Chapter 18.54 — Parcel Maps and Final Maps

Sections:

• 18.54.010 – Purpose

• 18.54.020 – Final Tract and Parcel Map Form and Content

• 18.54.030 – Filing and Processing of Final Tract and Parcel Maps

• 18.54.040 – Final Tract or Parcel Map Approval and Recordation 18.54.050 – Supplemental Information Sheets

• 18.54.060 – Correction and Amendment of Recorded Maps

• 18.54.070 – Post Decision Procedures

This chapter establishes requirements for the preparation, filing, processing, approval, conditional approval, or denial, and recordation of final tract and parcel maps, following approval of a tentative parcel or tract map, consistent with the requirements of this Article and the Act.

• A. Eligibility for waiver of Parcel Map. The following projects shall be eligible for waiver of the requirements that a parcel map be filed, except where the tentative map of the subdivision, the conditions of approval, or the requirements of this Article or the Act provide for or require the provision of road, drainage, sewer, water, or other easements or the delineation of flood or geologic hazard, drainage ways, or building restrictions:

  1. Lot line adjustments, or the distribution of all of an existing parcel(s) between adjacent parcels where the only conditions are conformance to the General Plan, an applicable Specific Plan, and all zoning and building provisions, and prepayment of any outstanding property taxes, or where necessary to facilitate the relocation of existing utilities, infrastructure or easements, when approved by resolution;

  2. A lease-project; or

  3. Subdivisions described in Government Code Section 66426.

• B. Requests for waiver. Waiver requests shall be in writing on a standard form provided by the Department. The request shall include:

  1. A request for waiver, signed and acknowledged by all owners of record of the land comprising the minor land division;

  2. A description of each proposed parcel;

  3. The Review Authority may require the submission of a plat map, showing sufficient ties, dimensions, and bearings to adequately establish the boundaries of the minor land division and of each proposed parcel. Record information, when available, may be utilized; and

  4. The Review Authority may require the submission of documentation (i.e., preliminary title report) as it deems necessary to verify the information presented in the request for waiver. All submissions shall be legible and readily reproducible. Before approval of a

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request for waiver, the subdivider shall complete or guarantee completion of the conditions of approval as if a parcel map were to be filed.

• C. Waiver of Parcel Map Fee. Upon submission of a request for waiver the subdivider shall pay a filing fee. The subdivider shall also pay a sum of money equal to the amount required by law for filing with the County Recorder a Certificate of Compliance for the parcels comprising the division.

• D. Eligibility for Waiver. Within 20 days following the acceptance of a request for waiver or within any additional time as may be necessary, the Review Authority may waive the requirement that a parcel map be filed, if it first finds all of the following:

  1. The design of each parcel described in the request for waiver is in substantial compliance with the tentative map, as approved; and

2. The subdivision complies with all applicable requirements as to area, improvement and design, flood and water drainage control, appropriate improved public roads, sanitary disposal facilities, water supply availability, environmental protection and other requirements of this Article, the Act, and the Municipal Code. When a waiver is granted, within 30 days the Review Authority shall cause a Certificate of Compliance, describing each approved parcel, to be filed for record with the County Recorder. The Certificate of Compliance shall state that the requirement that a parcel map of the division of land be filed has been waived and that the parcels comprising the division may be sold, leased, financed, or transferred in full compliance with all applicable provisions of the Act and this chapter.

• A. Form and Content. The form and content of final tract and parcel maps shall be as required by the Act and this chapter. The final tract or parcel map shall contain all of the contents specified for a tentative map. The map shall be considered submitted when it is complete and complies with all applicable provisions of the Act, the Development Code and all conditions of approval. The final tract or parcel map shall be legibly drawn, printed or reproduced by a process guaranteeing a permanent record in black on tracing cloth or polyester base film. Certificates may be legibly stamped or printed upon the map with opaque ink. If ink is used on polyester base film, the ink surface shall be coated with a suitable substance to assure permanent legibility.

