Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 880 - QUONSET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION › Chapter 00 - N/A › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 4 - Quonset Business Park Development Package › Section 880-RICR-00-00-4.4 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. The following words, terms and phrases,
							when used in this package, shall have the meaning stated herein:
1. "Accessory use" means a use of land or a
							building, or portion thereof, customarily incidental and subordinate to the
							principal use of the land or building. An accessory use shall not be permitted
							without the principal use.
2. "Act"
							means Quonset Development Corporation Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §
											42-64.10-1 et seq.
3. "Airport" means Quonset
							State Airport located in the Town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
4. "Alteration" means an action that changes
							one (1) or more of the exterior architectural features of a structure or its
							appurtenances, including but not limited to the erection, construction,
							reconstruction, or removal of any structure or appurtenance.
5. "Applicant" means an owner or authorized
							agent of the owner submitting an application.
6. "Application" means the completed form or
							forms and all accompanying documents, exhibits and fees required of an
							applicant.
7. "Aviation facilities"
							means infrastructure including runways, taxiways, buildings, parking, hangar
							storage, terminals and navigational aids.
8. "Best management practices" or "BMPs"
							means as defined in
							 40 C.F.R. §
												403.3  incorporated in §
											4.3(A)     of
							this Part.
9. "Biochemical oxygen
							demand" or "BOD" means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical
							oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5)
							days at 20°C, expressed in milligrams per liter.
10. "Buffer" means land which is maintained
							in either a natural or landscaped state and is used to screen and/or mitigate
							the impacts of development on surrounding areas, properties or
							rights-of-way.
11. "Building" means
							any structure used or intended for supporting any use or occupancy. When any
							portion thereof is completely separated from every other portion thereof by a
							division wall without openings then each portion shall be deemed to be a
							separate building.
12. "Building
							drain" means that part of the lowest piping of a drainage which receives the
							discharge from soil and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building
							and conveys it to the storm sewer.
13. "Building height" means the vertical
							distance from grade, as determined by the TRC, to the top of the highest point
							of the roof or structure. The distance may exclude spires, chimney, flag poles,
							solar panels and the like, except as may be required by the Federal Aviation
							Administration.
14. "Building
							sewer" means the extension from a building's sanitary sewer piping to the point
							of connection to the QDC sewer or another place of disposal.
15. "Certificate of approval" means a notice
							issued by the TRC to the applicant that the development meets the requirements
							of the regulations and that the applicant may proceed with the permitting
							process. Notice consists of stamped development plans signed by the Managing
							Director (or his or her designee).
16. "Client" means a developer who is or may
							be entering into an agreement with the QDC for development of a given parcel of
							land within the Park.
17. "Chemical
							oxygen demand" or "COD" means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the chemical
							oxidation of wastewater under standard laboratory procedures.
18. "Coastal features" means coastal features
							are defined in R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 46-23.
19. "Coastal zone" means the jurisdictional
							area of the Coastal Resources Management Council regulated by 650-RICR-
							20-00-1.
20. "Conservation areas"
							means land that is undeveloped and is maintained in its natural state such as
							forest, salt marsh, tidal mud flat, wetlands, watersheds and water supply
							land.
21. "Construction activity"
							means land clearing and grubbing, grading, excavation, demolition and building
							of structures above or below ground.
22. "Development" means the construction,
							reconstruction, conversion, structural alteration, relocation, or enlargement
							of any structure; land disturbance; any change of use, alteration or extension
							of the use of land.
23.
							"Development plan review" means the process whereby authorized officials review
							the site plans, maps, engineered drawings and other documents of a proposed
							development to determine the compliance with the stated purposes and standards
							of these Regulations.
24.
							"Director" or "Managing director" means the managing director of the QDC or
							his/her designee.
25. "Discharge
							permit" means a permit issued by the EPA (or state under authority delegated
							pursuant to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System,
							 33 U.S.C. §
												1317) that authorizes the discharge of
							pollutants to waters of the United States, whether the permit is applicable on
							an individual, group or general area-wide basis.
26. "District" means land use
							district.
27. "Division of
							Planning" means that division created within the Department of Administration
							by R.I Gen. Laws §
											42-11-10(b)(2).
28. "Education and training" means land uses
							intended for the training in general, technical or professional
							education.
29. "Effective date"
							means the date these Regulations become effective as set forth in R.I. Gen.
							Laws §
											42-35-4(e)."
