Reedley Municipal Code Ch. 11.08 Parcel Maps

Approval of a tentative parcel map and a final parcel map shall be required in the following instances:

A. For subdivisions in which four (4) or fewer parcels are to be created;

B. For subdivisions in which the whole parcel before division contains less than five (5) acres, each parcel created by the division abuts upon a maintained public street or highway and no dedications or improvements are required;

C. For any parcel(s) of land divided into lots or parcels, each of which has a gross area of twenty (20) acres or more and has approved access to a maintained public street or highway;

D. For any parcel(s) of land having approved access to a public street or highway which comprises part of a tract of land zoned for industrial or commercial development and which has the City Council's approval as to street alignments and widths;

E. For any parcel(s) of land divided into lots or parcels, each of which has a gross area of not less than forty (40) acres or is not less than a quarter of a quarter section; or

F. Any land being subdivided solely for the creation of an environmental subdivision in compliance with Section 66418.2 of the Subdivision Map Act.

1. A parcel map is not required when land is conveyed to or from a governmental agency, public entity, or public utility, or for land conveyed to a subsidiary of a public utility for conveyance to that public utility for rights-of-way, unless a showing is made in individual cases, based on substantial evidence, that public policy necessitates a parcel map.

2. In compliance with Section 66412.5 of the Subdivision Map Act, a parcel map is not required for subdivisions of four (4) parcels or less for construction of removable commercial buildings having a floor area of less than one hundred (100) square feet where subdivision is for purposes of lease or financing but is required where subdivision is for purposes of sale.

3. Where a parcel map is required under this chapter, preparation, filing and processing of a final parcel map may be waived as provided in Chapter 6 of this title. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

The tentative parcel map shall be prepared by or under the direction of a registered civil engineer or licensed land surveyor. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Before submitting a tentative parcel map application, the subdivider may schedule a preapplication meeting with the Community Development Director to discuss the proposed subdivision. At the preapplication meeting, the subdivider shall have an opportunity to discuss physical conditions, facts, and policies affecting the proposed subdivision. The subdivider may also present for review a preliminary parcel map showing approximate lot lines, proposed street alignments, or other features of the proposed subdivision. The Director shall inform the subdivider of the City policies, General Plan, zoning, fees, infrastructure, and development standards which may pertain to the proposed subdivision and may make recommendations concerning modifications to improvement and design of the proposed subdivision. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

A parcel map and parcel map application shall be submitted to the Community Development Director or their designee in the format and number of copies specified by the Director. The application shall contain all the information specified for the application by the Director, unless the Director waives any of the information requirements. The application shall be accompanied by the fee established by the Master Fee Schedule. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

A. Within thirty (30) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) after the application is submitted, the Community Development Director shall determine whether the application, including all submitted materials, is complete and shall notify the applicant of the determination in writing, including (if appropriate) a description of why the application is incomplete and any additional information that may be required. Upon receipt of any resubmittal of the application, a new thirty (30)-day review period shall begin.

B. If the Community Development Director determines that the application, including the submitted materials, is not complete, the applicant may appeal such determination to the Planning Commission. The appeal shall be filed in writing with the Director within ten (10) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) after notice of the Director's determination. The Planning Commission shall hear the appeal and give a final written determination on the appeal within forty-five (45) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) after the Director's receipt of the applicant's appeal. Public noticing of the appeal hearing shall conform to all the requirements of Section 11.08.070 (Public Noticing). (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

After the application is determined to be complete and is accepted, the Community Development Director shall proceed as follows:

A. Forward copies of the tentative map to affected agencies within five working days (excluding City recognized holidays) asking them to provide their input or comments within fifteen (15) working days (excluding City recognized holidays).

B. Forward copies of the application to the affected school districts within five (5) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) asking them to provide their input or comments within fifteen (15) working days (excluding City recognized holidays).

