“Facade” means that part of a building facing a street or courtyard.

“Facing or surface” means the surface of a sign upon, against, or through which a message is displayed or illustrated on the sign.

“Factory-built housing” means a structure constructed in a factory of factory-assembled parts and transported to the building site in whole or in units which meets the requirements of the Uniform Building Code. The completed structure is not a mobile/manufactured home.

“Fair market value” (SMP) means the open market bid price for conducting construction, the work, using the equipment and facilities, and purchase of the goods, services and materials necessary to accomplish the development. This would normally equate to the cost of hiring a contractor to undertake the development from start to finish, including the cost of labor, materials, equipment and facility usage, transportation and contractor overhead and profit. The fair market value of the development shall include the fair market value of any donated, contributed or found labor, equipment or materials.

“Family” means one person or group of two or more persons living together and interrelated by bonds of kinship, marriage, mutual consent, or legal adoption, occupying the whole or part of a dwelling as a separate housekeeping unit with a common set of cooking facilities. The persons thus constituting a family may also include foster children, gratuitous guests and domestic servants. The maximum number of nonrelated members constituting a family shall not exceed six persons.

“Farm, existing” means property previously and currently used for ongoing agricultural activity.

“Farm, new” means property previously used for a different use, or previously unused, but recently converted to new agricultural activity.

“Farmer’s market” means a retail area, outdoors or indoors, either in a public space or on private land, where vendors sell produce, baked goods, food and/or limited crafts to the public. See also “Agricultural produce stand” and “Agricultural or produce concession stand.”

“Farmhouse” means a single-family dwelling located on a farm site where resulting agricultural products are not produced for the primary consumption or use by the occupants and the farm owner.

“Feasible” (SMP) means that an action, such as a development project, mitigation, or restoration requirement, meets all of the following conditions:

“Feather banner/flag” means generally a single sign attached to a support post and typically having a dimensional ratio of four high to one wide. This definition also applies to teardrop flags, windfeather flags, bow flags, and other similar type signs.

“Feed and farm supply” means an establishment providing retail sales and sometimes bulk sales of products used for animal husbandry and small scale or hobby farming including feed, seed, tack, medicine, equipment, fencing, clothing and garden products.

“Feed and fertilizer operation” means a business which produces feed and/or fertilizer typically for the purpose of agricultural use.

“Fence” means any artificially constructed barrier of any material or combination of materials erected to enclose or screen areas of land.

“Fill” means earth or any other substance or material placed in or on the ground, including pilings placed in a submerged area.

“Fill” (SMP) means the addition of soil, sand, rock, gravel, sediment, earth retaining structure, or other material to an area waterward of the OHWM, in wetlands, or on shorelands in a manner that raises the elevation or creates dry land.

“Filled lands” means all artificially made, filled, or reclaimed lands and marshes.

Film. See “Motion picture industry.”

“Final approval” means the final official action taken by the city council on the plat, subdivision, or dedication, or portion thereof, which has previously received preliminary approval.

“Final plat” means that map, plan, or layout of a subdivision of land which is filed after completing the improvements, accompanied by certifications that the improvements have been satisfactorily completed and are recorded with the auditor, and showing all elements required by this code and the RCW.

“Finance, insurance and real estate services” means services provided to clients in an office setting, including financial advice and investing; advising/writing and/or selling insurance policies and processing insurance claims; and/or maintaining listings of property for sale or rent; and services to clients engaged in purchasing or leasing property.

“Financial institutions” means establishments such as, but not limited to, banks (including ATMs) and trust companies, credit agencies, investment companies, and other similar establishments.

“First story” means the lowest story in a building which qualifies as a story, as defined herein, except that a floor level in a building having only one floor level shall be classified as a first story; provided such floor level is not more than four feet below grade, as defined herein, for more than 50 percent of the total perimeter, or not more than eight feet below grade, as defined herein, at any point.

“Flea market” means an occasional sales activity held within a building, structure, or open area where groups of individual sellers offer goods, new and used, for sale to the public, but not to include private garage sales.

“Flood elevation study” means an examination, evaluation and determination of flood hazards and, if appropriate, corresponding water surface elevations, or an examination, evaluation and determination of mudslide (i.e., mudflow) and/or flood-related erosion hazards. Also known as a flood insurance study (FIS).

“Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)” means the official map of the city of Stanwood, on which the Federal Insurance Administrator has delineated both the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to the city. A FIRM that has been made available digitally is called a Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM).

“Flood insurance study” means the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The report contains flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary and Floodway Map, and the water surface elevation of the base flood.

Flood or Flooding.

“Floodplain administrator” means the community official designated by title to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.

“Floodplain area having special flood hazard” means that maximum area of the floodplain that, on average, is likely to be flooded once every 100 years (i.e., that has a one percent chance of being flooded each year).

