The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter,
shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
(1) Affect--As used in this subchapter regarding dunes,
dune vegetation, and the public beach, "affect" means to produce an
effect upon dunes, dune vegetation, or public beach use and access.
(2) Amenities--Any non habitable major structure including,
but not limited to, swimming pools, decks, bathhouses, detached garages,
cabanas, pipelines, piers, canals, lakes, ditches, artificial runoff
channels and other water retention structures, sidewalks, roads, streets,
highways, parking areas and other paved areas (exceeding 144 square
feet in area), underground storage tanks, and similar structures.
(3) Applicant--Any person applying to a local government
for a permit and/or certificate for any construction or development
plan.
(4) Backdunes--The dunes located landward of the foredune
ridge which are usually well vegetated but may also be unvegetated
and migratory. These dunes supply sediment to the beach after the
foredunes and the foredune ridge have been destroyed by natural or
human activities.
(5) Beach access--The right to use and enjoy the public
beach, including the right of free and unrestricted ingress and egress
to and from the public beach.
(6) Beach/Dune Rules--31 TAC §§15.1 - 15.36,
31 TAC Ch. 25, 31 TAC §26.26 and 31 TAC §29.60.
(7) Beach/dune system--The land from the line of mean
low tide of the Gulf of Mexico to the landward limit of dune formation.
(8) Beach maintenance--The cleaning or removal of debris
from the beach or redistribution of seaweed on the beachfront by handpicking,
raking, or mechanical means.
(9) Beach profile--The shape and elevation of the beach
as determined by surveying a cross section of the beach.
(10) Beach-related services--Reasonable and necessary
services and facilities directly related to the public beach which
are provided to the public to ensure safe use of and access to and
from the public beach, such as vehicular controls, management, and
parking (including acquisition and maintenance of off-beach parking
and access ways); sanitation and litter control; lifeguarding and
lifesaving; beach maintenance; law enforcement; beach nourishment
projects; beach/dune system education; beach/dune protection and restoration
projects; providing public facilities such as restrooms, showers,
lockers, equipment rentals, and picnic areas; recreational and refreshment
facilities; liability insurance; and staff and personnel necessary
to provide beach-related services. Beach-related services and facilities
shall serve only those areas on or immediately adjacent to the public
beach.
(11) Beach user fee--A fee collected by a local government
in order to establish and maintain beach-related services and facilities
for the preservation and enhancement of access to and from and safe
and healthy use of public beaches by the public.
(12) Beachfront construction certificate or certificate--The
document issued by a local government that certifies that the proposed
construction either is consistent with the local government's dune
protection and beach access plan.
(13) Blowout--A breach in the dunes caused by wind
erosion.
(14) Breach--A break or gap in the continuity of a
dune caused by wind or water.
(15) Bulkhead--A structure or partition built to retain
or prevent the sliding of land. A secondary purpose is to protect
the upland against damage from wave action.
(16) Coastal and shore protection project--A project
designed to slow shoreline erosion or enhance shoreline stabilization,
including, but not limited to, erosion response structures, beach
nourishment, sediment bypassing, construction of man-made vegetated
mounds, and dune revegetation.
(17) Coastal public land--Has the meaning assigned
by Texas Natural Resource Code, §33.004.
(18) Commercial facility--Any structure used for providing,
distributing, and selling goods or services in commerce including,
but not limited to, hotels, restaurants, bars, rental operations,
and rental properties.
(19) Construction--Causing or carrying out any building,
bulkheading, filling, clearing, excavation, or substantial improvement
to or alteration of land or the size of any structure, or removal
or demolition of a structure. "Building" includes, but is not limited
to, all related site work and placement of construction materials
on the site. "Filling" includes, but is not limited to, disposal of
dredged materials. "Excavation" includes, but is not limited to, removal
or alteration of dunes and dune vegetation and scraping, grading,
or dredging a site. "Substantial improvements to or alteration of
land or the size of any structure" include, but are not limited to,
creation of vehicular or pedestrian trails, landscape work and fencing
(that may adversely affect public access, dunes or dune vegetation),
and increasing the size of any structure.
(20) Coppice mounds--The initial stages of dune growth
formed as sand accumulates on the downwind side of plants and other
obstructions on or immediately adjacent to the beach seaward of the
foredunes. Coppice mounds may be unvegetated.
(21) Critical dune areas--Those portions of the beach/dune
system as designated by the General Land Office that are located within
1,000 feet of mean high tide of the Gulf of Mexico that contain dunes
and dune complexes that are essential to the protection of public
beaches, submerged land, and state-owned land, such as public roads
and coastal public lands, from nuisance, erosion, storm surge, and
high wind and waves. Critical dune areas include, but are not limited
to, the dunes that store sand in the beach/dune system to replenish
eroding public beaches.
(22) Cumulative impact--The effect on beach use and
access, on a critical dune area, or an area seaward of the dune protection
line which results from the incremental effect of an action when added
to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions
regardless of what agency or person undertakes such other actions.
Cumulative effects can result from individually minor but collectively
significant actions taking place over a period of time.
(23) Dedication--Includes, but is not limited to, a
restrictive covenant, permanent easement, and fee simple donation.
(24) Dune--An emergent mound, hill, or ridge of sand,
either bare or vegetated, located on land bordering the waters of
the Gulf of Mexico. Dunes are naturally formed by the windward transport
of sediment, but can also be created via man-made vegetated mounds.
Natural dunes are usually found adjacent to the uppermost limit of
wave action and are usually marked by an abrupt change in slope landward
of the dry beach. The term includes coppice mounds, foredunes, dunes
comprising the foredune ridge, backdunes, and man-made vegetated mounds.
(25) Dune complex or dune area--Any emergent area adjacent
to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in which several types of dunes
are found or in which dunes have been established by proper management
of the area. In some portions of the Texas coast, dune complexes contain
depressions known as swales.
(26) Dune Protection Act--Texas Natural Resources Code, §§63.001,
et seq.
(27) Dune protection and beach access plan or plan--A
local government's legally enforceable program, policies, and procedures
for protecting dunes and dune vegetation and for preserving and enhancing
use of and access to and from public beaches, and for reducing public
expenditures for erosion and storm damage losses, as required by Texas
Natural Resources Code Chapters 61 and 63 and Texas Natural Resources
Code §33.607.
(28) Dune protection line--A line established by a
county commissioners court or the governing body of a municipality
for the purpose of preserving, at a minimum, all critical dune areas
identified by the General Land Office pursuant to the Dune Protection
Act, §63.011, and §15.3(f) of this title (relating to Administration).
A municipality is not authorized to establish a dune protection line
unless the authority to do so has been delegated to the municipality
by the county in which the municipality is located. Such lines will
be located no farther than 1,000 feet landward of the mean high tide
of the Gulf of Mexico.
(29) Dune protection permit or permit--The document
issued by a local government to authorize construction or other regulated
activities in a specified location seaward of a dune protection line
or within a critical dune area, as provided in the Texas Natural Resources
Code, §63.051.
(30) Dune vegetation--Flora indigenous to natural dune
complexes, and growing on naturally-formed dunes or man-made vegetated
mounds on the Texas coast and can include coastal grasses and herbaceous
and woody plants.
Cont'd... |