30. "FAA" means Federal Aviation
							Administration.
31. "Floatable oil"
							means oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by
							gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. A
							wastewater shall be considered free of floatable oil if it is properly
							pretreated and does not interfere with the collection system.
32. "Garbage" means solid wastes from the
							domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, dispensing, and sale of
							food.
33. "General manufacturing"
							means manufacturing, fabrication or processing; assembly or packaging; printing
							and publishing plant; millwork; and work with outside operations and
							storage.
34. "Gross floor area"
							means the total area of a building measured by taking the outside dimensions of
							the building at each level intended for occupancy or storage.
35. "Groundwater" means natural water that
							occurs below the surface of the earth, where it occupies space in soils or
							geologic strata and flows within aquifers below the water table.
36. "Hazardous materials" means any material,
							including any substance, waste, or combination thereof, which because of its
							quantity, concentration, physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may
							cause, or significantly contribute to, a substantial present or potential
							hazard to human health, safety, property or the environment when improperly
							treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.
37. "Historic property" means:
a. any district, site, building, structure,
							or object listed in the State Register. Properties may be listed in the State
							Register through concurrent listing in the National Register of Historic Places
							or alternatively for the purpose of these regulations the Rhode Island
							Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission may determine that properties
							meet the criteria for registration.
b. any building, site, object or artifact of
							historical, architectural, or archaeological interest listed in the catalog of
							state-owned historic properties; or c. any archaeological resource, including
							specimens, sites, and underwater resources subject to permits or advisories
							pursuant to the R.I. Gen. Laws §
												42-45-1 et
							seq.
38. "Hotel" means a
							building, group of buildings or a portion thereof used or offered for
							residential occupancy for any period less than one month, with or without
							meals, and in which a building or portion thereof may be certain public rooms
							or halls for the service of food or drink.
39. "Illicit connection" means any drain or
							conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which allows an illicit
							discharge to enter the storm drain system, including but not limited to any
							conveyance which allows non-stormwater discharge, including sewage, process
							wastewater and wash water to enter the storm drain system, and any connections
							to the storm drain system from floor drains and sinks not authorized by the
							appropriate permitting authority.
40. "Illicit discharge" means any
							unauthorized discharge to the stormwater collection system, including but not
							limited to, sewage, industrial wastewater, wash water, cooling water and
							stormwater.
41. "Improvements"
							means changes, alterations, or modifications made to land or
							structures.
42. "Industrial cooling
							water" means water used to reduce temperature in an industrial
							process.
43. "Industrial user"
							means a user who discharges or has the capacity to discharge industrial
							wastewater or industrial sewage directly or indirectly into the
							sewer.
44. "Industrial wastewater"
							means the liquid wastes resulting from industrial manufacturing, trade or
							business processes.
45.
							"Interference" means as defined in
							 40 C.F.R. §
												403.3  incorporated in §
											4.3(A)     of
							this Part.
46. "Land" means surface
							of earth above sea level.
47.
							"Light manufacturing" means land uses limited to manufacturing of non-noxious
							products that can be shipped in trucks or containers and conducted entirely
							indoors. Buildings shall have minimal smokestacks, silos, cooling towers and
							such structures.
48. "Lot" means:
a. the basic development unit for
							determination of lot area, depth, and other dimensional regulations; or
b. a parcel of land whose
							boundaries have been established by some legal instrument such as a recorded
							deed or recorded map and which is recognized as a separate legal entity for
							purposes of transfer of title.
49. "Lot frontage" means that portion of a
							lot abutting a street. Nonconforming frontage shall not be added to meet the
							minimum frontage requirements.
50.
							"Marine business" means water dependent commercial activities related to marina
							and other vessel service activities.
51. "Marine construction support" means
							land-based construction activities that use the water as the primary means for
							moving the product from the land construction area to its permanent
							location.
52. "Marine industrial"
							means water dependent industries in direct support of seaport for facilitating
							waterborne cargo operations, fisheries development and marine construction
							activities.
53. "Marine structures"
							means structures to support the transfer of cargo and people from marine vessel
							to land areas such as piers, jetties, ramps, bulkheads or mooring
							structures.
54. "Master plan" means
							the most recently Amended and approved Quonset Business Park Master Land Use
							and Development Plan.
55.