B. Authorized Preparers.

1. The final tract or parcel map shall be prepared by, or under the direction of, a licensed land surveyor or registered civil engineer whose registration dates prior to January 1, 1982.

2. A final tract or parcel map shall be based upon a field survey made in compliance with the Professional Land Surveyors Act and as required by this chapter.

C.

Certificates and Acknowledgments.

1. Before filing, the required certificates and acknowledgements shall appear on the map and may be combined where appropriate.

2. The certificates and acknowledgments shall appear on the face of the map unless the City Engineer advises the subdivider that the certificates and acknowledgments are to be made by separate instrument.

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3. If a certificate or acknowledgment is made by separate instrument, there shall appear on the map a reference to the separately recorded documents.

• D. Monuments. The location, number, and type of monuments shall be as specified in the Act and this chapter and shall be in compliance with the standards prescribed in the California Business & Professions Code Chapter 8771.

  1. Each final map and each parcel map for which a survey is required shall show durable monuments found or set at or near each boundary corner and at intermediate points, approximately 1,000 feet apart, or at lesser distances as may be made necessary by topography or culture to ensure accuracy in the reestablishment of any point of the line without unreasonable difficulty. The precise position and the character of each monument shall be shown on the map. The durable monument shall be not less substantial than an iron pipe of a two inch outside diameter, not less than two and one-half feet in length, with plug and tack, and set at least two feet into the ground or of another character and stability as may be approved by the City Engineer. For the purposes of this chapter, a lead and tack set in permanent concrete or masonry shall be considered as a durable monument. The approximate elevation of the top of each monument with respect to the surface of the ground shall be shown on the map.

ngth, with plug and tack, and set at least two feet into the ground or of another character and stability as may be approved by the City Engineer. For the purposes of this chapter, a lead and tack set in permanent concrete or masonry shall be considered as a durable monument. The approximate elevation of the top of each monument with respect to the surface of the ground shall be shown on the map.

2. Center line monuments shall be set to mark intersections of streets or intersections of streets with the map boundary or to mark either the beginning or end of curves or the points of intersections of tangents or other intermediate points in the following manner:

   • a. In asphalted concrete or cement pavements a lead and tack or PK nail and washer.

   • b. In unsurpassed graveled or oiled surfaces a two-inch iron pipe set not less than 12 inches below the surface, or at a depth as may be approved by the City Engineer.

   • c. In bituminous macadam pavements a spike not less than six inches long.

   • d. For each center line monument set, the engineer or surveyor under whose supervision the survey has been made shall furnish to the City Engineer a set of notes, clearly showing the ties between the monument and a sufficient number (normally four) of durable, distinctive reference points or monuments.

   • e. The reference points or monuments may be lead and brass tacks or PK nail and washer in a curb, or a substitute which appears to be not more likely to be disturbed.

   • f. Each set of notes submitted shall conform in all respects to the standardized office records of the City Engineer. All notes shall be indexed and filed by the City Engineer as a part of the permanent public records of the office.

3. All monuments set as required shall be permanently and visibly marked or tagged with the registration or license number of the engineer or surveyor under whose supervision the survey was made.

4. The City Engineer may require all or a portion of boundary monuments to be set before filing the final map or parcel map. Interior street centerline monuments may be set subsequent to filing of the final map or parcel map. The final map or parcel map shall show which monuments are in place and which are to be set. Before certification of the final map or parcel map by the City Engineer, the subdivider shall submit a written agreement in which the subdivider agrees that monuments deferred will be set before

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final acceptance of the subdivision and that the notes required will be furnished within that specified time.

5. All monuments shall be subject to inspection and approval of the City Engineer.

E. Documentation Required for City Review and Approval.

1. Map. The subdivider shall submit prints of the map to the City Engineer for checking, who will distribute the map to other City departments and agencies for review.

2. Other Documents. The preliminary prints shall be accompanied by documents, plans, and reports in a form approved by the City Engineer, including but not limited to all of the following.