“Floodplain management regulations” means zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, building codes, health regulations, special purpose ordinances (such as floodplain ordinance, grading ordinance and erosion control ordinance) and other applications of police power. The term describes such state or local regulations, in any combination thereof, which provide standards for the purpose of flood damage prevention and reduction.

“Floodplain or flood-prone area” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source. See Flood or Flooding.

“Floodproofing” means any combination of structural and nonstructural additions, changes, or adjustments to structures which reduce or eliminate risk of flood damage to real estate or improved real property, water and sanitary facilities, structures, and their contents. Floodproofed structures are those that have the structural integrity and design to be impervious to flood water below the base flood elevation.

“Floodway” means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than a designated height. Also referred to as “regulatory floodway.”

“Floodway” (SMP) means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that have been established in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) or floodway maps. The floodway does not include lands that can reasonably be expected to be protected from flood waters by flood control devices maintained by or maintained under license from the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state.

“Floor” means the top surface of an enclosed area in a building (including basement), i.e., the top of a slab in concrete slab construction or the top of wood flooring in wood frame construction. The term does not include the floor of a garage used primarily for the parking of vehicles and where openings are installed to allow the free passage of water.

“Floor area” means the sum of the gross horizontal areas of all of the floors of all buildings on the lot, measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the centerline of walls separating two buildings. Floor area shall include the area of basements when used for residential, commercial or industrial purposes, but need not include a basement or portion of a basement used for storage or housing of mechanical equipment, or the basement apartment of a custodian in a multifamily dwelling, except that portion of said custodian’s dwelling unit which is in excess of 50 percent of the total basement area.

“Floor area ratio (F.A.R.)” means the horizontal area of all of the floors of any building or buildings on a lot, divided by the area of such lot, or in the case of planned unit developments, by the net lot area. Where off-street parking is provided in the principal building or in a building on a lot across a street or alley from the principal building, the area of the lot upon which such building providing off-street parking is provided may be included in determining the permitted floor area of the principal building. Space provided within a building for off-street parking shall not be counted in determining the floor area of such building.

Floor Area, Usable. See “Usable floor area.”

“Florist” means an establishment that sells and delivers flowers and flower arrangements, and small gifts, ornamental plants and accessories.

“Food and beverage processing” means sorting, packaging, bottling, or labeling raw or semi-processed food or beverages into a product.

“Food bank” means a nonprofit organization distributing foodstuffs donated by citizens, farmers, food processing companies and others to the public.

Footprint, Building. See “Building footprint.”

“Forested wetland” means a regulated wetland with at least 30 percent of the surface area covered by woody vegetation greater than 20 feet in height that is at least partially rooted within the wetland.

“Freestanding sign” means a sign that is detached from any building and has one or more supports directly upon the ground, with space between the ground and the sign.

“Freezer plants/cold storage/food mills” means industrial businesses providing refrigeration and storage of food or products requiring refrigeration/freezing and may include food processing and management of substances that supply plant nutrients or amend soil fertility.

“Freight distribution center” means an industrial business receiving, storing and delivering a wide variety of goods to other wholesale or retail outlets typically by truck or train. Facilities may include a loading dock.

“Frequently flooded areas” means the 100-year floodplain designations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Flood Insurance Program.

“Front lot line” means the lot line separating the lot from the street in the case of an interior lot and, in the case of a corner lot, either street lot line; provided the other is considered to be a side street lot line.

“Front yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the front line of the lot and the nearest line of the principal building.

Frontage, Corner lot. See “Corner lot frontage.”

“Fuel storage facility” means an area used for the storage and distribution of petroleum products used for the powering of motor vehicles, boats and ships, and aircraft, and for the operation of electrical generating plants. The facilities may be above-ground or underground storage tanks. This use includes propane, gasoline and other petroleum storage and distribution.

“Functions and values” means the beneficial roles served by critical areas including, but not limited to, water quality protection and enhancement, fish and wildlife habitat, food chain support, flood storage, conveyance and attenuation, groundwater recharge and discharge, erosion control, wave attenuation, protection from hazards, historical and archaeological and aesthetic value protection, and recreation. These beneficial roles are not listed in order of priority.

“Funeral home” means a building used for the preparation of the deceased for burial, the display of the deceased, and ceremonies connected therewith before burial or cremation.

“Furniture store” means a store that specializes in the sale of furniture and/or flooring. Furniture stores are generally large, and include storage areas. They can be both traditional retail furniture stores and warehouse stores with showrooms. (Ord. 1486 § 1 (Exh. A), 2020; Ord. 1475 § 1 (Att. A), 2019; Ord. 1398 § 13, 2015; Ord. 1380 §§ 3, 4, 2014; Ord. 1373 § 8, 2014; Ord. 1308 § 3, 2012; Ord. 1294 §§ 5, 6, 2011; Ord. 1164 § 4, 2004; Ord. 1110 § 3, 2002; Ord. 1094 § 1, 2000; Ord. 929 Ch. 5, 1995).