Glossary of Terms

Northwest Hub Glossary of Terms

We know better than anyone that the land use sector is full of jargon. This list of commonly used words should help. Looking for a definition you can't find? Let us know at editor@northwesthub.org. 

A-G H-M N-S T-Z

A-G

Affordable Housing: Residential housing that is rented or owned by a person or household whose monthly housing costs, including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed thirty percent of the household's monthly income. (RCW 43.185B.010)

Airport Overlay: An area, generally made into a district within a local zoning ordinance, which is designed to promote compatible land uses in areas proximate to airports by, for example, imposing strict height limitations and prohibiting noise-sensitive uses.

Annexation: The assimilation of some territory into another political entity – usually the attachment of lands that were previously under county jurisdiction to a municipality. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Arterial: A major through route that often provides direct service between cities and large towns. (FHWA)

Articulated: Clear and distinct expression of the joinery or various construction elements of a building in a way that enriches the sense of the whole as experienced by the pedestrian. Traditional buildings acknowledge pedestrian speed with flat wall planes quietly articulated. (New Code Denver)

Best Available Science: The most up-to-date information available for planning and development decision-making. Defined and required by the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.172).

Brownfield: A previously developed property or site – often having been used for industrial activity – that now is underutilized or not in active use, on land that is either contaminated or perceived as contaminated. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Buildable Lands Analysis: An assessment of the amount of land needed for commercial, industrial, and housing development, as required by the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.215). Buildable lands programs are to determine whether a county and its cities are achieving urban densities within the urban growth area by comparing adopted provisions with actual growth. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Building Footprint: The area on a project site that is occupied by the building structure and is defined by the perimeter of the building plan. Parking lots, landscapes and other non-building facilities are not included in the building footprint. (Seattle DPD)

Built Environment: Refers to the human-created surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from large-scale civic districts, commercial and industrial buildings, to neighborhoods and individual homes. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): An enhanced bus system that operates on bus lanes or other transitways in order to combine the flexibility of buses with the efficiency of rail. By doing so, BRT operates at faster speeds, provides greater service reliability and increased customer convenience. It also utilizes a combination of advanced technologies, infrastructure and operational investments that provide significantly better service than traditional bus service. (FTA)

Carbon Footprint: A measure of the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels. In the case of an organization, business, or enterprise, the measure is based on routine operations. For an individual or household, it is a measure related to day-to-day living. A carbon footprint is often expressed as tons of carbon dioxide or tons of carbon emitted, usually on a yearly basis. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Clean Air Act (CAA): Federal legislation that establishes standards for air quality in the United States. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Climate Change: Refers to the variation in the earth’s global climate (or in regional climates) over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere. Climate change may result from natural factors or processes (such as changes in ocean circulation) or from human activities that change the atmosphere’s composition (such as the burning fossil fuels or deforestation). (PSRC Vision 2040)

Clusters: Geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a nation or region. (ISC)

Collector: A roadway linking traffic on local roads to the arterial road network. (FHWA)

Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Act: A state law mandating that affected jurisdictions enact ordinances requiring major employers to implement programs reducing commuting vehicle miles traveled and rates of their employees driving alone. (RCW 70.94.521-551).

Complete Street: Designed and operated to ensure safe travel for all users – pedestrians, cyclists, transit-riders, and motorists. Typically, complete streets include sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, and other features and amenities.
Comprehensive Plan: A document that guides growth and development for a local jurisdiction. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Concurrency: A state planning requirement to ensure that needed services and facilities are in place by the time development is completed and to be occupied, or that funding has been committed to provide such services within six years. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Conditional Use: A use listed among those classified in any given zone but permitted to locate only after review by the board of adjustment, or zoning adjustor if there be such, and the granting of a conditional use permit imposing such performance standards as will make the use compatible with other permitted uses in the same vicinity and zone and assure against imposing excessive demands upon public utilities, provided the county ordinances specify the standards and criteria that shall be applied. (RCW 43.70.020)

