Fort Worth City Code § 31-171 GLOSSARY OF TERMS.
§ 31-171 GLOSSARY OF TERMS.
ACCESS. Adequate access is defined as having frontage on a paved road meeting the right-of-way and pavement dimensions set forth in the master thoroughfare plan.
ACCESS CONTROLLER. The facility controlling vehicular access to private street developments that may be a mechanism or a manned structure.
ACREAGE, GROSS. The total acreage.
ACREAGE, NET. The total acreage less those areas dedicated to public use such as street alley rights-of-way and all easements.
ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVAL. Approval by the executive secretary to the plan commission.
ALLEY. A minor right-of-way, not intended to provide the primary means of access to abutting lots, which is primarily for vehicular service access to the back or sides of lots or properties otherwise abutting on a street.
APPLICANT. The owner of land proposed to be subdivided, or his or her representative when written consent is obtained from the legal owner of the premises. The terms APPLICANT, DEVELOPER and SUBDIVIDER are used interchangeably in this chapter.
ARTERIAL. See STREET, ARTERIAL.
AUTHORIZED AGENT. A person empowered by another to represent, act for and transact business with the city.
BENCHMARK, ELEVATION. A permanent benchmark that identifies the vertical elevation above mean sea level or other approved level.
BLOCK. An area enclosed by streets and occupied by or intended for buildings; or if used as a term for measurement, it shall mean the distance along both sides of a street between the nearest two streets which intersect said street. When necessary, the city shall determine the outline of the BLOCK in cases where platting is incomplete or disconnected.
BOND. Any form of security including a cash deposit, surety bond, collateral, property or instrument of credit in an amount and form satisfactory to the city. All BONDS shall be approved by the city council wherever a bond is required by the subdivision ordinance or adopted rules, regulations and procedures.
BUILDING. Any structure built for the support, shelter and/or enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or moveable property of any kind. When subdivided in a manner sufficient to prevent the spread of fire, each portion so subdivided may be deemed a separate BUILDING.
BUILDING SETBACK LINE. A line parallel or approximately parallel to the street right-of-way line at a specific distance therefrom marking the minimum distance from the street right-of-way line that a building may be erected.
BUILDING SITE. Land occupied or to be occupied by a building and its accessory building, including such open spaces as are required under this chapter and having direct access to a public street.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS. Facilities of a permanent nature, such as streets, drainage, sanitary sewer, etc.
CITY ENGINEER. The person designated by the city council to review engineering aspects of projects located within the city.
COLLECTOR STREET. See STREET, COLLECTOR.
COMMON AREA. An area or facility that is owned jointly by the owners within the subdivision and/or members of the property owners association. COMMON AREAS include, but are not limited to private parks, community buildings and screening walls.
COMMUNITY FACILITIES AGREEMENT (CFA). A contract between the city and developer for the construction and cost sharing of public infrastructure improvement.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. For purposes of this chapter, the comprehensive plan shall include current and future streets, alleys, parks, playgrounds and public facilities as delineated by the master thoroughfare plan; parks and recreation policies; Meacham, Alliance and Spinks Airport controls; and other city codes, ordinances or regulations.
COVENANT. An agreement to do or refrain from doing certain acts.
CROSS STREET INTERSECTION. Situation in which two perpendicular streets fully intersect, or cross one another from one side to the other at or near a 90-degree angle.
CUL-DE-SAC. A street having but one outlet to another street and terminated on the opposite end by a vehicular turn-around.
DRC. Abbreviation for DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE.
DEAD-END STREET. A street, other than a cul-de-sac, with only one outlet.
DEDICATION. A gift or donation of property or interest in property by the owner to the public.
DENSITY. The number of dwelling units per gross acre of subdivision, excluding any areas that are nonresidential in use.
DETENTION POND. A pond or impoundment designed to store stormwater runoff for controlled release during or immediately following the storm event.
DEVELOPER. An individual, partnership, corporation or governmental entity undertaking the subdivision or improvement of land and other activities covered by this chapter including the preparation of a subdivision plat showing the layout of the land and the public improvements involved. The term DEVELOPER is intended to include the term SUBDIVIDER even though personnel in successive stages of a project may vary.
