjacent vegetation communities.

“Elevation certificate” means the official form (FEMA form 81-31) used to provide elevation information necessary to ensure compliance with provisions of this title and determine the proper flood insurance premium rate.

“Enhancement” means actions performed to improve the condition of existing degraded wetlands and/or buffers so that the quality of wetland functions increases (e.g., increasing plant diversity, increasing wildlife habitat, installing environmentally compatible erosion controls, removing nonindigenous plant or animal species, removing fill material or solid waste).

“Erosion” means the wearing away of the earth’s surface as a result of the movement of wind, water, or ice.

“Erosion hazard areas” means those areas that because of natural characteristics, including vegetative cover, soil texture, slope, gradient, and rainfall patterns, or human-induced changes to such characteristics, are vulnerable to erosion.

“Excavation” means the mechanical removal of earth material.

“Existing” means those uses legally established prior to incorporation whether conforming or nonconforming.

“Extirpation” means the elimination of a species from a portion of its original geographic range.

“Feasible” means, for the purpose of this chapter, that an action, such as a development project, mitigation, or preservation requirement, meets all of the following conditions: (1) the action can be accomplished with technologies and methods that have been used in the past in similar circumstances, or studies or tests have demonstrated in similar circumstances that such approaches are currently available and likely to achieve the intended results; (2) the action provides a reasonable likelihood of achieving its intended purpose; and (3) the action does not physically preclude achieving the project’s primary intended legal use. In cases where this chapter requires certain actions, unless they are infeasible, the burden of proving infeasibility is on the applicant. In determining an action’s infeasibility, the Director may weigh the action’s relative public costs and public benefits, considered in the short- and long-term time frames.

“Fill/fill material” means a deposit of earth material, placed by human or mechanical means.

“Filling” means the act of placing fill material on any surface, including temporary stockpiling of fill material.

“Fish and wildlife habitat areas” means those areas identified as being of critical importance to maintenance of fish, wildlife, and plant species, including: areas with which endangered, threatened, and sensitive species have a primary association; habitats and species of local importance; naturally occurring ponds under 20 acres and their submerged aquatic beds that provide fish or wildlife habitat; waters of the state; lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers planted with game fish by a governmental or tribal entity, or private organization; state natural area preserves and natural resource conservation areas.

“Fisheries biologist” means a professional with a degree in fisheries, or certification by the American Fisheries Society, or with five years’ professional experience as a fisheries biologist.

“Flood hazard areas” means areas of land located in floodplains which are subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year. These areas include, but are not limited to, streams, rivers, lakes, coastal areas, wetlands, and the like.

“Flood insurance rate map (FIRM)” means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the special flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.

“Flood or flooding” means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from:

“Flood protection elevation” (FPE) means the elevation above the datum of the effective FIRM to which the new and substantially improved structures must be protected from flood damage.

“Floodfringe” means the area subject to inundation by the base flood, but outside the limits of the floodway, and which may provide needed temporary storage capacity for flood waters.

“Floodplain” means the total area subject to inundation by the base flood, including the floodfringe and the floodway areas.

“Floodway” means the channel of a river, or other watercourse, and the land areas that must be reserved in order to convey and discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation by more than one foot, and those areas designated as deep and/or fast-flowing water.

“Geological assessment” means an assessment prepared by a professional engineer licensed by the state of Washington with expertise in geotechnical engineering or prepared by a professional geologist, hydrologist, or soils scientist, who has earned the related bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, or equivalent educational training, and has a minimum of five years’ experience assessing the relevant geologic hazard. A geological assessment must detail the surface and subsurface conditions of a site and delineate the areas of a property that might be subject to specified geologic hazards.

“Geologically hazardous areas” means areas that, because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geological events, may pose a risk to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.

“Geotechnical report” means a report prepared by a professional engineer licensed by the state of Washington with expertise in geotechnical engineering, evaluating the site conditions and mitigating measures necessary to reduce the risks associated with development in geologically hazardous areas.

“Grading” means any excavating, filling, clearing, creating (or combination thereof) of impervious surfaces.

“Ground amplification” means an increase in the intensity of earthquake induced ground shaking which occurs at a site whereby thick deposits of unconsolidated soil or surficial geologic materials are present.

