“Building” means a structure having a roof supported by columns or walls used for supporting or sheltering a use of any kind.

“Building footprint” means the combined area of the first floor of a dwelling unit and a private garage, as obtained from the Whatcom County assessor’s office records, or other source acceptable to the public works director or authorized designate.

“Developed parcel” means any parcel that has been altered from a natural state with or without a permit from the city. This includes clearing, grading or filling, whether or not that work accompanies excavation and construction.

“Duplex” means a building designed and arranged exclusively for occupancy by two families living independently of each other in separate dwelling units.

“Duplex parcel” means a parcel that has been developed and constructed to contain one duplex, and continues to be used solely for that purpose.

“Dwelling unit” means a single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one family including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.

“Garage, private” means an accessory building or a portion of the main building other than a carport used or intended to be used for the parking or storage of motor vehicles.

“Hard surface” means an impervious surface, a permeable pavement, or a vegetated roof.

“Impervious surface” means a nonvegetated surface area that either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle as under natural conditions prior to development or causes water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from the flow present under natural conditions prior to development. Common impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, rooftops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots or storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, packed earthen materials, and oiled, macadam or other surfaces that similarly impede the natural infiltration of stormwater. Open, uncovered retention/detention facilities shall not be considered as impervious surfaces for the purposes of determining whether the thresholds for application of minimum requirements are exceeded. Open, uncovered retention/detention facilities shall be considered impervious surfaces for purposes of runoff modeling. Impervious surfaces that meet the criteria for full dispersion or that are fully infiltrated in compliance with the Ecology Manual shall be excluded in the determination of thresholds for compliance with this chapter.

“Large footprint residential parcel” means a single-family residential parcel with a building footprint of greater than 3,000 square feet. Large footprint residential parcels are billed based on actual hard surface area.

“Low impact development (LID)” means a stormwater and land use management strategy that emphasizes conservation, use of existing natural site features integrated and distributed, small-scale stormwater management practices that are integrated into a project design to more closely mimic natural hydrologic patterns of infiltration, filtration, storage, evaporation and transpiration.

“Medium footprint residential parcel” means a single-family residential parcel with a building footprint of greater than 1,000 square feet and less than or equal to 3,000 square feet.

“Multiple-family dwelling unit” means a building or portion thereof designed for or occupied by three or more families living independently in separate dwelling units.

“Nonresidential parcel” means a parcel which has been developed for any purpose other than a single-family dwelling unit or duplex and includes, among others, all multiple-family dwelling units and all property owned by governmental and nonprofit entities.

“Parcel” means any area of land within the city of Bellingham that is deemed a distinct property as identified by the Whatcom County assessor’s office, whether or not the parcel is considered taxable.

Predeveloped Condition. For areas that drain directly or indirectly to a river or stream, “predeveloped conditions” shall mean the native vegetation and soils that existed at a site prior to the influence of Euro-American settlement. The predeveloped condition shall be assumed to be a forested land cover unless reasonable, historic information is provided that indicates the site was prairie prior to settlement. For areas that only drain directly or indirectly to marine or estuarine waters, “predeveloped conditions” shall mean the site conditions as of September 1, 1995.

“Public works director” means the duly appointed director of the city of Bellingham department of public works.

“Right-of-way” means a strip of parcel of land dedicated for public uses including street, mass transit, bicycle, and pedestrian uses as well as emergency access, utility, drainage, vegetation management, view corridor or other necessary public uses.

“Single-family residential parcel” means a parcel which has been developed and constructed to contain one dwelling unit and continues to be used solely for that purpose.

“Small footprint residential parcel” means a single-family residential parcel with a building footprint of less than or equal to 1,000 square feet. [Ord. 2021-04-014 § 3; Ord. 2017-03-009 § 3; Ord. 2012-12-062 § 1; Ord. 2001-02-007].