Congestion: A condition characterized by unstable traffic flows that creates stop-and-go movement on a transportation facility. Nonrecurring congestion is caused by actions such as special events, weather, and/or traffic accidents. Recurring congestion is caused by problematic facility design at a key location or constant excess volume compared with capacity. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Congestion Management System (CMS): A federally mandated program directed at specific urbanized areas to address traffic congestion. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Conservation: The management of resources – such as water and energy – in order to eliminate waste or maximize efficiency of use. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Conservation (Residential) Cluster Development: Grouping of residential properties on a proposed development site in order to use the extra land as open space, recreation or agriculture (Wikipedia)

Conservation Easement: A restriction on the use of land that is voluntarily sold or donated by a landowner to a private land trust or governmental agency. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Context-based Zoning: Zoning regulations derived from the desirable attributes or development characteristics of existing neighborhoods or planned places (i.e., the "context"). (New Code Denver)

Cottage Housing: A grouping of small, single family dwelling units clustered around a common area and developed with a coherent plan for the entire site (MRSC)

Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA): Areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water. (DOE)

Critical Area: Lands that perform key functions that enhance the natural environment and built environment, as well as protection from hazards. According to the Growth Management Act, such areas include wetlands, floodplains, aquifer recharge areas, wildlife conservation areas, and certain geologic areas. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Density (Gross): The quotient of the total number of dwelling units divided by the base site area of a site, expressed in dwelling units per acre. (TWP)

Density (Net): The number of dwelling units per acre of residential designated use area for a dwelling unit type or types, computed by dividing the number of dwelling units of that type or types proposed to be built within that residential designated use area or portion thereof by the number of acres devoted to that type or types of dwelling units within that designated use area, exclusive of roads or open space areas. (TWP)

Density Bonus: An incentive that permits developers to increase the number of housing units or commercial floor area ratio allowed by right on a property in exchange for rent restrictions, lowered sales prices, public or other benefit defined by the permitting jurisdiction. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Design Departure: Formal request to depart from one or more development standards listed in the zoning code as a standard from which, and in consideration of separately published design guidelines, departure is allowed. (New Code Denver)

Design Review (Seattle): A review of certain commercial and mutifamily development that exceed a certain size in certain zones. The Department of Planning and Development's Design Review Program and its boards review these projects. These design reviews are tailored to encourage better design and site planning that enhances the character of the city and ensures that new development fits sensitively into neighborhoods. (Seattle DPD)

Design Standards: Requirements that set a development's appearance and its visual and functional relation to existing or future neighbors. If the word standards is used they are considered development standards and must be as objective as possible. Design requirements associated with conditional approval should be identified as the criteria upon which the conditional approval would be based. (New Code Denver)

Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS): Determination by responsible official that a proposed project poses no probable significant adverse environmental impacts, permitting circumvention of Environmental Impact Statement filing under SEPA.

Development Standards: Comprise all the requirements that if followed in total and to the letter will result in the issuance of a building permit “as of right,” meaning one has a legal right to that assumption. (New Code Denver)

Dwelling: A room or rooms located within a structure, designed, arranged, occupied or intended to be occupied by not more than one household as living accommodations independent from any other household. The existence of a food preparation area within the room or rooms shall be evidence of the existence of a dwelling. (Seattle Municipal Code)

Easement: Allows another person or entity the right to use private land for a specific purpose.  The most usual easements are those granted to public utility companies to run lines on or under private property.  Other common easements are for storm drainage pipes and ditches, for walkways, and for access roads. (King County)

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): A document filed under SEPA that discusses the probable environmental impacts of a proposed project, as well as informs decision makers and the general public of reasonable alternatives that would minimize adverse impacts or enhance environmental quality. (WAC 197-11-400)