“Ground water” means all water found beneath the ground surface, including slowly-moving subsurface water present in aquifers and recharge areas.

“Ground water management area” means a specific geographic area or subarea designated pursuant to Chapter 173-100 WAC for which a ground water management program is required.

“Ground water management program” means a comprehensive program designed to protect ground water quality, to assure ground water quantity, and to provide for efficient management of water resources while recognizing existing ground water rights and meeting future needs consistent with local and state objectives, policies and authorities within a designated ground water management area or subarea and developed pursuant to Chapter 173-100 WAC.

“Habitat assessment” means a report prepared by a professional wildlife biologist or fisheries biologist, which identifies the presence of fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas in the vicinity of the proposed development site.

“Habitat management plan” means a report prepared by a professional wildlife biologist or fisheries biologist, which discusses and evaluates the measures necessary to maintain fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas on a proposed development site.

“Habitat of local importance” means an area, range or habitat within which a species has a primary association and which, if altered, may reduce the likelihood that the species will maintain and reproduce over the long term. Examples include areas of high relative density or species richness, breeding habitat, winter range, and movement corridors. These areas may also include habitats that are of limited availability or high vulnerability to alteration. The Lakewood City Council may designate specific habitats of local importance by ordinance or resolution.

“Hazardous substance(s)” means any liquid, solid, gas, or sludge, including any materials, substance, product, commodity, or waste, regardless of quantity, that exhibits any of the physical, chemical or biological properties described in WAC 173-303-090 or 173-303-100.

“Hazardous substance processing or handling” means the use, storage, manufacture, or other land use activity involving hazardous substances, but does not include individually packaged household consumer products or quantities of hazardous substances of less than five gallons in volume per container. Hazardous substances shall not be disposed on site unless in compliance with Dangerous Waste Regulations, Chapter 173-303 WAC, and any pertinent local ordinances, such as sewer discharge standards.

“Hazardous waste” means and includes all dangerous waste and extremely hazardous waste as designated pursuant to Chapter 70.300 RCW and Chapter 173-303 WAC.

“Hazardous waste treatment and storage facility” means a facility that treats and stores hazardous waste and is authorized pursuant to Chapter 70.300 RCW and Chapter 173-303 WAC. It includes all contiguous land and structures used for recycling, reusing, reclaiming, transferring, storing, treating, or disposing of hazardous waste. Treatment includes using physical, chemical, or biological processing of hazardous wastes to make such waste nondangerous or less dangerous and safer for transport, amenable for energy or material resource recovery. Storage includes the holding of waste for a temporary period but not the accumulation of waste on the site of generation as long as the storage complies with applicable requirements of Chapter 173-303 WAC.

“Historic structure” means a structure that:

“Hydrogeologic assessment” means a report detailing the subsurface conditions of a site and which indicates the susceptibility and potential for contamination of ground water supplies.

“Hydrologic soil groups” means soils grouped according to their runoff-producing characteristics under similar storm and cover conditions. Properties that influence runoff potential are depth to seasonally high water table, intake rate and permeability after prolonged wetting, and depth to a low permeable layer. Hydrologic soil groups are normally used in equations that estimate runoff from rainfall, but can be used to estimate a rate of water transmission in soil. There are four hydrologic soil groups: A, with low runoff potential and a high rate of water transmission; B with moderate infiltration potential and rate of water transmission; C, with a slow infiltration potential and rate of water transmission; and D, with a high runoff potential and very slow infiltration and water transmission rates.

“Hydrologically isolated wetland” means a wetland which:

“Hyporheic zone” means a saturated layer of rock or sediment beneath and/or adjacent to a stream channel that contains some proportion of channel water or that has been altered by channel water infiltration.

“Impervious surface” means natural or human-produced material on the ground that does not allow surface water to penetrate into the soil. Impervious surfaces may consist of buildings, parking areas, driveways, roads, sidewalks, and any other areas of concrete, asphalt, plastic, etc.

“Infiltration” means the downward entry of water into the immediate surface of soil.

“In-kind mitigation” means to replace wetlands with substitute wetlands whose characteristics and functions and values are intended to replicate those destroyed or degraded by a regulated activity.

“Lakes” means impoundments of open water 20 acres or larger in size.

“Landfill” means a disposal facility or part of a facility at which solid waste is permanently placed in or on land and which is not a landspreading disposal facility.

