The projection of long-term shoreline recession occurring over a period of 30 years based on shoreline change information obtained from historical measurements.
AADT
Average Annual Daily Traffic
AAER
Average Annual Erosion Rate
Abandonment
An action involving relinquishment of rights in real property, by an owner, for the sole purpose of permanently terminating his ownership. Land cannot be abandoned in favor of a specific party. The act of abandonment must be voluntary and intentional.
ABS
Area of Biological Significance
Abstract of Title
A compilation of abstracts of deeds and other pertinent data which affect the title to a piece of real property, all bound together in chronological order. It is a form of title evidence made for the purpose of title examination.
Access
The right of an owner to go from and return to his land.
Accretion
The process of gradual and imperceptible additions of sand, sediment, or other material to riparian lands made by the natural action of water which results in dry lands formerly covered by water.
Acre
A quantity of land containing 43,560 square feet or .4047 hectares of land.
ACSC
Area of Critical State Concern
ACSM
American congress of Surveying and Mapping
ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act
ADT
Average Daily Traffic, Average Daily Trips
AGL
Above Ground Level
Agreement Deed
An agreement between owners to fix a disputed boundary line
AIA
American Institute of Architects
AICP
American Institute of Certified Planners
AIREA
American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers
Alley
Narrow service roadway created by land platting.
Along
“Along a line” means on and in the direction of the line. “Along the road” means along the centerline or thread of the road unless qualified; for example, along the east side of the road. “Along a line” may be changing in direction by curves or angles. The term “along” may also mean “on”.
Alongshore
Directional reference meaning along or approximately parallel to the shoreline; alternatively, shore-parallel, or longshore.
ALTA
American Land Title Association
Amoring
Manmade structure designed to either prevent erosion of the upland property or protect eligible structures from the effects of coastal wave and current action. Armoring includes certain rigid coastal structures such as geotextile bags or tubes, seawalls, revetments, bulkheads, retaining walls, or similar structures but does not include jetties, groins, or other construction whose purpose is to add sand to the beach and dune system, alter the natural coastal currents, or stabilize the mouths of inlets.
Angle
Angular measure between directional lines.
ANSI
American National Standards Institute
Appurtenant
A word employed in deeds, leases, etc., for the purpose of including any easement or other right(s) used or enjoyed with the real property, which are considered to be so much a part of the property that they automatically pass to the grantee under the deed conveying the real property.
APR
Annual Percentage Rate
Aquatic Preserve
Those areas designated in Part II, Chapter 258, F.S.
ARM
Adjustable Rate Mortgage
Artificial Accretion
The addition of sand, sediment, or other material to riparian lands caused by man-made projects and operations which results in dry lands formerly covered by water.
Artificial Erosion
The slow and imperceptible loss or washing away of sand, sediment, or other material from property caused by man-made projects and operations.
ASA
American Society of Appraisers
ASC
Area of Special Consideration
ASCE
American Society of Civil Engineers
ASHI
American Society of Home Inspectors
ASLA
American Society of Landscape Architects
Assignee
The person to whom an assignment has been made.
Assignment
The transfer of the interest one has in real estate.
Assignor
The party making the assignment
Assigns
The party to whom the property should have been transferred.
AST
Aboveground Storage Tank
Avulsion
The sudden or perceptible loss of or addition to land by the action of water or the sudden or perceptible change in the bed of a lake or the course of a stream.
Bathymetry
Science of measuring water depths (usually in the ocean) to determine bottom topography.
BD
Book Depreciation
Beach
Zone of unconsolidated material that extends landward from the mean low water line to the place where there is marked change in material or physiographic form, or to the line of permanent vegetation.
Beach and Dune System
That portion of the coastal system where there has been or there is expected to be, over time and as a matter of natural occurrence, cyclical and dynamic emergence, destruction, and reemergence of beaches and dunes.
Beach Quality Sand
Sand which is similar to the native beach sand in both coloration and grain size and is free of construction debris, rocks, clay, or other foreign matter.
Bearing
The direction of a line measured from north or south to east or west, not exceeding 90 degrees. Examples: North 30 Degrees West or South 87 Degrees East.
Bench Mark
A point whose elevation, above or below some definite or assumed datum, is known. A bench mark can be natural or artificial, and it can be either permanent or temporary.
Benthic Communities
Any sovereignty submerged land where any of the following associations of indigenous interdependent plants and animals occur: grass beds, algal beds, sponge beds, octocoral patches or beds, hard coral patches or reefs, and tidal swamps, including mangroves, identified in any reports submitted pursuant to paragraph 18-21.004(2)(C), F.A.C., Communities is intended to reflect identifiable assemblages of organisms as opposed to scattered or single individuals.
BFD
Base Flood Depth
BFE
Base Flood Elevation
BFP
Bona Fide Purchaser
BLM
Bureau of Land Management of U.S. Department of the Interior; formerly the General Land Office(GLO).
Block
A block is a square or portion of a city enclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or vacant lots. Blocks are often enclosed by the boundary of a subdivision and are usually broken down into smaller units called “lots”.
BM
Bench Mark
BMP
Best Management Practice
BOD
Biological Oxygen Demand
BOT
Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund
Boundary Survey
A survey made to establish or re-establish a boundary line on the ground, or to obtain data for constructing a map or plat showing a boundary line.
Bounded
Usually referred to in legal descriptions as being bounded by the adjoining land owners or by a road, stream, etc. Set off by a boundary.
