Chapter 12.20 — GENERAL PROVISIONS

This article shall be known and may be cited as the subdivision ordinance of the city of San Bruno. (Prior code § 21-1.1; Ord. 1352 § 1, 1980)

This article is enacted pursuant to Article XI of the Constitution and general laws of the state of California, including the Subdivision Map Act (Section 66410 et seq., of the Government Code). This chapter is adopted to supplement and implement the Subdivision Map Act. (Prior code § 21-1.2; Ord. 1352 § 1, 1980)

This article is adopted for the following purposes:

• A. To protect and provide for the public health, safety and general welfare of the city;

• B. To guide the future growth and development of the city in accordance with the general plan;

• C. To protect the character and the social and economic stability of all parts of the city by encouraging orderly and beneficial development through regulation and control of the design and improvement of subdivisions, with proper consideration of the relation to adjoining areas;

• D. To protect and conserve the value of land, buildings and improvements throughout the city, and to minimize the conflicts among the uses thereof;

• E. To establish reasonable standards of design and procedures for subdivisions in order to provide for orderly layout and use of land and to insure adequate legal descriptions and monumenting;

• F. To ensure that governmental costs are minimized by requiring the installation of improvements of adequate size and quality;

• G. To protect the community against excessive storm water runoff, flood, soil erosion, fire and geologic hazards;

• H. To facilitate law enforcement and fire protection through orderly design and development and through the provision of adequate facilities and improvements;

• I. To provide the community with adequate light, air and privacy;

• J. To assure the provision of adequate water supply, storm drainage, sewage disposal and other utilities, services and improvements needed as a consequence of subdivision;

• K. To provide lots of adequate size and appropriate design for the purposes for which they are to be used;

• L. To preserve the natural beauty and topography of the city by giving appropriate consideration to provision of open space and conservation of natural features;

• M. To guide public and private policy and action so as to insure availability of public transportation, educational and recreational facilities which are sufficiently coordinated with each proposed subdivision and have sufficient capacity to serve it;

• N. To supplement and facilitate the enforcement of the provisions and standards of the building and housing codes and the zoning ordinance;

• O. To prevent the pollution of air and streams;

• P. To safeguard the water table;

• Q. To provide the most beneficial relationship between the uses of land and buildings and the circulation of traffic, with particular regard to the following:

  1. Avoidance of congestion in the streets and highways,

  2. Providing for pedestrian traffic movements appropriate to the various uses,

  3. Providing for the proper location and width of streets and building lines,

  4. Assuring that the streets have adequate capacity and improvements to provide access to abutting property and to carry the anticipated traffic,

  5. Assuring that the streets are designed so as to minimize hazards to vehicles, their occupants and pedestrians,

  6. Minimizing through traffic on residential streets,

7. Providing pedestrian and bicycle paths for the safety and convenience of pedestrians and cyclists, and enabling them to enjoy the amenities of the city.

• R. To ensure that areas within the subdivision are dedicated or reserved for public purposes, including, but not limited to, streets, sewer, water, and drainage, and properly improved by the subdivider so as not to become an undue burden on the community.

• (Prior code § 21-1.3; Ord. 1352 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1947, 4/9/2024)

• A. The provisions of this article shall be interpreted and applied as minimum requirements except where it is expressly stated that any such requirement is to be a maximum.

• B. This article is not intended to interfere with, abrogate or annul any other ordinance, rule or regulation, statute or other provision of law. Whenever any provision of this article and any other provision of law impose overlapping or contradictory regulations over the subdivision of land, or contain any restrictions covering the same subject matter, the provision which is more restrictive or imposes higher standards or requirements shall govern.

• C. Whenever requirements are set forth in general terms in this article, the details of such requirements may be set forth in policies adopted from time to time by the city council or the planning commission.

• D. This article shall not be construed as:

  1. Abating any action now pending under or by virtue of prior existing subdivision regulations; or

  2. Discontinuing, abating, modifying or altering any penalty accruing or about to accrue; or

  3. Affecting the liability of any person; or

  4. Waiving the right of the city under any provision of law; or

  5. Vacating or annulling any rights obtained by any person by lawful action of the city except as shall be expressly provided in this article.

(Prior code § 21-1.4; Ord. 1352 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1947, 4/9/2024)

• A. Designation of Remainder Parcels. In the case of a subdivision of a portion of any unit or units of improved or unimproved land, the subdivider may designate as a remainder that portion which is not divided for the purpose of sale, lease or financing.

• B. Improvements for Parcel Map Subdivisions. Where the subdivision is of a type described in subsection (A)(1) of Section 12.28.020 , improvement shall be limited to the dedication of rightof-way, easements and the construction of reasonable offsite and onsite improvements for the parcels being created. Requirements for the construction of such offsite and onsite improvements shall be noticed by certificate on the parcel map, or by separate instrument and shall be recorded on, concurrently with, or prior to the parcel map or instrument of waiver of a parcel map being filed for record.

• C. Timing of Construction Requirements. Fulfillment of construction requirements for improvements for designated remainder parcels described in subsection A and for parcel map subdivisions described in subsection B shall not be required until such time as a permit or other grant of approval for development of the parcel is issued by the city, or until construction of the subdivision improvements is required pursuant to an agreement between the subdivider and the city. In the absence of such an agreement, the construction requirements shall be fulfilled within a reasonable time following approval of the final parcel map or final tract map and prior to the issuance of a permit or other grant of approval for the development of the parcel, if at the time of the approval of the tentative parcel map or tentative tract map the community development director or the planning commission, as the case may be, finds that fulfillment of the construction requirements is necessary for reasons of: (1) the public health and safety; or (2) the required construction is a necessary prerequisite to the orderly development of the surrounding area. Construction of all public improvements within a subdivision shall be completed prior to commencement of construction of any building within such subdivision.

• (Prior code § 21-1.5; Ord. 1352 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1947, 4/9/2024)

The city council shall by resolution establish a schedule of fees for the processing of the various applications required by this article. All applications submitted shall be accompanied by the required fee. No application shall be processed or reviewed for completeness unless the required fee has been paid.

(Prior code § 21-1.6; Ord. 1352 § 1, 1980; Ord. 1728 § 1, 2007)

• A. Interest in Real Property Required. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this article, any application submitted pursuant to this article must be submitted by or with the written consent of the owner of the property that is the subject of the application, on a form prescribed by the city.

• B. Complete Application Required. Any application submitted pursuant to this article must include all information required by the sections of this article, and application forms and checklists published by the community development director, pertaining to such application in order to be deemed complete. Not later than thirty calendar days after receiving an application for a subdivision approval under this article, the community development director shall notify the applicant in writing as to whether or not the application is complete. If the application is not complete, the community development director shall specify those parts of the application which are incomplete and shall indicate the manner in which they can be made complete. No application shall be processed unless it is deemed complete.

• C. Appeal of Completeness Determination. An applicant may appeal the city's determination that its application is incomplete by filing a written appeal to the planning commission within ten days of receipt of the community development director's determination that an application is incomplete. The planning commission shall either approve or deny the community development director's completeness determination within sixty days after receipt of the applicant's written appeal. The planning commission's decision shall be final.

• D. Additional Information. After the community development director deems an application complete, the applicant shall not be required to provide any new or additional information which was not required as part of the application; provided, however, that in the course of processing, the applicant may be required to clarify, amplify, correct, or otherwise supplement the information required for the application.

• (Ord. 1728 § 2, 2007; Ord. 1947, 4/9/2024)