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For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

A. Applicant” means a person who files an application for approval under this chapter and who is either the owner of the land on which that proposed activity would be located, a contract vendee, a lessee of the land, the person who would actually control and direct the proposed activity, or the authorized agent of such a person.

B. Artificially created hazard area” means artificially created areas of potential hazard such as fills and steep cuts. Such areas are reviewed during application for building permits or excavation and grading permits through a process provided in the grading chapter of the city’s adopted building code, which allows application of specific conditions to insure the public health, safety and welfare. Such areas are not subject to review under this chapter.

C. Bluff” means a steeply rising, near vertical slope which abuts and rises from Puget Sound. Bluffs occur in the area at the extreme north end of Lacey’s long term growth area north of the Beachcrest area. The toe of a bluff is the beach of Puget Sound. The top of a bluff is typically a distinct line where the slope abruptly levels out. Where there is no distinct break in slope, the top is either the line of vegetation separating the unvegetated steep slope from the vegetated uplands plateau or, when the bluff is vegetated, the point where the bluff slope diminishes to less than fifteen percent.

D. Buffer” means an area adjacent to hillsides which provides the margin of safety through protection of slope stability, attenuation of surface water flows and landslide, seismic, and erosion hazards reasonably necessary to minimize risk to the public from loss of life, well-being or property damage resulting from natural disasters.

E. Clearing” means the destruction and removal of vegetation by burning, mechanical, or chemical methods.

F. Director” means the director of community and economic development or his/her designee.

G. Erosion hazard area” means an area designated by the city of Lacey Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Plan which, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service Soil Survey of Thurston County, Washington, have severe erosion hazard potential. These soil map units are described in Table 11 of the Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation Plan.

H. Financial security” means a method of providing surety of financial performance and may include provision of a bond, assignment of savings, letter of credit or other financial guarantee approved by the city attorney.

I. Geologically sensitive area” means an area that because of its susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake or other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns. Geologically sensitive areas do not include artificially created hazard areas.

J. Hillsides” means geological features of the landscape having slopes of fifteen percent and greater. To differentiate between levels of hillside protection and the application of development standards, the city of Lacey categorizes hillsides into four groups: hillsides of at least fifteen percent but less than twenty-five percent slope; hillsides of twenty-five percent but less than forty percent slope; hillsides of forty percent slope and greater; and hillsides which are defined as ravine sidewalls or bluffs.

K. Landslide” means an episodic downslope movement of a mass of soil or rock that includes but is not limited to rockfalls, slumps, mudflows, and earthflows.

L. Landslide hazard area” means an area potentially subject to landslides because of the combination of geologic, topographic, and hydrologic factors. These areas are typically susceptible to landslides because of a combination of factors, including bedrock, soil, slope gradient, slope aspect, geologic structure, ground water, or other factors. The following areas are considered to be subject to landslide hazard:

1. Any area with a combination of:

a. Slopes greater than fifteen percent; and

b. Impermeable soils (usually silt and clay) frequently interbedded with granular permeable soils (usually sand and gravel); and

c. Springs or ground water seepage.

2. Steep slopes of forty percent or greater.

3. Any area which has shown movement during the Holocene epoch (from ten thousand years ago to present) or which is underlain by mass wastage debris of that age.

4. Any area potentially unstable as a result of rapid stream incision, stream bank erosion, or undercutting by wave action.

5. Any area with slope stability designated as “I”, “U”, “Urs” or “Uos” by the Coastal Zone Atlas of Washington.

M. Native vegetation” means plant species which are indigenous to the area in question.

N. Ravine sidewall” means a steep slope which abuts and rises from the valley floor of a stream and which was created by the wearing action of the stream. Ravine sidewalls contain slopes predominantly in excess of forty percent, although portions may be less than forty percent. The toe of a ravine sidewall is the stream valley floor. The top of a ravine sidewall is typically a distinct line where the slope abruptly levels out. Where there is no distinct break in slope, the top is where the slope diminishes to less than fifteen percent. Minor natural or manmade breaks in the slope of ravine sidewalls shall not be considered as the top. Benches with slopes less than fifteen percent and containing developed or developable areas shall be considered as the top.

O. Seismic hazard areas” means those areas subject to severe risk of earthquake damage as a result of seismically induced settlement or soil liquefaction. These conditions occur in areas underlain by cohesionless soils of low density usually in association with a shallow ground water table.

P. Slope” means an inclined ground surface, the inclination of which is expressed as a ratio (percentage) of vertical distance to horizontal distance by the following formula:

(vertical distance) / (horizontal distance) x 100 = % slope.

Another method of measuring the inclination of the land surface is by measuring the angle, expressed in degrees, of the surface above a horizontal plane. The following chart shows the equivalents between these two methods of measurement for several slopes:

Slope in Percent

Angle in Degrees

8.7

5.0

15.0

8.5

25.0

14.0

30.0

16.7

40.0

21.8

50.0

26.6

100.0

45.0

Q. Soil Survey of Thurston County Washington” is a soil survey published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service. The survey contains information that can be applied in land use management. All the soils of the Thurston County Area are shown on detailed maps and described in text. (Ord. 1505 §46, 2017; Ord. 1208 §58, 2003; Ord. 935 §11 (part), 1992).