Bounds
The lines by which different parcels of land are divided. “Butts and bounds” or “butted and bounded” are phrases sometimes used to introduce the boundaries of land. “Buttal” means along the end of the land.
Breakaway Wall
Partition independent of supporting structural members that is intended to withstand design wind forces but to collapse from a water load less than that which would occur during a 100-year storm event without causing collapse, displacement, or other structural damage to the elevated portion of the building or supporting foundation system.
Building Support Structure
Any shore-parallel structure which supports floor, wall, or column loads and transmits them to the foundation.
Bulkhead Line
Established line limiting land improvements into an abutting waterway.
BZA
Board of Zoning Appeals
CAD
Computer-Assisted Drafting
Cadastral Map
The base of the assessment cadastre. A map that shows the size, shape and extent of each land parcel in a prescribed geographical area.
Cadastral Surveys
The establishment of land boundaries and subdivisions by running and marking of the lines that are required by the plan of the cadastral surveys of the United States. In general, it is any survey executed to measure the boundaries of land parcels.
Cadastre
A public record, survey, or map of the value, extent, and ownership of land.
CADD
Computer-Assisted Drafting and Design
Call
The designation of visible natural objects, monuments, courses, distances, or other matters of description as limits of boundaries. “Locative calls” are particular or specific, and locate a point or line. “Descriptive calls” are general and merely direct attention to the neighborhood in which more specific calls are to be found.
CAM
Common Area Maintenance
Canal
A trench, the bottom of which is normally covered by water with the upper edges of its two sides normally above water.
CAR
Contamination Assessment Report
CARL
Conservation and Recreation Lands
CATX
Categorical Exclusion
CAV
Community Assistance Visits
CCCL
Coastal Construction Control Line
Centerline
Line or point of equal division or separation.
CERCLA
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (aka: “Superfund”)
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations
Ch.
Chain or chains abbreviation.
CH/BW
Chain Link/Barbed Wire
Chain
A land surveyor’s measure – 66 feet or 100 links; (2) a directed non-branching sequence of non-intersecting line segments and/or arcs bounded by nodes, not necessarily distinct, at each end. Area chain, complete chain, and network chain are special cases of chain, and share all characteristics of the general case as defined above.
Chain of Title
A chronological list of documents which comprise the recorded history of title of a specific piece of real estate.
Channel
A trench, the bottom of which is normally covered entirely by water, with the upper edges of its sides normally below water
CIP
Capital Improvements Program
CIPS
Certified International Property Specialist – NAR designation
Clear Title
Title that is free from defects, doubts and litigious uncertainties; a title that would qualify as “marketable title”.
CLOMA
Conditional Letter of Map Amendment
CLOMR
Conditional Letter of Map Revision
Closed Traverse
A traverse that starts and ends at the same point, or at points whose relative horizontal position are known. A traverse that forms a continuous loop enclosing an area is known as a “loop traverse” (also being a closed traverse). Another kind of closed traverse is a “connecting traverse” that starts and ends at separate points whose relative positions have been determined by a survey of equal or higher-order accuracy.
CMP
Corrugated Metal Pipe
CMP
Clean Marina Program
CO
Certificate of Occupancy
CO
Consent Order
Coastal Barrier Islands
A Depositional geologic feature consisting of unconsolidated sedimentary materials in an island configuration which is subject to direct attack by wave, tidal, and wind energies originating from the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico, and which serves to protect landward aquatic habitats, such as bays and estuaries, and the interior uplands of the mainland from oceanic wave, tidal, and wind forces.
Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL)
The line established pursuant to the provisions of Section 161.053, F.S., and recorded in the official records of the county, which defines that portion of the beach-dune system subject to severe fluctuations based on a 100-year storm surge, storm waves, or other predictable weather conditions.
COD
Chemical Oxygen Demand
COE
Army Corps of Engineers
Contour
Defined line of equal elevation on a map or plat.
Convey
To transfer or deliver to another; to pass from one person to another. Equivalent to the word “grant”.
Conveyance
Any instrument in writing by which a estate or interest in real property is created, mortgaged, or encumbered, or by which the title to any real property may be affected (except wills).
Corner
The intersection of two or more converging property or survey lines, whether internal or external. In surveying the terms “corner” and “monument” are used largely in the same sense. However, “corner” usually denotes a point determined by the survey, whereas “monument” is the physical structure erected to mark the corner on the earth’s surface.
Course
Line or boundary defined by bearing and distance.
Covenant
Real property restriction and/or encumbrance.
CPM
Certified Property Manager, a designation awarded by IREM
CRB
Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager, a designation awarded by the Council of RE Brokerage Managers
Crest
Highest elevation, uppermost level or height of.
CRS
Community Rating System
CRS
Certified Residential Specialist, a designation awarded by the Council of Residential Specialists
CSM
Certified Survey Map abbreviation.
CUP
Conditional Use Permit
CWA
Clean Water Act
CZMA
Coastal Zone Management Act
D&O
Directors & Officers insurance, another term that describes professional liability insurance for associations
DACS
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
DCA
Florida Department of Community Affairs
DCA
Department of Community Affairs
Dedicated
Land granted for public or special purposes by an expressed intent in a conveyance or upon a plat.
Deeds
A deed is evidence in writing of an executed contract for the sale of land. Several types exits: (1) A Grant Deed (2) A Quit Claim Deed (3) An Agreement Deed (4) A Warranty Deed (5) A Trust Deed
DEM
Division of Emergency Management
DEP
Department of Environmental Protection
DER
Department of Environmental Regulation (merged into DEP 1993)
Descendants
All those who have issued from an individual; i.e., children, grandchildren, and their children-to the remotest degree.
