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School: any institution of learning, such as an elementary, middle, junior high, or high school, which offers instruction as required by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, including associated meeting rooms, auditoriums, and athletic facilities. See SMC 14.25.170 for the definition of “preschool.”

School bus base: an establishment for the storage, dispatch, repair, and maintenance of school transit vehicles.

School district support facility: facilities, other than schools and bus bases, which are necessary for operating a school district, including administration, central kitchens, maintenance and storage facilities.

Screening: any fence, horticulture, or other sight-obscuring barrier, which visually separates two (2) activities.

Seasonal retail stand: a temporary, open-air stand or place for the seasonal sale of agricultural products, in which any necessary appurtenances are portable and capable of being dismantled or removed from the site that is generally a vacant lot or parking lot.

Secondary frontage: on corner lots, the private frontage that is not the principal frontage.

Self-service storage facility: a facility for leasing or renting individual storage units.

Sending site or area: one (1) or more properties from which Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) credits may be transferred to use in a designated TDR receiving site as provided in SMC 14.222.030.

SEPA: the State Environmental Policy Act, Chapter 43.21C RCW.

Setback: the required minimum distance between structures on a lot and a property line, measured horizontally and perpendicular to the property line if straight or to a tangent thereto if curved.

Setback, exterior: the setback as defined herein, measured from the property line abutting public right-of-way.

Setback, front yard: the required minimum distance between the front property line and a parallel line as measured horizontally within the lot, where a structure may be built pursuant to this title.

Setback, interior: the setback as defined herein, measured from the property line adjoining another property.

Setback, rear yard: the required minimum distance between the rear property line and a parallel line as measured within the lot, where a structure may be built pursuant to this title.

Setback, side yard: the required minimum distance between the side property line and a parallel line as measured within the lot, where a structure may be built pursuant to this title.

Shall: the prescribed action is mandatory; the action must be done.

Shorelands or shoreland areas: those lands extending landward for two hundred (200) feet in all directions as measured on a horizontal plane from the ordinary high water mark; floodways and contiguous floodplain areas landward two hundred (200) feet from such floodways; and all wetlands and river deltas associated with the streams and lakes that are subject to the provisions of Chapter 90.58 RCW.

Shoreline environment designations: a regulatory classification of shorelines of the state established in the Shoreline Master Program to differentiate between areas subject to differing objectives regarding their use and future development. Refer to SMC 14.250.080.

Shoreline jurisdiction: all shorelines of the state and “shorelands” as defined in RCW 90.58.030. Refer to SMC 14.250.030.

Shorelines: all of the water areas within Snohomish and their associated shorelands, together with the lands underlying them, except:

1. Shorelines of statewide significance; and

2. Shorelines on segments of streams upstream of a point where the mean annual flow is twenty (20) cubic feet per second or less and the wetlands associated with such upstream segments; and

3. Shorelines on lakes less than twenty (20) acres in size and wetlands associated with such small lakes.

Shorelines of statewide significance: those shorelines described in RCW 90.58.030(2)(f). Within the City of Snohomish, the Snohomish River is designated as a shoreline of statewide significance.

Shorelines of the state: the total of all “shorelines” and “shorelines of statewide significance” within the state, as defined in RCW 90.58.030.

Short plat: the drawing of a subdivision of land into four (4) or fewer lots. Also referred to as a short subdivision.

Short-term rental: a furnished dwelling unit, or room within a dwelling, or an accessory dwelling unit, rented out on a daily or weekly basis. “Vacation rental” means the same as “short-term rental.”

Should: that the particular action is required unless it can be demonstrated undertaking the action is not feasible or there is a compelling reason that it would be in the public interest not to take the action.

Side street: for corner lots, the street adjacent to the secondary frontage.

Sight obstruction: any building, structure or horticultural material, which restricts the vision of automobile and/or pedestrian traffic while using the right-of-way for travel.

Sign: any device, structure, fixture, or placard that is visible from a public right-of-way or surrounding properties and uses graphics, symbols, logos, trademarks, or written copy intended to identify any place, subject, firm, business establishment, product, goods, service, point of sale, or event, including devices that stream, televise, or otherwise display an electronic visual message, picture, video, or image, with or without sound.

Sign area: that area enclosed by straight lines drawn around the periphery of the sign, excluding any supporting structure which does not form a part of the sign. The area of a double-faced sign (display surface on opposite sides of a single board) shall be computed on the basis of one (1) sign face.

Significant stand of trees: trees covering an area of at least two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet, where the drip line of the trees covers half of the area which according to an arborist is necessary for the trees to remain healthy and viable.

Significant tree: a deciduous and evergreen tree eight (8) inches or greater in diameter measured at a point four (4) feet above the ground, other than alders and cottonwoods (Alnas rubra and Populis trichocarpa).

Single-family, attached: any residential dwelling sharing a vertical wall with one (1) or more dwellings on separate lots, with each dwelling having its own access to the outside. No portion of an attached single-family dwelling is located over another dwelling.

Single-family, detached: a dwelling containing one (1) residential unit not attached to any other dwelling.

Single-family dwelling: a building containing one (1) residential dwelling unit on one (1) lot. The term excludes non-HUD-certified mobile homes and travel trailers, recreational vehicles, tents, and other forms of portable or temporary housing.