Environmental Justice: The fair distribution of costs and benefits, based on a concern for social equity. Environmental justice is concerned with the right of all people to enjoy a safe, clean, and healthy environment, and with fairness across income, ethnic, and racial groups in the siting and operation of infrastructure, facilities, or other large land uses, such as power plants or landfills. Presidential Executive Order 12898 (1994) directs federal agencies – and those receiving federal funds – to make environmental justice part of their missions by identifying and addressing the effects of all programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Environmental Review (SEPA): Consists of the range of proposed activities, alternatives, and impacts to be analyzed in an environmental document, in accordance with SEPA's goals and policies. (WAC 197-11-060)

Floor Area Ratio:A ratio expressing the relationship between the amount of gross floor area or chargeable floor area permitted in one or more structures and the area of the lot on which the structure is, or structures are, located. (Seattle Municipal Code)

Form-Based Zoning: Regulation of building "form" (versus just "use") to assure a building's general shape, massing, height and orientation positively contribute to the existing or desired neighborhood context. (New Code Denver)

Green Building (also: Green Design): Building design that yields environmental benefits, such as savings in energy, building materials, and water consumption, or reduced waste generation. Green development minimizes energy consumption, pollution, and the generation of wastes, while maximizing the re-use of materials and creating healthful indoor environments. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Green Roof: Contains green space on, or integrated with, a building roof. Green roofs maintain living plants in a growing medium on top of a membrane and drainage system. Green roofs are considered a sustainable building strategy in that they have the capacity to reduce stormwater runoff from a site, they modulate temperatures in and around the building, have thermal insulating properties, can provide habitat for wildlife and open space for humans, and other benefits. (Seattle Green Building Glossary)

Green Street: A street designed and constructed to integrate a system of stormwater management within its right-of-way in order to reduce the amount of water piped directly to streams and rivers. Green streets typically incorporate green infrastructure, such as street trees and landscaped amenity zones, both for aesthetics and to enhance the environment.

Greenhouse Gas: Components of the atmosphere which contribute to global warming, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. Human activities have added to the levels of most of these naturally occurring gases. (PSRC Vision 2040)

H-M

High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV): A motor vehicle with two or more people traveling in it. Includes carpools, vanpools, and transit. A high-occupancy vehicle lane refers to a highway and arterial lane restricted to vehicles carrying multiple occupants or passengers (with the exception of motorcycles). (PSRC Vision 2040)

Highway of Statewide Significance: A roadway, route, or interstate highway designated by the State Transportation Commission, the Washington State Department of Transportation, or the Legislature. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Impact Fees: Costs imposed on new development to fund public facility improvements required by new development and ease fiscal burdens of providing services on localities. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Impervious Surface: A hard surface area that either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle as under natural conditions prior to development and/or a hard surface area that 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, storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, packed earthen materials, and oiled, macadam, or other surfaces that similarly impede the natural infiltration of urban runoff. Open, uncovered retention/detention facilities shall not be considered as impervious surfaces. (EPA)

Incompatible Land Uses: Facilities or activities on a site that have negative effects on adjacent properties. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Infill Development: Projects that use vacant or underutilized land in areas that were previously developed. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS): The application of advanced technology to current transportation problems, including incident detection, signal coordination, real-time information, and other technology. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Intermodal: Accommodation or interconnection of various transportation modes for the movement of both people and goods.

Invasive Species: An introduced species or non-indigenous species that expands outside of its native range, often in a detrimental way to local species. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED): A rating system for green buildings, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, which provides standards for sustainable construction, including a number of energy and environmental measures. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Level of Service Standard: A mechanism used to determine if a given facility or service is operation efficiently. Innovations in level-of-service for transportation now take into account overall people-moving performance, rather than focusing on traditional assessments of vehicular and capacity. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Light Rail: Lightweight passenger rail cars operating singly (or in short, usually two-car, trains) on fixed rails in right-of-way that is not separated from other traffic for much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley or a pantograph. (APTA)

Living Building: Houses and offices designed to function like living organisms, specifically adapted to place and able to use energy and water environmentally. (ILBI)

Lot: A distinct portion or plot of land.

