§ 17.225.020. Definitions.

The definitions listed below shall pertain to activities within the overlay districts:

Aquifer: Any stratum or zone of rock beneath the surface of the earth capable of containing or producing water from a well.

Buffer: A natural and/or landscaped open space and/or screen for buffering incompatible land uses or to visibly separate uses through distance to shield or block noise, light, glare, or visual or other nuisances; that portion of a given lot, not covered by buildings, pavement, parking, access and service areas, established for the purpose of screening and separating properties with incompatible land uses, width of which is measured from the common property line and extending the developed portion of the common property line. A buffer consists of trees, shrubs and other natural vegetation undisturbed by grading or site development and replanted where sparsely vegetated or where disturbed for approved access and utility crossings.

Buffer, undisturbed: An undisturbed buffer is one left in a natural state or augmented with plantings to achieve the goal of buffering.

Drastic: The standardized system for evaluating groundwater pollution potential using the hydrogeologic settings described in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency document EPA-600/2-87-035. The "drastic" methodology is the most widely used technique for evaluating pollution susceptibility.

Generalized wetlands maps: All wetlands within the jurisdiction of Hall County, Georgia, as indicated on the National Wetlands Inventory Maps. Disclaimer Language: The generalized wetlands map does not necessarily represent the boundaries of jurisdictional wetlands within Hall County and cannot serve as a substitute for a delineation of wetland boundaries by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as required by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, as amended.

Hazardous waste: Any solid waste which has been defined as a hazardous waste in regulations, promulgated by the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act, which are in force and effect on February 1, 1988, codified as 40 C.F.R. Section 261.3.

Impervious surface: Man-made structures or surfaces which prevent the infiltration of stormwater into the ground below the structure or surface. Examples include, but are not limited to, buildings, roads, driveways, parking lots, decks, swimming pools or patios.

Intake: The intake for the purpose of determining the watershed above the intake is the structure by which water will be removed from the North Oconee River and pumped to the reservoir, and will be located in the approximate area of the intersection of the Buffington Mill Creek and the North Oconee River.

Jurisdictional wetlands: An area that meets the definitional requirements for wetlands as determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Jurisdictional wetlands determination: A delineation of jurisdictional wetland boundaries by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as required by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1344, as amended.

Land-disturbing activity: Any grading, scraping, excavating, or filling of land; clearing of vegetation; and any construction, rebuilding, or alteration of a structure. Land-disturbing activity shall not include activities such as ordinary maintenance and landscaping operation, individual home gardens, yard and grounds upkeep, repairs, additions or minor modifications to a single-family dwelling, and the cutting of firewood for personal use.

Overlay district: A zoning district that encompasses one or more underlying zones and that imposes additional requirements above that required by the underlying zone(s). An overlay district can be coterminous with existing zoning districts or contain only parts of one or more such districts.

Perennial stream: A stream which flows throughout the entire year as indicated by a solid blue line on a USGS 7½ minute topographic series map.

Pollution susceptibility: The relative vulnerability of an aquifer to being polluted from spills, discharge, leaks, impoundments, application of chemicals, injections and other human activities in the recharge area.

Pollution susceptibility maps: Maps prepared by the Department of Natural Resources showing relative vulnerability of aquifers to pollution. Pollution susceptibility maps categorize the land areas of the state into areas having high, medium and low groundwater pollution potential.

Recharge areas: Any portion of the earth's surface, where water infiltrates into the ground to replenish an aquifer.

Regulated activity: Any activity which will, or which may reasonably be expected to, result in the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. excepting those activities exempted in Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act.

Reservoir boundary: The edge of a water supply reservoir defined by its normal pool level.

Significant recharge areas: Those areas mapped by the Department of Natural Resources in Hydrologic Atlas 18 (1989 edition). Mapping of recharge areas is based on outcrop area, lithology, soil type and thickness, slope, density of lithologic contracts, geologic structure, the presence or karst, and potentiometric surfaces. Significant recharge areas for Hall County are typified by those in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge, where rocks have primary porosity, with most groundwater being stored in the overlying soils.

Utility: Public or private water or sewer piping systems, water or sewer pumping stations, electric power lines, fuel pipelines, telephone lines, roads, driveways, bridges, river/lake access facilities, stormwater systems, and railroads or other utilities identified by a local government.

Water supply reservoir: A governmentally owned impoundment of water for the primary purpose of providing water to one or more governmentally owned public drinking water systems. This excludes multi-purpose reservoirs owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Water supply watershed: The area of land upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water intake.

Water supply watershed protection plan: A land use plan prepared and adopted by local government for the protection of the quality of drinking water obtained from the watershed.

Wetland protection district: All wetlands within Hall County which are indicated on the wetlands protection district overlay map as "wetlands providing significant wildlife habitat and/or which may be subject to extensive mitigation."

Wetlands: Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, and that meets the definition of natural conditions. Wetlands shall include any area delineated as a wetland by the United States Army Corps of Engineers under their jurisdiction pursuant to Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act as amended; or any area shown on a 1:24,000 scale, United States Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetland Inventory Map as being a wetland; or any area shown on a 1:24,000 scale, Georgia Department of Natural Resources land cover database map as being a wetland.

Wetlands, freshwater: A wetland, as defined in this Code, that does not include any areas defined as "coastal marshlands" by the State Coastal Marshlands Protection Act.

(Res. of 3-22-01, § 1; Res. of 2-27-03(1), § 1)