11.02.002 “A.”
“Abut” means to border upon.
“Acre, net buildable” means gross land area measured in acres, minus land area in roads and other rights-of-way, surface storm water retention/detention/water quality facilities, critical areas, critical area buffers, and land dedicated to the city.
“Adjacent” means having a common border. “Adjacent,” “contiguous” and “abutting” shall be interpreted as meaning the same thing.
“Administrative rules” means any agency order, directive or regulation of future effect, including amendment or repeal of a prior rule, which applies generally, and which if violated, subjects a person to a penalty or an administrative sanction.
“Adult entertainment” means:
A. Any exhibition, performance or dance conducted in an adult entertainment facility where such exhibition, performance or dance is distinguished or characterized by a predominant emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or simulating any specified sexual activities or any specified anatomical areas; or
B. Any exhibition, performance, or dance intended to sexually stimulate any patron and conducted in an adult entertainment facility where such exhibition, performance or dance is performed for, arranged with, or engaged in with fewer than all patrons in the adult entertainment facility at that time, with separate consideration paid, either directly or indirectly, for such performance, exhibition or dance. For purposes of example and not limitation, such exhibitions, performances, or dances are commonly referred to as table dancing, couch dancing, taxi dancing, lap dancing, private dancing, or straddle dancing.
“Adult entertainment facility” means any of the following:
A. “Adult retail establishment” means a commercial establishment such as a bookstore, video store, or novelty shop in which any one or more of the following constitute more than 25 percent of the establishment’s stock-in-trade for sale, rent, or any other form of consideration:
1. Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed materials, or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other visual representations that are distinguished or characterized by a predominant emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or simulating any specified sexual activities or any specified anatomical areas; or
2. Instruments, devices, or paraphernalia designed for use in connection with any specified sexual activities.
“Stock-in-trade” for the purposes of this section means all books, magazines, posters, pictures, periodicals, other printed material, items, products, equipment, pre-recorded video tapes, discs or other similar material readily available for purchase, rental, viewing or use by patrons of the establishment excluding material located in any storeroom or other portion of the premises not regularly open to patrons.
B. “Adult arcade” means a commercial establishment which contains individual viewing areas or booths, where, for any form of consideration, including, but not limited to, a membership fee, one or more still or motion picture projectors, slide projectors, or other similar image producing machines are used to show films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other visual representations that are distinguished or characterized by a predominant emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or simulating any specified sexual activities or any specified anatomical areas.
C. “Adult entertainment facility, other” means any commercial establishment not defined elsewhere in this code where adult entertainment or sexually-oriented materials are regularly conducted, displayed, or available in any form, for any type of consideration and which represent more than 25 percent of the businesses’ stock-in-trade; provided, however, that a public library and a school, university, or similar educational or scientific facility shall not be considered an adult entertainment facility. In addition, a commercial establishment which offers access to telecommunications networks as a principal business purpose shall not be considered an adult entertainment facility unless the access it provides is for the primary purpose of displaying or presenting visual images that are distinguished or characterized by a predominant emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or simulating any specified sexual activities or any specified anatomical areas.
D. “Adult motel” means a hotel, motel, or similar commercial establishment which:
1. Offers sleeping accommodations to the public for any form of consideration and provides patrons with closed-circuit television transmissions, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other visual representations that are distinguished or characterized by a predominant emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or simulating any specified sexual activities or any specified anatomical areas, and that has a sign visible from the public right-of-way that advertises the availability of such sexually-oriented materials; or
2. Offers a sleeping room for rent for a rental fee period of time that is less than 10 hours; or
3. Allows a tenant or occupant of a sleeping room to sub-rent the room for a period of time that is less than 10 hours.
E. “Adult motion picture theater” means a commercial establishment or drive-in theater, where, for any form of consideration, motion pictures, films, video cassettes, slides, or other similar visual representations are regularly shown that are distinguished or characterized by predominant emphasis on matters depicting, describing, or simulating any specified sexual activities or any specified anatomical areas.
“Adult family home” means a facility licensed pursuant to Chapter 70.128 RCW, or the regular family abode of a person or persons who are providing personal care, special care, and/or room and board to more than one but not more than six adults who are not related by blood or marriage to the person or persons providing the services.
