Part 1 — General Provisions

Pursuant to the provisions of Division 2 of Title 7 of the Government Code of the State of California, referred to herein as the Subdivision Map Act, and pursuant to any other regulations provided by law, the regulations hereinafter set forth in this Chapter shall be known as the Subdivision Ordinance and shall apply to all divisions of land hereafter made of property wholly or partially within the City of Carson. Each such division of land and each part thereof lying within or partially within the City of Carson shall be made, and each map thereof shall be prepared and presented for approval, as hereinafter provided for and required.

The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Chapter sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, and section by section, and does hereby declare that the provisions of this Chapter are severable, and if, for any reason, any sentence, paragraph, or section of this Chapter shall be held invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining parts of this Chapter.

It is the purpose of this Chapter to supplement the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act concerning the design, improvement, and survey data of subdivisions; the form and content of Tract Maps and Parcel Maps; and the procedure to be followed in securing one (1) official approval of the City of Carson, regarding such maps. To accomplish this purpose, the regulations outlined in this Chapter are determined to be necessary for the preservation of public health, safety, and general welfare.

Any reference herein to the Subdivision Map Act, or a specific section thereof, shall refer to the Subdivision Map Act as most currently amended. In the event that a cited section has been renumbered or combined with another section, the reference shall be the most current equivalent of the cited section.

A person shall not sell, place a mortgage, deed of trust or other lien upon, transfer title to, or lease any subdivision or any part thereof until a map thereof in full compliance with the provisions of this Chapter, has been duly recorded or filed in the office of the Recorder of this County. However, a person may offer or contract to sell, lease or finance real property or to construct improvements thereon where such sale, lease or financing, or the commencement of such construction, is expressly conditioned upon the approval and filing of a final subdivision map or parcel map as required under this Chapter.

The aforementioned paragraph of this Section does not apply to any parcel or parcels of a subdivision offered for sale, lien or lease, or sold, mortgaged, liened or leased, in compliance with or exempt from any law regulating the design and improvement of subdivisions or minor land divisions in effect at the time the subdivision or minor land division was established.

Neither this Section nor any other portion of this Chapter applies to the leasing of apartments, offices, stores, or similar space within an apartment building, industrial building or commercial building, mobile home park, or trailer park, or to mineral, oil, or gas leases; or to the construction of removable commercial buildings having floor area of less than one hundred (100) square feet.

This Chapter may be referred to as "The Subdivision Ordinance."

Whenever reference is made to an Ordinance of this City or to a Statute of the State of California, such reference applies to the requirements of the Ordinance or Statute applicable on the date of final action on a tentative map and to the provisions of variances and permits granted pursuant to such Ordinances or Statutes.

The filing of a tract map or parcel map on which appears the words "DIVISION OF LAND FOR LEASE ONLY" authorizes the leasing of any lot shown on such map. A person shall not sell, finance, or transfer title to any lot shown on such maps, or offer to do so, or contract to do so, unless the transaction would be in full compliance with the provisions of this Chapter and the Subdivision Map Act had such tract map or parcel map not been filed.

The filing of a tract map or parcel map on which appears the words "DIVISION OF LAND FOR MOBILE HOME PURPOSES ONLY" authorizes the sale, lien, or lease of any lot shown on such map to accommodate mobile homes used for human habitation. For the purpose of this Chapter, this type subdivision shall be considered a Planned Development.

At the time of filing a tentative tract map or parcel map for a subdivision to be created upon the closure of a mobile home park or a trailer park or any part thereof or to conversion to another use or

to a vacant use, unless a written notice under Section 798.56 of the California Civil Code has previously been given and a Relocation Impact Report (RIR) has been filed and accepted as complete pursuant to CMC § 9128.21 , the subdivider shall file an RIR concurrently with the filing of the map. The RIR shall be processed as provided in CMC § 9128.21 , except that it shall be heard before the Commission and the Council on appeal in conjunction with the tentative tract map or parcel map, and recordation of the final map shall be conditioned upon performance of mitigation measures, if any, imposed in the resolution of approval of the RIR.