“Landslide” means the abrupt downslope movement of soil, rocks, or other surface matter on a site. Landslides may include, but are not limited to, slumps, mudflows, earthflows, rockfalls, and snow avalanches.

“Landslide hazard areas” means areas which are potentially subject to risk of mass movement due to a combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors.

“Large animal” means an animal with an average weight of 100 pounds or more.

“Liquefaction” means a process by which a water-saturated granular (sandy) soil layer loses strength because of ground shaking commonly caused by an earthquake.

“Long-term commercial significance” means the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of land which makes it suitable for long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land’s proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of land.

“Mineral resource lands” means lands primarily devoted to the extraction of minerals or which have known or potential long-term commercial significance for the extraction of minerals.

“Minerals” means gravel, sand, and valuable metallic substances.

“Mitigation” means to avoid, minimize or compensate for adverse environmental impacts. “Mitigation” includes:

“Natural floodplain functions” means the contribution that a floodplain makes to support habitat, including but not limited to providing flood storage and conveyance, reducing flood velocities, reducing sedimentation, filtering nutrients and impurities from runoff, processing organic wastes, moderating temperature fluctuations and providing breeding and feeding grounds for aquatic and riparian species.

“Natural resource lands” means mineral resource lands which have long-term commercial significance.

“New construction” for flood hazard purposes refers to structures for which the “start of construction” commenced on or after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title.

“Old growth forests” means stands of at least two tree species, forming a multi-layered canopy with occasional small openings; with at least 20 trees/hectare (eight trees/acre) more than 81 centimeters (32 inches) dbh or more than 200 years of age; and more than 10 snags/hectare (four snags/acre) over 51 centimeters (20 inches) diameter and 4.6 meters (15 feet) tall; with numerous downed logs, including 10 logs/hectare (four logs/acre) more than 61 centimeters (24 inches) diameter and more than 15 meters (50 feet) long. High elevation stands (more than 762 meters (2,500 feet)) may have lesser dbh (more than 76 centimeters (30 inches)), fewer snags (more than 0.6/hectare (1.5/acre)), and fewer large downed logs (0.8 logs/hectare (two logs/acre)) that are more than 61 centimeters (24 inches) diameter and more than 15 meters (50 feet) long.

“Ordinary high water” means that mark on all lakes, streams, ponds, and tidal water that will be found by examining the bed and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of water are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland, in respect to vegetation as that condition exists on the effective date of this chapter or as it may naturally change thereafter; provided, that in any area where the ordinary high water mark cannot be found, the ordinary high water mark adjoining fresh water shall be the mean high water.

“Oregon white oak” means the species Quercus garryana, also known as a Garry oak. All references to oak trees in this chapter refer to Oregon white oak. See also “priority Oregon white oak woodland.”

“Out-of-kind mitigation” means to replace wetlands with substitute wetlands whose characteristics do not approximate those destroyed or degraded by a regulated activity.

“Perched ground water” means ground water in a saturated zone is separated from the main body of ground water by unsaturated rock.

“Permanent erosion control” means continuous on-site and off-site control measures that are needed to control conveyance and/or deposition of earth, turbidity or pollutants after development, construction, or restoration.

“Permeability” means the capacity of an aquifer or confining bed to transmit water. It is a property of the aquifer and is independent of the force causing movement.

“Permeable surfaces” mean sand, gravel, and other penetrable deposits on the ground which permit movement of ground water through the pore spaces, and which permit the movement of fluid to the ground water.

“Person” means an individual, firm, company, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity.

“Ponds” means naturally occurring impoundments of open water less than 20 acres in size and larger than 2,500 square feet which maintain standing water throughout the year.

“Potable water” means water that is safe and palatable for human use.

“Prairies” means open areas predominated by native, drought-resistant, grasses, forbs (flowering nonwoody plants) and herbs. In Pierce County, prairies are an unusual vegetation regime found in areas of extremely well-drained soils.

“Priority Oregon white oak woodland” means forested areas of pure oak, or of oak/conifer associations one acre or larger, and all oak trees located within, where oak canopy coverage of the area is at least 25 percent. Stands of oaks less than one acre in size may also be considered priority habitat when found to be particularly valuable to fish and wildlife (i.e., they contain many cavities, have a large diameter at breast height (dbh), are used by priority species, or have a large canopy).

