Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code Ch. 16.40 Urban Lot Splits

The purpose of this chapter is to establish procedures and standards for urban lot splits in accordance with the requirements of Government Code § 66411.7.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.010), 12-21-2021)

A. Only individual property owners may apply for an urban lot split. The term "individual property owner" means a natural person holding fee title individually or jointly in the person's own name or as a beneficiary of a trust that holds fee title. The term "individual property owner" does not include any corporation or corporate person of any kind (partnership, LP, LLC, C corp, S corp, etc.) except for a "community land trust," as defined in Revenue and Taxation Code § 402.1(a)(11)(C)(ii) or a "qualified nonprofit corporation" as that term is described in Revenue and Taxation Code § 214.15.

B. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, an application for an urban lot split shall be considered ministerially, without discretionary review or a hearing, and shall be approved if it meets all of the requirements of this chapter.

C. An application for an urban lot split shall be approved or denied by the director.

D. Any interested person may appeal a decision of the director to the planning commission and a decision of the planning commission to the city council pursuant to chapter 17.80 (Hearing notice and appeal procedures).

E. Notwithstanding subsection B of this section, the city may deny an application for an urban lot split if the building official, or designee, makes a written finding, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that the proposed urban lot split would have a specific, adverse impact, as that term is defined in Government Code § 65589.5(d)(2), upon public health and safety or the physical environment and for which there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact.

F. Upon application approval of an urban lot split, the director shall provide a courtesy notice to owners of all parcels adjacent to the project site, using the last-known county assessor tax roll, including local homeowner's associations, if one exists and is known by the city. Such notice shall not be a requirement of the applicant for the purposes of deeming an application complete for processing.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.020), 12-21-2021; Ord. No. 663, § 3, 10-4-2022)

The parcel that is proposed for subdivision through an urban lot split:

A. Shall be located in an RS zoning district;

B. Shall satisfy all the requirements of Government Code § 65913.4(a)(6)(B)—(K);

C. Shall not be located within a historic district or on property included on the State Historic Resources Inventory, as that term is defined in Public Resources Code § 5020.1, or within a site that is designated or listed as a city or county landmark or historic property or district pursuant to a city or county ordinance;

D. Shall not be located in the Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex, as defined in section 15.20.020;

E. Shall not have been created through a previous urban lot split;

F. Shall not be adjacent to a parcel that was previously subdivided through an urban lot split by the owner of the parcel on which the urban lot split is proposed or any person acting in concert with the owner;

G. Shall only have residential uses located on it on the date the urban lot split is approved; and

H. Shall have at least one residential dwelling unit with a valid certificate of occupancy located on it on the date that the urban lot split is approved, unless the parcel is owned by a "community land trust" as that term is defined in Revenue and Taxation Code § 402.1(a)(11)(C)(ii) or a "qualified nonprofit corporation" as that term is described in Revenue and Taxation Code § 214.15.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.030), 12-21-2021; Ord. No. 663, § 3, 10-4-2022; Ord. No. 692, § 7, 8-19-2025)

A. An urban lot split shall subdivide an existing parcel to create no more than two new parcels of approximately equal lot area, provided that:

1. Neither resulting parcel shall be smaller than 40 percent of the lot area of the original parcel proposed for subdivision;

2. Neither resulting parcel shall be smaller than 1,200 square feet; and

3. No flag lots shall be created as a result of the lot split if the existing parcel is adjacent to an alley or is a corner lot or through lot.

B. An urban lot split shall not result in the creation of a parcel with more than two existing units, as defined in section 16.40.060.

C. An urban lot split shall not require or allow the demolition or alteration of any of the following types of housing:

1. Housing that is subject to a recorded covenant, ordinance, or law that restricts rents to levels affordable to persons and families of moderate, low, or very low income.

2. Housing that is subject to any form of rent or price control through a public entity's valid exercise of its police power.

3. A parcel on which an owner of residential real property has exercised the owner's rights under Government Code tit. 1, div. 7, ch. 12.75 (Government Code § 7060 et seq.) to withdraw accommodations from rent or lease within 15 years before the date that the development proponent submits an application.

4. Housing that has been occupied by a tenant in the last three years.

D. As a condition of approval for an urban lot split, the owner of the parcel being split shall sign an affidavit, in a form approved by the city attorney, stating that:

1. The proposed urban lot split will not violate the requirements of subsection C of this section;

2. Neither the owner nor applicant, nor any person acting in concert with the owner or applicant, has previously subdivided an adjacent parcel using an urban lot split; and

3. The owner intends to occupy a residential dwelling unit on one of the parcels created by the urban lot split as their primary residence for a minimum of three years from the date of the approval of the urban lot split. This subsection (D)(3) shall not apply if the owner of the parcel is a "community land trust" as that term is defined in Revenue and Taxation Code § 402.1(a)(11)(C)(ii) or a "qualified nonprofit corporation" as that term is described in Revenue and Taxation Code § 214.15.

E. As a condition of approval of an urban lot split, the owner shall dedicate all easements over the resulting parcels required for the provision of public services and facilities, as determined by the city engineer.

F. Each parcel resulting from an urban lot split shall have access to or adjoin the public right-of-way, and, if necessary, provide the other parcel with access to the right-of-way through an easement.

G. Lots created through an urban lot split shall only have one driveway approach per lot. Review and approval by the public works department shall be required, as a condition of approval, prior to creation of a driveway approach or other encroachment to ensure compliance with applicable safety standards.

H. The city shall not require as a condition of approval of an urban lot split:

1. Dedications of rights-of-way or the construction of off-site improvements; or

2. The correction of nonconforming zoning conditions existing on the parcel that will be divided.

I. An urban lot split:

1. Shall conform with all the requirements of the Subdivision Map Act (Government Code § 66410 et seq.); and

2. Shall conform with all the requirements applicable to parcel maps in this Code, except for those requirements that conflict with the requirements of this chapter, in which case, the provisions of this chapter shall control.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.040), 12-21-2021; Ord. No. 663, § 3, 10-4-2022)

A. Parcels created by an urban lot split shall only be used for residential uses.

B. Residential units constructed on parcels created by an urban lot split shall not be rented for a term of less than 31 consecutive days, also known as a short-term rental.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.050), 12-21-2021)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, no more than two units are permitted on any parcel created by an urban lot split. For the purposes of this section, the term "unit" means any dwelling unit, including, but not limited to, a primary dwelling unit, a unit created under chapter 17.09 (Second Units and Two-Unit Developments in Single-Family Zones), an accessory dwelling unit, or a junior accessory dwelling unit.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.060), 12-21-2021)

Urban lot splits shall be prohibited in the equestrian overlay (Q) district pursuant to California Government Code § 66499.41(h)(2), as may be amended.

(Ord. No. 695, § 3, 12-2-2025)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, as a condition of approval of an application for an urban lot split, the applicant shall comply with the requirements of chapter 17.72 (Coastal Permits) that would otherwise apply to an application for a parcel map.

(Ord. No. 656U, § 4(16.40.070), 12-21-2021)