Whenever the following words and phrases appear in this title, they shall be given meaning attributed to them by this section. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense shall include the future, the singular shall include the plural and the plural the singular, the word "shall" is always mandatory, and the word "may" indicates a use of discretion in making a decision.

"Block" means a group of lots, tracts or parcels bounded by public streets, railroads, natural features, platted or unplatted lands or a combination thereof.

"Certificate of survey" means a drawing of a field survey prepared by a registered land surveyor for the purpose of disclosing facts pertaining to boundary locations.

"City" means the city of Columbia Falls, Flathead County, Montana.

"City clerk" means the duly appointed clerk for the city.

"City council" means the governing body of the city.

"Clerk and recorder" means the clerk and recorder for Flathead County, Montana.

"Condominium" means a form of individual ownership with unrestricted right of disposal of one or more units in a multiple unit project with the land and all other parts of the project held in common ownership or use with owners of the other units.

"County" means Flathead County, Montana.

"County commissioners" means the board of county commissioners of Flathead County.

"Covenant" means an agreement, in writing, of two or more parties by which any of the parties pledge to the others that something is done or shall be done.

"Dedication" means the deliberate appropriation of land by an owner for the general and public use, reserving no rights which are incompatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the public use to which the property has been donated.

"Developer" means the same as subdivider.

"Division of land" means the segregation of one or more parcels of land from a larger tract or held in single or undivided ownership by transferring, or contracting to transfer, title to or possession of a portion of the tract or properly filing a certificate of survey or subdivision plat establishing the identity of the segregated parcels pursuant to the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act; provided that where required by the Act, the land upon which an improvement is situated has been subdivided in compliance with the Act, the sale, rent, lease or other conveyance of one or more parts of a building, structure, or other improvement situated on one or more parcels of land is not a division of land and is not subject to the terms of the Act.

"Dwelling" means a building, or portion thereof, used for human residential purposes.

"Dwelling unit" means any building or portion thereof providing complete, independent and permanent living facilities for one family.

"Easement" means a right to use land, other than as a tenant, for a specific purpose; such right being held by someone other than the owner.

"Engineer (registered professional engineer)" means a person licensed in conformance with the Montana Professional Engineer’s Registration Act (Title 37, Chapter 67, MCA), to practice engineering in the state.

"Examining land surveyor" means a registered land surveyor duly appointed by the governing body to review surveys and plats submitted for filing.

"Flood" means the water of any watercourse or drainway which is above the bank or outside the channel and banks of such watercourse or drainway.

"Floodplain" means the area adjoining a watercourse or drainway which would be covered by the floodwater of a flood of one-hundred-year frequency. A one-hundred-year flood can be expected to recur on the average of once every one hundred years, i.e., a flood of such magnitude has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year.

"Floodway" means the channel of a watercourse or drainway and those portions of a floodplain adjoining the channel which are reasonably required to carry and discharge the floodwater of any watercourse or drainway.

"Governing body" means the city council of the city of Columbia Falls.

"Immediate family" shall be comprised of such members of the family as spouse, son(s) and daughter(s).

"Improvements" means any structure or facility constructed to serve common use by the residents of a subdivision or the general public. Such improvements may include parks, streets and roads, parking areas, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, street lighting, utilities and systems for water supply, sewage disposal and drainage.

"Lot" means a parcel, plot or other land area created by subdivision for sale, rent, lease or other purpose.

"Lot measurement" shall be as follows:

1. "Lot area" means the area of a lot determined exclusive of street, highway, alley, road or other right-of-way.

2. "Lot depth" means the mean dimension of the lot from the front street line to the rear line.

3. "Lot frontage" means the length of the front lot line.

4. "Lot width" means the average width of the lot.

"Lot types" shall be as follows:

1. "Corner lot" means a lot located at the intersection of two streets.

2. "Interior lot" means a lot with frontage on only one street.

3. "Reverse lot" means a lot in which the frontage is reversed from the general pattern in the area. A reversed frontage lot may also be a corner lot or an interior lot.

4. "Through lot" means a lot with double frontage where the front lot line faces one public street and the rear lot line faces another public street.

"Manufactured home" means housing built on a chassis designed and constructed for transportation to a site for installation and use when connected to required utilities. May also be commonly referred to as "mobile home" or "modular home."

"Manufactured home lot" means a designated portion of a manufactured home park designed for the accommodation of one manufactured home and its accessory buildings or structures for the exclusive use of the occupants.

"Manufactured home park" means an area designed for and occupied by two or more manufactured homes for lease or rent to the general public and which may be utilized for living purposes either permanent, seasonal or both.

"Master plan" means a general long-range plan officially adopted in the city and/or Flathead County under Sections 76-1-601 through 76-1-606, MCA, as amended.

"Minor subdivision" means a subdivision containing five or fewer parcels where proper access to all lots is provided, where no land in the subdivision will be dedicated to public use for parks or playgrounds.

"Monument (permanent monument)" means any structure of masonry, metal or other permanent material placed in the ground, which is exclusively identifiable as a monument to a survey point, expressly placed for surveying reference.

"Open space" means a land or water area devoid of buildings and other physical structures except where accessory to the provision of recreation. Any area used for parking or maneuvering of automobile vehicles or storage of equipment or refuse shall not be deemed open space.

"Overall development plan" means the plan for a subdivision design for a single-tract proposed to be subdivided in stages.

