- SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments). The metropolitan planning organization, representing six counties that undertakes a variety of planning and policy initiatives to encourage a more sustainable Southern California.
- Scale. Proportional relationship of the size of parts to one another and to the human figure.
- Screening. Structure or planting that conceals from view from public ways the area behind such structure or planting.
- Sensitive land uses. Types of facilities that the California Air Resources Board recommends being protected from sources of air pollution. Sensitive land uses include residences, childcare centers, educational institutions, medical facilities, senior care facilities, and parks and recreation facilities.
- Shall. Will always be carried out or required; no exceptions.
- Shared parking. A land use strategy that optimizes parking capacity, reduces the amount of land developed, and promotes connectivity by allowing complementary land uses to share parking spaces, rather than producing or requiring separate spaces for separate uses.
- Should. Will be carried out or required most of the time, unless a very good reason is identified why an exception is acceptable.
- Social capital. An intangible resource that community members can draw upon to solve collective problems. It consists of social trusts, norms, and networks that can alleviate societal problems. Civic engagement encourages feelings of reciprocity between community members and facilitates coordination, communication, and collaboration. Social capital can also be understood by examining community events, organizations, facilities, and participants.
- Sometimes. Will apply to future decisions under specified conditions or circumstances.
- Specify. To establish distinct requirements.
- Sphere of influence (SOI). The probable physical boundary and service area of a local agency, such as an incorporated city or town or a special district, as determined by the local agency formation commission (LAFCO). SOIs are planning tools used to provide guidance for individual proposals involving jurisdictional changes, and are intended to encourage the efficient provision of organized community services and prevent duplication of service delivery. A territory must also be within a city or district’s sphere in order to be annexed.
While a city/town SOI can include both incorporated and unincorporated lands, the unincorporated lands remain within the jurisdictional control of the county until such time that the land is annexed into the city/town. A city/town is obligated to consider its unincorporated SOI in its general plan, although the county’s planning authority remains in place. - Standard. A specific, often quantified guideline, defining the relationship between two or more variables. Standards can often directly translate into regulatory controls.
- Streetscape. The scene as may be observed along a public street or way composed of natural and manmade components, including buildings, paving, planting, street hardware, and miscellaneous structures. Examples of streetscape elements include roadways, medians, sidewalks, street furniture, crosswalks, signs, open space, and landscaping, among many other factors.
- Strive. To make great efforts or devote serious effort to achieve or obtain something.
- Subsidence. The gradual, local settling or sinking of the earth’s surface with little or no horizontal motion. Subsidence is usually the result of gas, oil, or water extraction, hydro compaction, or peat oxidation, and not the result of a landslide or slope failure.
- Sufficient buildable area. Able to conform to current development standards and requirements from local, state, and federal agencies.
- Support. To provide assistance or promotion; see encourage.
- Surface rupture. A break in the ground’s surface and associated deformation resulting from the movement of a fault.
- Sustainable. Able to use a resource or conduct activity at a desired rate or level without depleting resources (e.g., financial or natural) to a point where others cannot rely upon or use them in the future; in some context the term can refer to the long-range viability of the environment, economy, and social equity (referred to as “the three E’s of sustainability”).