(Ord. 92-965 § 10; Ord. 82-589U § 3; Ord. 82-618 § 3)

Repealed by Ord. 06-1358. (Ord. 03-1281U § 1)

Violation of any provision of this Chapter, which is not also prohibited by the Subdivision Map Act or by any other State Statute, is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00, or by imprisonment in the City Jail or the County Jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Any deed of conveyance, mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien or lease or sale or contract to sell, mortgage, lien, or lease made contrary to the provisions of this Chapter is voidable at the sole option of the grantee, buyer, tenant, mortgagee, beneficiary, or person contracting to purchase or to accept a lien or mortgage or to lease as a tenant, his heirs, personal representatives or trustee in insolvency or bankruptcy within one (1) year after the date of discovery of the violation of the provisions of the State Subdivision Map Act or this Chapter, but such deed of conveyance, sale, mortgage, deed of trust, lien, lease, or contract, is binding upon any assignee, or transferree of the grantee, mortgagee, beneficiary, tenant, buyer, or person contracting therefor, other than those above enumerated, and upon the grantor, vendor, mortgagor, trustor, landlord, or person so contracting, his assignee, heir, or devisee.

The provisions of this Chapter are not intended to prohibit any legal, equitable, or summary remedy to which the City or other political subdivision, or any person may otherwise be entitled, and the City or other political subdivision or person may file suit in a court of competent jurisdiction, to restrain or enjoin any attempted or proposed division of land in violation of the Subdivision Map Act or of this Chapter.

Fraudulent misrepresentation of pertinent information shall be sufficient reason to invalidate an approval obtained pursuant to this Chapter.

There is hereby created a Subdivision Committee, consisting of the following officers or their duly authorized representatives:

• a. The Community Development Director.

• b. The City Engineer.

• c. The Director of Public Works.

• d. The Fire Chief.

• e. The Sheriff.

• f. The Health Officer.

• g. Chief Engineer and General Manager of Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.

• h. Such other City officers or representatives of other agencies which, in the opinion of the Community Development Director, have an interest in a proposed division of land.

The Community Development Director, or his designee, shall be the Chairman of the Subdivision Committee.

Time of performance for each and every action under this Chapter shall be measured in calendar days.

§ 9201.17. Reserved.

§ 9201.18. Reserved.

§ 9201.19. Reserved.

§ 9201.20. Reserved.

Part 2. Definitions

§ 9202.1. Advisory Agency.

The City Planning Commission is hereby designated as the Advisory Agency for tentative tract maps and parcel maps as that term is used in the Subdivision Map Act, except that where the proposed Division of Land is either (a) for creation of four or fewer parcels, or (b) solely for a condominium project (i.e., is solely for creation of condominiums with no other proposed Division of Land), the Community Development Director or his or her designee is hereby designated as the Advisory Agency, provided that the Community Development Director or his or her designee shall obtain the concurrence of the City Manager or his or her designee prior to granting any such approval as the Advisory Agency. The City Council is hereby designated as the Advisory Agency for final tract maps and parcel maps. The Community Development Director is hereby designated as the Advisory Agency for Certificates of Compliance.

(Ord. 25-2513, 6/17/2025)

An unnamed public or private right-of-way which affords a means of vehicular access to the side or rear of one (1) or more lots having frontage on a street.

• a. The City Council of the City of Carson.

The City Engineer shall be the County Engineer of the County of Los Angeles in respect to matters pertaining to this Chapter unless the City Council should, by resolution or otherwise, appoint any other person or agency to that function.

• a. The City Planning Commission of the City of Carson.

The grant of real property for public use or rights to the City of Carson.

The minimum area, width, grading, and general layout of lots and the alignment, grades, and widths of alleys, streets, highways, easements, and rights-of-way for drainage facilities, water mains, sanitary sewers, and other public purposes.

• a. The Community Development Director.

The Director of Public Works shall be the City's representative in respect to functions to be performed pursuant to this Chapter.

For the purposes of this Chapter, the term "Division of Land" shall refer to any parcel or contiguous parcels of land, improved or unimproved, or any portion thereof, which are divided for the purpose of transfer of title, sale, lease, or financing, whether immediate or future, into two or more parcels, except that the term "Division of Land" shall not refer to:

• a. Land dedicated for cemetery purposes under the Health and Safety Code of the State of California.

• b. The leasing or financing of apartments, offices, stores, or similar space within an apartment building, industrial building, commercial building, mobile home park, or trailer park.

• c. Division by mineral, oil, or gas leases.