Description
The exact location of a piece of property stated in terms of lot, block, and tract, or by metes and bounds.
DFIRM
Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map
Dia.
Diameter abbreviation.
DNR
Department of Natural Resources (merged into DEP 1993)
DO
Dissolved Oxygen
Dock
A fixed or floating structure, including access walkways, terminal platforms, catwalks, mooring pilings, lifts, davits and other associated water-dependent structures, used for mooring and accessing vessels.
DOT
Department of Transportation
Dredging
The excavation, by any means, in surface waters or wetlands. It also means the excavation, or creation, of a water body which is, or is to be, connected to any surface waters or wetlands directly or via an excavated water body or series of excavated water bodies.
DRI
Development of Regional Impact
DS
Due on Sale (clause)
DSL
Division of State Lands
DU
Dwelling Unit
Dune
A mound, bluff or ridge of loose sediment, usually sand-sized sediment, lying upland of the beach and deposited by any natural or artificial mechanism, which may be bare or covered with vegetation and is subject to fluctuations in configuration and location.
E&O
Errors & Omissions insurance, professional liability insurance for associations
EA
Environmental Assessment
EAL
Exclusive Agency Listing
Easement
An interest in land created by grant or agreement which confers a right upon owners to some profit, benefit, dominion, or lawful use of or over the estate of another; it is district from ownership of land.
Egress
Exiting or emerging right of access.
EIS
Environmental Impact Statement
Elevation
Vertical height from a defined reference datum.
EMD
Earnest Money Deposit.
ePRO
A technology certification provided by NAR
ERA
Environmental Protection Agency
ERM
Elevation Reference Mark
Erosion
The wearing away of land or the removal of consolidated or unconsolidated material from the beach and dune system by wind, water, or wave action. Erosion includes: (a) Landward horizontal movement of the line of mean high water or beach and dune system profile. (b) Vertical lowering or volumetric loss of sediment from the beach and dune system or the offshore profile.
ERP
Environmental Resource Permit
ESA
Endangered Species Act
ESA
Environmentally Sensitive Area
Estuary
A semi-enclosed, naturally existing coastal body of water which has a free connection with the open sea and within which seawater is measurably diluted with fresh water derived from riverine systems.
Excavation
Any mechanical or manual removal or alteration of consolidated or unconsolidated soil
or rock material from or within the beach and dune system.
Expendable Structure
A structure that is subject to use or consumption, suitable for sacrifice,
or is not essential to preserve.
FAC
Florida Administrative Code
FAR
Floor Area Ratio
Fastland
That portion of a coastal island above the upper limit of tidal wetland vegetation, or if such vegetation is not present, that portion of the island above the mean high water line.
FBC
Florida Building Code
FBFM
Flood Boundary and Floodway Map
FDEP
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Fee
An estate of inheritance in land.
Fee Simple
An estate of inheritance in land without qualifications or restrictions as to the persons who may inherit it as heirs. Also called an “absolute fee” or a “fee title”. Denotes absolute ownership.
FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency
FHA
Federal Housing Administration
FHBM
Flood Hazard Boundary Map
Filling
The deposition, by any means, of materials in surface waters or wetlands.
FIRM
Flood Insurance Rate Map
FIRM-DLG
Flood Insurance Rate Map-Digital Line Graph
FIS
Flood Insurance Study
FLDPLN
Floodplains
Florida Building Code
Refers to Part VII of Chapter 553, F.S., the Florida Building Codes Act,
effective March 1, 2002.
FLUM
Future Land Use Map
FMV
Fair Market Value
FOIA
Freedom of Information Act
FONSI
Finding of No Significant Impact
Foreshore
The strip of land between the mean high-water and mean low-water lines that is alternately covered and uncovered by the flow of the tide.
Foundation
The portion of a structure which transmits the associated dead and live loads of the structure to the ground and includes, but is not limited to, spread footings, foundation walls, posts, piers, piles, beams, girders, structural slabs, cross bracing, and all related connectors. For habitable major structures, the foundation includes all load bearing components below the first habitable floor. For pavements, the foundation includes the subbase and base course layers supporting the pavement layer.
FPM
Flexible-Payment Mortgage
FR
Federal Register
Frac.
Fraction or fractional abbreviation.
Fractional
The use of fractional in a deed means there is less land than is usually contained in a lot, block, section, or township. “Fractional” is not synonymous with “part”.
Fractional Lot
A fractional lot is a portion of a section not subdivided in the regular manner and may be more or less than the smallest division (40 acres). It is meaningless to refer to a lot in a subdivision, other than government sections as being a fractional lot.
Fractional Section
A section that does not have the full 640 acres due to a body of water or because of a boundary of county or state, but not because the original survey was inaccurate.
FRM
Fixed-Rate Mortgage
Frontal Dune
The first natural or manmade mound or bluff of sand which is located landward of the beach and which has significant vegetation, height, continuity, and configuration to offer protective value.
Fronting
The words “fronting” and “adjoining” are synonymous and such references mean the lots touch the boundary line of the street.
FSBO
For Sale by Owner
FWC
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
FWCC
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
FWPCA
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
FWS
(U.S.) Fish & Wildlife Service
Geotextile Container
A bag or tube, made of blanket-like synthetic fibers manufactured in a woven or loose nonwoven manner, used as an agent to hold together a large mass of sand forming a rigid tubular structure.
GFE
Good Faith Estimate.
