PLANNING TERMS – American Planning Association | California Chapter

Have you always struggled to understand Planners? Have you always wanted to be a part of the Planning world, yet felt intimidated by all the acronyms, abbreviations, and other industry jargon? Well, fret no more! The following is a list of Planning terms decoded. Now you can feel right at home during the next Planning conference, meeting, or simply trying to impress your significant other.

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~A~~~

–

Assembly Bill

ABC

–

Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control of the State of California

–

Acre(s)

ACOE

–

Army Corps of Engineers

ADA

–

Americans with Disabilities Act

ADT

–

Average Daily Traffic (Average Daily Trips)

AICP

–

American Institute of Certified Planners

ALUC

–

Airport Land Use Commission

ALUCP

–

Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan

ANSI

–

American National Standards Institute

APA

–

American Planning Association

AQI

–

Air Quality Index

AQMD

–

Air Quality Management District

ARB

–

Architectural Review Board

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~B~~~

BANANA

–

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

BID

–

Business Improvement District

BMP

–

Best Management Practice

BOS

–

Board of Supervisors

BPC

–

Business and Professions Code of the State of California

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~C~~~

CAC

–

California Administrative Code

CAD

–

Computer Aided Design

CAP

–

Climate Action Plan

CARB

–

California Air Resources Board

CAVE

–

Citizens Against Virtually Everything

CBC

–

California Building Code

CBD

–

Central Business District

–

City Council / Civil Code of the State of California

CC&Rs

–

Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions

CCR

–

California Code of Regulations

CDBG

–

Community Development Block Grant

CDC

–

Center for Disease Control

CDFW

–

California Department of Fish and Wildlife

CEC

–

California Electrical Code

CEQA

–

California Environmental Quality Act

–

Cubic Feet (Foot)

CFC

–

California Fire Code

CFD

–

Community Facilities District

CHBC

–

California Historic Building Code

CIP

–

Capital Improvements Program

CLG

–

Certified Local Government

CMC

–

California Mechanical Code

CNU

–

Congress for the New Urbanism

CO/CofO

–

Certificate of Occupancy

COA

–

Conditions of Approval

COG

–

Council of Governments

CPC

–

California Plumbing Code

CPF

–

California Planning Foundation

CRAP

–

Concerned Residents Against Planners

CSAC

–

California State Association of Counties

CUP

–

Conditional Use Permit

CVC

–

California Vehicle Code

–

Cubic Yard(s)

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~D~~~

DAB

–

Development Advisory Board

DIF

–

Development Impact Fees

DMV

–

Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California

DOE

–

Department Of Energy

DOT

–

Department Of Transportation

DPH / DOPH

–

Department Of Public Health

DPR

–

Development Plan Review

DRB

–

Development Review Board

DU/AC

–

Dwelling Units Per Acre

DUDE

–

Developer Under Delusions of Entitlement

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~E~~~

–

Education Code of the State of California

EDD

–

Employment Development Department

EIR

–

Environmental Impact Report

EPA

–

Environmental Protection Agency

ESRI

–

Environmental Systems Research Institute

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~F~~~

FAA

–

Federal Aviation Administration

FAR

–

Floor Area Ratio

FCC

–

Federal Communications Commission

FEMA

–

Federal Emergency Management Agency

FHA

–

Federal Housing Administration

FHWA

–

Federal Highway Administration

FRUIT

–

Fear of Revitalization, Urban Infill, & Towers

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~G~~~

GBA

–

Gross Buildable Area

–

Government Code of the State of California

GFA

–

Gross Floor Area

GIS

–

Geographic Information Systems

GLA

–

Gross Leaseable Area

GOOMBY

–

Get Out Of My Back Yard

GP(A)

–

General Plan (Amendment)

GPS

–

Global Positioning System

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~H~~~

HMP

–

Hazard Mitigation Plan

HOV

–

High Occupancy Vehicle

HSC

–

Health & Safety Code of the State of California

HUD

–

Housing and Urban Development

HVAC

–

Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~I~~~

ISTEA

–

Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act

ITE

–

Institute of Transportation Engineers

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~L~~~

LAFCO

–

Local Area Formation Commission

LEA

–

Local Enforcement Agency

LOS

–

Level Of Service

LULU(S)

–

Locally Unacceptable Land Use(s)

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~M~~~

MND

–

Mitigated Negative Declaration

MOU

–

Memorandum of Understanding

MPO

–

Metropolitan Planning Organization

MSA

–

Metropolitan Statistical Area

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~N~~~

NAHB

–

National Association of Home Builders

NAICS

–

North American Industrial Classification System

NAMBI

–

Not Against My Business or Industry

NAP

–

Not A Part

–

Negative Declaration

NEPA

–

National Environmental Policy Act

NETMA

–

Nobody Ever Tells Me Anything

NFIP

–

National Flood Insurance Program

NHPA

–

National Historic Preservation Act

NHS

–

National Highway System

NIMBY

–

Not In My Back Yard

NIMEY

–

Not In My Election Year

NIMFYE

–

Not In My Front Yard Either

NPDES

–

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System

NTSB

–

National Transportation Safety Board

NUDE

–

Neighborhoods Under Delusions of Entitlement

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~O~~~

OPR

–

Office of Planning & Research of the State of California

OSHA

–

Occupational Safety & Health Administration

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~P~~~

–

Planning Commission / Penal Code of the State of California

PCN

–

Public Convenience & Necessity

PRC

–

Public Resources Code of the State of California

PRD

–

Planned Residential Development

PUC

–

Public Utilities Commission / Public Utilities Code of the State of California

PUD

–

Planned Unit Development

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~R~~~

RDA

–

Redevelopment Agency

RFP

–

Request for Proposal

RFQ

–

Request for Qualifications

RLUIPA

–

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

ROW

–

Right of Way

RWQCB

–

Regional Water Quality Control Board

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~S~~~

–

Senate Bill

SF / SQ-FT

–

Square Feet (Foot)

SHC

–

Streets and Highways Code of the State of California

SLAP

–

Strategic Lawsuits Against Planners

SMA

–

Subdivision Map Act

SOV

–

Single Occupancy Vehicle

SP(A)

–

Specific Plan (Amendment)

SRO

–

Single Room Occupancy

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~T~~~

TAC

–

Technical Advisory Committee

TAZ

–

Traffic Analysis Zone

TDM

–

Transportation Demand Management

TDR

–

Transfer of Development Rights

TIA

–

Traffic Impact Analysis

TIF

–

Tax Increment Financing

TIGER

–

Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding & Referencing

TIP

–

Transportation Improvement Program

TOD

–

Transit Oriented Development

TOT

–

Transient Occupancy Tax

TSM

–

Transportation Systems Management

TUP

–

Temporary Use Permit

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~U~~~

UBC

–

Uniform Building Code

UGB

–

Urban Growth Boundary

ULI

–

Urban Land Institute

USDA

–

United States Department of Agriculture

USFS

–

United States Forest Service

USFWS

–

United States Fish and Wildlife Service

USGS

–

United States Geological Survey

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~V~~~

VMT

–

Vehicle Miles Traveled

VOC

–

Volatile Organic Compound

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~W~~~

WCF

–

Wireless Communication Facility

WQMP

–

Water Qualtiy Management Plan

WRCB

–

Water Resources Control Board

WW?D

–

What Would (Insert Planning Director’s First Name Initial Letter) Do

( A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z )

~~~Z~~~

–

Zoning Administrator