							"Municipal separate storm sewer system" or "MS4" means any facility designed or
							used for collecting and/or conveying stormwater, including but not limited to
							any roads with drainage systems, highways, QDC streets, curbs, gutters, catch
							basins, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, structural stormwater controls,
							ditches, swales, natural and man-made, or altered drainage channels,
							reservoirs, and other drainage structures and which is:
a. owned and/or maintained by the Quonset
							Development Corporation,
b. not a
							combined sewer and,
c. not part of
							a publicly owned treatment works.
56. "Natural outlet" means any outlet into a
							natural watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or
							groundwater.
57. "New source" means
							as defined in
							 40 C.F.R. §
												403.3  incorporated in §
											4.3(A)     of
							this Part.
58. "Non-stormwater
							discharge" means any discharge to the storm drain that is not composed entirely
							of stormwater.
59. "Open space"
							means any land that is primarily undeveloped, including public and semipublic
							open lands, and private development requiring little or no construction. The
							purpose of this designation is to provide for the conservation of land and
							other natural and scenic resources.
60. "Parks with facilities" means land that
							is primarily undeveloped whose purpose is to provide recreation and relaxation
							activities such as but not limited to beaches, playgrounds and picnic
							areas.
61. "Pass through" means as
							defined in
							 40 C.F.R. §
												403.3  incorporated in §
											4.3(A)     of
							this Part.
62. "Performance
							standards" means a set of criteria or limits relating to elements which a
							particular use or process either must meet or may not exceed.
63. "Permit" means an authorization, license
							or equivalent control document issued by the QDC, unless otherwise
							identified.
64. "Permitted uses"
							means uses authorized by these regulations for a particular land use
							district.
65. "Person" means any
							individual, partnership, association, joint venture, corporation, trust,
							estate, commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative,
							municipality, any political subdivision of a municipality, this state, any
							department or agency of the federal government, or any other legal
							entity.
66. "Personal convenience
							services" means property uses intended to provide personal services to
							occupants of the park such as, but not limited to, barber, beauty shops,
							cleaning, and tailoring.
67. "pH"
							means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams
							per liter of solution.
68.
							"Pollutant" means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage,
							garbage, sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, heat,
							wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand and cellar dirt and industrial,
							municipal, agricultural or other pollution-causing agents.
69. "Pretreatment" means as defined in
							 40 C.F.R. §
												403.3  incorporated in §
											4.3(A)     of
							this Part.
70. "Principal use"
							means the main or primary purpose for which a building, other structure and/or
							lot is designed, arranged, or intended, or for which they may be used, occupied
							or maintained under this chapter.
71. "Privately-owned wastewater treatment
							facilities" means pump stations, collection systems and/or wastewater treatment
							facilities privately owned by users, individuals, corporations, associations,
							or state or federal agencies, with said facilities ultimately being connected
							to Quonset's wastewater treatment or collection system whose wastewater design
							flows are in excess of 30,000 gallons per day.
72. "Professional and business services"
							means property uses intended to provide support services for primary economic
							development activities such as industrial and corporate offices including
							professional offices, such as, but not limited to medical, legal, engineering
							and accounting and business services, such as, but not limited to,
							photocopying, equipment repair, repair shops (computers, watches,
							etc.).
73. "Professional offices"
							means operations designed to attract and serve customers or clients on the
							premises with low-volume traffic such as lawyer, doctor, dentist, architect,
							engineer, realtor, accountant, travel agency, stock broker, insurance agency,
							computer processing services and the like.
74. "Properly shredded garbage" means the
							wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been
							shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the
							flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater
							than one-half (1/2) inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
75. "Residential boundary" means building
							setback measurements taken from the proposed building foundation to the lot
							line of an approved residential parcel identified as such on Town Plat Maps and
							excluding open space, common areas, and undevelopable areas.
76. "Quonset Development Corporation" or
							"QDC" means a real estate development and management company organized as a
							subsidiary of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, R.I. Gen. Laws §
											42-64.10-6.
77. "QDC sewers" means a sewer regulated,
							operated and maintained by QDC for the purpose of affording sewage collection
							service to its users.
78.
							"Recreation tourism" means property use intended to support recreational or
							tourism activities that use the water as a primary resource or
							amenity.
79. "Regulation" means a
							type of "delegated legislation" promulgated by a state, federal or local
							administrative agency given authority to do so by the appropriate
							legislature.
80. "Research and
							development" means a use for research, design, prototype development, and
							testing of new products or ideas.