GFWFC
Game and Fresh Water fish Commission (merged into FWCC 1999)
GIS
Geographic Information System
GLO
General Land Office; now known as BLM.
Government Lots
Lots established, measured, and computed by the U.S. Government’s survey of the public lands. The term is often used synonymously with “fractal lots” or “lots” (1/4 1/4 sections irregularly shaped and more, or less than 40 acres). Some government lots are regular in shape and are 40 acres in area.
Government Survey
(U.S. Rectangular Land Survey) – In 1785 the U.S. Congress authorized the first land survey of the United States. It specified that surveyed townships were to be 6 miles square. The townships are surveyed from an east-west base line and from north-south principal meridians. Townships are laid off from these base lines and meridians. To identify the townships, each is given an identification in which it was referred to by its relation to the base line and meridian. Horizontal tiers of townships are laid off north and south from the base line and numbered consecutively. Vertical columns of townships called ranges are laid off to the east and west of the principal meridians and numbered accordingly. The townships can be identified by listing the township tier number and the range number, such as township 2 north, range 2 west. Each township is usually divided into 36 sections, each approximately one mile square and divided into 36 sections, each approximately one mile square and containing approximately 640 acres. This may vary considerably at rivers or where base lines or meridians converge, etc., but generally holds true.
GPS
Global Positioning System
Grade
Surface level of ground or rate/degree of slope.
Grant
The transfer of real property by deed.
Grant Deed
Conveys the fee title of the land described and owned by the grantee. If at a later date the grantor acquires a better title to the land conveyed, the grantee immediately acquires a better title to the land conveyed.
Grantee
The person to whom a grant is made; the one who acquires property.
Grantor
The person by whom a grant is made; the one who transfers the property.
GRI
Graduate, REALTORS® Institute, a NAR designation
Half Section
The south-half, north-half, east-half, or west-half of a section would be that half according to the government survey. The general and proper acceptance of the terms section and half section as well as their construction by the B.L.M., denotes the land in the sections and subdivision lines, and not the exact quantity which a perfect measurement of an obstructed surface would declare.
Heirs and Assigns
Unless the words “and heirs” are used, the estate conveyed is only for the life of the grantee (estate for life). “And heirs” is not necessary in most states because of statutes abolishing the necessity. “And assigns” is included to take care of corporations, trustees, etc., which cannot have heirs.
HHA
High Hazard Area
Highway Right-of-Way
The limit of property acquired to build a highway. It is usually marked by monuments or fences. Right-of-Way for roads, where no property was acquired originally, is normally the limit being used as the road.
HOA
Home Owners’ Association
HUD
US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
HUD-1
Settlement Statement that itemizes closing costs for both seller and buyer.
HVAC
Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning
HWL
High Water Line
Hydrodynamic Loads
Horizontal and vertical forces resulting from a mass of water in motion, such as the forces associated with the flow accompanying a storm surge. Hydrodynamic loads include the effects of turbulence resulting from the interaction of the flowing water mass with a rigid structure.
Hydrographic Survey
Survey of water area, with particular reference to submarine relief, and any adjacent land. See: oceanographic survey.
Hydrography
Science that deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and their adjoining coastal areas, with particular reference to their use for navigation.
Hydrology
Scientific study of the waters of the Earth, especially with relation to the effects of precipitation and evaporation upon the occurrence and character of ground water.
Hydrostatic Loads
Horizontal and vertical forces resulting from a standing mass of water.
I.P. or I.R.
Iron pipe or iron rod monument abbreviation.
ICWW
Intracoastal Waterway
Ingress
Entering right of access.
Interest in Land
The legal concern of a person in a thing or property, or in the right to some of the benefits or uses from which the property is inseparable.
JCP
Joint Coastal Permit
Joint Estate
An estate which has a plurality of tenants having the same interest in the estate, occurring under the same conveyance, commencing at the same time, and held under the same undivided possession.
Joint Tenancy
An estate arising by purchase or grant to a plurality of persons who have the same interest, under the same conveyance, commencing at the same date, and under the same undivided possession.
Joint Tenants
Two or more persons who own equal shares in an estate created by a single transfer. Upon death of a joint tenant, the surviving joint tenant(s) takes the entire property and nothing passes to the heirs of the deceased.
LAG
Lowest Adjacent Ground [grade]
Lagoon
A naturally existing coastal zone depression which is below mean high water and which has permanent or ephemeral communications with the sea, but which is protected from the sea by some type of naturally existing barrier.
LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Letter of Consent
A non-possessory interest in sovereignty submerged lands created by an approval which allows the applicant the right to erect specific structures or conduct specific activities on said lands.
LFE
Lowest Flood Elevation
LFFE
Lowest Finished Flood Elevation
LGCP
Local Governmental Comprehensive Plan
LIBOR
London Interbank Offered Rate
Location Monument
Location monuments are established in districts where corners of the public survey, and other monuments within two miles, do not exist. Sites of the monuments are usually at some prominent point, giving good visibility from every direction. The monuments are of stone, and marked “USLM” followed by the number of the survey. The exact reference point is marked by a cross chiseled on the top of the monument.
LOMA
Letter of Map Amendment
LOMC
Letter of Map Change
LOMC
Letter of Map Change
LOMC-VALID
Letter of Map Change Revalidation
LOMR
Letter of Map Revision
LOMR-F
Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill
LOS
Level of Service
Lost Corner
A point of a survey whose position cannot be determined, beyond reasonable doubt, either from traces of the original marks or from acceptable evidence or testimony that bears upon the original position, and whose location can be restored only by reference to one or more independent corners.