Low-Impact Development: An approach to environmentally friendly land use planning. Includes a number of landscaping and design techniques to maintain the natural, pre-developed ability of a site to manage stormwater. More broadly, it refers to a range of development techniques that have minimal environmental or energy-related impacts. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO): The federally mandated forum for cooperative transportation decision-making in a metropolitan area. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP): A detailed long-range transportation plan that guides future regional investments and responds to legal mandates contained in federal transportation legislation, the Clean Air Act Amendments, the Washington Growth Management Act, and Regional Transportation Planning Organization legislation. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Metropolitan Transportation System (MTS): The system of regionally significant transportation facilities in a metropolitan planning area used to identify regional transportation problems, develop solutions, and monitor system performance. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Mixed-Use Development: Projects or districts that include residential, commercial, and business accommodations. Vertical mixed-use development refers to buildings that have multiple uses in a single structure, such as ground-floor retail, offices, and residences. Horizontal mixed-use development refers to districts where zoning allows for different uses to be in adjacent buildings and complexes. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Mixed Use Zoning: Mixing of different land uses, such as residential, retail and office, either in the same building or in the same district/area. (New Code Denver)

Mobility: The ability of people to move about the region from one location to another. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Mode: A particular form of travel (e.g., walking, bicycling, driving alone, carpool or vanpool, bus, train, ferry, or airplane). (PSRC Vision 2040)

Multimodal: Those issues or activities which involve or affect more than one form – or mode – of transportation, including transportation connections, choices, cooperation, and coordination of various modes. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Multimodal Concurrency: Addressing transportation system performance by taking into account land development and transportation solutions that provide alternatives to driving alone. Moves beyond the assessment of vehicle travel to focus more on the people-moving capacity of the system. (PSRC Vision 2040)

N-S

Neighborhood Plan (Seattle): The goals and policies adopted by the Seattle City Council into the Comprehensive Plan's Neighborhood Planning Element, that are developed to guide the growth and development of a specific neighborhood and deal with other neighborhood related issues such as housing, institutions, transportation, economic development and other community development activities. (Seattle Municipal Code)

Nodal Development: Concentrating new development into centers with existing infrastructure capacity and serviced by transit. (WCEL)

Nonmotorized: Generally refers to bicycle, pedestrian, and other modes of transportation not involving a motor vehicle. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Office of Financial Management (OFM): State agency responsible for preparing population forecasts used by counties and their cities in development of local comprehensive plans. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Open Space: A range of green places, including natural and resource areas (such as forests), recreational areas (such as parks and trails), and other areas set aside from development (such as plazas). (PSRC Vision 2040)

Overlay District: A defined geographic area where a set of development regulations are established to achieve a specific public purpose. These regulations are in addition to those of the underlying zoning district. (Kent Municipal Code)

Plat: A map or representation of a subdivision, showing thereon the division of a tract or parcel of land into lots, blocks, streets and alleys, or other divisions and dedications. ( 58.17..030)

Pedestrian-Oriented Development: The development and siting of housing, commercial space, services, and job opportunities in a manner that accommodates walking. Such development is intended to create more vibrant urban areas and to reduce dependency on automobile travel. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Public Services: Facilities and infrastructure, including sanitary and storm sewer systems, water supply, energy, telecommunications, public safety and emergency services, schools, libraries, and other facilities. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Purchase of Development Rights: Programs through which local governments restrict development by purchasing rights to develop from private landholders. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Rainwater Catchment/Harvest:On-site rainwater harvest and storage systems used to offset potable water needs for a building and/or landscape. Systems can take a variety of forms, but usually consist of a surface for collecting precipitation (roof or other impervious surface) and a storage system. Depending on the end use, a variety of filtration and purification systems may also be employed.