“Private organization” means a nonprofit corporation organized pursuant to Chapter 24.03 RCW, which includes the planting of game fish among its purposes for organizing as a nonprofit corporation.

“Protected area” means the lands that lie within the boundaries of the floodway, the riparian habitat zone and the channel migration area. Because of the impact that development can have on flood heights and velocities and habitat, special rules apply in the protected area.

“Public services” include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

“Qualified ground water scientist” means a hydrogeologist, geologist, engineer, or other scientist who meets all the following criteria:

“Reasonable use” means a legal concept articulated by federal and state courts in regulatory taking cases. In a takings case, the decision-maker must balance the public’s interests against the owner’s interests by considering the nature of the harm the regulation is intended to prevent, the availability and effectiveness of alternative measures, and the economic loss borne by the owner. Public interest factors include the seriousness of the public problem, the extent to which the land involved contributes to the problem, the degree to which the regulation solves the problem, and the feasibility of less oppressive solutions.

“Reasonable use exception” means a process by which the City will consider an applicant’s request for relief from critical area regulations if the applicant demonstrates that strict application of critical area regulations would deny all reasonable use of a property.

“Recessional outwash geologic unit” means sand and gravel materials deposited by melt-water streams from receding glaciers.

“Recharge” means the process involved in the absorption and addition of water to ground water.

“Regolith” means any body of loose, noncemented particles overlying and usually covering the bedrock.

“Regulated activities” include, but are not limited to, any activities which are directly undertaken or originate in a regulated critical area or resource land or their buffer that require any of the following entitlements from the City: building permit, commercial or residential; binding site plan; boundary line adjustment; conditional use permit; franchise right-of-way construction permit; site development permit; master plan development; right-of-way permit; shoreline conditional use permit; shoreline environmental redesignation; shoreline substantial development permit; shoreline variance; large lot subdivision, short subdivision; special use permit; subdivision; unclassified use permit; utility and other use permit; variance; zone reclassification; or any subsequently adopted permit or required approval not expressly exempted by this chapter. Regulated activities also include those specific activities listed in LMC 14.142.060.

“Regulatory floodplain” means the area of the special flood hazard area and all protected areas within the jurisdiction of the City of Lakewood.

“Restoration” means the reestablishment of ecological and/or habitat resources and features from a previously disturbed or degraded critical area site.

“Riparian” means of, adjacent to, or living on, the bank of a river, lake, pond, ocean, sound, or other water body.

“Seismic hazard areas” means areas subject to severe risk of damage as a result of earthquake induced ground shaking, slope failure, settlement, or soil liquefaction.

“Short subdivision” or “short plat” means the division or redivision of land into four or fewer lots, tracts, parcels, sites or divisions for the purpose of sale, lease, or transfer of ownership.

“Site” means a lot, parcel, tract, or combination of lots, parcels, or tracts where a development is proposed.

“Slope” means an inclined earth surface, the inclination of which is expressed as the ratio of horizontal distance to vertical distance.

“Slump” means the downward and outward movement of a mass of bedrock or regolith along a distinct surface of failure.

“Snag-rich areas” means forested areas which contain concentrations of standing dead trees, averaging 10 snags or greater per acre, and averaging greater than 15 inches in diameter at breast height.

“Soil survey” means the most recent National Cooperative Soil Survey for the local area or county by the Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

“Sole source aquifer” means an area designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, Section 1424(e). The aquifer(s) must supply 50 percent or more of the drinking water for an area without a sufficient replacement available.

“Special flood hazard area (SFHA)” means the land subject to inundation by the base flood. Special flood hazard areas are designated on flood insurance rate maps with the letters “A” or “V,” including AE, AO, AH, A1-99, and VE. The special flood hazard area is also referred to as the area of special flood hazard or SFHA.

“Species of local importance” means species that are of local concern due to their population status or their sensitivity to habitat manipulation.

“Start of construction” for flood hazard purposes includes substantial improvements, and means the actual start of construction, repair, reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, placement or other improvement that occurred before the permit’s expiration date. The “actual start” is either the first placement of permanent construction of a structure on a site, such as the pouring of a slab or footings, the installation of piles, the construction of columns, or any work beyond the stage of excavation; or the placement of a manufactured home on a foundation.