Lot Line
Lot line is the line shown upon the map creating the lot. Lot line is permanent and does not change with street openings.
Low Water
Minimum height reached by a falling tide. The height may be due solely to the periodic tidal forces or it may have superimposed upon it the effects of meteorological conditions.
Low Water Line
Intersection of the land with the water surface at an elevation of low water. Not to be confused with mean low water line.
LTV
Loan-to-Value Ratio.
LUST
Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
M.C.
Abbreviation for meander corner.
Main Channel
Navigable channel of waterway; may not be center.
Major Reconstruction
The complete or partial replacement or rebuilding, to its original level of
protection, of a significant portion of an existing armoring structure which has failed or deteriorated.
Major Structure
Structures which, as a result of design, location, or size could cause an adverse impact to the beach and dune system. Major structures include: 1. “Nonhabitable Major Structures” which are designed primarily for uses other than human occupancy. Typically included within this category are roads, bridges, storm water outfalls, bathhouses, cabanas, swimming pools, and garages. 2. “Habitable Major Structures” which are designed primarily for human occupancy and are potential locations for shelter from storms. Typically included within this category are residences, hotels, and restaurants.
Map, Topographic
Map that present the horizontal and vertical positions of the features represented; distinguished from a planimetric map by the addition of relief in measurable form.
Marginal Dock
A dock placed immediately adjacent and parallel to the shoreline or seawall, bulkhead or revetment.
Marina
Small craft harbor complex used primarily for recreational boat mooring or storage.
Marine Turtle
Any turtle, including all life stages from egg to adult, of the species Caretta caretta (loggerhead), Chelonia mydas (green), Dermochelys coriacea (leatherback), Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill), and Lepidochelys kempi (Kemp’s ridley).
MBA
Mortgage Bankers Association of America
Mean High Water
The average height of the high waters over a 19-year period. For shorter periods of observation, “mean high water” means the average height of the high waters after corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and to reduce the result to the equivalent of a mean 19-year value.
Mean High Water Line
The intersection of the local elevation of mean high water with the shore. Mean high water line along the shore of land immediately bordering on navigable waters is recognized and declared to be the boundary between the foreshore owned by the State of Florida in its sovereign capacity and the uplands subject to private ownership. However, no provision of this rule shall be deemed to impair the title to privately owned submerged lands validly alienated by the State of Florida or its legal predecessors.
Mean Low Water
The average height of the low waters over a 19-year period. For shorter periods of observation, “mean low water” means the average height of low waters after corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and reduce the result to the equivalent of mean 19-year value.
Mean Low-Water Line
The intersection of the tidal plane of mean low water with the shore.
Mean Sea Level
Elevation datum referenced to averaged sea level observations over an extended period of time.
Mean Tidal Range
The difference in height between mean high water and mean low water.
Meander
To follow a winding course of a stream. A line (usually the center) that follows the sinuosities of a stream. “Meander” is not synonymous with “meander line”. If a deed runs “to a stream; thence with the meanders of said stream”, etc., it usually means the line which follows the sinuosities of that stream, and the stream is the boundary. So the deed would be running to the center of the stream (but only if the stream is not navigable), not merely to the banks or the surveyed meander line.
Meander Corner
Corner monuments established according to the U.S. Public Land Surveys at the intersection of section lines with the meander lines of all meanderable bodies of water.
Meander Line
The metes-and-bounds traverse approximately along the shoreline of a permanent natural body of water. In original surveys, meander lines were not run as boundary lines, but for the purpose of defining the sinuosities of the bank or shore line, and for ascertaining the quantity of land remaining after segregation of the water area.
Meander Line
Metes-and-bounds traverse approximately along the mean high water line of a permanent body of water. By following the sinuosities of the bank or shoreline, the meander line provides data for computing the area of land remaining after the water area has been segregated. A meander line differs from other metes and bounds surveys in that it does not ordinarily determine or fix boundaries.
Meter
Metric measurement equivalent to 3.280833> feet.
Metes
The exact length of each line and the exact quantity of land in square feet, rods or acres; however, when used in the term “metes and Bounds” it does not necessarily mean that the length of a boundary is given. A parcel of land bounded in the deed description by the lands of named persons, rather than by bearings and dimensions would qualify as land described by metes and bounds.
Metes and Bounds
As commonly understood, descriptions of real property which are not described by reference to a lot or block shown on a map, but are described by starting at a known point and describing the bearings and distances of the lines forming the boundaries of the property are called metes and bounds deeds. Parcels of land created in sequence by conveyances, but not all delineated on a map at one time, have senior and junior deed considerations.
MFFE
Minimum Finished Floor Elevation
mg/l
milligrams per liter
MHW
Mean High Water
MHWL
Mean High Water Line
Minimum-Size Dock or Pier
A dock or pier that is the smallest size necessary to provide reasonable access to the water for navigating, fishing, or swimming based on consideration of the immediate area’s physical and natural characteristics, customary recreational and navigational practices, and docks and piers.
Minor Structure
Structures designed to be expendable, and to minimize resistance to forces associated with high frequency storms and to break away when subjected to such forces, and which are of such size or design as to have a minor impact on the beach and dune system.
Minor Reconstruction
The routine repair of an existing, functional, and intact armoring which is necessary to maintain the structural and functional integrity of the structure as originally designed and includes:
repair or replacement of caps, return walls, tiebacks, individual sheet piles, and armor stone.
