§ 33-284.82. Definitions.

Terms used throughout this article shall take their commonly accepted meaning unless otherwise defined in Chapters 18-A, 28 or 33 of the Code of Miami-Dade County. Terms requiring interpretation specific to this article are as follows:

1.

Accessory Building: An enclosed building that is subordinate to and not the main or principal building on a lot or parcel and that is used as a dwelling unit, garage, storage shed, or similar use.

2.

Accessory Structure: An unenclosed structure that is subordinate to and not the main or principal building on a lot or parcel and that is used: as a garden feature, such as a fountain, gazebo or cabana; for recreation, such as a pool or hard courts; for the accommodation of mechanical equipment, such as a pump, a/c compressor or electrical generator units; or uses similar to the foregoing.

3.

Anchor point: The location depicted on the Open Space Plan on which some portion of a plaza, green, or square must be situated.

4.

Bike lane: A corridor dedicated specifically for bicycle use.

5.

Block: A combination of contiguous building lots, the perimeter of which abuts public street(s), private street(s) or easement(s) or designated open space(s).

6.

Block face: The public street, private street or easement line that delineates a block edge.

7.

Boulevard: A public street, private street or easement flanked with a landscaped median, sidewalks, on-street parking, street trees and buildings.

8.

Building Frontage: The portion of the building required to be located along the build-to line or within the building frontage zone.

8.1

Building Frontage Zone: The portion of a lot adjoining a street or right-of-way. The width of the building frontage zone is established by the applicable building placement diagram or frontage table.

9.

Building placement diagrams: Diagrams that provide a schematic representation of the permissible footprints and profiles of structures by land use and Sub-district.

10.

Build-to line: A line parallel to the block face, along which a building shall be built.

11.

Busway: A restricted access right-of-way for the exclusive use of buses.

12.

Clear zone: An area within the curb radius, which shall be kept clear of all objects to a prescribed height to provide vehicle clearance.

13.

Close: A landscaped median divided street with a closed turning area in one end and an intersecting street on the other (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Close

14.

Colonnade: A roofed structure, extending over a private walkway that is open to the street and sidewalk except for supporting columns or piers.

15.

Community Garden: Open space set aside for the cultivation and harvesting of produce such as flowers, fruits and vegetables.

16.

Courtyard House: A single-family dwelling containing a court or atrium. The court shall be enclosed on at least three sides by habitable space and shall provide penetrable openings such as windows and doors between the interior of the dwelling and the court. A Courtyard house may occupy the full width of the lot (see Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Courtyard House

17.

Designated open space: An outdoor, at-grade space including greens, squares, plazas and colonnades as indicated on the Designated Open Space Plan.

18.

Entertainment Center: An enclosed building or open lot area designated for amusement, entertainment, cultural, ecological, or historical complex (or any combination thereof) that is open to the public, including without limitation: buildings for public assembly; mechanical rides; games and contests; exhibits and demonstrations; art exhibits and musical shows; retail sales; marketplaces, including second-hand sales; food services, including fast food restaurants; and water attractions.

19.

Fenestration: Design and position of windows, entrances, and other structural openings in a building.

20.

Floorplate: The shape and size of any given floor of a building. The floorplate that touches the ground is called the footprint, after the shape it leaves on the land.

21.

Forecourt: The front yard area defined by three sides of the principal building and a low garden wall parallel to the street making the space suitable for gardens and outdoor seating (see Fig. 3). At street corners, the forecourt edges are defined by two (2) principal building walls and a low garden wall parallel to the street (see Fig. 4).

Fig. 3: Interior Lot Forecourt

Fig. 4: Corner Lot Forecourt

22.

Front Property Line: The property line abutting the higher ranking street in accordance with the urban centers Street Types Regulating Plan. For equal ranking streets, either frontage may be designated as the front property line.

23.

Green: An outdoor open space that shall not be hard surfaced for more than twenty (20) percent of the area exclusive of dedicated streets. The landscapes shall consist primarily of lawn, trees, and garden structures (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Green

24.

Greenway or linear park: An outdoor open space along a natural edge, including without limitation, a river front, a canal, a scenic road, or other route. Greenways provide passage for pedestrians or bicycles and are used to link nature reserves, cultural features, other parks, and open spaces and/or historic sites.

25.

Habitable Space: Building space the use of which involves regular human presence. Habitable space shall not include areas devoted to parking, storage, or warehouses.

26.

Home Office: A professional office use within a residential use, as provided in Section 33-25.1 of this Code.

27.

Irregularly shaped lot: A lot in areas designated Residential (R) and Residential Modified (RM) with an irregular shape due to its location on a corner or intersection or at the end of a grouping of single-family detached or attached units. The dimensions of the front yard of such lot shall be similar to the dimensions of the front yards of adjacent homes.

28.

Live-work building: A mixed-use building type with residential dwellings located above work spaces.

29.

Main street: A vehicular and pedestrian thoroughfare lined primarily with mixed-use buildings, as depicted on the Street Types Regulating Plan.