81. "Restaurant" means a public eating place
							or food court that serves a substantial portion of its food for consumption at
							tables or counters located on the premises or a carryout retail service
							business which sells ready-to-eat foods primarily for consumption off the
							premises. A carryout restaurant does not include fast food restaurant that are
							designed for rapid food delivery to customers. All restaurants with
							drive-through service are considered fast food restaurants and are
							prohibited.
82. "Retail stores"
							means establishments engaged in; sales of food (excluding fish and shellfish)
							drugs, clothing, jewelry, stationery, or similar personal or specialty items,
							and the like.
83. "Rhode Island
							Commerce Corporation" or "RICC" means the parent corporation of the QDC, R.I.
							Gen. Laws Chapter 42-64.
84. "Road"
							means a public means of access in the Park via a State or Town right of way to
							abutting land. Certain roads may be gated for security purposes.
85. "Sanitary sewer" means a sewer that
							carries sewage and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not
							intentionally admitted.
86.
							"Sewage" means a combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
							commercial buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together
							with such ground, surface, and storm waters as may be present.
87. "Sewage treatment plant" means any
							arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
88. "Sewage works" means all facilities for
							collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
89. "Sewer" means a pipe or conduit for
							carrying sewage.
90. "Shall" means
							mandatory; "May" means permissive.
91. "Shipping" means uses intended for the
							transportation and distribution of products and goods.
92. "Significant industrial user" means as
							defined in
							 40 C.F.R. §
												403.3  incorporated in §
											4.3(A)     of
							this Part.
93. "Site control
							documentation" means a document defining the purchase and sales or lease
							agreement entered into between the QDC and the Client.
94. "Site plan" means the development plan
							for one or more lots on which is shown the existing and/or the proposed
							conditions of the lot.
95. "Site
							readiness program" means a program undertaken by the Quonset Development
							Corporation beginning in 2010 to design, pre-engineer, and pre-permit vacant
							available parcels in the Park.
96.
							"Slug" means any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste that in
							concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds a user's
							average discharge and adversely affects the sewer and/or the performance of the
							sewage treatment plant.
97. "Solar
							energy system" means a system of panels containing photovoltaic cells, either
							on a rooftop or on the ground, including all necessary appurtenances, that is
							intended to generate power for consumption on site, or for sale to the
							grid.
98. "Solid waste" means
							garbage, refuse and other discarded solid material generated by residential,
							institutional, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources, but does not
							include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage or sludge, nor does it
							include hazardous waste as defined in the Hazardous Waste Management Act, R. I.
							Gen. Laws Chapter 23-19.1.
99.
							"Storm drain" or "Storm sewer" means a conveyance that carries storm and
							surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial waste, other
							than unpolluted cooling water.
100.
							"Storm drain system" means any infrastructure in which its sole purpose is to
							intercept, collect, retain or detain, and convey rainwater runoff to a point of
							discharge (i.e. outlet/outfall), including but not limited to: underground
							injection, state and federally regulated Wetlands, streams, brooks, river,
							tidal wetlands, Narragansett Bay.
101. "Stormwater" means any surface flow,
							runoff, and/or drainage consisting entirely of water from any form of natural
							precipitation and resulting from such precipitation.
102. "Structure" means a combination of
							materials to form a construction for use, occupancy, or ornamentation, whether
							installed on, above, or below, the surface of land or water.
103. "Subdivision" means the division,
							re-division, of a lot, tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots,
							tracts, or parcels. Any adjustment to existing lot lines of a recorded lot by
							any means shall be considered a subdivision. All re-subdivision activity shall
							be considered a subdivision. The division of property for purposes of financing
							constitutes a subdivision.
104.
							"Survey, Class I" means surveys of developed (or soon to be developed)
							commercial and residential property, performed to a high degree of positional
							accuracy. Most urban and suburban boundary surveys, large-scale construction
							projects, title surveys, and subdivision of land should be performed to this
							standard.
105. "Suspended solids"
							means solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in,
							water, sewage, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory
							filtering.
106. "The park" means
							Quonset Business Park.
107.
							"Technical review committee" or "TRC" means the committee described in §4.8.3(A)(1) 
							of this Part.
108. "Temporary"
							means a time frame of 18 months or less as it applies to lighting, signage, and
							buildings
109. "Town" means the
							Town of North Kingstown.
110.
