Downtown Form-Based Code Chapter 14 — Glossary

This section provides definitions for terms found herein that are technical in nature or that otherwise may not reflect a common usage of the term. Terms which are not defined in this section shall default to the those found in the Definitions section of the Santa Clara Zoning Code. Alley: A narrow service street which provides secondary access (and often utilities access) to all lots within a block. Driveways, parking aisles, and fire lanes are not alleys. Arbor (entrance arbor): A wooden structure that is intended to define an entrance into an on-site outdoor space, such as a front yard or parking lot. Arcade. An extension of upper floors over a sidewalk, supported by vertical supports. Arcades provide shade, glare control, and weather protection. Bay: A stacked (vertically organized) grouping of facade elements, such as openings and windows. Bay Window: A window, or window ensemble, that projects from any building elevation. Block: A aggregation of lots which are bound on all sides by public rights of way (whether streets or open spaces). Block dimensions are measured along private property lines. Building Base:The visually unified horizontal portion of a building that begins on the ground and extends one or more floors, typically ending at an architectural feature like a cornice or string course. The building base appears to be holding up the upper floors. Building Improvements: Building improvements include work that is typical of regular maintenance and upkeep. This may include changes to the exterior, but is limited to work that does not alter the general character Building Length: The length of the building as measured parallel to the front property line. Build-To Range, Front Street: A range of distances from the property line along a street or open space. A building's primary facadeshall be built within this range and shall extend along the street or open space as required by the facade buildout percentage. Chamfered corner: A bevel where two perpendicular building faces meet, resulting in a third face at a 45-degree angle. Civic Building:A private or public structure of civic importance that is noncommercial in nature. This includes but is not limited to: schools, places of assembly, libraries, museums, city hall, or any other building type that has historically been prominently featured in traditional cities and towns as a center of public life. Civic buildings do not include retail (with the exception being a notable food hall or market structure featuring many tenants) or mixed-use buildings, residential buildings, day care facilities, privately-owned office buildings, or municipal yards. Court: A court is an open space surrounded by one or more buildings, for use by residents or tenants, or for activation as a public plaza or outdoor dining area. It can provide visitor access from the street to dwellings, retail, office spaces, or buildings within the lot that lack direct access from the street. Director: The Director of Community Development, or designee. Dormer Window:An individual roofed window that protrudes out of a sloped roof. Drive Aisle: A vehicular lane within a parking lot that provides access to the individual parking spaces. Driveway: A vehicular lane within a lot that leads to on-site parking. Encroachment: Any structure extending into a required setback area. Facade Buildout: The required length of the primary facade (located within the Front Street Build-To Range) divided by the total buildable length along a street or open space, expressed as a percentage. Fenestration: Transparent glass openings in a building face. Fire Lane: An on-site right of way required by the Fire Marshal for the access of emergency vehicles. Forecourt:A court that abuts the public sidewalk. Where forecourts give access to retail and other public uses, they function as an extension of the public realm. Where forecourts grant access to residential or other private uses, they function as transitional spaces between the public and private realms. Frontage, Private: The ground floor building facade and the area between the building facade and any property line along a street or public open space. Frontage, Public: The space between any street-adjacent property line and the first travel lane in the roadway. Gallery: A ground-floor colonnade that supports a shed roof or deck that covers the sidewalk, intended to provide shade, glare control, and weather protection. Ground Floor: The floor of a building located nearest to the level of the existing grade around the building. Half-Story: The uppermost story of a building in which the sloping roof forms the walls. These are often lighted by dormer windows and include knee walls under roof slopes. Lot: A portion of land delineated from others to host an allowed development. For the purpose of this code, lot is synonymous with “property” or “design site.” Lot Line: A front, side or rear of a lot. For the purpose of this code, lot line is synonymous with property line. Massing Increments: A complete facade composition that is visually distinguished from an adjacent facade composition of the same building. Each increment has a coherent look and character from the ground to the top of the facade. Sometimes, Massing Increments appear as multiple parts of a single building, while in other cases, they appear as distinct buildings altogether. Non-Formula Retail and Restaurant Establishments. If there are fewer than 12 worldwide locations, including the proposed location, and if the business has less than two standardized features, then the proposed use is Non-Formula. Outbuilding: A rear building on the same property but separate from, and smaller in scale than the building which contains the primary use of the site. Paseo: A pedestrian path that provides a connection from one right of way or public open space to another. They may be privately maintained or dedicated to the City. Passage: An on-site pedestrian path. Pergola: A wooden structure that is intended to either provide a small area of shade or define an entrance into an on-site outdoor space, such as a front yard or parking lot. Pier. Vertical structural elements which, when dividing shopfronts, often define bays or Massing Increments. Primary Access: The principal or most-important means of approaching and entering a building or property. Primary Building: A building situated towards the adjacent street or public open space that accommodates the primary use of the site. This is distinguished from an outbuilding, which is ancillary in use and form, and sits near the rear of the site. Primary Entrances:Typically refers to front doors, and may include direct access into a ground floor residential unit, into nonresidential space, into a common lobby, or into a zaguan that leads to a court. Primary Facade. The portion of the facade located within the Front Street Build-To Range along a street and/or open space. Privacy Windows: Windows which are either opaque and unopenable or which begin at least 6 feet from the floor. Public Realm: All streets, sidewalks, parks, plazas, and other open spaces that comprise the shared space of a city for its visitors, employees and residents. It is the space between buildings where civic interaction occurs and is defined in contrast to private property. The public realm is publicly-accessible, regardless of whether particular parts of it are publicly or privately owned and maintained. Rosewalk: A wide paseo with residential frontages on either side. Rowhouse Building. A building containing an array of side-by side units. Shopfront: A ground-floor frontage assembly that includes an arrangement of large transparent windows and a conspicuous entrance that leads directly into the unit. Shopfronts are spatially defined on either side by structural vertical elements called piers. Side, Lot Line: Any property line that is shared with a neighboring property when there is no public open space between the two. Sideyard: The portion of a parcel extending from the front of the property to the rear of the property, between the side property line of the parcel and the closest side of the principal building. Story height: The vertical distance from floor to ceiling. For the topmost story, it is measured from the top of the floor finish to the bottom of the ceiling joists or, where there is not a ceiling, to the bottom of the roof rafters. Street: A right of way that is defined in Section 2.9. Paseos, driveways, parking aisles, fire lanes, and alleys are not streets. Street, Front: The side of the lot that is adjacent to a street. A property may have multiple fronts. Street, Side: (Applicable only to corner lots). The side of the lot that is adjacent to a street or public open space that is not considered the front (see Street, Front). Through lot: A lot which extends from one street frontage to another, across the entire span of the block. Trellis: A frame of latticework used as a screen or as a support for climbing plants.