Shasta County Municipal Code Ch. 15.04 General Provisions

It is the intention of the board of supervisors to implement and supplement the Subdivision Map Act (Government Code Section 66410 et seq.) in this title. Consistent with enabling statutes, this title is therefore intended to encourage orderly community development by providing for the regulation and control of the design and improvement of the subdivision, with proper consideration of its relation to adjoining areas; to ensure that the areas within the subdivision that are dedicated for public purposes will be properly improved by the subdivider so that they will not become an undue burden on the community; to implement the objectives established for development of the county in conformance with the goals and policies of the general plan and adopted development policies; to limit undue fiscal impacts to the county; and to protect the public and transferee of parcels created through the subdivision process.

Proposed subdivisions shall provide for the creation of reasonable building sites by constructing roads to county standards on proper alignments; providing adequate lot sizes, adequate drainage facilities and adequate means of ingress and egress to each building site. Proposed subdivisions shall also provide for control of the detrimental effect of flooding, erosion, dangerous or unstable soil conditions, wildland fire threat, significant environmental impacts or any other impediments affecting the beneficial use of the land or having a similar detrimental effect on surrounding land.

(Ord. 97-3 § 1 (part), 1997: prior code § 4200)

The definitions set forth in the Subdivision Map Act ("Map Act") are incorporated herein by reference and are supplemented as set forth herein. The following words and terms are used and defined as follows for purposes of this title, unless the context in which a word or term is used requires another usage or meaning:

"Advisory agency" means a designated official or an official body charged with the duty of making investigations and reports on the design and improvement of proposed divisions of real property, imposing of requirements or conditions thereon, or having the authority by local ordinance to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove maps.

"CEQA" means the California Environmental Quality Act.

"Certificate of compliance" means that certificate which may be issued by the county under authority of Government Code Section 66499.35. A recorded final map or parcel map shall constitute a certificate of compliance with respect to the subdivision of real property described therein.

"Clearing" means the removal of vegetable growth such as trees, logs, upturned stumps, roots of downed trees, brush, grass weeds and above the natural ground surface, in such a manner that any natural erosion, including sedimentation, will not be increased and damage to off-site property will not result.

"Contiguous" means properties sharing a common boundary line or point or are physically so situated with respect to each other that they can reasonably be developed as one subdivision project. Property may be comprised of contiguous units even if portions of the property are separated by roads, streets, utility easements, canals or railroad rights-of-way.

"Department" means the Department of Resource Management.

"Development agreement" means a contract entered into with the Shasta County board of supervisors that provides assurances to the applicant of the ability to proceed with a project in accordance with the polices, rules, regulations, special provisions and conditions of approval in effect at the time of project approval, as more specifically provided in Government Code Section 65860 et seq.

"Development standards" means those standards adopted by the board of supervisors by resolution.

"Director" means the director of resource management or the director's designee.

"Final map" means a map which is recorded for the creation of five or more lots or parcels, either by itself, or in combination with previous land divisions that have been recorded by or implemented (as in the case of a parcel map waiver) by the applicant (or other holder of record interest) either on the same project area or contiguous to the current project area, which substantially conforms to an approved tentative map.

"Fiscal impact assessment" means a fiscal analysis of the impacts a project may have (positive and/or negative) on county facilities, operations, staffing and general fund programs administered by Shasta County and/or a special district(s) where the project may be located in or proposing to annex to as part of the overall development of the project.

"Flag lot" means a lot that is L-shaped in which one arm or pole of the lot, a minimum of twenty fee in width (pole portion), fronts on a street and is used solely as a driveway for the lot. The pole portion of a flag lot shall not be counted toward the minimum lot area requirement of the underlying zone district. When the pole portion of two flag lots are proposed side by side, the minimum street frontage shall be twenty feet each. A reciprocal driveway easement shall be recorded for both lots to the benefit of both lots.

"Land project" means a "land division" as defined in Section 11000.5 of the Business and Professions Code.

"Owner's statement" means a statement submitted with every tentative map for a proposed division of land, containing such information as this title may require, and executed under penalty of perjury by the record title owners of the land affected, as provided in Code of Civil Procedure Section 2015.5.

"Parcel map" means a map which is recorded for the creation of four or fewer parcels and which substantially conforms to requirements for an approved tentative map.

"Parcel map waiver" refers to a procedure whereby certain lots can be created without having to record a parcel map. In lieu of a recorded map, waiver of parcel map documents are recorded. A parcel map waiver may create four or fewer parcels, but may create more than four parcels if all parcels are forty acres in size or greater, or are not less than a quarter of a quarter section.

"Professional land use planner" means those individuals that have demonstrated that they have acquired the education and experience necessary to act as a consultant involving environmental review, planning and subdivision design as determined by the director.

"Property line adjustment" means the resubdivision of two or more adjoining parcels by a relocation of the boundary line between them so that the land taken from one parcel is merged with the land of the parcel to which it is added. A property line adjustment shall not result in a significant reconfiguration of the original parcels and shall not result in a greater number of parcels than originally existed.

"Referral agencies" means the department of resource management, the department of public works, the county fire department and other departments, as determined by the director, that shall receive referrals of development applications for review and comment as to project completeness, design, environmental determination and formation of recommended mitigation measures and conditions.

"Remainder parcel" means any portion of any unit or units improvement or unimproved land designated by a subdivider as that single portion on a tentative map which is not divided for the purposes of sale, lease or financing. Only one remainder parcel is permitted per tentative map. A remainder parcel shall not be considered a parcel on which development can occur unless or until a parcel map, a final map, certificate of compliance or conditional certificate of compliance is recorded to provide for such development.

"Resubdivision" means the simultaneous division of two or more adjoining parcels of real property that results in a reconfiguration of the parcels or an increase in the total number of parcels or building sites.

"Specific plan" means an officially adopted document setting forth county policies, programs, standards and/or regulations for the implementation of the general plan in a particular community or area, as permitted pursuant to Government Code Section 65450 et seq.

"Subdivision" means the division, by any subdivider, of any unit or units of improved or unimproved real property, or any portion thereof, as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units, for the purpose of sale, lease or financing, whether immediate or future, as more specifically defined in Government Code Section 66424.

For the purpose of this title, real property owned or beneficially controlled by substantially the same persons, entities or interests shall be deemed to be in one ownership and part of the same subdivided real property or subdivision.

"Tentative map" refers to a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvements of a proposed subdivision and the existing conditions in and around the subdivision. The map need not be based upon an accurate or detailed field survey of the property, but shall be of form and contain the information required by this title and the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act.

"Vesting tentative map" means a map which meets the requirements of Government Code Sections 66424.5, 66452 and 66498.1 et seq., thereby conferring on a subdivider a vested right to proceed with development in substantial compliance with those ordinances, policies and standards in effect at the time the application for the vesting tentative map is determined to be complete, except as provided in Government Code Sections 66474.2 or 66498.1(b).

(Ord. 97-3 § 1 (part), 1997: Ord. 494-330 § 1, 1987: prior code § 4201)