							"Toxic" means any substance listed as toxic under section
							307(a)(1) 
							of the Clean Water Act, as amended,
							 33 U.S.C. §
												1251  et seq., or listed under the Hazardous
							Substances Right-to-Know Act, R.I. Gen. Laws §
											28-21-1 et seq.,
							or as may otherwise be designated by the Director from time to time.
111. "Toxic materials" means any substance or
							combination of substances which, because of quantity, concentration or
							physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, poses a significant present
							or potential hazard to water supplies or to human health.
112. "Undeveloped" means land that has not
							had improvements made either to the land or on the land.
113. "USEPA" means United States
							Environmental Protection Agency.
114. "Use" means the purpose or activity for
							which land or buildings are designed, arranged, or intended, or for which land
							or buildings are occupied or maintained.
115. "User" means, for the purpose of
							wastewater, the owner of any residential, commercial, or industrial property or
							any publicly owned building or nonprofit institution with a direct or indirect
							connection to the sewer.
116.
							"Variance" means permission from the TRC or the QDC Board to depart from the
							literal requirements of these Regulations as they relate to performance,
							utility and design standards.
117.
							"Waivers" means permission from the TRC to omit information that would
							otherwise be required in a Development Plan Review application.
118. "Warehousing" and "Wholesaling" means
							uses that include industrial; distribution center, sorting facilities, parcel
							delivery center; storage facilities, and the like.
119. "Wastewater" means any water or other
							liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater, discharged from a
							facility.
120. "Watercourse" means
							a channel in which a flow of water occurs either continuously or
							intermittently.
121. "Waterfront
							uses" means uses intended for marine-related and marine-enhanced uses such as
							waterborne cargo operations, fisheries development, boat building, shipyards,
							ferry terminals, and marine construction activities; water dependent commercial
							activities related to marina and other vessel service activities; structures to
							support the transfer of cargo and people from marine vessel to land areas such
							as piers, bulkheads, or mooring structures; land based construction activities
							that use the water as the primary means for moving the product from the land
							construction area to its permanent location; uses in support of recreational or
							tourism activities that use the water as a primary resource or amenity such as
							sea plane operations; accessory marine supply retail, boat and marine equipment
							rentals; and accessory food service retail.
122. "Wetlands, freshwater" means as defined
							in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											2-1-20. A marsh,
							swamp, bog, pond, river, river or stream flood plain or bank, area subject to
							flooding or storm flowage; emergent or sub-emergent plant community in any body
							of freshwater; or area within fifty (50) feet of the edge of a bog, marsh,
							swamp, or pond as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws §
											2-1-20.
123. "Wholesale" means any sale for resale
							but not for direct consumption and not open to the general public.
124. "Wind energy system" or "WES" means a
							device that converts wind energy into electrical energy. A WES typically
							consists of a tower, nacelle body and a rotor with two or more blades. A WES
							includes all equipment, machinery, and structures utilized in connection with
							the conversion of wind to electricity, and includes, but is not limited to,
							transmission, storage, collection and supply equipment, substations,
							transformers, service and access roads, and wind monitoring and meteorological
							towers. A WES may be gear driven, employing one or more gears connecting a
							low-speed shaft to a high-speed shaft for the purpose of increasing rotational
							speeds at the generator over and above the rotational speed of the rotor, or
							may be direct drive, which does not alter shaft rotational speed from the rotor
							to the generator. WESs also include Alternative Design Wind Energy Systems,
							which shall include any WES other than one that is rotor driven. WESs include
							both free-standing and building mounted systems. WESs shall also include
							associated wind monitoring and/or meteorological towers.
125. "Wind monitoring" or "Meteorological
							tower" means a temporary tower equipped with devices to measure wind speeds and
							direction used to determine how much wind power a site can be expected to
							generate (referred to as "Met Tower").
126. "Yard, front" means yard extending
							across the full width of the lot, the depth of which shall be the least
							distance between the front lot line and the front of any building. Frontage on
							any public street is considered to be a front yard. A corner lot may have more
							than one front yard.
127. "Yard,
							rear" means a yard extending across the full width of the lot between the rear
							most main building and the rear lot line, the depth of which shall be the least
							distance between the rear lot line and the rear of any buildings.
128. "Yard, side" means a yard between the
							main building and the side lot line, extending from the front yard or the front
							lot line where no front yard is required, to the rear yard. The width of the
							required side yard shall be measured horizontally from the nearest point of the
							side lot line toward the nearest part of the main building.