DOUBLE FRONTAGE LOTS. A lot, other than a corner lot, with frontage on more than one street.
DRAINAGE PLAN. An engineering study evaluating stormwater runoff and flows that recommends drainage improvements necessary to comply with design standards adopted by the city.
DWELLING. Any building or portion thereof, which is designed for or used for residential purposes.
EASEMENT. An interest in land granted to the city, to the public generally, a private individual and/or to a private or public utility corporation.
EASEMENT, ACCESS. An easement created for the purpose of providing vehicular or pedestrian access to a property.
EASEMENT, DRAINAGE. An easement created for the purpose of conveying stormwater across property either on the surface or in an underground system.
EASEMENT, EMERGENCY ACCESS. An easement on private property created for the purpose of providing access for emergency vehicles to a property.
EMERGENCY. Response by the appropriate city department to an alarm or call requiring immediate action in the interest of the public health and safety.
ENGINEER. A person duly authorized under the provisions of the Texas Engineering Registration Act, as heretofore or hereafter amended, to practice the profession of engineering.
ENTRY TURNAROUND. An opening or other accommodation provided at the entrance to a private street development in order to allow vehicles denied access to re-enter the public street with a forward motion without unduly disturbing other vehicles at the entrance.
EROSION CONTROL. Structural and nonstructural techniques to prevent the erosion and sedimentation of soil from rainfall and/or runoff.
E.T.J.—EXTRA TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION. That property which lies within the jurisdiction of the City of Fort Worth for enforcing subdivision plat regulations.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY. The director of the development department, or the director's designated representative, who serves as the executive secretary to the plan commission.
FPUC. Abbreviation for franchised public utility companies.
FINAL PLAT. The one official and authentic map of any given subdivision of land prepared from actual field measurement and staking of all identifiable points by a surveyor with the subdivision location references to a survey corner or other established reference and all boundaries, corners and curves of the land division sufficiently described so that they can be reproduced without additional references. Angular measurements and bearings shall be accurate to the nearest tenth of a foot. The final plat of any lot, tract or parcel of land shall be recorded in the plat records of the appropriate county.
FLOODPLAIN. An area identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as possibly being flood prone at or below the intermediate flood line (100-year floodplain). The issuance of building permits for construction of any structure within such floodplain is regulated by a separate specific ordinance governing the safeguards, preventing actions against flooding, types of uses permitted in flood prone areas, etc.
FLOODWAY. The channel of a river of other water course and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot.
FREQUENT TRANSIT ROUTE. Public bus routes that have a headway of 15 minutes or less and all passenger rail stations.
HOA and POA. Abbreviations for HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION and PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION respectively, both mean the same and are used interchangeably.
INFILL DEVELOPMENT. Shall have the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 31-43.
INFRASTRUCTURE. Facilities needed to sustain manufacturing, residential, commercial and all other land use activities. INFRASTRUCTURE includes water lines, sewer lines and other utilities; streets and roads; communications; and public facilities, such as fire stations, parks, schools and other similar type uses.
LAND USE PLAN. Part of comprehensive plan showing future land use.
LOT. An undivided tract or parcel of land having frontage on a public street, or upon an approved access easement having direct public street access, and which is, or in the future may be, offered for sale, conveyance, transfer or improvement; which is designated as a distinct and separate tract; and which is identified by a tract or lot number of symbol in a duly approved subdivision plat properly approved by the city and filed on record with the county clerk.
(1) AREA, LOT. The area of the lot shall be the net area of the lot and shall not include portions of streets and alleys.
(2) LOT DEPTH. The distance between midpoints of straight lines connecting the foremost points of the side lot line in front and the rearmost points of the side lot lines in the rear (the mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot line).
(3) LOT, DOUBLE FRONTAGE OR THROUGH. A lot, other than a corner lot, with frontage on more than one street.
(4) LOT, FRONTAGE. The length of street frontage between property lines.
(5) LOT, IRREGULAR. Any lot not having equal front or rear lot lines, or equal side lot lines (the opposite lot lines vary in dimension), or having corners with an angle of either more or less than 90 degrees.
(6) LOT ORIENTATION. The compass reading for a line, drawn from a point midway between the side lot lines at the required front yard setback to a point midway between the side lot lines at the required rear yard setback.