   • a. Improvement Plans. Improvement construction plans as required by the City Engineer.

   • b. Soils Report.

     • (1) A preliminary soils report, based upon test borings and prepared in compliance with the requirements of the Building Code, as it may be amended and as referenced in Municipal Code Title 15, shall be required for all tract maps and for those parcel maps which involve commercial or industrial development.

       • (a) The soils report shall be prepared by a State-registered civil or soils engineer.

       • (b) The requirement of a preliminary soils report may be waived or reduced in scope by the City Engineer if, in the City Engineer’s opinion, the soil characteristics in the vicinity of the proposed subdivision have been established by previous analyses.

     • (1) Parcel maps which propose the construction of single-family dwellings shall require the preparation of a report which includes the subsurface soil classification, as well as the results of an expansive index test.

   • c. Title Report. A title report prepared by a title insurer within 90 days from the filing of the final map.

   • d. Improvement Cost Estimate. An improvement cost estimate, which shall include all improvements located within public or private rights-of-way, common areas, or easements, on-site and off-site drainage improvements, and utility trench backfill as provided by the subdivider, except for those utility facilities to be installed by a utility company under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission.

   • e. Deeds for Easements and Rights-of-way.

     • (2) Deeds for easements or rights-of-way required which are not proposed to be dedicated on the final map.

     • (3) The subdivider shall provide written evidence acceptable to the City Engineer in the form of rights of entry or permanent easements across private property outside of the subdivision granting access to perform

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necessary construction work and allowing the maintenance of facilities, if required.

• (4) Any other maps, deeds and easements for the review of the map as required by the Director or City Engineer.

• f. Traverse Closure Calculations. Traverse closure calculations for the boundary blocks, easements, monument lines, parcels, and street centerlines.

• g. Hydrology and Hydraulic Calculations. Complete hydrology and hydraulic calculations.

• h. Organization Documents.

  • (5) Any proposed declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and all other organization documents for the subdivision in a form prescribed by the Civil Code

  • (6) All documents shall be subject to review and approval by the Director and the City Attorney.

• i. Letter of Certification for Water. The subdivider shall submit written certification from the City that adequate domestic water facilities are or will be available to serve the proposed project and that all necessary financial arrangements have been made to ensure construction of the facilities.

• j. Other Reports. Any additional calculations, data, reports, or information specified by the City Engineer.

A. Official and Timely Filing of Map.

1. The subdivider shall cause the map to be officially filed with the City Engineer at least 30 days before the expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map or any approved extension of time granted together with the filing fee(s).

2. The map shall not be considered officially filed until the engineer or surveyor has received notification from the City Engineer that all provisions of the tentative map approval, including all conditions of approval, the Act, the Municipal Code, the Development Code, and applicable City standards have been complied with.

3. The filing of the official copy of the map with the City Engineer shall constitute the timely filing of the map.

B. Review of Map.

1. After the issuance of a receipt for the map, the City Engineer and City Surveyor shall examine it as to sufficiency of affidavits and acknowledgements, correctness of surveying data, mathematical data and computations, and other matters which may require checking to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Article, the Act, and applicable City standards.

2. If the map is found to be in substantial compliance with the tentative map and is in the correct form, the matters shown on the map are sufficient, and the City Engineer and City

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Surveyor are satisfied that all of the conditions of approval have been met, the City Engineer and City Surveyor shall endorse approval of the map.

3. The City Engineer shall combine with the map the agreements, easements, and securities as required by this chapter.

4. The material shall be transmitted to the Council for its consideration of the map.

• C. Time Limit for Filing Map. If the subdivider fails to file the map with the City Engineer and the required accompanying data with the appropriate City departments within 24 months, or other period of time specified in the Act and this Article, following the effective date of tentative map approval by the Review Authority, or within any authorized extension of time, the tentative map approval or conditional approval shall become void. In this event, an application for a new tentative map shall be filed and a new filing fee shall be paid.