MLS
Multiple Listing Service
MLW
Mean Low Water
MLWL
Mean Low Water Line
MMPA
Marine Mammal Protection Act
MOA
Memorandum of Agreement
Monuments (surveying)
A physical structure erected for the purpose of marking points on the earth’s surface. The monuments of land surveys range from the deposit of some durable material, a marked wooden stake or post, a marked stone, an iron post having an inscribed cap, a marked tablet set in solid rock or concrete block, a marked tree, a rock in place marked with a cross (X) at the exact point of the corner, and other special types of markers.
More or Less
The words “more or less” in their ordinary use are to be taken as words of caution, denoting some uncertainty in the mind of one using them and a desire not to misrepresent. When used in connection with quantity and distance, “more or less” are words of safety and precaution, intended merely to cover some slight or unimportant inaccuracy. When “125 feet more or less to the point of beginning” is the point of beginning” is the controlling term. “About 12 acres more or less” is indefinite and should be avoided since the word “about” is very broad in meaning.
MOU
Memorandum of Understanding
MPO
Metropolitan Planning Organization
MRA
Master Residential Appraiser
MSBU
Municipal Service Benefit Unit
MSL
Mean Sea Level
MSSW
Management & Storage of Surface Water
Multi-Slip Docking Facility
Any marina or dock designed to moor three or more vessels.
MWFRS
Main Wind force Resisting System
NAD 83/90
The North American Datum 1983 adjustment of 1990.
NAD27
North American Datum of 1927
NAD83
North American Datum of 1983
NAR
National Association of REALTORS®
National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929
Reference surface established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1929 as the datum to which relief features and elevation data are referenced in the conterminous United States; formerly called “mean sea level 1929.”
Natural Boundary
Any existing boundary that can be readily identified and located, e.g., the boundary line of an adjacent parcel of land, a river boundary, ditch, wall, bluff, etc. Courses and distances, as a general rule, give way to a call for a natural boundary, because a natural boundary, if fixed, is unchangeable, and more likely to be the true call than courses and distances.
Natural Monuments
Objects permanent in character, which are found on land as they were place by nature, e.g., lakes, streams, bluffs, etc.; in contradistinction to artificial monuments which are landmarks or signs erected by the hand of man.
NAVD 88
The North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
Navigable Waters
A body of water which in its ordinary and natural state, by reason of its size, depth and other conditions make the water body capable of navigation for useful public purposes and may be used for purposes common to the public in the locality where it is located.
Navigable Waters of the State of Florida
Water bodies that were navigable in fact on March 3, 1845, the date Florida became a State. Such waters do not include waters which have been conveyed to private individuals by the United States or by the State of Florida without reservation of public rights in and to said waters.
NEP
National Estuary Program
NEPA
National Environmental Policy Act
Nesting Season
The nesting period for marine turtles from May 1 through October 31 of each year for all counties except Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward. Nesting season for these counties is the period from March 1 through October 31 of each year.
NFIF
National Flood Insurance Fund
NFIP
National Flood Insurance Program
NGVD or NGVD29
National Geodetic Vertical Datum, as established by the National Ocean Survey (formerly
called “mean sea level datum, 1929”).
NHC
National Hurricane Center
NIMBY
Not in My Back Yard
Nineteen-year Tidal Cycle
The period of time generally reckoned as constituting a full tidal cycle.
NMFS
National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
NOI
Notice of Intent
Northerly
Towards north. When not controlled by definite courses, monuments, or other definite descriptions, usually means due north. This term must always yield to monuments and other definite calls.
NOV
Notice of Violation
NPDES
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
NTU
Nephelometric Turbidity Unit
NWFWMD
Northwest Florida Water Management District
NWS
National Weather Service
OBO
Or Best Offer
OFW
Outstanding Florida Waters
OGC
Office of General Counsel
OHWL
Ordinary High Water Line
One-Hundred-Year Storm / 100 Year Storm
A shore-incident hurricane or any other storm with accompanying wind, wave, and storm surge intensity having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
Original Design Specifications
These specifications shall consist of drawings of record prepared and sealed by a registered professional engineer or a professional land surveyor following completion of a project constructed in compliance with a valid department permit. For projects constructed where prior departmental authorization was not required or where original design specifications were not a requirement of the permit, original design specifications may instead include other competent and substantial evidence of pre-existing conditions, including by not limited to evidence adduced from soil borings, on-site conditions, prior surveys, aerial photographs, or other exhibits acceptable to the department.
Original Plat
Used to distinguish the first plat from the subsequent additions. Original Town or Original Town site are employed in the same manner.
P&Z
Planning and Zoning
P.O.B.
Continuation or extension of a straight line.
Parcel
In land ownership mapping for assessment purposes, a parcel is usually held to be a tract of land under one identical ownership. It may be a combination of two or more tracts acquired by separate deeds.
Patent
The title conveyed by the government describing land disposed of by the government is called a patent.
Patented Lands
Lands conveyed by the United States to private persons.
PE
Professional Engineer
Pier
Fixed or floating structure used primarily for fishing or swimming and not designed or used for mooring or accessing vessels.
Pile Foundation
A system of piles providing the support of a structure, including those piles terminating below grade at pile caps and those piles extending above grade to super elevate a structure.
PITI
Principle, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance.
Plat
A drawing showing one subdivision with its respective right-of-way, easements, blocks, lots, etc. Same as plot, map, or chart.
PMI
Private Mortgage Insurance
Point
Spatial location without defined dimensions.
Point of Beginning
In a deed description, it is a reference point from which the description begins. It is abbreviated as P.O.B.