30.

Minor street: A street that is predominantly residential in character as depicted on the Street Types Regulating Plan.

31.

Mixed-use building: A building that includes a combination of two or more vertically integrated uses, such as retail and/or office uses on the ground floor, with residential uses above.

32.

Off-street parking: Garage parking or surface parking not on a public or private street.

33.

On-street parking: Parking on a public or private street.

34.

Outdoor Market: An outdoor commercial establishment where produce, hand-made crafts and other items are offered for sale.

35.

Pedestal: The bottom portion of a building that creates the street frontage.

36.

Pedestrian passages: Interconnected paved walkways that provide pedestrian passage through blocks and that connect directly with the network of sidewalks and open spaces.

37.

Penthouse: Topmost built area of a building with a floorplate area less than that of the tower below.

38.

Permeable Materials: Materials used for paving parking lot and roadway surfaces that allow stormwater run-off to infiltrate the ground, such as porous concrete, porous asphalt, concrete, brick, stone or similar materials.

39.

Plaza: An outdoor open space fronted by mixed-use, retail, and office uses. A minimum of fifty (50) percent and a maximum of seventy-five (75) percent of the plaza's area, exclusive of dedicated streets, shall be hard surfaced. The landscape of plazas shall consist primarily of hard-surfaced areas, permanent architecture or water-oriented features, and trees that are placed in an orderly fashion and that are regularly spaced as shown below (see Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Plaza

40.

Residential Building Type: One of the following residential building types permitted in the Urban Center or Area Districts: single-family detached; duplex; rowhouse; courtyard house; sideyard house; urban villa, and apartment.

41.

Rowhouse: A single-family attached dwelling unit of a group of three (3) or more units, each separated from the adjoining unit by a common party fire wall. Each common party fire wall shall extend to the roof line or above the roof of units that it serves and shall have no openings therein. Each rowhouse unit shall be serviced with separate utilities and shall otherwise be independent of any other unit.

42.

Service road: A private or public vehicular passageway providing primary, secondary, or service access to the sides or rear of building lots.

43.

Setback Area: The area between the street, either public or private, and the build-to line.

44.

Sideyard house: A single-family dwelling that provides an extensive porch oriented toward a side yard; the side yard is screened from the view of the street by a six (6) foot masonry wall along the build-to line (see Fig. 7).

Fig. 7: Sideyard House

45.

Site Improvements: Improvements to a site including, but not limited to: buildings, walls, signage, paved areas and installed landscaping.

46.

Square: An outdoor open space that shall be flanked by streets on at least three (3) sides and shall not be hard-surfaced for more than fifty (50) percent of the area exclusive of dedicated streets. Squares shall be located according to the Designated Open Space Plan, and their landscapes shall consist primarily of hard-surfaced walks, lawns, and trees that are placed in an orderly fashion and that are regularly spaced (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 8: Square

47.

Storefront: The first story portion of a mixed-use building consisting of habitable space used for business, office, or institutional purposes.

48.

Story: an enclosed floor level within a building containing habitable space.

49.

Street: Any thoroughfare, such as a public street, private street, or easement that affords primary access to abutting property.

50.

Street network: A system of intersecting and interconnecting streets and service roads.

51.

Street Type Development Parameters: The design criteria that establish the required elements for the placement and size of the following: sidewalks; curbs and gutters; parking; medians; bike lanes; traffic lanes; street trees; and landscape strips in the street.

52.

Street vista: A view through or along a street centerline terminating with the view of a significant visual composition of an architectural structure or element. Street Vistas are indicated on the Open Space Regulating Plan by arrows; direction of the vista is indicated by the direction of the arrow. Garages and blank walls are not significant visual compositions.

53.

Tower: The middle portion of a building above the pedestal and below the penthouse.

54.

Urban Center District: A zoning district established for a CDMP-designated urban center. A zoning district established for the unincorporated portion of a CDMP-designated urban center or for an area encompassing more than one CDMP-designated urban center, may also be referred to as an Urban Area District.

55.

Urban Villa: A single-family dwelling where the primary structure shall be built in close proximity to the front property line as depicted in the building placement diagrams in this article. Walled courts, patios or roof terraces may be used to provide open space. Vehicular parking areas and driveways shall be screened from the view of the street by garage doors and/or walls.

56.

Weather Protection Features: Architectural features that provide protection from the sun and rain, including without limitation, colonnades, awnings, bus shelters, or projecting roofs.

57.

Work-force Housing Unit or WHU: A dwelling unit, the sale, rental or pricing which is restricted to households whose income is up to one hundred forty (140) percent of the most recent median family income for the County reported by the U.S. HUD as maintained by the Department of Planning and Zoning.

(Ord. No. 05-143, § 2, 7-7-05; Ord. No. 06-10, § 1, 1-24-06; Ord. No. 07-93, § 1, 7-10-07; Ord. No. 12-86, § 1, 10-2-12; Ord. No. 18-02, § 1, 1-23-18)