C. The Community Development Director shall review the application and any comments received, prepare written conditions of approval, prepare the staff report and recommendation on the application, and provide a copy of the report to the applicant at least three (3) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) prior to the public hearing. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Public notifications of a public hearing(s) for a parcel map shall comply with the standards and procedures established in Section 11.04.070 (Public Noticing). (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

A. The Planning Commission shall consider the tentative parcel map application, the staff report, and other pertinent information in its scheduled meeting and shall hold a public hearing after the acceptance of the complete application by the Community Development Director as provided in Sections 11.08.040 through 11.08.060 of this Chapter. After the public hearing is closed, the Planning Commission shall do the following:

1. The Planning Commission shall review the environmental assessment of the applicant's proposal and act in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

2. If the Planning Commission act on an environmental assessment in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, it shall then approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the tentative parcel map within fifty (50) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) after such action. The environmental assessment and the tentative parcel map may be acted upon at the same meeting as long as the environmental assessment is acted upon first.

3. The Planning Commission shall report in writing to the subdivider through an adopted resolution the approval, conditional approval or disapproval, and the conditions on which such action is based.

4. A parcel map shall be approved or conditionally approved by the Planning Commission only if all requirements of this Title and other applicable Federal, State, and local laws, regulations, and policies of the City Council are complied with or can be met by compliance with specified conditions.

B. The Planning Commission shall disapprove a tentative parcel map if it makes any one of the following findings:

1. The proposed tentative parcel map is not in compliance with the General Plan or any applicable specific plans as specified in Government Code section 65451;

2. The design or improvement of the proposed subdivision is not in compliance with the General Plan or any applicable specific plan;

3. The site of the proposed subdivision is not physically suitable for the proposed development types and density;

4. The design of the proposed subdivision or improvement(s) are likely to cause substantial environmental damage or substantially and avoidably injure fish or wildlife or their habitat;

5. The design of the proposed subdivision or improvement(s) are likely to cause serious public health problems;

6. The design of the proposed subdivision or improvement(s) will conflict with easements, acquired by the public at large, for access through or use of property within the proposed subdivision; provided that the Planning Commission may approve the tentative parcel map if it finds that alternate easements for access or 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, and no authority is hereby granted to the Planning Commission to determine that the public at large has acquired easements for access through or use of property within the proposed subdivision; or

7. The tentative parcel map fails to meet or perform any of the requirements or conditions imposed by the Subdivision Map Act or this Title; provided that such disapproval shall be accompanied by a finding identifying the requirements or conditions which have not been met or performed.

C. The Planning Commission's decision shall be final on the eleventh working day (excluding City recognized holidays) from the date of the Planning Commission's action, but become advisory if, within such ten (10) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) period, an appeal is filed in compliance with Section 11.08.090 (Appeals) of this Chapter. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Appeals shall be filed, noticed, heard, and decided according to the procedures, rules, burdens, and requirements in Section 11.08.090 (Appeals), of this Title. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Minor modifications to the standards and procedures established in this Chapter may be requested and processed in compliance with Section 11.04.100 (Minor Modifications). (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

A. Except as provided in Subsection 11.08.090 (Appeals), the approval or conditional approval of a tentative map shall expire twenty-four (24) months after the date of approval by the Planning Commission or, if applicable, the City Council.

B. Once a final map of all or any portion of the real property included within the tentative map is submitted to the City Engineer, subsequent actions of the City, including, but not limited to, processing, approving, and recording, may lawfully occur after the date of expiration of the tentative map.

C. If multiple final maps are to be filed for the subdivision pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act, or if the subdivider is required to spend more than two hundred and thirty-six thousand seven hundred and ninety dollars ($236,790.00) or any greater amount in compliance with Section 66452.6 of the Subdivision Map Act to construct, improve, or finance the construction of public improvements outside the property boundaries of the tentative map, excluding improvements of public rights of way which abut the property to be subdivided and which are reasonably related to the development of the property, each filing of a final map shall extend the expiration of the approved or conditionally approved tentative map by forty-eight (48) months from the date of its expiration, or the date of the previously filed final map, whichever is later, but in no event more than ten (10) years from such approval or conditional approval.