Points of Call
Monuments, landmarks, objects, boundaries, or other elements of a description, in a deed, that defines the limits of the boundaries of a parcel of land, e.g., “the NW corner of Lot 4”, “the left bank of the river”, “the north line of the J.P. Smith property”, “the center of the county road”, etc. The courts have held that where points-of-call are inconsistent with the measurements (either by course, angle, or distance) the points of call are paramount.
ppb
parts per billion
Preempted Area
The area of sovereignty submerged lands from which any traditional public uses have been or will be excluded by an activity, such as the area occupied by docks, piers, and other structures; the area between a dock and the shoreline where access is not allowed, between docks, or areas where mooring routinely occurs that are no longer reasonably accessible to the general public; permanent mooring areas not associated with docks; and swimming areas enclosed by nets, buoys, or similar marking systems.
Primary Dune
A significant dune which has sufficient alongshore continuity to offer protective value
to upland property. The primary dune may be separated from the frontal dune by an interdunal trough; however,
the primary dune may be considered the frontal dune if located immediately landward of the beach.
Private Channel
Channel that is dredged or maintained by private entities to provide access to or from such locations as private residences, marinas, yacht clubs, vessel repair facilities, or revenue-generating facilities.
Private Residential Multi-Family Dock or Pier
Dock or pier on a common riparian parcel or area that is intended to be used for private recreational or leisure purposes by persons or groups of persons with real property interest in a multi-family residential dwelling such as a duplex, a condominium, or attached single-family residences or a residential development such as a residential or mobile home subdivision.
Private Residential Single-Family Dock or Pier
Dock or pier used for private recreational or leisure purposes that is located on a single-family riparian parcel or that is shared by two adjacent single-family riparian owners if located on their common riparian rights line.
Prolongation
Continuation or extension of a straight line.
Public Channel
Channel that is constructed or maintained by a public entity such as a federal or state agency, local government, or inland navigation district listed in Chapter 374, F.S., or that is part of a public navigation project, public water management project, or a deepwater port listed in Section 403.021(9)(b), F.S.
Public Interest
Demonstrable environmental, social, and economic benefits which would accrue to the public at large as a result of a proposed action, and which would clearly exceed all demonstrable environmental, social, and economic costs of the proposed action. In determining the public interest in a request for use, sale, lease, or transfer of interest in sovereignty lands or severance of materials from sovereignty lands, the board shall consider the ultimate project and purpose to be served by said use, sale, lease, or transfer of lands or materials.
Public Land System
Public lands are subdivided by a rectangular system of surveys established and regulated by the Bureau of Land Management. The standard format for subdivision is by townships measuring 6 miles (480 chains) on a side. Townships are further subdivided into 36 numbered sections of 1 square mile (640 acres) each.
PUD
Planned Unit Development
Quadrant
Any of four quarters into which something is divided by two real or imaginary lines that intersect each other at right angles. 90 degrees of a circle; one-quarter of a section (the NE 1/4, NW 1/4, SW 1/4, and SE 1/4 of a section are each quadrants of a section); one-quarter of a quarter section.
Quarter Section
A 160 acre block of land or 1/4 of a section.
Quarter Section Lines
The lines that divide the sections into four parts.
Quit Claim Deed
Passes on to the grantee whatever title the grantor has at the time at which the transaction is consummated. It carries no after rights. In essence, if the grantor acquires a better title at a later date, it is not passed on to the grantee. The deed carries no warranties on the part of the grantor.
Range
A vertical column of townships in the rectangular survey system.
Range Lines
The north-south township boundary lines.
REA
Reciprocal Easement Agreement
Rebuilding
A substantial improvement of the existing structure as defined in Section 161.54, F.S.
Record Owner
The owner of real estate at the time in question, as revealed by records. Usually used in reference to public records.
Recorded
A deed, etc., is said to be recorded when it has been filed for record in the courthouse and made a matter of public record.
Reliction
The slow and gradual withdrawal or recession of the water in a sea, a lake, or a stream, leaving the former bottom as permanently exposed and uncovered dry land.
Repair
The restoration of a portion of an existing structure, including the foundation of the structure, to its original design or an equivalent structural standard. Repair of a structure assumes that a significant portion of the structure, including its foundation, remains intact.
Resurvey
A retracement of a survey or surveys.
Reversion
Legal repossession of land title rights and/or interests; such as vacated street right-of-way.
Revetment
A sloped, facing structure made of an armoring material designed to protect an escarpment or embankment or an upland structure from erosion by wave or current action.
Right-of-Way
Land by dedication, grant or easement for roads, utility or other designated purposes; normally described as a strip or corridor type parcel.
Riparian Rights – Florida
Those incident to land bordering upon navigable waters. They are rights of ingress, egress, boating, bathing, and fishing and such others as may be or have been defined by law. Such rights are not of a proprietary nature. They are rights inuring to the owner of the riparian land but are not owned by him or her. They are appurtenant to and are inseparable from the riparian land. The land to which the owner hold title must extend to the ordinary high watermark of the navigable water in order that riparian rights may attach. Conveyance of title to or lease of the riparian land entitles the grantee to the riparian rights running therewith whether or not mentioned in the deed or lease of the upland.
Riprap
A sloping retaining or stabilizing structure made to reduce the force of waves and to protect the shore from erosion, and consists of unconsolidated boulders, rocks, or clean concrete rubble with no exposed reinforcing rods or similar protrusions.
RLS
Registered Land Surveyor
ROD
Record of Decision
ROW
Right of Way
RQ
Reportable Quantity
SAV
Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
Scour
Erosion caused by the interaction of waves and currents with man-made structures or natural features.
