Glossary
Words not defined herein shall be construed to have the meaning given by common and ordinary use as defined in the latest edition of Webster's Dictionary or in accepted industry practice.
501(c)(3). Section of the Internal Revenue Code that defines certain types of charitable organizations (including churches and religious institutions) that are eligible to be federally tax exempt. The term '501(c)(3)' is also generically used to describe an organization that meets the IRC code definition.
ADJUSTMENT (or FEE ADJUSTMENT). The adjustment of the user fee (stormwater, solid waste, or both) applied to a particular parcel based upon errors in the fee or charge for that parcel, or based on periods of vacancy, in the case of the solid waste fee.
APPEAL. The process of filing a dispute of a denied application for a fee adjustment, exemption or credit, as recognized by the city.
APPLICANT. An owner of the property(ies) for which an adjustment, exemption or credit is sought, or otherwise be an appointed representative of the owner or owners (e.g. Homeowners Association president) legally authorized to act on behalf of the owner. The applicant must be the signatory of the application.
AS-BUILT PLANS. The final plans amended to include all locations, dimensions, elevations, capacities, features and capabilities, as actually constructed and installed.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMP), Manual for Stormwater Best Management Practices, Current Edition. The St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) Best Management Practice Manual defining acceptable programs, technologies, processes, site layout techniques and criteria, operating methods, measures, or devices that control, prevent, remove, or reduce pollution.
CHANNEL. A natural stream that conveys water. A ditch, or passageway, excavated to permit or accommodate the flow of water.
CITY. The City of Jacksonville, Florida and its authorized agents.
CITY ENGINEER. A professional engineer appointed by the Mayor of the City of Jacksonville as the Chief of the Engineering and Construction Management Division of the Department of Public Works.
CLEARING. The removal of trees, brush, and other ground cover from all or a part of a tract of land, but shall not include mowing.
CONVEYANCE. For the purposes of the Stormwater Utility, a means of transport of stormwater.
COUNTY. Duval County, Florida.
CREDIT (or FEE CREDIT). The percent discount applied to the stormwater fee in accordance with the Adjustment & Credit Manual.
CUSTOMER. The owner of any parcel that is receiving stormwater utility service and/or residential solid waste collection service from the City of Jacksonville, Florida and is billed a user fee.
DETENTION or TO DETAIN. The prevention of, or to prevent, the discharge, directly or indirectly, of a given volume of stormwater runoff into surface waters by providing temporary on-site storage.
DEVELOPMENT or DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY. The alteration, construction, installation, demolition or removal of a structure, impervious surface, pipe, conduit, cable or line, above or below ground, or the clearing, scraping, grubbing, killing or otherwise removing the vegetation from a site; or adding, removing, exposing, excavating, leveling, grading, digging, burrowing, dumping, piling, dredging or otherwise significantly disturbing the soil, mud, sand or rock of a site.
DIRECTOR. Refers to the Director of Public Works, who has been designated by Section 754.014 as the Director of the Stormwater Management Utility, or his designee.
DISCHARGE. For the purposes of the Stormwater Utility, the definition of cischarge shall be the flow of water from a project, site, aquifer, drainage basin, or other drainage facility.
DITCH. An artificial waterway for the purpose of irrigation or for stormwater conveyance.
DRAINAGE FACILITY (or FACILITY). Any component of a stormwater management system.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM. All facilities used for the movement of stormwater through and from a drainage area including, but not limited to, any and all of the following:
- conduits, pipes and culverts, including appurtenant features such as catch basins, inlets, manholes, and headwalls;
- channels, ditches, flumes, curbs, streets and other paved areas;
- and all watercourses, standing or flowing bodies of water, and wetlands.
While some such facilities may be isolated in a given storm event, all are interconnected in a given drainage system for a storm event exceeding a certain magnitude.
DWELLING UNIT (or UNIT). Any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively as the residence or sleeping place of one or more families, but not including a tent, cabin, trailer or trailer coach, boarding or rooming house, or hotel.
EASEMENT. A grant by a property owner for a specified use of all or a specified portion of land to a person or the public at large.
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED. See Low-Income
EROSION. The wearing or washing away of soil by the action of water.
EXEMPTION (or FEE EXEMPTION). The release of obligation for payment of the stormwater and/or solid waste fee in accordance with the guidelines established by the Department of Public Works.
FACILITIES. Various drainage works that may include inlets, conduits, manholes, energy dissipation structures, channels, outlets, retention/detention basins, and other structural components.
FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL. Income thresholds determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; used as a measure to determine if a person or family is eligibile for assistance through various federal programs.
FREEBOARD. The space from the top of an embankment to the highest water elevation expected for the largest design storm stored. The space is often required as a safety margin in a pond or detention basin.
FREQUENCY YEAR STORM. A rainfall event expressed as an exceedence probability with a specified chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, as follows:
One Year...............................................100 percent
Two Year............................................... 50 percent
Ten Year................................................ 10 percent
Twenty-Five Year................................... 4 percent
Fifty Year............................................... 2 percent
One-Hundred Year.................................. 1 percent
HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION (or HOA). The legally recognized, non-profit group or organization representing the interest of the property owners within a specified jurisdiction.
HYDROGRAPH. A graph of inflow and/or discharge versus time for a selected point in the drainage system.
IMPERVIOUS AREA (or IMPERVIOUS SURFACE). A surface which has been compacted or covered with a layer of material so that it is resistant to infiltration by water, including semi-pervious surfaces such as compacted clay, gravel used as travelways, most conventionally surfaced streets, roofs, sidewalks, parking lots, and other similar surfaces.
INSPECTOR. A person designated by the city who conducts the necessary inspection of stormwater related work to ensure conformance with the Approved Plan and the provisions of this chapter.