"Planned unit development (PUD)" means a tract of land developed as an integrated unit. The development is unique and is based on a plan which allows for flexibility of use, design, setting and density not otherwise possible under the prevailing regulations.

"Planning board" means the Columbia Falls City-County Planning Board formed pursuant to Title 76, Chapter 1, MCA.

"Plat" means a graphic representation of a subdivision prepared by a licensed Montana surveyor showing the division of land into lots, parcels, blocks, streets, alleys and other divisions and dedications.

1. "Amended plat" means the final drawing of any change to a platted subdivision filed with the county clerk and recorder required to be prepared for filing for record with the county clerk and recorder and containing all elements and requirements set forth in this title and the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act (Title 76, Chapter 3, MCA).

2. "Final plat" means the final drawing of the subdivision and dedication required to be prepared for filing for record with the county clerk and recorder and containing all elements and requirements set forth in this title and the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act (Title 76, Chapter 3, MCA).

3. "Preliminary plat" means a neat and scaled drawing of a proposed subdivision showing the layout of streets, alleys, lots, blocks and other elements of a subdivision which furnishes the basis for review by the governing body.

4. "Vacation of plat" means a plat which has been vacated in whole or in part as provided by 7-5-2501, 7-5-2502, subsections (1) and (2) of 7-14-2616, 7-14-2617, subsections (1) and (2) of 7-14-4114 and 7-14-4115, MCA.

"Recreational vehicle" shall be as follows:

1. "Dependent recreational vehicle" means a recreational vehicle containing either toilet or lavatory facilities or neither of those facilities.

2. "Independent recreational vehicle" means a recreational vehicle containing toilet and lavatory facilities.

"Recreational vehicle park" means a place used for public camping where persons can rent space to park individual camping trailers, pick-up campers, motorhomes, travel trailers or automobiles for transient dwelling purposes.

"Recreational vehicle space" means a designated portion of a recreational vehicle park designed for placement of a single recreational vehicle and the exclusive use of its occupants.

"Registered land surveyor" means a person licensed in conformance with the Montana Professional Engineers Registration Act (Title 37, Chapter 67, MCA), to practice surveying in the state.

"Right-of-way" means a strip of land dedicated or acquired for use as a public way.

"Sidewalk" means a paved walkway designed to provide for safe and convenient circulation of pedestrians.

"State" means the state of Montana.

"Street types," for purposes of this title, are defined as follows:

1. "Alley" means a service way, open to public travel and dedicated to public use, affording a secondary means of vehicular access abutting property and not intended for general traffic circulation.

2. "Arterial" means a street or road having the primary function of moving traffic and the secondary function of providing access to adjacent land. Arterials generally carry relatively large volumes of traffic. Arterials have two to four lanes of moving traffic and provide limited access to abutting property.

3. "Collector" means a street or road having the equally important functions of moving traffic and providing access to adjacent land. Collector streets have two moving traffic lanes and two parking lanes.

4. "Cul-de-sac" means a street having only one outlet for vehicular traffic and terminating in a turnaround area.

5. "Deadend street" means a street having only one outlet for vehicular traffic.

6. "Frontage access (service road)" means a local or collector street, usually parallel and adjacent to an arterial or major collector, which provides access to abutting properties and controls traffic access to arterials or collectors.

7. "Half-street" means a portion of the width of a street, usually along the outside perimeter of a subdivision, where the remaining portion of the street must be located on adjacent property.

8. "Local street" means a street or road having the primary function of providing access to abutting properties, and the secondary function of moving traffic. Local streets have two moving lanes of traffic and may have one or two parking lanes.

9. "Loop" means a local street which begins and ends on the street, generally used for access to properties.

"Subdivider" means any person, firm or corporation, or other entity who causes land to be subdivided or who proposes a subdivision of land.

"Subdivision" means a division of land or land so divided, which creates one or more parcels containing less than one hundred sixty acres, exclusive of public roadways, in order that the title to or possession of the parcels may be sold, rented, leased, or otherwise conveyed, and shall include any resubdivision and shall further include any condominium or area, regardless of its size, which provides or will provide multiple space for recreational camping vehicles, or manufactured homes. A subdivision shall be comprised of only those parcels less than one hundred sixty acres which have been segregated from the original tract, and the plat thereof shall show all such parcels whether contiguous or not; provided, however, condominiums constructed on land divided in compliance with the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act are exempt from the provisions of the Act.

"Summary review" means review of a minor subdivision.

"Swale" means a drainage channel or shallow depression designed to direct surface water flow.

"Tent site" means that part of a recreational vehicle park designed for the placement of a tent and the exclusive use of its occupants.

"Title report" means a report prepared by a licensed title abstractor showing the names of the owners of record of the land to be subdivided and the names of the lien-holders or claimants of record against the land and the written consent to the subdivision by the owners of the land, if other than the subdivider, and any lienholders or claimants of record against the land.

"Townhouse" means a building or structure that has three or more dwelling units erected in a row as a single building, and where the owner of each unit may exclusively own the land underneath the unit in addition to jointly owning the common area in the development.

"Tract" means land area proposed to be subdivided.

"Variance" means an adjustment made in the application of the specific regulations to a particular piece of property. A variance is a form of special exception granted by the city council.

"Vicinity sketch" means a map at a scale suitable to locate the proposed subdivision, showing the boundary lines of all adjacent properties and streets and other information necessary to determine the general location of the proposed subdivision. (Ord. 649 § 2(part), 2003; Ord. 588 § 1(part), 1996)