Azusa Municipal Code Art. I In General

Pursuant to the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act (Government Code § 66410 et seq.) and in addition to any other regulations provided by law, this chapter shall apply to all subdivisions or parts of subdivisions made of land wholly within the incorporated territory of the city and to the preparation of subdivision maps thereof and to other maps provided for by such statute for approval, and each subdivision and each part thereof lying within the incorporated territory of this city shall be made and each such map shall be prepared and presented for approval as provided for and required in this chapter.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.010)

(a) The procedure and practice of all survey work done on any subdivision, whether for preparation of a final map or approved record of survey map, shall conform to the accepted standards of the engineering profession. The allowable error of closure on any portion of a final map or approved record of survey map shall be one and ten thousandths.

(b) If the city engineer, the county surveyor, county road commissioner or the state highway engineer shall have established the centerline of any street or alley in or adjoining a subdivision, the final map or approved record of survey map shall show such centerline, together with reference of a fieldbook or map showing such centerline and the monuments which determine its position. If determined by ties, that fact shall be stated upon the final map or approved record of survey map.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.020)

(a) Authority. The city engineer is authorized to enter into agreement with the county surveyor by and with the approval of the county board of supervisors and the city council for the performance by the county surveyor of any or all of the duties assigned to the city engineer by this chapter and the Subdivision Map Act.

(b) Agreement in lieu of improvement. If any improvements are not completed to the satisfaction of the council before the final tract map or approved record of survey map is recorded or filed, the subdivider shall, prior to approval by the council of the final map or approved record of survey map, enter as contractor into an agreement with the city, whereby, in consideration of the acceptance by the council of the dedications offered on the final map and the approval of the final map or approved record of survey map, the subdivider, as such contractor, agrees to furnish all necessary equipment and material and to complete such work within the time specified in such agreement.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.030)

All water rights shall be obtained by the developer and given to the city free of charge when the subdivision is approved and accepted or annexed by the city.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.040)

(a) In addition to all other requirements of this chapter, the subdivider shall design a lot within the subdivision for park and recreation purposes adequate for the general use of the lot owners in the subdivision. The subdivider shall offer for dedication to the city an easement for public park and recreation purposes upon and covering all lots so designed for such purposes. In lieu of such design and dedication, the subdivider may pay or tender to the city, prior to the approval of the final map and subject to such approval, a sum for each lot or dwelling unit contained in the subdivision as follows:

(1) One bedroom, $150.00.

(2) Two bedrooms, $300.00.

(3) Three bedrooms, $450.00.

(4) Four bedrooms or more, $600.00.

(5) Mobile home unit, $150.00.

(b) The sum specified in subsection (a) of this section shall be accepted by the city upon such final approval and shall be used or expended only for the purpose of acquiring or improving park or recreational land or facilities designed and located so as to serve the general use of the lot owners in the subdivision. Where no building permit application is filed prior to approval of the final map, it shall be presumed for fee purposes that each lot in the subdivision will be developed with a three-bedroom residence. Only the payment of fees is required for subdivisions of 50 parcels or less. The subdivider, at his election, may convey to the city the fee title instead of an easement for park and recreation purposes. Easements or land dedicated to the city for park and recreation purposes shall be improved with adequate lawns, shrubs, trees, water systems, lights, drainage systems, restrooms, walks or walkways and parking facilities.

(c) This section does not apply to industrial subdivisions nor does it apply to condominium projects which consist of the subdivision of airspace in an existing apartment building which is more than five years old when no new dwelling units are added nor does it apply to parcel maps for a subdivision containing less than five parcels for a shopping center containing more than 300,000 square feet of gross leasable area and no residential development or uses.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.050)

State Law reference— Parks and park areas in subdivisions, Government Code §§ 66477, 66479.

