Site Development Character Dimension

The LBCS site development character dimension — every code from 1000 to 9999 describing what is on the land in general physical terms, with the full APA category descriptions.

The overall physical site development character of the land.

The site development character dimension describes "what is on the land" in general physical terms. For most parcels it reduces to a single question — is the site developed or not — but LBCS makes it a dimension of its own because that question has more than two useful answers.

Not every site without visible development is undeveloped. A site may be in its natural state, under construction, graded and waiting, planted in crops, developed with nonbuilding structures such as tanks or track, or developed with buildings. Parks and open spaces in particular carry a complex mix of activities, functions, and structures that no other dimension captures cleanly, so this dimension gives them their own hierarchy — including the federal park designations under 7200.

This is the smallest dimension by code count and the one most often derived rather than surveyed: it can frequently be inferred from imagery, improvement values, or the absence of a structure record.

Top-level categories

Every code in this dimension descends from one of these nine one-digit categories.

Code	Category
`1000`	Site in natural state
`2000`	Developing site
`3000`	Developed site — crops, grazing, forestry, etc.
`4000`	Developed site — no buildings and no structures
`5000`	Developed site — nonbuilding structures
`6000`	Developed site — with buildings
`7000`	Developed site — with parks
`8000`	Not applicable to this dimension
`9000`	Unclassifiable site development character

How to read the code tables

The tables below list all 46 codes in the site development character dimension, one section per top-level category. Indentation shows the hierarchy: a 1100 code is a subcategory of 1000, an 1110 code a subcategory of 1100, and an 1111 code a subcategory of 1110. Trailing zeros mark the level, so the number of significant digits tells you the depth of any code without looking it up.

A dash in the description column means the standard publishes the category name without an accompanying note.

1000 Site in natural state

Code	Category	Description
`1000`	Site in natural state	Combine those areas normally referred to as vacant or open space. Avoid using "vacant" designation anywhere in land-use classifications.

2000 Developing site

Code	Category	Description
`2000`	Developing site	Apply this category for sites that are under construction or otherwise in transition to becoming developed sites.
`2100`	Site that is graded with no structures or active use	Includes sites that have been prepared for development.
`2200`	Site with temporary structures	Any site that may temporarily house structures (tents, stands, stages, etc.,).

3000 Developed site — crops, grazing, forestry, etc.

Code	Category	Description
`3000`	Developed site — crops, grazing, forestry, etc.	Site is not in natural state.

4000 Developed site — no buildings and no structures

Code	Category	Description
`4000`	Developed site — no buildings and no structures	Site is not in natural state, but is used for a variety of purposes, such as outdoor storage, parking, and whole host of other functions and activities.
`4100`	Outdoor storage areas, graded or ungraded	Use this category for classifying outdoor storage areas, such as those used for dumping, container stacking, lumber stacks, etc. These include areas that may or may not be graded.

5000 Developed site — nonbuilding structures

Code	Category	Description
`5000`	Developed site — nonbuilding structures	Site is not in natural state or in crop or other resource use, but is functional nevertheless.
`5100`	Developed site with landscaped or ornamental features	Apply this category for sites that are developed with landscaping and ornamental features, such as traffic islands.
`5200`	Developed site with billboards, signs, etc.	These sites may be in natural state or otherwise undeveloped, but because of such structures as signs, billboards, towers, pillars, and other features, they may not qualify as a site in natural state or a developing site.
`5300`	Developed site with roads, train tracks, and other linear structures	Apply this category to sites primarily with linear and other nonlinear features, such as roads, train lines, trails, etc.
`5400`	Developed site with tanks, reservoirs, etc.	Use this category for large and small areas that have a functional use for storage, but have structures and other nonbuilding features on the site.

6000 Developed site — with buildings

Code	Category	Description
`6000`	Developed site — with buildings	Developed sites with buildings, irrespective of their size or configuration, should be classified in this category. For differentiating building types, use the structure dimension. For differentiating the size the building, use additional fields in the database to keep track of number of floors, square footage, height, etc. Also apply this category for sites (except parks) that have other site development characteristics besides buildings.

