La Puente Municipal Code Ch. 11.16 Tentative Tract Map Processing

Sections:

• 11.16.010 Required filing.

• 11.16.020 Division of land review.

• 11.16.030 Report required.

• 11.16.031 Notice.

• 11.16.040 Planning commission action.

• 11.16.050 Appeals.

• 11.16.070 Time limits.

• 11.16.080 Criteria for rejection.

• 11.16.090 Notification of Real Estate Commissioner.

• 11.16.100 Notification to the Office of Intergovernmental Management.

A tentative and final tract map are required for all subdivisions of five or more lots or units. Tentative tract maps and required written statements shall be submitted to the city planning commission. The director of planning, on behalf of the city planning commission, shall distribute copies of tentative tract maps and, where appropriate, required written statements to the following:

(a) Each member of the division of land review committee;

(b) A city requesting extraterritorial review of tentative maps;

(c) Other agencies or school districts who in the opinion of the director of planning would have an interest in the proposed division of land.

(Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

The division of land review committee shall meet to confer and make recommendations on tentative tract maps within twenty working days subsequent to the submission thereof. Division of land review committee meetings shall be open to the public, and the subdivider or his authorized agent, and any other interested party, who may wish to appear and present any matters relevant to the proceedings.

(Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

(a) The director of planning shall prepare a written report, setting forth the recommendations of the division of land review committee and the content of departmental reports submitted to the director at or prior to the division of land review committee meeting by city officers or departments or other interested agencies. The director shall transmit the report together with a copy of the tentative tract map to the planning commission.

(b) The director of planning shall provide the subdivider with a copy of the division of land review committee’s report prior to action on the tentative tract map by the planning commission. If the subdivider or his authorized representative does not receive the report in person, this provision shall be deemed accomplished when the division of land review committee’s report is placed in the mail, bearing the proper postage, and directed to the subdivider at his designated address.

(Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

Consideration of any subdivision map by the city council or planning commission shall require a public hearing preceded by the following notice:

(a) The notice shall be posted at least ten days prior to the hearing in at least three public places within the jurisdiction of the city.

(b) Notice of the hearing shall be mailed or delivered at least ten days prior to the hearing to the owner of the subject real property or the owner’s duly authorized agent, and to the project applicant.

(c) Notice of the hearing shall be mailed or delivered at least ten days prior to the hearing to each local agency expected to provide water, sewage, streets, roads, schools, or other essential facilities and services which may be significantly affected.

(d) Notice of the hearing shall be mailed or delivered at least ten days prior to the hearing to all owners of real property as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll within three hundred feet of the real property that is the subject of the hearing. In lieu of utilizing the assessment roll, the city may utilize records of the county assessor or tax collector which contain more recent information than the assessment roll. If the number of owners to whom notice would be mailed or delivered pursuant to this subsection is greater than one thousand, the city, in lieu of mailed or delivered notice, may provide notice by placing a display advertisement of at least one-eighth page in at least one newspaper of general circulation within the city in which the proceeding is conducted at least ten days prior to hearing.

(e) The notice of the hearing shall be posted at least ten days prior to the hearing in a public place in an area directly affected by the proceeding.

(f) The notice shall include the date, time and place of a public hearing, the identity of the hearing body or officer, a general explanation of the matter to be considered, and a general description, in text or by diagram, of the location of the real property, if any, that is the subject of the hearing. The notice shall also include that the environmental impact assessment will be considered at the hearing.

(Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

The planning commission will review the report of the division of land committee and any other information, either oral or written, which is presented to the advisory agency during the public hearing on the application and shall either approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the map within the time limits prescribed in the Subdivision Map Act of the state of California. The applicable time limits shall commence upon acceptance of a complete application by the director of community development. The findings and decision of the planning commission shall be set forth in a resolution and shall be final unless appealed to the city council. Failure of the Planning Commission to act within the required time period shall cause the map to be deemed approved.

(Ord. 737 § 14, 1996: Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

Any interested person adversely affected by the decision of the planning commission may appeal the planning commission’s decision to the city council; provided, that the appeal is filed in writing with the city clerk within ten days of the date of the adoption of the resolution by the planning commission and is accompanied by the applicable fee established by resolution of the city council. The city clerk shall schedule the hearing on the appeal before the city council within thirty days of the filing of such an appeal. The city council may sustain, modify, reject or overrule the planning commission’s decision. The city council’s decision must be rendered within ten days after the conclusion of the hearing on the appeal. The findings and decision of the city council shall be set forth in a resolution and shall be final. If the city council fails to render a decision on the appeal within the applicable time periods, the planning commission’s decision shall be deemed to be affirmed.

(Ord. 737 § 15, 1996: Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

The time limits for acting and reporting on tentative tract maps and appeals as specified in this title and by the Subdivision Map Act may be extended by mutual consent of the subdivider and the planning commission or the city council as the case may be.

(Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

The planning commission, or city council on appeal, shall deny approval of a tentative or final map if it makes any of the following findings:

(a) That the proposed map is not consistent with applicable general and specific plans;

(b) That the design or improvement of the proposed subdivision is not consistent with applicable general and specific plans;

(c) That the site is not physically suitable for the type of development;

(d) That the site is not physically suitable for the proposed density of development;

(e) That the design of the subdivision or the proposed improvements are likely to cause substantial environmental damage or substantially and avoidably injure fish or wildlife or their habitat;

(f) That the design of the subdivision or the type of improvements is likely to cause serious public health problems;

(g) That the design of the subdivision or the type of improvements will conflict with easements, acquired by the public at large, for access through or use of, property within the proposed subdivision. In this connection, the planning commission, or city council on appeal, may approve a map if it finds that alternate easements, for access or for use, will be provided, and that these will be substantially equivalent to ones previously acquired by the public. This subsection shall apply only to easements of record or to easements established by judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction;

(h) That the design or improvement of the subdivision does not comply with city zoning and/or grading laws.

The planning commission, or city council on appeal, may deny approval of a tentative or a final map if it finds that the discharge of waste from the proposed division of land into the existing community sewer system would result in violation of existing requirements prescribed by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.

(Ord. 737 § 16, 1996: Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

If a division of land contains five or more units or lots, the city council shall forward a copy of the conditions of approval of the tentative map to the State Real Estate Commissioner.

(Ord. 537 § 2 (part), 1985)

Upon the filing of a tentative tract map, the director of planning may submit said tentative map to the Office of Intergovernmental Management for evaluation of the environmental impact of the proposed project. If the subdivision in question is a land project as defined by Section 11005 of the Business and Professions Code, such submission shall be required prior to approval of the map.

(Ord. 537 § 12, 1985)