§ 16.04

Title 16 shall be known as and may be cited as the Subdivision Ordinance (or code) of the city of Kingsburg. The subdivision ordinance is adopted to preserve, protect and promote the public health, safety, convenience, prosperity and general welfare. More specifically, the subdivision ordinance is adopted in order to achieve the following objectives:

A.

To implement the general plan of the city of Kingsburg, and elements thereof, as adopted by the city council.

B.

To provide lots and parcels of sufficient size and appropriate design for the purposes for which they are to be used.

C.

To provide streets of adequate capacity for the anticipated vehicle traffic which would utilize them, and to ensure that they are designed to promote a safe and uncontested traffic circulation system.

D.

To accommodate new development in a manner which will preserve and enhance the city's living environment, and to create attractive areas of development through skilled subdivision design.

E.

To provide for water supply, sewage disposal, storm drainage, solid waste pickup and other utilities and facilities which are required by conditions of living and working in an urban environment.

F.

To ensure that the costs of providing public and private rights-of-way, street and alley improvements, utilities and public areas and facilities needed to serve new developments are borne fairly and equitably by the subdivider and property owners in direct benefit rather than by property owners of the city-at-large.

G.

To protect and enhance real property values.

H.

To coordinate development policies and regulations with those of the county of Fresno to ensure the unimpeded annexation and development of such land that is logical, desirable and in accordance with goals, policies, standards and proposals of the Kingsburg general plan.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

Pursuant to the authority conferred by Title 7, Division 2 of the California Government Code cited as the Subdivision Map Act and amendments thereto, and in addition to any other regulations provided by law, the regulations contained in this code are established herewith and shall apply to all subdivisions or parts of subdivisions wholly or partly within the city, and to the preparation, filing and approval of maps.

The provisions of this code are supplemental to the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act and as said Map Act may be amended. Except as otherwise provided, all terms used herein which are defined in the Subdivision Map Act shall have the same meaning as described thereto in the Act, and as the Act may hereafter be amended.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

The planning commission of the city of Kingsburg, state of California, is hereby designated as the advisory agency referred to in the Subdivision Map Act, and is charged with the duty of making investigations and reports on the design and improvement of proposed subdivisions. The commission shall have such additional powers and duties with respect to subdivisions and parcel maps, and the procedure relating thereto as are prescribed by the Subdivision Map Act and by this code.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

A.

A subdivision map or parcel map shall conform to the principles and standards of the general plan, and the elements thereof, with respect to population and housing densities and distribution, locations and sizes of public areas, rights-of-way and improvement of streets and ways, and such other applicable provisions of the general plan. In the absence of a specific plan or official plan line, the alignments of arterial and collector streets shall conform approximately with those alignments shown on the general plan diagram

and as may be described in the transportation and circulation section of the community development element thereof.

B.

A subdivision or parcel map shall conform with plans for streets, public areas and other projects adopted by the city council as a specific plan. A subdivision or parcel map shall conform with plans for the widening or extension of streets adopted by the city council as official plan lines.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

No tentative map or tentative parcel map submitted to the city pursuant to the provisions of this code shall either be considered as having been accepted as complete, or reviewed or acted upon by the planning commission or city council, until the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines for environmental assessment have been met.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

Subdivision maps shall conform to the zoning ordinance of the city with respect to uses of land, lot sizes and dimensions, and other applicable regulations. When a proposed use or development of land requires a zoning reclassification, conditional use permit, variance, or other similar permit or entitlement under the zoning ordinance, the application for such permit or entitlement shall be considered prior to, or concurrently with, the tentative map or the tentative parcel map.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

A.

The provisions of this code shall not apply to any lot or lots forming a part of a subdivision created and recorded prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title unless those lots are hereafter proposed for further subdivision. It is not intended by this code to repeal, abrogate, annul, or in any way impair or interfere with existing provisions of other laws or ordinances or with private restrictions placed upon the property be it by deed, covenant, or other private agreements, or with restrictive covenants running with the land. Only those improvement standards, applicable at the time a tentative subdivision or parcel map is first approved or later extended, shall be imposed.

B.

The provisions of this code shall not be applicable to:

1.

The financing or leasing of apartments, offices, stores or similar space within apartment buildings, industrial buildings, commercial buildings, mobile home parks or trailer parks;

2.

