Spokane Municipal Code

Title 17A Administration

Chapter 17A.020 Definitions

Section 17A.020.140 "N" Definitions

1. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

The national program for issuing, modifying, revoking, and reissuing, terminating, monitoring, and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements, under sections 307, 402, 318, and 405 of the Federal Clean Water Act, for the discharge of pollutants to surface waters of the state from point sources. These permits are referred to as NPDES permits and, in Washington State, are administered by the Washington State department of ecology.

2. National Register.

The register maintained pursuant to P.L. 89-655, 80 Stat. 915, as amended.

3. Native Plant Community.

The collective product of individual plants indigenous to a particular locale responding to shared habitats.

4. Native Vegetation.

Plant species, which are indigenous to the planning area.

5. Natural Location of Drainage Systems.

The location of those predominate channels, swales, and pre-existing and established systems as defined by the earliest documented topographic contours existing for the subject property, either from maps or photographs, site inspections or other appropriate means.

6. New Construction – Floodplain.

For the purposes of determining insurance rates, structures for which the “start of construction” commenced on or after the effective date of an initial Flood Insurance Rate Map or after December 31, 1974, whichever is later, and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures. For floodplain management purposes, “new construction” means structures for which the "start of construction" commenced on or after the effective date of a floodplain management regulation adopted by a community and includes any subsequent improvements to such structures.

7. New Manufactured Home Park or Subdivision – Floodplain.

A manufactured home park or subdivision for which a complete application, as defined by SMC 17G.060.090, for servicing the lots on which the manufactured homes are to be affixed (including at a minimum, the installation of utilities, the construction of streets, and either final site grading or the pouring of concrete pads) is completed on or after the effective date of the permit for the individual unit.

8. NFPA 30.

The National Fire Prevention Association’s flammable and combustible liquids code.

1. “Noise level reduction (NLR)” means the amount of noise reduction required through construction and incorporation of sound reduction materials and design to reduce interior noise levels.

10. “Noise reduction coefficient (NRC)” means the arithmetic average of the sound absorption coefficients of a material at 250, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz.

11. No Net Loss of Shoreline Ecological Functions.

A public policy goal that means the maintenance of the aggregate total of the City’s shoreline ecological functions at its current level of environmental resource productivity. As a development and/or mitigation standard, no net loss requires that the impacts of a particular shoreline development and/or use, whether permitted or exempt, be identified and prevented or mitigated, such that it has no resulting adverse impacts on shoreline ecological functions or processes. Each project shall be evaluated based on its ability to meet the no net loss standard commensurate with its scale and character.

12. Nominal Driveway Width.

The driveway width measured at the face of curb, from driveway joint to driveway joint, as shown in the standard plans.

13. Nomination.

The process by which a building, district, object, site, or structure is recommended for placement on a register.

14. Nonbuildable Tract.

Land reserved for specified uses including, but not limited to:

1. 1. reserve tracts,

1. 2. recreation,

1. 3. open space,

1. 4. critical areas,

1. 5. surface water retention,

1. 6. utility facilities and access.

Nonbuildable tracts are not considered lots or building sites.

15. Nonconforming Development.

An element of a development, such as a setback, height, or parking area, that was created in conformance with development regulations but which subsequently, due to a change in the zone or zoning regulations, is no longer in conformance with the current applicable development standards.

16. Nonconforming Sign.

See SMC 17C.240.015.

17. Nonconforming Situation.

A nonconforming residential density, nonconforming development or nonconforming use. A situation may be nonconforming in more than one aspect. For example, a site may contain a nonconforming use and also have some nonconforming development.

18. Nonconforming Use.

A use or the amount of floor area of a use that was allowed by right when established or a use that obtained a required land use approval when established, that is now prohibited in the zone due to a subsequent change in the zone or zoning regulations.

19. Non-water Oriented Uses.

A use that is not water-dependent, is not water-related, and is not water-enjoyment. Non-water oriented uses have little or no relationship to the shoreline and are not considered priority uses under the shoreline management act. Any use that does not meet the definition of water-dependent, water-related, or water-enjoyment is classified as non-water oriented.

20. Noxious Weeds.

Those plants which are non-native, highly destructive, and competitive as defined by chapter 17.10 RCW, or as amended.

21. Nursing Home.

A residence, licensed by the state, that provides full-time convalescent and/or chronic care for individuals who, by reason of chronic illness or infirmity, are unable to care for themselves.

1. 1. No care for the acutely ill or surgical or obstetrical services shall be provided in such a residence.

1. 2. This definition excludes hospitals or sanitariums.

Date Passed: Monday, October 25, 2021

Effective Date: Thursday, December 2, 2021

ORD C36117 Section 7