Glossary of Land Use Terms

The following words and phrases are terms that are frequently used in land use notices, correspondence, and reports. The list is not exhaustive and represents just some of the more commonly used terms.

Building Coverage

That percentage of the total lot area covered by buildings, including covered parking areas.

Comprehensive Plan

The comprehensive plan is the land use policy document of the City of Beaverton that guides the development of the City. Elements of the Comprehensive Plan include, Land Use, Transportation, Economy and Housing, Public Services, Environmental Quality, Safety, and Natural Resources.

Density

The number of dwelling units per unit of land expressed as the number of square feet of land per dwelling unit. The net density for any lot is computed by dividing the net square footage of the parcel by the number of dwelling units. The net square footage is determined by subtracting from the total square footage of the parcel that area deemed necessary for street dedication and that area used for private streets and common driveways, if any.

Development Code

The Development Code is the document that specifies the City's zoning districts, lists of permitted and prohibited uses, use restrictions, development standards, parking ratios, application processes, etc.

District or Zoning District

A portion of the territory of the City within which certain uniform regulations and requirements or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of the Development Code.

Floor Area

The gross area, under roof, of all of the floors of a building, measured from the interior of exterior walls, excluding only space devoted to off-street parking or loading.

Floor Area Ratio

The amount of gross floor area in relation to the amount of net site area, expressed in square feet.

Metro

Metro is the Regional Government that provides general policy direction to each jurisdiction and agency within the Portland Metropolitan area. Topics that Metro advises and provides general policy on are wide ranging and include; land use, transportation, environmental protection, housing, and parking to name a few.

Multiple Use Development

A building or groups of buildings under one ownership designed to encourage a diversity of compatible land uses, which include a mixture of two or more of the following uses: residential, office, retail, recreational, light industrial, and other miscellaneous uses.

Periodic Review

Each jurisdiction is Oregon is required to update its Comprehensive Plan every seven years. When the update is in progress, it is know as Periodic Review.

Site Plan

A plan, prepared to scale, showing accurately and with complete dimensions all the uses proposed for a parcel of land, and other information as required by specific sections of the Development Code.

Urban Growth Management Functional Plan

The Urban Growth Management Functional Plan is the document by which Metro specifies regional expectations of the regional jurisdictions and agencies.

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Common Abreviations

The following list of abbreviations and acronyms are some of the more commonly used terms in land use notices, correspondence, and reports.

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