• d. Construction of removable commercial buildings having a floor area of less than 100 square feet.

• e. A minor lot adjustment between two or more existing adjacent parcels, where the land taken from one parcel is added to an adjacent parcel, and where a greater number of parcels than originally existed is not thereby created, provided the lot line adjustment is approved by the Director.

• f. The financing or leasing of any parcel of land, or any portion thereof, in conjunction with the construction of commercial or industrial buildings on a single parcel, unless the project is not subject to review under the City of Carson ordinances regulating design and improvement.

• g. The financing or leasing of existing separate commercial or industrial buildings on a single parcel.

The term "Division of Land" shall also refer to a condominium project, as defined in California Civil Code Section 4125 or 6542 , and a community apartment project, as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 11004 , containing two or more parcels; and to the conversion of five or more existing dwelling units to a stock cooperative, as defined in California Business and Professions Code Section 11003.2 .

(Ord. 82-601 § 2; Ord. 85-714 § 1; Ord. 25-2513, 6/17/2025)

Any drainage device or structure which may be used to control or direct the flow of water and/or alleviate flood hazard, including, but not limited to, berms, channels, culverts, curbs, ditches, gutters, pavement, and pipes.

A potential danger to life, land, or improvements due to inundation or storm water runoff having sufficient velocity to transport or deposit debris, scour the surface soil, dislodge, or damage buildings, or erode the banks of water courses.

Any real property which the owner thereof has offered for dedication for street purposes and the offer has been rejected by the City Council, subject to the right of said Council to rescind its act and accept by resolution at any later date and without further action by the owner, all or any part of said property as a public street.

A Master Plan, or any element thereof, adopted by the City of Carson pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 3 , Title 7, Government Code, State of California.

A hazard inherent in the earth or artificially created, which is dangerous or potentially dangerous to life, property, or improvements due to the movement, failure, or shifting of earth.

Such structures or facilities to be installed or agreed to be installed by a subdivider on land to be used for public or private alleys, streets, highways, or other easements as a condition precedent to the approval and/or acceptance of a tract map or parcel map, including, but not limited to, street surfacing, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, street trees, street lights, street signs, sanitary sewers, water mains, and drainage facilities.

An oral or written agreement or contract, tenancy at will, month-to-month or similar tenancy.

A dedicated street serving as the principal means of access to property, which street is not shown in the General Plan as a major or secondary highway or through collector street or through industrial street or which has not been designated as a specific type street by action of the City Council.

A parcel of real property that has been legally separated from other parcels of real property and has a distinct number or other designation as shown on a plat map, subdivision map, parcel map, record of survey map or as defined by a metes and bounds description in a deed, in each case recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Los Angeles County. The legal status of a lot is governed by the Subdivision Map Act of the State of California ( Government Code 66410 et seq.). (Ord. 89-897 § 2)

A highway designated as a Major Highway in the General Plan of the City of Carson.

Minor Land Division refers to a subdivision for which a final parcel map creating five (5) or more parcels or a final tract map is not required by the Subdivision Map Act or by this Chapter.

A final map prepared in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and of the Subdivision Map Act, which is to be filed in the office of the County Recorder as a parcel map.

An individual, firm, co-partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, corporation, estate, trust, receiver, syndicate, the Federal, State, City, or County Government, or Special District, or any other group or combination acting as an entity.

The planning, construction or implementation and operation of any use or structure, or combination of uses or structures, based upon a comprehensive and complete design or plan treating the entire complex of land, structures and uses as a single project.

A highway designated as a Secondary Highway in the General Plan of the City of Carson.

A section of this Chapter unless otherwise specified.

"Shall"

is mandatory; "May" is permissive.

A street under the jurisdiction of the State of California.

A person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association who proposes to divide, divides, or causes land to be divided into a subdivision as defined in CMC § 9202.31 .

Division 2 of Title 7 of the California Government Code.

A tentative map prepared in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and the Subdivision Map Act.

A final map prepared in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and applicable provisions of the Subdivision Map Act, which is to be filed in the office of the County Recorder as a tract map.

The division of a single parcel into two (2) separate parcels in compliance with the provisions of Part 10 of Chapter 2 of Article IX.

(Ord. 22-2210 § 14)

a. The Carson Zoning Ordinance. (Ord. 22-2210 § 15)