Site plan: a map or aerial drawing showing the location of buildings, structures, landscaping, parking areas, driveways, streets, property lines, and other pertinent features, both existing and proposed, drawn to scale.

Slope: an inclined earth surface, the inclination of which is expressed as the ratio of horizontal distance to vertical distance.

Social services: assistance or activities provided to individuals to promote their physical, mental, and social well-being.

Special pavements: a general term for alternatives to standard concrete or asphalt pavement. The term may include, but is not limited to, bricks, cobbles, precast pavers, aggregates, and patterned concrete. The term typically does not include asphalt, whether stamped or colored.

Specialized instruction school: an establishment providing specialized instruction in such matters as art, dance, music, cooking, driving, pet obedience training and other technical and general educational areas, but not having the full range of facilities, such as sports fields and auditoriums, commonly included in a typical high school or college campus.

Species, listed: any species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act or state endangered, threatened, and sensitive, or priority lists (see WAC 232-12-297 or page 6 of “Priority Habitat and Species List,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2008, Olympia, WA. 177 pp).

Spectrum Act: Section 6409(a) of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act and Job Creation Act, 47 USC Section 1455(a) (providing, in part, “…a State or local government may not deny, and shall approve, any eligible facilities request for a modification of any existing wireless tower or base station that does not substantially change the physical dimensions of such tower or base station.”).

Sports club: an establishment operating facilities for physical fitness, sports, or recreation.

Start of construction: the first land-disturbing activity associated with permitted development, including land preparation such as clearing, grading, and filling; installation of streets, utilities, and walkways; excavation for basements, footings, piers, or foundations; erection of temporary forms. If no land disturbance is proposed, start of construction is the first permanent framing or assembly of a structure of any part thereof. For floodplain management purposes pursuant to Chapter 14.270 SMC, the definition in 44 CFR 59.1 shall apply.

Storage: the keeping of materials for an indefinite period of time in a specific area whether enclosed or not.

Story: that habitable level within a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above, excluding an attic or basement. In situations where the finished floor level directly above a basement or cellar is more than six (6) feet above grade, the basement or cellar shall be considered a story.

Stream: an area where open surface water more than two and one-half (2.5) meters deep produces a defined channel or bed, not including irrigation ditches, canals, storm or surface water runoff devices, or other entirely artificial watercourses, unless they are used by salmonids or are used to convey a watercourse naturally occurring prior to construction. A channel or bed need not contain water year-round.

Street: an open passage for the circulation of vehicles, that where appropriate, may include nonmotorized facilities.

Street, private: a roadway owned and maintained by one (1) or more private individuals, serving more than one (1) single-family residential parcel and which provides vehicular access from a public right-of-way. A private street may include nonmotorized facilities.

Street system: those existing or proposed City streets within the transportation service area.

Street vacation: the process whereby the City agrees to relinquish its interest in a right-of-way to a adjacent land owners.

Streetscape: the scenery and elements that a person would visually experience in the street space, including buildings, storefronts, signage, sidewalks, street furnishings, landscaping, lighting, and amenities.

String course: a narrow horizontal band of masonry or similar building material extending across the facade that creates a visual distinction between the facade areas above and below. A string course may be flush or projecting, and may be flat surfaced, molded, textured, or carved.

Structure: a constructed object in a fixed position relative to the ground. Fences and retaining walls are not a type of structure. Retaining walls and structures completely buried and below grade are exempted from the application of setback requirements in Chapter 14.210 SMC. For floodplain management purposes pursuant to Chapter 14.270 SMC the definition in 44 CFR 59.1 shall apply.

Structured parking: see Parking structure.

Student housing: a structure where all of the residential units are specifically designed and used for long-term lodging by students of an educational institution such as a college or university. Such structures may include sororities, fraternities, dormitories, residence halls, and lodging houses.

Subdivision: the division, for the purpose of sale or lease, of land into lots capable of being sold separately, including re-subdivisions. See “Plat.”

Subregional utility: an above-ground facility, with incidental storage buildings, which is a subset of a regional utility.

Substantial damage: damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would equal or exceed fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.

Substantial improvement: for construction in a flood hazard area, any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or improvement of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds fifty (50) percent of the market value of the structure before the “start of construction” of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred “substantial damage,” regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not include:

1. Any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations of state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the City of Snohomish Building Official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions; or

2. Any alteration of a “historic structure”; provided, that the alteration will not preclude the structure’s continued designation as a “historic structure.”

Supervised drug injection facility: a legally supervised, medically supervised facility designed to provide a location where individuals are able to consume illicit drugs intravenously. “Supervised drug consumption facility” and “safe injection site” mean the same as supervised drug injection facility.

Swimming pool, public: an outdoor or indoor structure intended for swimming or recreational bathing, including in-ground and aboveground structures, and with accessory facilities, services and amenities such as supervision, instruction, changing rooms, showers, meeting rooms, and limited retail sales. Also referred to as an aquatic center. (Ord. 2401, 2020; Ord. 2425, 2022; Ord. 2434, 2022; Ord. 2445, 2022; Ord. 2446, 2022; Ord. 2456, 2022)