7000 Developed site — with parks

Code	Category	Description
`7000`	Developed site — with parks	Parks have a range of complex site development characteristics. They may include or more of the above site dimension categories. That is, park lands may be developed or undeveloped, with or without structures and buildings, etc. Because they have specific functional and activity purposes that require separation from other categories in the site dimension, they have their own set of categories. The functional subcategories reflect the local, state, regional, and federal planning needs. Substitute the terminology to reflect local applications, but retain the classification hierarchy and coding numbers. For tracking specific activity characteristics in parks, use the activity dimension. Although some of the subcategories overlap with functional distinctions (state versus national parks, for instance), having them in the site dimension serves to clarify activity and functional characteristics of parks. Although such distinction may not be useful, many park planning applications depend on knowing the precise activity and functional characteristics within parks. For example, when a park has a concession stand run by a private company, the function for that part of the park will take the appropriate function code. Similarly, parking areas in parks will take the appropriate activity characteristics. Besides the activity and function dimension, parks can further be characterized by using the structure and ownership dimensions as well.
`7100`	Local parks and recreational sites	—
`7110`	Neighborhood or local park	—
`7120`	Community park	—
`7130`	Regional park	—
`7200`	State, national, or other parks and recreational sites	These are parks designated by local, state, federal, or other speical jurisdictional agencies (such as tribal governments) whose development characteristics may vary widely — anything from natural state to fully developed facilities. They may also have structures and site features that are historic, cultural, religious, or archeological in significance. No matter how infreqent the use of these facilities or levels of development, use this category to classify park designations. See if one of the subcategories for specific state or national parks is appropriate. If not, use this category for all other parks.
`7210`	Recreational parks	Recreational parks serve a variety of leisure activities besides camping and hiking. Many provide facilities for a variety of outdoor recreation and interpretive programs. They may also provide amenities, such as laundromats, playgrounds, boat launch facilities, picnic tables, and toilets and showers.
`7211`	National or state park	Protected large natural places with significant natural resources, sometimes of significant historic value. Most parks restrict hunting, mining, and similar consumptive activities.
`7212`	National recreation area	Most of them (12 by last count) are located around large reservoirs and emphasize water-based recreational activities. Some (five by last count) are near major population centers; they focus on preserving scarce open space and historic resources for easy access to large numbers of people.
`7220`	Historic sites or parks	Historical parks emphasize the protection of historical and cultural resources, in an outdoor setting.
`7221`	National historic park	A designated area that extends beyond single properties or buildings that are historic. Use this category to include lands beyond historic sites that the National Park Service maintains.
`7222`	National historic site	A site containing a historical feature that was directly associated with its subject. The Historic Sites Act of 1935 allowed the establishment of select sites of national historic significance by the secretary of the Interior and, sometimes, by specific acts of Congress.
`7223`	National monument	These are located on lands owned by the government. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorized the president to declare by public proclamation landmarks, structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest.
`7224`	National memorial	A commemorative memorial of a historic person or episode. Sometimes it may be on a site not connected with its subject.
`7225`	National battlefield	Term adopted by National Park Service in 1958 to include national battlefield, national battlefield park, national battlefield site, and national military park.
`7226`	National cemetery	Fourteen national cemeteries in the National Park System comprise this category. They are all administered in conjunction with another park or historic site and typically not accounted for separately. This is included here for completeness of the classification system.
`7230`	Natural environment parks	Natural environment parks protect the landscapes and special features of the natural region in which they are located. Some provide for limited activities, such as swimming and camping.
`7231`	Nature reserve	Nature reserve parks protect natural habitats including significant land forms. Public access in most reserves is restricted because of concerns for the fragile nature of the habitats protected. Most allow research and educational activities.
`7232`	National preserve	Similar to national parks in purposes and activities except that Congress has permitted other activities, such as hunting, trapping, extraction, and oil and gas exploration. Currently, many preserves would qualify as national parks if not for sport hunting.
`7233`	Wilderness parks	Usually large protected natural areas where access is limited. Some may allow travel on foot or canoe. Most do not provide any facilities.
`7240`	Waterway parks	They are mainly located along lakeshores, seashores, and river banks. Most activities revolve around the river corridor. They may include facilities for boating, canoeing, historical river travel.
`7241`	National seashore	Located on the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, the National Park Service maintains 10 of these — some with facilities, many remain in natural state. They allow hunting on many of these sites.
`7242`	National lakeshore	Similar to National seashore designations but refer to the Great Lakes.
`7243`	National river	This category includes other designations, such as national river and recreation area, national scenic river, wild river, etc. Although the first established National River was in 1964, many others were added to this designation following the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.
`7250`	Other special purpose parks	—
`7251`	National parkway	A parkway is a roadway in combination with adjacent parkland paralleling the roadway that often connects cultural or historic sites. The primary activity here is scenic motoring along a protected corridor.
`7252`	National trail	These are linear parklands and sometimes referred to as national scenic trails and national historic trails. The National Trails System Act of 1968 authorized more than 3,600 miles of such trails.
`7253`	Special designations for park-like areas	Sites not officially designated as a park, yet maintained like one by the National Park Service. They may include historic sites (White House), cross-border locations that are significant between the two countries (Canada and US), and other special forest areas (Prince William Forest Park, for example).

8000 Not applicable to this dimension

Code	Category	Description
`8000`	Not applicable to this dimension	Use this code as a permanent code for those records that will never be classified in this dimension. It is normal for land-use databases to have records that may never be classified and left blank instead. But LBCS recommends that all records have a code because some computer applications may not be able handle blank entries (null values in database terminology).

9000 Unclassifiable site development character

Code	Category	Description
`9000`	Unclassifiable site development character	Useful for remotely-sensed data that is unclear or doubtful. Also, use this category as a temporary placeholder for site development characteristics that cannot be grouped anywhere until the classification scheme is updated. Check the LBCS web site to see how others have dealt with such unique activities before revising the classification scheme.
`9900`	To be determined	Use this code as a placeholder until an appropriate code can be assigned. It is normal for land-use databases to have records that may never be classified and left blank instead. But LBCS recommends that all records have a code because some computer applications may not be able handle blank entries (null values in database terminology). This code could also be used as the default value for data-entry work. The subcategories serve the same purpose for other coding levels.
`9990`	To be determined	—
`9999`	To be determined	—

Notes on applying these codes

Avoid the word vacant. LBCS deliberately replaces it with 1000 (site in natural state) and the 2000 series (developing site), because "vacant" conflates land that has never been built on with land between uses.
The 7200 subtree encodes the U.S. federal park and protected-area nomenclature (national park, national monument, national seashore, and so on) and is useful well beyond local planning.

Source

Code numbers, category names, and category descriptions on this page are reproduced from the American Planning Association's LBCS standard tables (1 April 2001).

Land Records