§ 10.4. Definitions.

In construing the provisions hereof and the meaning of each and every word, term, phrase, or part thereof, where the context will permit, the definitions of words as contained in the adopted Zoning Ordinance of Cherokee County, supplemented by the following, shall apply:

Buffer. Land area used to visibly separate one use from another through screening and distance; to shield or block noise, light, glare, or visual or other conditions; to block physical passage to nonsimilar areas, or to reduce air pollution dust, dirt, and litter.

Clearing. The removal of vegetation from a property, whether by cutting or other means.

Construction buffer. A type of buffer which is temporary and remains in effect during the construction of a project.

Department. The Cherokee County Municipal Planning Commission (CCMPC) as established by the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, and as operated through the actions and administration of the appointed director of said department or his/her designee.

Development regulations. The adopted regulations providing for the subdivision and development of real property within Cherokee County, Georgia, as amended from time-to-time by the Board of Commissioners of Cherokee County.

Diameter breast height (DBH). The diameter of a tree measured at a point 4½ feet above the ground.

Director. The director of the department of planning and development or his/her designee.

Grading. The placement, removal, or movement of earth by use of mechanical equipment on a property.

Land disturbance permit (LDP). Any permit other than a building permit issued by Cherokee County that authorizes clearing or grading activities on a site or portion of a site. Said permit may be clearing, clearing and grubbing, grading, or development permit as defined and authorized under the Development Regulations of Cherokee County.

Landscape strip. Land area located within the boundary of a lot and required to be set aside and used for landscaping upon which only limited encroachments are authorized.

Screening. A method of shielding or obscuring one abutting or nearby structure or use from another by opaque fencing, walls, berms, densely planted vegetation, or the like.

Shrub. A woody plant of relatively low height, as distinguished from a tree by having several stems rather than a single trunk.

Timber harvests. The felling, loading and transporting of timber products (pulpwood, etc.). The term "timber harvesting" may include both clear-cutting and selective cutting of timber.

Tree. Any self-supporting woody perennial plant, usually having a main stem or trunk and many branches, and at maturity normally attaining a trunk diameter greater than three inches at any point and a height of over ten feet.

Tree diameter. The widest cross-sectional dimension of a tree trunk measured at diameter breast height (dbh) or at a point below dbh for new trees or multitrunked species, but in no case less than six inches from the ground.

Tree thinning. Selective cutting or thinning of trees only for the clear purpose of good forestry management in order to protect said forest from disease or infestation and in no way shall be construed as clear-cutting.

Zoning buffer. A buffer required by the zoning ordinance or as a condition of zoning or variance approval for a specific property.

Zoning ordinance. The 1992 Zoning Ordinance of Cherokee County, Georgia, as amended from time-to-time by the Board of Commissioners of Cherokee County.