D. The period of time specified in Subsection A or B of this Section, including any extension granted pursuant to this section, shall not include any time during which a development moratorium, imposed after approval or conditional approval of the tentative map, is in effect. However, the length of the moratorium shall not exceed five (5) years.

E. The period of time specified in Subsection A or B of this Section, including any extension granted in compliance with this Section, shall not include any time during which a lawsuit involving the approval or conditional approval of the tentative map is or was pending in a court of competent jurisdiction. After service of the initial petition or complaint in the lawsuit upon the City, the subdivider may apply in writing to the Community Development Director for a stay. Within forty (40) working days (excluding City recognized holidays) after receiving the application, the Director shall in writing either stay the time period for up to five (5) years or deny the requested stay.

F. Expiration of an approved or conditionally approved tentative map shall terminate all proceedings, and no final map of all or any portion of real property included within the tentative map shall be filed without first processing a new tentative map application. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Extension applications shall be filed, noticed, heard, and decided according to the procedures, rules, burdens, and requirements in Section 11.04.120 (Extensions), of this Title. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Before the approval of the final parcel map, the subdivider shall submit to the City Engineer improvement plans required by the conditions of approval of the tentative parcel map, prepared by a registered civil engineer, for review and approval in accordance with Section 11.04.130 (Improvements) of this Title. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

A. Before expiration of the tentative parcel map, unless the requirement for a final parcel map has been waived pursuant to Chapter 6 of this Title, the subdivider may cause the land included within the tentative parcel map, or any part thereof, to be surveyed, may prepare a final parcel map in accordance with the approved or conditionally approved tentative parcel map and may file the final parcel map application with the City Engineer.

B. A final map conforming to the requirements of this Section and Section 11.08.130 (Improvements) of this Chapter shall be submitted to the Engineering Department in the format and number of copies specified by the City Engineer. The application shall contain all the information specified for the application by the City Engineer unless the City Engineer waives any of the information requirements. The application shall be accompanied by the fee established by the Master Fee Schedule. Final Parcel Map Description and Contents.

C. Map Description. The final parcel map shall be prepared by a registered civil engineer or licensed surveyor and shall show the location of all streets and property lines bordering the property. It shall be legibly drawn, printed, or reproduced by a process guaranteeing a permanent record in black or tracing cloth or polyester base film. Certificates or statements, affidavits and acknowledgments on the map shall be legibly stamped or printed on the map and signed with opaque ink. If ink is used on a polyester base film, the ink surface shall be coated with a suitable substance to assure permanent legibility. The final parcel map shall be on one or more eighteen-inch (18") by twenty-six-inch (26') sheets and shall have a one-inch (1") margin completely around the drawing. All lettering shall be legible size.

D. Survey Required. A complete and accurate field survey of the land to be subdivided shall be made in conformity with the California Professional Land Surveyor's Act.

E. Information Required on Final Parcel Map. In addition to any other information required by law, the final parcel map shall include the following information. To the extent any such information is not specified in or authorized by the Subdivision Map Act, it shall be included in a separate document or additional map sheet(s), each of which shall indicate its relationship to the final parcel map and shall state that the information is for informational purposes only, describing conditions as of the date of filing, and is not to be intended to affect record title interest.

• 1. A title.
• 2. A parcel map number assigned by the department.
• 3. Date of preparation, north point, and scale.

4. The boundary of the parcel map area and each parcel in relation to surrounding surveys.

5. Public and private easements and rights of way.

6. Location, width, name or other designation and curve radii of all alleys, streets, and highways adjacent to or within the parcel map.

7. Parcel letters or numbers, parcel lines, dimensions, and areas.

8. Location of all proposed monuments at the following locations:

a. Intersection of street centerlines.

b. Beginning and ending of curves or intersection of tangents on street centerlines.

c. Any other location required by the City Engineer.

F. Certificates And Statements on Final Parcel Map. The final map shall contain or be accompanied by all certificates and statements required by the Subdivision Map Act. It shall also contain any other certificates that may be required by the Planning Commission or City Council. All final map requirements stated in Section 11.04.160 (Final Map Application), of this Title shall apply to a final parcel map.