  1. If 120 days before the submittal of a map, the subdivider has failed to comply with the tentative map conditions which require the subdivider to construct or install off-site improvements on land in which neither the subdivider nor the City has sufficient title or interest, then at the time the map is filed with the local agency, the subdivider shall enter into an agreement with the City to pay all costs of the City in acquiring the property.

  2. The City shall have 120 days from the filing of the map, in compliance with the Act, to obtain interest in the land to allow the improvement(s) to be made by negotiation or proceedings in compliance with the Code of Civil Procedure, including proceedings for immediate possession of the property.

3. Before approval of the map, the City may require the subdivider to enter into an agreement to complete the improvements, at the time the City acquires an interest in the land which will allow the improvements to be made.

   4. "Off-site improvements," do not include improvements which are necessary to ensure replacement or construction of housing for persons and families of low or moderate income, as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 50093.

After determining the map is in compliance with this Article and is technically correct, the City Engineer shall execute the City Engineer's certificate on the map and forward the map to the Review Authority for action.

• A. Applicable Review Authority. The applicable Review Authority is specified in Table 5-1.

B. Review and Approval by the Review Authority.

1. Timing of Review Authority’s Review. The Review Authority shall approve or deny the map after it receives the map from the City Engineer or, unless the applicable time limit is extended with the mutual consent of the Director and the subdivider.

2. Criteria for Approval.

• a. The Review Authority shall approve the map if it conforms to all of the requirements of the Act, all provisions of the Development Code applicable at the time the tentative map application was deemed complete, and is in substantial compliance with the approved tentative map and all conditions of approval.

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• b. If the map does not conform, the Review Authority shall not approve the map.

• c. Where a map does not include any offers for dedication or improvement, the Director shall review the map(s) and shall approve each map if the map conforms to the applicable requirements of this Article and the Act. If the map(s) does not conform, it shall not be approved.

3. Action Not to Approve a Final Tract or Parcel Map.

   • a. If a map is not approved, the denial shall be accompanied by findings identifying the requirements which have not been met or performed.

   • b. Approval of a map shall not be withheld when the failure of the map to comply is the result of a technical and inadvertent error which, in the determination of the Review Authority, does not materially affect the validity of the map.

C. Map with Dedications.

1. If a dedication or offer of dedication is required on the map, the Council shall accept, accept subject to improvement, or reject, on behalf of the public, of any real property offered for dedication to the public in compliance with the terms of the offer of dedication, at the same time as it takes action to approve the map.

2. If the Council rejects the offer of dedication, the offer shall remain open and may be accepted by the Council at a later date in compliance with the Act.

3. Any termination of an offer of dedication shall be processed in compliance with the Act using the procedures specified in the Streets and Highway Code .

• D. Map with Incomplete Improvements. If improvements required by the Development Code, conditions of approval, or other applicable laws have not been completed at the time of approval of the map, the Review Authority shall require the subdivider to enter into an improvement agreement with the City as a condition precedent to the approval of the map.

E.

Recording of Final Tract and Parcel Maps.

1. After action by the Review Authority to approve the map, and after the required signatures and seals have been affixed, and the filing fee(s) paid, the City Clerk shall transmit the map back to the Director.

2. The Director shall establish an appointment with the County Recorder for filing.

3. The County Recorder shall oversee the recording of the map.

In addition to the information required by this chapter to be included in all final tract and parcel maps, additional information may be required to be submitted and recorded simultaneously with a final or parcel map.

A. Preparation and Form.

1. The additional information required shall be presented in the form of an additional map sheet(s), unless the Director or City Engineer determines that the type of information

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required would be more clearly and understandably presented in the form of a report or other document(s).

2. The additional map sheet(s) shall be prepared in the same manner and in substantially the same form as required for final tract and parcel maps.

