§ 602. Definitions.

Access: A way or means of approach to provide physical entrance to a property.

Curb cut: Any interruption or break in the line of a street curb for the purpose of connecting a driveway to a street, or otherwise to provide vehicular access to abutting property.

Deceleration lane: A speed-change lane, including tapered areas, for the purpose of enabling a vehicle that is making an exit turn from a roadway to slow to a safe turning speed after it has left the mainstream of faster-moving traffic. Also called a "decel lane"; it denotes a right turn lane or a left turn lane into a development.

Driveway: A constructed vehicular access serving one or more properties and connecting to a public or private street.

Driveway, residential: Any private passageway to any property used for dwelling purposes. However, if a driveway provides access for more than four dwelling units, it shall be considered a commercial driveway. Any private access connecting property zoned and used for a residential dwelling. Residential driveways may connect to a public street, roadway, or state route.

Driveway width: The narrowest width of a driveway measured perpendicular to centerline of the driveway, from edge of pavement to edge of pavement or edge of gutter to edge of gutter.

Gated community: Residential areas that restrict access to normally public roads and spaces. Gates can include guard houses, electronic arms operated by card, codes, or remote control devices. Visitors must stop to be verified for entry.

Handicapped parking space: A space for parking a standard sized passenger vehicle, laid out and designated by signage in accordance with the requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Highway: A term applied to streets and roads that are under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Department of Transportation or federal highway agency. Highways are major arteries of the circulation network, carry significant volumes of traffic for both long and short trips, and are designed with access to abutting properties with some degree of control and safe standards of design.

Inter-parcel access: A roadway or series of connecting roads within a property providing access to interior lot frontage or other properties, not connected to a public road or state route.

Parking aisle: The traveled way, which is not the public right-of-way, by which cars enter and depart parking spaces and maneuver within a designated parking lot.

Parking lot: Any public or private area at grade used for the express purpose of temporarily parking automobiles and other vehicles otherwise in operation for personal or business use.

Parking space: A space identified and set aside for the temporary parking of an automobile or other motor vehicle. The typically acceptable parking space has a dimension of nine feet in width by 20 feet in length, although this article permits reductions in parking space widths in certain circumstances.

Pavement width: The width of a given lane, road, or other road pavement width, measured from back-of-curb to back-of-curb or to the edge of pavement where no curbs are required or exist.

Public improvement: The construction, enlargement, extension or other construction of a facility intended for dedication to the county or to a facility already owned by the county, including but not limited to a street, curb and gutter, sidewalk, cross drain, catch basin, other roadway appurtenance, domestic water supply system main, fire hydrant, valve or other water system appurtenance, or sanitary sewerage main or outfall, lift station, force main, manhole or other appurtenance. Utility supply lines to a building are not considered public improvements.

Reservation: The designation by plat or deed of a certain area reserved for possible future public purposes. A reservation does not transfer title of the reserved area to the public unless the Jackson County Board of Commissioners accepts the area for public purposes.

Right-of-way: Land reserved for and immediately available for public use as a street or other purpose.

Right-of-way, private: That area, distinguished from an access easement or public right-of-way, dedicated to property owners of the subdivision involved or to other individuals, and which affords permanent access to abutting property or properties. A private right-of-way is distinguishable from a public road right-of-way in that maintenance and ownership of the road and accessory improvements is by private individuals or a private association rather than the county, state, or another governmental entity.

Right-of-way, public: That area, distinguished from an easement or private road right-of-way, which is owned in fee-simple title by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, State of Georgia, or other government, for the present or future use of roads, roads and highways, together with its drainage facilities and other supporting uses and structures.

Right-of-way miter: A right-of-way line at a street or highway intersection, which is parallel to neither road but forms a triangle with extensions of the right-of-way lines of the adjacent sides of the intersecting roads. The purpose of a right-of-way miter is to provide improved visibility for vehicles approaching the intersection by enabling the elimination of visual obstructions or to provide room for a traffic signal support pole or guy wire.

Road: A state highway, a county road, a road adopted as a county-owned right-of-way approved for county maintenance, a street owned and/or maintained by a municipality, or where permitted, a private road. Roads afford the principal means of access to abutting property or properties and are required to meet specifications contained in this UDC. The term includes "street" but does not include "access easement."

Road, private: An improved road, distinguished from a public road in that the right-of-way which affords a principal means of access to abutting property or properties is privately owned and maintained. Private roads are required to meet specifications contained in this UDC.

Road, public: A state highway, county road, a road adopted as a county-owned right-of-way approved for county maintenance, or a street owned and/or maintained by a municipality. New public roads are required to meet specifications contained in this UDC.

Roadway: The portion of a highway or road, including shoulders, for vehicle use.

Roadway drainage structure: A device such as a bridge, culvert, or ditch, composed of a virtually non-erodible material such as concrete, steel, plastic, or other such material that conveys water under a roadway by intercepting the flow on one side of a traveled way consisting of one or more defined lanes, with or without shoulder areas, and carrying water to a release point on the other side.

Sidewalk: A hard-surfaced pedestrian access area adjacent to or within the right-of-way of a street.

Street: A dedicated and accepted public right-of-way, or a private street approved by the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, which affords the principal means of access for motor vehicles to abutting properties.

Traveled way: The portion of a roadway for the movement of vehicles, exclusive of shoulders and auxiliary lanes.

(Ord. No. 17-003 , § 1, 10-2-2017)