G. Dedications or Offers of Dedications. If dedications or offers of dedication are required, they may be made either by a statement on the parcel map or by a separate instrument. If dedications or offers of dedication are made by separate instrument, the dedications or offers of dedication shall be recorded concurrently with, or prior to, the final parcel map being filed for record. The dedication or offers of dedication, whether by statement or separate instrument, shall be signed by all parties having any record title interest in the real property.

H. Abandonment of Public Streets and Easements. The final parcel map shall adequately delineate any public streets or public easements to be left in effect after the subdivision. The filing of the final parcel map shall constitute abandonment of all public streets and public easements not shown on the final parcel map; provided that, a written notation of each abandonment is listed by reference to the recording data or other official record creating these public streets or public easements and certified to on the map by the City Clerk. Before a public easement vested in another public entity may be abandoned pursuant to this Subsection, the applicant shall notify the public entity of the proposed abandonment. The applicant shall submit with the final parcel map written verification that the public entity has received the notice. No public easement vested in another public entity shall be abandoned pursuant to this Subsection if that public entity objects to the proposed abandonment.

I. Submittal of Final Improvement Plans. The applicant shall submit to the City Engineer final improvement plans in accordance with Section 11.04.130 (Improvements), of this Title. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

The City Engineer shall review the final map and subsequent submissions of the map and will recommend approval when they determine that the final map complies with all requirements of this Chapter and Title. The public improvement plans shall be subject to review and approval by the City Engineer prior to acceptance of the final map. The final map shall be reviewed and subject to acceptance by the City Engineer prior to City Council consideration of the final map. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

The Community Development Director shall review the final map to determine its substantial conformance with the approved tentative map and the conditions of approval imposed by the Planning Commission and/or City Council. If the Director determines that the final map is in substantial conformance with the approved tentative map, that all conditions of approval have been met or performed, and that the final map has been recommended for approval by the City Engineer, the Director shall present it to the City Council with their recommendation. If a subdivision improvement agreement is proposed, it shall be presented to the City Council in the same meeting as the final map. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Upon receipt of a final parcel map recommended for approval, the City Council shall consider the final parcel map at its next meeting when such matter may be legally considered. The City Council shall approve or disapprove the final parcel map as provided in this Subsection. If a parcel map improvement agreement or offer(s) of dedication is involved, the City Council shall consider them at the same meeting at which it considers the final parcel map. The City Council may approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the improvement agreement. The City Council may accept, accept subject to improvement, or reject any offer or dedication. The City Council shall approve the final parcel map if it finds that the final parcel map is in substantial compliance with the approved tentative parcel map; provided that, the City Council may waive noncompliance and approve the final parcel map if the City Council finds that the noncompliance is the result of a technical and inadvertent error which, in the determination of the City Council, does not materially affect the validity of the final parcel map. The City Council shall take action on any subdivision improvement agreement related to the subject subdivision prior to taking action on the final map. If the City Council disapproves the final map, it shall include with such disapproval a finding identifying the failure(s) to conform and/or requirements or conditions which have not been met or performed. If the City Council approves the final map, it shall at the same time accept, accept subject to improvements, or reject any offer of dedication by the subdivider. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

A. Upon approval of the final map by the City Council, the City Clerk shall execute the appropriate certificate on the certificate sheet and shall, pursuant to the provisions of Map Act Section 66464, have an authorized agent of the City transmit the map to the Fresno County Recorder for recordation. The following shall also be transmitted to the Fresno County Recorder:

1. A title guarantee by a qualified title company, for the benefit of the City, certifying that the signatures of all persons whose consent is necessary to pass clear title to the land and all acknowledgments appear on the proper certificates and are correctly shown on the map and affidavits to a dedication.

2. Fresno County tax compliance certification request.

3. All other data, documents and other matters required to be filed with the city engineer in conjunction with the final map, as may be required by law. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)

Upon completion and acceptance of the improvements in accordance with the approved parcel map improvement agreement, the applicant shall request a notice of completion in accordance with Section 11.04.220 (Notice of Completion), of this Title. (Ord. 2024-002, 9-20-2024)