Redevelopment: The restoration or improvement of an existing structure or property. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Regional Service Provider: A district that provides a service to a multicounty area, countywide, or to an extensive subarea within a county. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Renewable Resource: A natural resource that is able to regenerate, either by itself or with human help, over a short to moderate time horizon, such as fish, food crops, and trees. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Resource Lands: Lands that support resource-based industries, such as timber harvesting and farming. Under the Growth Management Act, the collective term for forest, agricultural, and mineral lands. Sometimes shorelines are included – especially where fish and other aquatic species are harvested. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Rezoning: An action to amend the zoning map designation of a property or area, either “upzoning” if the designation is toward more intense development, or “downzoning” if the action is toward less intensity. (New Code Denver)

Rural Area: Outside the urban growth area, rural lands contain a mix of low-density residential development, agriculture, forests, open space and natural areas, as well as recreation uses. Counties and adjacent small towns provide a limited number of public services to rural residents. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Scoping Meeting: The purpose of the scoping process is to determine the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to ensure that issues are identified early and properly studied. The scoping process should identify concerns of both the agencies and the affected public and should clearly define the environmental issues and alternatives to be examined in the EIS. (Metro Solutions)  

Sending Area: Part of a transfer of development rights program, sending areas are locations where landowners are enabled to sell the development rights on their property for transfer to more appropriate or other areas where development is desired. Sending areas often include properties with agricultural, environmental or historic importance. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Setback: The minimum required distance between a structure or portion thereof and a lot line of the lot on which it is located. (Seattle Municipal Code)

Shadow Platting: A document or other device on showing a configuration of potential future land use parcels consistent with anticipated future development and density requirements. This serves as a guide for future development, especially in unincorporated areas. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Shoreline Master Program: A plan for the use of shoreline lands developed by counties and cities pursuant to their duties under the Washington Shoreline Management Act and in accordance with the goals and requirements of that Act. Considered a part of a county's pr city's comprehensive plan. (WAC 173-26-020(30))

Short Subdivision: The division or redivision of land into four or fewer lots, tracts, parcels, sites, or divisions for the purpose of sale, lease, or transfer of ownership. (RCW58.17..030)

Site Plan Review: Review procedure required under local zoning ordinance before a site is put to certain uses, or certain changes in the use or occupancy of the site are made. Review typically takes place before a "Site Plan Review Board" composed at least in part of local planning officials.

Smart Growth: An urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, mixed-use development with a range of housing choices. (Wikipedia)

Special Needs Housing: Housing arrangements for populations with special physical or other needs. These populations include: the elderly, disabled persons, people with medical conditions, homeless individuals and families, and displaced people. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Special Service District: Limited purpose local governments separate from a city, town, or county government. Generally they perform a single function, though some do perform a limited number of functions. School districts and transit districts are examples of special service districts. (PSRC Vision 2040)

State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA): A statute codified in RCW chapter 43.21C that erects rules and procedures for the regulation of activities with the potential to adversely impact the natural environment.

Stormwater Management System: An infrastructure system that collects runoff from storms and redirects it from streets and other surfaces into facilities that store and release it – usually back into natural waterways. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Subdivision: The division or redivision of land into five or more lots, tracts, parcels, sites, or divisions for the purpose of sale, lease, or transfer of ownership. RCW 58.17..030)

Superfund: The federal environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. Also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 to address the sites. (EPA)

Sustainability: Commonly defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Encompasses environmental, economic, social, and institutional factors. (PSRC Vision 2040)

T-Z

Target (also Growth Target): The number of either residents, jobs, or both that a jurisdiction is expected to plan for in its comprehensive plan. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Traditional Neighborhood Development: Also known as "new urbanism", "neo-traditional" or village-style development, Traditional Neighborhood Development includes a variety of housing types, a mix of land uses, an active center, a walkable design, and often a transit option within a compact neighborhood scale area either as infill in an existing developed area or as a district scale project. (Smart Growth Toolkit)