Sea Level
Height of the surface of the sea at any given time.
Seasonal High-Water Line
The line formed by the intersection of the rising shore and the elevation of 150 percent of the local mean tidal range above local mean high water.
Seawall
A man-made wall or encroachment except riprap, which is made to break the force of waves and to protect the shore from erosion.
Section
A one square mile block of land containing 640 acres or one thirty-sixth of a township.
SFHA
Special Flood Hazard Area
SFWMD
South Florida Water Management District
Shoreline
The intersection of a specified plane of water with the beach. For example, the mean high water shoreline is the intersection of the plane of mean high water with the beach.
Shoreline Change Rate
The average annual horizontal shift of the intersection of the foreshore slope of the beach with the referenced water plane, based on recorded historical measurements.
Shore-Normal
A directional reference meaning approximately perpendicular to the shoreline.
Significant Dune
A dune which has sufficient height and configuration or vegetation to offer
protective value.
SJRWMD
St. Johns River Water Management District
SLAPP
Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation
SLER
Submerged Lands and Environmental Resources
SLOSH
Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes
Sovereignty Submerged Lands
Those lands including but not limited to, tidal lands, islands, sand bars, shallow banks, and lands waterward of the ordinary or mean high water line, beneath navigable fresh water or beneath tidally-influenced waters, to which the State of Florida acquired title on March 3, 1845, by virtue of statehood, and which have not been heretofore conveyed or alienated. For the purposes of this chapter sovereignty submerged lands shall include all submerged lands title to which is held by the Board.
SPLASH
Special computer Program to List (predict) the Amplitude of Surge from Hurricanes
SRES
Senior Real Estate Specialist, a designation offered by the California Assoc. of REALTORS® – selling to seniors
SRWMD
Suwannee River Water Management District
State Plane Coordination System
Coordinate systems established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (now the National Ocean Survey), usually one for each state, for use in defining positions of points in terms of plane rectangular (x,y) coordinates.
Storm Surge
The rise of water above normal water level on the open coast due to a number of factors, including the action of wind stress on the water surface and the rise in water level due to atmospheric pressure reduction.
Subdivision
A tract of land divided by means of a map into lots or lots and blocks for the purpose of resale, generally for residential or agricultural purposes.
Submerged Lands Lease
An interest in sovereignty lands designated by a contract creating a landlord-tenant relationship between the board as landlord and the applicant as tenant whereby the board grants and transfers to the applicant the exclusive use, possession, and control of certain specified sovereignty lands for a determinate number of years, with conditions attached, at a definite fixed rental.
Subsidence
Decrease in the elevation of land surface due to tectonic, seismic, or artificial forces, without removal of surface material.
SWFWMD
Southwest Florida Water Management District
SWIM
Surface Water Improvement & Management
T&E
Threatened and Endangered
TDR
Transfer of Development Rights
TDS
Total Dissolved Solids
Thirty-Year Erosion Projection
The projection of long-term shoreline recession occurring over a period of 30 years based on shoreline change information obtained from historical measurements.
Thread
Waterway centerline at ordinary or normal stage.
Tie
The bearings and dimensions or other evidence or information that accurately defines the location of a point or monument.
TIS
Traffic Impact Statement
Title of Land
The means whereby an owner has just possession of his property. It is the evidence of his right, extent of his interest, or means whereby he is able to assert, maintain, or continue his possession.
TMDL
Total Maximum Daily Loads
TN
Total Nitrogen
Topography
Configuration (relief) of the land surface; the graphic delineation or portrayal of that configuration in map form, as by contour lines; in oceanography the term is applied to a surface such as the sea bottom or surface of given characteristics within the water mass.
Township
A township is an approximately 6-mile square area of land containing 36 sections.
TP
Total Phosphorus
Tract
An indefinite stretch of land. In a subdivision, a defined area of land.
Traverse
A method of surveying in which a sequence of lengths and directions of lines between points are measured.
Trust Deed
A written instrument by which a borrower (trustor) conveys his land to another (trustee) for the benefit of the lender (beneficiary) as security for the repayment of money lent. In the event of a failure of the trustor to repay the money, the trustee conducts a foreclosure sale of the real property.
TSS
Total Suspended Solids
ug/l
micrograms per liter
Unrecorded
A deed, etc., is said to be unrecorded when it has not been filed for record in the courthouse and made a matter of public record.
USACE
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
USC
United State Code
USFWS
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
USGS
U.S. Geological Survey
UST
Underground Storage Tanks
VA
Department of Veteran Affairs
Vertical Seawall
A seawall the waterward face of which is at a slope greater than 75 degrees to the horizontal. A seawall with sloping riprap covering the waterward face to the mean high water line shall not be considered a vertical seawall.
VOC
Volatile Organic Compound
VRM
Variable-Rate Mortgage
V-Zone
Coastal High Hazard Area
Warranty Deed
Conveys the fee title to the land described to the grantee and in addition guarantees the grantor to make good the title if it is found lacking
Water Dependent Activity
An activity which can only be conducted on, in, over, or adjacent to water areas because the activity requires direct access to the water body or sovereign submerged lands for transportation, recreation, energy production or transmission, or source of water, and where the use of the water or sovereign submerged lands is an integral part of the activity.
WCR
Women’s Council of REALTORS®, an affiliate of NAR primarily for women but open to men
Witness Corner
Reference monument to an inaccessible corner, and normally established on the related boundary by a directional and distance offset.