Permanent construction does not include land preparation, such as clearing, grading and filling; nor does it include the excavation for a basement, footing, piers, or foundations or the erection of temporary forms; nor does it include the installation on property of accessory structures not occupied as dwelling units or not part of the main structure. For a substantial improvement, the “actual start of construction” means the first alteration of any wall, ceiling, floor or other structural part of a building, whether or not that alteration affects the external dimensions of the building.

“Stockpiling” means the placement of material with the intent to remove it at a later time.

“Subdivision” or “formal subdivision” means the division or redivision of land into five or more lots, tracts, parcels, sites, or division for the purpose of sale, lease, or transfer of ownership.

“Substantial damage” for flood hazard purposes means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

Substantial damage also means flood-related damage sustained by a structure on two separate occasions during a 10-year period for which the cost of repairs at the time of each such flood event, on the average, equals or exceeds 25 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

“Substrate” means the soil, sediment, decomposing organic matter or combination of those located on the bottom surface of a wetland.

“Temporary erosion control” means on-site and off-site control measures that are needed to control conveyance or deposition of earth, turbidity or pollutants during development, construction, or restoration.

“Toe of slope” means a distinct topographic break in slope at the lowermost limit of the landslide or erosion hazard area.

“TPCHD” means the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

“Unconfined aquifer” means an aquifer not bounded above by a bed of distinctly lower permeability than that of the aquifer itself and containing ground water under pressure approximately equal to that of the atmosphere. This term is synonymous with the term “water table aquifer.”

“Underground tank” means any one or a combination of tanks (including underground pipes connected thereto) which are used to contain or dispense an accumulation of hazardous substances or hazardous wastes, and the volume of which (including the volume of underground pipes connected thereto) is 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground.

“Urban governmental services” include those governmental services historically and typically delivered by cities, and includes storm and sanitary sewer systems, domestic water systems, street cleaning services, and other public utilities associated with urban areas and normally not associated with nonurban areas.

“Urban growth” refers to growth that makes intensive use of the land for the location of buildings, structures, and impermeable surfaces to such a degree as to be incompatible with the primary use of such land for the production of food, other agricultural products, or fiber, or the extraction of mineral resources. When allowed to spread over wide areas, urban growth typically requires urban governmental services. “Characterized by urban growth” refers to land having urban growth located on it, or to land located in relationship to an area with urban growth on it as to be appropriate for urban growth.

“Utility line” means pipe, conduit, cable or other similar facility by which services are conveyed to the public or individual recipients. Such services shall include, but are not limited to, water supply, electric power, gas, communications and sanitary sewers.

“Vadose zone” is the distance between the land surface and the uppermost aquifer. This distance is also defined as the “depth to water” zone or unsaturated zone.

“View corridor” means an area which affords views of lakes, mountains, or other scenic amenities normally enjoyed by residential property owners.

“Water table” means that surface in an unconfined aquifer at which the pressure is atmospheric. It is defined by the levels at which water stands in wells that penetrate the aquifer just far enough to hold standing water.

“Water typing” means a system for classifying water bodies according to their size and fish habitat characteristics. The Washington Department of Natural Resources Forest Practices Water Typing classification system defines four water types:

“Well” means a bored, drilled or driven shaft, or a dug hole whose depth is greater than the largest surface dimension.

“Wellhead protection area” means the surface and subsurface area surrounding a well or well field that supplies a public water system through which contaminants are likely to pass and eventually reach the water well(s) as designated under the Federal Clean Water Act.

“Wetland” or “wetlands” means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water 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. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands generally do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities. However, wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands, if permitted by the City.

“Wetland specialist” means a person with experience and training in wetlands issues, and with experience in performing delineations, analyzing wetland functions and values, analyzing wetland impacts, and recommending wetland mitigation and restoration. Qualifications include:

“Wildlife biologist” means a professional with a degree in wildlife, or certification by the Wildlife Society, or with five years’ professional experience as a wildlife biologist. [Ord. 775 § 1 (Exh. A), 2022; Ord. 758 § 2 (Exh. A), 2021; Ord. 726 § 2(Exh. A), 2019; Ord. 630 § 11, 2015; Ord. 362 § 3, 2004.]