INTENSITY. The depth of accumulated rainfall per unit of time.
LANDLOCKED SYSTEM. Condition when a development provides the maximum water quality treatment and volume control available through the detailed drainage study, and does not allow discharge into the city's system or the St. Johns River. Further defined in the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) Handbook for the Management and Storage of Surface Waters.
LOW-INCOME. In relation to the administration of the stormwater fee exemption program, low-income refers to those persons or families whose income is at or less than 150% of the federal poverty level (see definition) as established annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
MAINTENANCE. The action taken to protect, preserve, or restore the as-built, functionality of any facility or system.
NON-RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY. A developed property that is not utilized for dwelling units within the City.
NOTICE. A written or printed communication conveying information or warning.
NPDES. National Pollution Discharge Elimination System.
OPEN CHANNEL. An uncovered ditch, channel, or swale used to convey stormwater runoff.
OUTFALL: The place where a drain or stream discharges to a receiving body of water; a very large ditch.
OWNER. The person in whom the fee, ownership, dominion, or title of property (i.e., the proprietor) is vested. This term may also include a tenant, if chargeable under his lease for the maintenance of the property, and any agent of the owner or tenant including a developer.
PARCEL (or PROPERTY). A tract, or contiguous tracts, of land; piece of real estate.
PERMITTEE. Any person who has been granted a permit to proceed with a project.
POST-DEVELOPMENT. The hydrologic and hydraulic condition of a project site immediately following completion of the development for which a permit has been approved.
PRE-DEVELOPMENT. The hydrologic and hydraulic condition of a project site immediately before development or construction begins.
PRIVATE. Property or facilities owned by individuals, firms, entities, corporations, and other organizations and not by local, state or federal governments.
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER. A professional engineer licensed by the State of Florida, skilled in the practice of civil engineering and the engineer of record for the project under consideration.
PUBLIC. Property or facilities owned by local, state or federal governments.
RAINFALL INTENSITY. The depth of accumulated rainfall per unit of time.
RATE. Volume of water, or other material, per unit of time.
RECEIVING WATERS (or WATER BODY). Any watercourse, or wetland into which surface water flows.
RETENTION or TO RETAIN. The prevention of, or to prevent, the discharge, directly or indirectly, of a given volume of stormwater runoff into surface waters by complete on-site storage.
SEDIMENT. Solid material, whether mineral or organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its place of origin by water.
SEDIMENT CONTROL DEVICE. Any structure or area that is designed to hold runoff water until suspended sediment has settled out.
SINGLE FAMILY UNIT (or SFU). The statistical average established to be 3,100 square feet of horizontal impervious area for each single family detached residential dwelling unit within the city and as established by ordinance. The horizontal impervious area includes, but is not limited to, all areas covered by structures, roof extensions, patios, porches, driveways, and sidewalks.
SITE. Any tract, lot, or parcel of land or contiguous combination of tracts, lots, or parcels of land that is in one ownership, or contiguous and in diverse ownership, where development is to be performed as part of a unit, subdivision, or project.
SITE STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN. Refers to the approved, detailed analysis, design, and drawings of the stormwater management system required for all construction.
STORM EVENT. A storm of a specific duration, intensity, and frequency.
STORMWATER (or STORMWATER RUNOFF). Refers to the flow of water which results from, and which occurs during and following a rainfall event.
STORMWATER DESIGN STANDARDS. The design standards presented in the Stormwater Regulations, and such other standards that may be adopted by the city from time to time.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (or FACILITIES). Refers to the existing, designed, and/or constructed features which collect, convey, channel, store, inhibit, or divert the movement of stormwater.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN. The technical and policy manuals, plans, regulations and/or calculations, and any subsequent updates or amendments thereto, used by the City Engineer to administer the stormwater regulations.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed or installed with a fixed location on or in the ground.
SUBGRADE. The top elevation of graded and compacted earth underlying roadway pavement.
SWALE. An artificial or natural waterway which may contain contiguous areas of standing or flowing water following a rainfall event. A swale may be planted with or otherwise contain vegetation suitable for soil stabilization, stormwater re-treatment, and/or nutrient uptake; or may be designed to accommodate or account for soil erodibility, soil percolation, slope, slope length, and contributing area, so as to prevent erosion and reduce the pollutant concentration of any discharge.
UNIT. See Dwelling Unit
UTILITY. The stormwater management utility provided for in Chapter 754 of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Jacksonville.
VACANT LAND. A lot or parcel of land that is without any building, structure or improvement, including impervious surfaces, but does not include recreation, green or open space created around private or public facilities nor parcels connected or contiguous thereto for the same or similar uses.
WATER BODY. Any natural or artificial pond, lake, reservoir, or other area that ordinarily or intermittently contains water, and which has a discernible shoreline.
WATERCOURSE. Any natural or artificial stream, creek, channel, ditch, canal, waterway, gully, ravine, or wash in which water flows either continuously or intermittently, and which has a definite channel, bed, or banks.
WATER QUALITY. Those characteristics of stormwater runoff from a land disturbing activity that relate to the physical, chemical, biological or radiological integrity of water.
WATER QUANTITY. Those characteristics of stormwater runoff that relate to the rate and volume of the stormwater runoff to downstream areas resulting from land disturbing activities.
WET DETENTION. A detention basin that contains a permanent pool of water that will retain runoff for a minimum period of 14 days for an average summer rainfall, and which has a littoral zone over a substantial portion of the pond surface area.
WETLAND. An area that is inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater with 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.
WORKS. All artificial, man made structures, including, but not limited to, canals, ditches, swales, conduits, channels, culverts, pipes, and other construction that connects to, draws water from, drains water into, or is placed in or across the waters of the state.
WATERSHED. Drainage area contributing stormwater runoff to a single point.