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 other local agency ordinances regulating design and improvement;

3.

The financing or leasing of existing separate commercial or industrial buildings on a single parcel;

4.

Mineral, oil or gas leases;

5.

Land dedication for cemetery purposes under the Health and Safety Code of the state of California;

6.

Activities of the State Energy Resources Development and Conservation commission established pursuant to Division 15 (commencing with Section 25000) of the Public Resources Code.

7.

Any separate assessment under Section 2188.7 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

8.

A lot line 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 planning commission.

This section shall not apply to the construction, financing, or leasing of dwelling units pursuant to Section 65852.1 or second units pursuant to Section 65852.2 of the Government Code, but this division shall be applicable to the sale or transfer, but not leasing, of those units.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

16.04.080 - Merger of contiguous parcels.

A.

Two or more contiguous parcels or units of land which have been created under the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act or city ordinance enacted pursuant thereto, or which were not subject to such provisions at the time of their creation, shall not merge by virtue of the fact that such contiguous parcels or units are held by the same owner. No further proceedings under the Subdivision Map Act or this code shall be required for the purpose of sale, lease or financing of such contiguous parcels or units, or any of them.

B.

Two or more contiguous parcels held by the same owner shall be deemed merged if any one of the parcels does not conform to standards for minimum parcel size under the city's zoning ordinance, and if all the following requirements are satisfied:

1.

At least one of the affected parcels is undeveloped by any structure for which a building permit was issued or for which a building permit was not required at the time of construction, or is developed only with an accessory structure or accessory structures, or is developed with a single structure, other than an accessory structure, that is also partially sited on a contiguous parcel or unit.

2.

With respect to any affected parcel, one or more of the following conditions exists:

a.

Comprises less than five thousand (5,000) square feet in area at the time of the determination of the merger.

b.

Was not created in compliance with applicable laws and ordinances in effect at the time of its creation.

c.

Does not meet current standards for sewage disposal and domestic water supply.

d.

Has no legal access which is adequate for vehicular and safety equipment access and maneuverability.

e.

Its development would create health or safety hazards.

f.

Is inconsistent with the applicable general plan and any applicable specific plan, other than minimum lot size or density standards.

3.

For purposes of determining whether contiguous parcels are held by the same owner, ownership shall be determined as of the date that notice of intention to determine status is recorded. This subdivision shall not apply if one of the following conditions exist:

a.

On July 1, 1981, one or more of the contiguous parcels or units of land is located within two thousand (2,000) feet of the site on which an existing commercial mineral resource extraction use is being made, whether or not the extraction is being made pursuant to a use permit issued by the city.

b.

On July 1, 1981, one or more of the contiguous parcels or units of land is located within two thousand (2,000) feet of a future commercial mineral extraction site as shown on a plan for which a use permit or other permit authorizing commercial mineral resource extraction has been issued by the city.

c.

For purposes of paragraphs 3a and 3b, above, "mineral resource extraction" means gas, oil, hydrocarbon, gravel, or sand extraction, geothermal wells, or other similar commercial mining activity.

C.

The procedure for determining when a merger becomes effective, qualification for exceptions,

determination of merger status, and other procedures required shall be in accordance with the provisions of Sections 65411.11 through 65451.21 of the Subdivision Map Act.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

16.04.090 - Separate maps—When required.

A separate map shall be prepared for each subdivision where land is separated from other land in a parcel or holding by division other than a street, highway, approved private road, alley, railroad right-of-way, flood control right-of-way, canal, or public utility right-of-way.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

16.04.100 - Jurisdiction over design and improvement and approval of maps.

Control of the design and improvements required for parcel maps and authority to approve tentative parcel maps is vested with the planning commission. Jurisdiction to approve tentative and final subdivision maps and final parcel maps is vested with the city council.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

Whenever, by the provisions of this code, a power of authority is given to, or where duty is imposed upon any public officer, it may be exercised or performed by any deputy or departmental employee authorized by him/her pursuant to law unless it is expressly provided that it shall be exercised in person.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)

The ordinance codified in this title is intended to comply with all the mandatory requirements of the Subdivision Map Act. Accordingly, the ordinance codified in this title shall be interpreted and applied to meet said mandatory requirements as presently adopted or hereafter amended to avoid invalidating any of its provisions due to preemption.

(Ord. 94-05 § 1 (part), 1994)