• B. Content of Information Sheets. Supplemental information sheets shall contain the following statements and information:

  1. Title. A title, including the number assigned to the accompanying final or parcel map and the words "Supplemental Information Sheet;"

  2. Explanatory Statement. A statement following the title that the supplemental information sheet is recorded along with the subject final or parcel map, and that the additional information being recorded with the final or parcel map is for informational purposes, describing conditions as of the date of filing, and is not intended to affect record title interest;

  3. Location Map. A location map, at a scale not to exceed one inch equals 1,200 feet. The map shall indicate the location of the subdivision within the City;

  4. Areas Subject to Flooding. Identification of all lands within the subdivision subject to periodic inundation by water;

  5. Soils or Geologic Hazards Reports. When a soils report or geological hazard report has been prepared, the existence of the report shall be noted on the information sheet, together with the date of the report and the name of the engineer making the report; and

  6. Information Required by Conditions of Approval. Any information required by the Review Authority (e.g., areas subject to earthquakes and other similar environmental constraints) to be included on the supplemental information sheet(s) because of its importance to potential successor(s)-in-interest to the property, including any other easements or dedications.

A recorded final tract or parcel map may be amended by the City Engineer to correct errors in the recorded map or to change characteristics of the approved subdivision.

A. Type of Corrections Allowed in Compliance with Government Code Chapter 66469.

1. Filing of a Certificate of Correction or an Amending Map. In the event errors in a map are discovered after recordation, or other corrections are necessary, the corrections may be accomplished by either the filing of a certificate of correction or an amending map.

2. Error Defined. Errors include errors in course or distance (but not changes in courses or distances from which an error is not ascertainable from the map), omission of any course or distance, errors in legal descriptions, or any other map error or omission as approved by the City Engineer that does not affect any property right, including but not limited to acreage, parcel numbers, street names, and identification of adjacent record maps.

3. Other Corrections. Other corrections may include indicating monuments set by engineers or surveyors other than the one that was responsible for setting monuments, or

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showing the proper character or location of any monument that was incorrectly shown, or that has been changed.

4. Review Authority. The Director shall approve or deny corrections or amendments to recorded maps.

5. Required Findings. A map may be amended only if the Director first finds all of the following to be true:

   • a. The change(s) requested only involves a minor map annotation correction(s);

   • b. The amendment(s) does not impose any additional burden on the fee owner(s) of the real property;

   • c. The amendment(s) does not alter any interest, right, or title in the real property reflected on the map; and

   • d. The map, as amended, is still in compliance with the Act.

• B. Type of Corrections Allowed in Compliance with Government Code Chapter 66472.1. In the event there are changes in circumstances which make any or all of the conditions of a recorded map no longer appropriate or necessary, the following procedures shall be followed to amend the map:

  1. Application and City’s Review Process. An application to amend a recorded map shall be filed with the Director

  2. Review Authority. The Director shall be the Review Authority for reviewing and either approving or denying corrections to and amendments of recorded maps.

  3. Required Findings. A map may be amended only if the Director first finds all of the following to be true:

     • a. There is a change(s) in circumstances that make any or all of the conditions of the map no longer appropriate or necessary;

     • b. The amendment(s) does not impose any additional burden on the fee owner(s) of the real property;

     • c. The amendment(s) does not alter any interest, right, or title in the real property reflected on the map; and

• d. The map, as amended, is still in compliance with the Act.

• C. Recordation. After approval, the certificate of correction or amending map shall be submitted to the County Recorder for recordation.

• D. Amendment of an Approved Subdivision – New Map Required. In the event a subdivider wishes to change or modify the characteristics of an approved subdivision, including but not limited to the number or configuration of parcels, location of streets or easements, or the nature of required improvements, the construction of which has been deferred through the approval of an improvement agreement, the subdivider shall file a new tentative, final, or parcel map or comply with the requirements of Government Code Section 66499.20.1 et seq.

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The procedures and requirements related to appeals and public hearings shall apply to the decision on a final tract or parcel map application.

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