Trail: A path of travel for recreation and/or transportation within a park, natural environment, or designated corridor that is not classified as a highway, road, or street. (FHWA)   

Transfer of Development Rights: A system that gives landowners the option of selling the rights to further develop the land. By selling development rights, a landowner gives up the right to develop his/her property, but the buyer could use the rights to develop another piece of land at a greater intensity than would otherwise be permitted. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Transit-Dependent: Individual(s) dependent on public transit to meet personal mobility needs (e.g., unable to drive, not a car owner, not licensed to drive). (PSRC Vision 2040)

Transit-Oriented Development: The development of housing, commercial space, services, and job opportunities in close proximity to public transportation. Such development is intended to reduce dependency on automobiles, as well as to improve mobility and access between residences, jobs, and services. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Transportation Demand Management: A concept designed to reduce or eliminate vehicle trips, including a variety of programs and strategies, such as carpool/vanpool, flextime, working from home, and ride matching. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Transportation Improvement Program (TIP): The multiyear program of transportation projects for highways, transit, and other modes. The regional TIP consists of projects and programs drawn from the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, as well as from local plans and the transportation programs of other agencies in the region. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Transportation System Management: Improvements to existing transportation facilities that increase the flow of travel, such as ramp metering and signal synchronization. Such improvements typically have a lower capital cost than major construction and can be implemented in a relatively short time. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Triple Bottom Line: An approach to decision-making that takes into account environmental and social performance, in addition to financial performance. This approach captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational and societal success: environmental, social, and economic. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Unincorporated Urban Growth Area: Areas under county jurisdictions within the designated urban growth area. Such areas are expected to develop at urban densities, and annex to a city or potentially form a new city at some point in the future.

Universal Design: Designing products for the home and living environments to be usable by all people, regardless of special needs or age, without requiring special adaptation. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Urban Growth Area (UGA): The area formally designated by a county, in consultation with its cities, to accommodate future development and growth. Given that cities are urban, each city is within a county-designated urban growth area. Cities may not annex lands outside an urban growth area, nor may they formally identify additions to the urban growth area independently of the county designation process. Development that is urban in character is to occur within the designated urban growth area, preferably in cities. Development outside the designated urban growth area is to be rural in character. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Urban Villages Compact, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods and towns emphasizing living, working, and recreating in the same area. These areas are designated in Seattle's Comprehensive Plan as urban centers, hub urban villages or residential urban villages. (Urban VIllages)

Use-Based Zoning: Regulating the use of buildings or land to assure compatible development within an area or district. Most zoning in the United States remains predominately use-based with mixed-use zones increasingly designated. See, in comparison, "form-based zoning." (New Code Denver)

Vacation Right-of-Way: When a public right-of-way/easement is vacated and the land given back to the private owner.

Variance: A special privilege allowing a nonconforming use or structure on a lot, granted either to mitigate some hardship imposed on the owner by the zoning classification of the lot, or as the result of bargaining between a property owner and public officials.

Vehicle Miles Traveled: A measurement of the total miles traveled by all vehicles for a specified time period. For transit, the number of vehicle miles operated on a given route, line, or network during a specified time period. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Woonerf: A Dutch name for a "living street" in which the needs of car drivers are secondary to the needs of users of the street as a whole. It is a "shared space" designed to be used by pedestrians, playing children, bicyclists, and low-speed motor vehicles, becoming a public place for people instead of single-purpose conduits for automobiles. In a woonerf, vehicles may not impede pedestrians, who in turn may not unreasonably hinder the progress of drivers. (Green Infrastructure Wiki)

Workforce Housing: Housing affordable to households with at least one full-time worker. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Working Landscape: Lands that are used as farms, ranchlands, timberlands, and mines. (PSRC Vision 2040)

Zoning Code: Body of local laws governing what can be built on a property, as well as how it can be used. (New Code Denver)