(7) LOT WIDTH. The distance between straight lines connecting front and rear lot lines at each side of the lot, measured across the rear of the required front yard, provided, however, that the width between side lot lines at their foremost points (where they intersect with the street line) shall not be less than 80% of the required lot width except in the case of lots on the turning circle of cul-de-sacs, where the 80% requirement shall not apply.
OPEN SPACE, PRIVATE. Within a subdivision, private open space is private property under common ownership and for use by property owners within the subdivision designated for recreational area, private park, play lot area, plaza area, building setbacks (other than those normally required), and ornamental areas open to the general view within the subdivision. PRIVATE OPEN SPACE does not include streets, alleys, utility easements, public parks or required setbacks.
OPEN SPACE, PUBLIC. Within a subdivision, PUBLIC OPEN SPACE is property which has been designated for park land, recreation or wildlife conservation areas which have been dedicated to, and accepted by, the city or other federal, state or municipal governmental entity.
OWNER OF RECORD. Legal owner or owners of the property.
PARK. Land dedicated to, or purchased by, the city or other federal, state or municipal governmental entity for the purpose of providing public recreation or open space areas.
PARK, NEIGHBORHOOD. A public park intended to serve the recreation needs of people living or working within a one-half mile radius of the park.
PARK, PRIVATE. A tract of land presently owned or controlled and used by private or semi-public persons, entities or groups for active or passive recreational purposes.
PAVEMENT WIDTH. The portion of a street available for vehicular traffic; where curbs are laid, it is the portion from the face of a standard six-inch curb to the face of the opposite curb.
PERMIT. A license, certificate, approval, registration, consent, permit, contract or other agreement for construction related to, or provision of, service from a water or wastewater utility owned, operated or controlled by a regulatory agency, or other form of authorization required by law, rule, regulation, order or ordinance that a person must obtain to perform an action or initiate, continue or complete a project for which the permit is sought.
PERSON. Any individual, association, firm corporation, governmental agency or political subdivision.
PETITION. A written request.
PHASED DEVELOPMENT. A plat presented by the developer proposing that only part of the tract is to be developed with the remainder of the tract to be developed at a later date.
PID. Abbreviation for PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT which is created by the city.
PLAN COMMISSION. Same as COMMISSION.
PLAT. A map of a specific land area such as a subdivision, showing the location and boundaries of individual parcels of land subdivided into lots with streets, alleys, easements, etc. drawn to scale.
POLICY. A statement, or document, which has been enacted by the governing body of the city that forms the basis for enacting legislation or making decisions.
PRELIMINARY PLAT. A formal document showing the detailed concept of the subdivision, presented with the required accompanying material to the plan commission for approval.
PRIVATE STREETS. Private vehicular access ways shared by and serving three or more lots, which are not otherwise dedicated to the public nor publicly maintained.
PRIVATE STREET LOT. A separate lot owned by the property owners association, whereupon a private street is constructed.
PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION. An organization established for the ownership, care and maintenance of private streets and other private facilities.
PUBLIC FACILITIES. Any facilities for the public welfare, usually including public utilities, governmental buildings and public schools.
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. Facilities such as streets or drainage systems, which are dedicated for public use.
PUBLIC OPEN SPACE EASEMENT. An easement that restricts construction or plantings so that open space and/or sight visibility is maintained.
REAL PROPERTY. Land and anything attached to, or erected on it, excluding anything that may be severed without injury to the land.
REPLATTING. The resubdivision of any part or all of any block or blocks of a previously platted subdivision, addition, lot or tract.
RESERVE STRIP. A privately owned strip of land, normally one foot in depth, adjacent to a public right-of-way which may be used by the city and franchised utilities for locating facilities to serve the public.
RESIDENTIAL STREET. Limited local, local or collector street (public or private) built to city standards.
RETENTION POND. A pond or other impoundment designed to store stormwater runoff permanently.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. Lands dedicated to the public for use as a street, alley or crosswalk.
SCREENING, WALL OR FENCE. An opaque wall or barrier or fence at least six feet high made of masonry, cedar or similarly approved fence material per the zoning ordinance.
SHALL, MAY. The word SHALL is always mandatory. The word MAY is merely permissive.