No land shall be subdivided on any single map when such land is separated or divided into two or more parcels or portions by any parcel of land other than a street, alley, railroad right-of-way, public utility right-of-way or flood control right-of-way and when such land is so separated each separate parcel or portion thereof, if subdivided, shall be subdivided as a separate parcel and shown on a separate subdivision map.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.060)

Upon filing the final map or record of survey map with the commission, it shall be accompanied by three black or blue line prints thereof. After the final map or record of survey map has been approved by the commission, the city engineer and city council and has been checked and approved by the county surveyor and recorder, a duplicate cloth tracing shall be furnished to the city engineer.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.070)

The evidence of title required by Government Code § 66465 shall be a certificate of title or a policy of title insurance issued by a title company authorized by state law to write the policy, showing the names of all persons having any record title interest in land to be subdivided, together with the nature of their respective interests therein. If any dedication is to be made for public use of any property shown on any such final map of land within the city, the certificate of title or policy of title insurance shall be issued for the benefit and protection of the city. Such certificate or policy shall be dated and delivered upon request of the county surveyor when such final map is ready for recordation.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.080)

(a) Upon the submission of a final map, the subdivider shall deposit with the county surveyor a sum of money equal to the amount required by law for the recordation of a subdivision map, which money shall be deposited in a trust fund for that purpose. Upon the filing of such map for recordation in the office of the county recorder, such money shall be used by the surveyor in payment of the fee for the recording of such map.

(b) If the subdivider abandons his intention to cause such map to be recorded and so notifies the county surveyor of such fact in writing, such money shall be returned to the subdivider who deposited the money.

(c) All moneys paid out of such trust fund shall be paid by warrant of the county auditor which shall be drawn upon the requisition of the county surveyor.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.090)

In addition to all other fees and charges required by law, upon filing a tentative map the subdivider shall pay to the city engineer a checking fee of such amount as established by the council from time to time per lot within the subdivision, and upon filing a final map the subdivider shall pay to the city engineer a checking fee of such amount as established by the council from time to time and shall pay directly to the county engineer a fee for his services in examining such map in the same amount as the fee for his services in examining such map as fixed by county ordinance for examining or checking similar maps of subdivisions in unincorporated territory within the county.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.100)

(a) In lieu of compliance with sections 66-358(d), (e) and (f) and 66-91(b), (c) and (d) the plan as submitted may comply with this section when the commission shall determine that the plan of subdivision submitted provides better for the preservation of the access of light and air and for safety, convenience, property values and general welfare of the community than would be provided by compliance with sections 66-358 and 66-91. Such alternate requirements which are intended to authorize that type of subdivision, commonly designated as the "Radburn plan" of subdivision, are as follows:

(1) A complete system of pedestrian walks in front of the lots, separate from the streets, completely serving all lots in the subdivision in such a direct manner, particularly in relation to schools serving the subdivision, that there will be little inducement or necessity for pedestrians to walk in the streets.

(2) A system of continuous park of such size, shape and arrangement as to be useful in part for recreation and at least equal to 0.033 acre per lot within each super-block, adjacent to all lots or the walks immediately in front of such lots and not separated from the lots by any street for vehicular use.

(3) A system of short dead-end streets at the rear of the majority of lots, to discourage intrusion of through traffic which can be confined to the relatively few through streets from which these dead-end streets branch and which bound the super-blocks thus formed.

(4) Effective restrictions binding on and for the benefit of the tract as a whole and enforceable by the property owners as a whole, providing that the lots served only by such dead-end streets may be used for single-family residences only and providing that all such houses will be so located that the garage is accessible directly from the street and the principal entrance of the house is accessible directly from the walk, that adequate space between buildings will be maintained and that buildings shall not cover more than 35 percent of the area of each such lot.

(5) Where economically proper and feasible, business properties and multiple-dwelling properties located only upon the through streets bounding the super-blocks and served by adequate automobile parking spaces either off the street or by special design of the street, and for business properties easily accessible from all parts of the tract by the system of walks mentioned in subsection (a)(1) of this section.

(b) The alternate requirements stated in subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to the following:

(1) In no case shall any lot have an area of less than 6,500 square feet.

(2) Every through street shall have a width of not less than 60 feet.

(3) Every such dead-end street shall be entered directly from a through street, shall have an adequate turning area at the dead-end and shall have a width of not less than 40 feet between curbs.

(4) Vision clearance and curved construction block corners shall be maintained.

(5) For all property fronting on such streets of reduced width or on walks, the distance between houses across such streets or walks shall be not less than 50 feet, and where lots front upon such walks rather than upon streets the side lines shall be, so far as practical, at a right angle to the walks instead of the streets.

(Code 1971, § 18.08.110)