“Agricultural activities, existing and ongoing” means those activities conducted on lands defined in RCW 84.34.020(2), and those activities involved in the production of crops or livestock, for example, the operation and maintenance of farm and stock ponds or drainage ditches, operation and maintenance of ditches, irrigation systems including irrigation laterals, canals, or irrigation drainage ditches, changes between agricultural activities, and normal maintenance, repair, or operation of existing serviceable structures, facilities, or improved areas. Activities which bring an area into agricultural uses are not part of an ongoing operation. An operation ceases to be ongoing when the area on which it is conducted is converted to a nonagricultural use or has lain idle for more than five years, unless the idle land is registered in a federal or state soils conservation program, or unless the activity is the operation and maintenance of any system of dikes, ditches, drains, or other facilities existing on the effective date of the critical areas ordinance which were created, developed or utilized primarily as a part of an agricultural drainage or diking system. Forest practices are not included in this definition.
“Agricultural land” means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, finfish in upland hatcheries, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production. (See RCW 36.70A.030(2).)
“Alley” means a public way, paved or unpaved, which is intended to provide or which provides a roadway for vehicular and pedestrian access to abutting properties and is generally located to the rear or side of those properties, but not including such a public way in its natural and undeveloped state which cannot be used by vehicles.
“Alterations, structural” means a change or rearrangement of the structural parts of existing facilities, or an enlargement by extending the sides or increasing the height or depth, or the moving from one location to another. In buildings for business, commercial or similar uses, the installation or rearrangement of partitions affecting more than one-third of a single floor area shall be considered an alteration.
“Alternative energy infrastructure” means equipment used to generate thermal and/or electrical energy from non-utility sources, including the following:
A. “Geothermal infrastructure” means equipment that transfers thermal energy to and/or from the ground for the purposes of heating and/or cooling a building. An alternative energy system (geothermal) consists of a system of pipes filled with liquid, a heat exchanger, and heat pump.
B. “Solar infrastructure” means equipment that converts and then transfers or stores solar energy into usable forms of thermal or electrical energy. A solar array is composed of multiple solar panels. For the purposes of this code, an alternative energy system (solar) does not include any solar collection system of six square feet in size or less.
C. “Wind infrastructure” means equipment used to produce electricity by converting the kinetic energy of wind to rotational, mechanical and electrical energy. An alternative energy system (wind) may consist of the turbine apparatus (rotor, nacelle and tower) and any other buildings, support structures, or other related improvements necessary for the generation of electric power.
“Amusement arcade” means a building or portion thereof in which there are amusement devices, as defined in BMC 5.24.010(B), installed for purposes of play, use or operation.
“Annexation” means the addition of land to the corporate limits of a city.
“Antenna” means a specific device, the surface of which is used to transmit and/or receive radio-frequency signals, microwave signals, or other signals transmitted to or from other antennas for commercial purposes.
“Area, land,” “area, site” and “area, lot” mean the total horizontal area within the property lines.
“Articulation” means the provision of emphasis to architectural elements such as windows, balconies and entries which create a complementary pattern or rhythm, dividing large buildings into smaller identifiable pieces.
“Artisan manufacturing” means the production of goods by the use of hand tools or small-scale, light mechanical equipment occurring within a fully enclosed building where such production requires no outdoor operations or storage, and where the production, operations, and storage of materials related to production occupy no more than 5,000 square feet of net floor area. Typical uses have negligible negative impact on surrounding properties and include woodworking and cabinet shops, ceramic studios, jewelry manufacturing and similar types of arts and crafts, production of alcohol, or food processing.
“Auditor” means the person in King or Snohomish County holding the office described in Chapter 36.22 RCW.
“Automotive, marine and heavy equipment services” means a retail sales and/or service use which includes one or more of the following uses:
A. “Automotive or marine repair” means a use in which repairs, including mechanical repair, collision services and painting, are made to motor vehicles and/or boats;
B. “Car wash” means a use in which automated or manual facilities are provided for washing motorized vehicles;
C. “Gas station” means a use in which fuel for motorized vehicles is sold and which may provide accessory uses including but not limited to towing, rental of vehicles under 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, facilities for washing no more than three cars at a time, and/or collection of used motor oil;
D. “Heavy equipment repair” means a use in which reconditioning or repair of any type of motor vehicle over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight is carried out. (Ord. 2341 § 1, 2020; Ord. 2107 § 2 (Exh. B), 2012; Ord. 1946 § 1, 2005; Ord. 1815 § 1, 2000; Ord. 1697 § 3, 1997; Ord. 1691 § 1, 1997; Ord. 1685, 1997; Ord. 1628 § 1, 1996).