SIDEWALK. A paved pedestrian way generally located within public street right-of-way, but outside of the roadway, and built in accordance with city specifications.
SKETCH PLAN. A sketch drawing of initial development ideas superimposed on a topographic map to indicate generally the plan of development and to serve as a working base for noting and incorporating suggestions of the staff, city engineer, utilities or others who are consulted prior to the preparation of the preliminary plat.
STACKING AREA. A setback measured from the public street right-of-way to the access controller.
STEEP SLOPE. Areas that contain slopes over 15% grade and are characterized by increased run-off and erosion hazards.
STREET. A public right-of-way, however designated on the city’s comprehensive plan, which provides vehicular access to adjacent land.
(1) ARTERIAL STREET. Designed to efficiently carry large volumes of traffic through the city.
(2) COLLECTOR STREET.
a. Primarily provides circulation within neighborhoods, to carry traffic from local streets to arterials, or to carry traffic through or adjacent to commercial or industrial areas.
b. A COLLECTOR STREET in a residential zoning district shall also be identified as a residential street.
(3) LOCAL OR LIMITED LOCAL STREET. One used primarily for access to abutting residential property.
(4) PRIVATE STREET. A vehicular access way under private ownership and maintenance that has not been dedicated to the city or accepted by the city.
(5) STREET, INTERNAL. Generally any street whose entire width is contained within a development.
(6) STREET, PERIMETER. Any street, which abuts a development or one whose width lies partly within a development and partly without, unless, otherwise defined by the city engineer.
(7) STREET WIDTH. The shortest distance between the lines, which delineate the rights-of-way of a street.
STRUCTURE. Anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on the ground, or attached to something having a fixed location on the ground. Among other things, STRUCTURES include buildings, mobile homes, billboards and poster panels.
SUBDIVIDER. Any person or agent thereof, dividing or proposing to divide land so as to constitute a subdivision as that term is defined herein. In any event, the term SUBDIVIDER shall be restricted to include only the owner or equitable owner, of land sought to be subdivided.
SUBDIVISION. A division of any tract of land situated within the corporate limits, or extraterritorial limits, in two or more parts for the purpose of laying out any subdivision of any tract of land or any addition of any town or city, or for laying out suburban lots or building lots, or any lots and streets, alleys or parts or other portions intended for public use or the use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting thereon or adjacent thereto. SUBDIVISION includes re-subdivision.
SURVEYOR. A Texas registered public surveyor, as authorized by the state statues to practice the profession of surveying.
T-STREET INTERSECTION. Situation where one street intersects with that of another, in a perpendicular configuration at or near a 90-degree angle, and the intersecting street does not penetrate through to the other side of the intersected street, thereby forming a T-configuration.
THOROUGHFARE. The public vehicular infrastructure composed of arterials, collectors and local streets. See STREETS.
THOROUGHFARE PLAN. The officially adopted plan, a part of the comprehensive plan, that identifies and classifies the existing and proposed thoroughfares in the city.
TPW. Abbreviation for DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS.
TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT STUDY (TAS) and TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY (TIS). each has its own definitions of standards of submission requirements, as administered by TPW. A TAS study is of less complexity and detail than is a TIS study.
TRAFFIC ENGINEER. The person designated by the city council to review traffic aspects of projects located within the city.
URBAN LOCAL STREET. Term meaning the same as RESIDENTIAL STREET, LOCAL STREET, CUL-DE-SAC and LOOP STREET.
UTILITY EASEMENT. An interest in land granted to the city, to the public generally, and/or to a private utility corporation or public utility district, for installing, maintaining, repairing or enlarging utilities across, over or under private land, together with the right to enter thereon with machinery and vehicles necessary for the installation, maintenance, replacement or enlargement of said utilities at any time.
VACATION (CLOSURE). To cancel, rescind or render an act that has the effect of voiding a subdivision plat or a portion thereof as public easement, right-of-way or other dedication.
(Ord. 17522, § 5, passed 4-24-2007; Ord. 17851, § 1 (App. C, Glossary), passed 10-30-2007; Ord. 20382-09-2012, § 9, passed 9-11-2012; Ord. 28336-02-2026, §§ 22—24, passed 2-24-2026, eff. 3-13-2026)