Sierra Madre Municipal Code Ch. 16.04 General Provisions

This title is adopted pursuant to the authority of the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 of Title 7 of the California Government Code) and may be cited as the subdivision ordinance of the city. The provisions of the Subdivision Map Act are incorporated by this reference as though fully set forth herein. In the event of any actual conflict between this title and the Subdivision Map Act, the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act shall prevail.

(Ord. 1150 § 2 (part), 1999)

A. It is the purpose of this title to regulate and control the division of land in the city and to supplement the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act and to regulate the survey data of subdivisions, the form and content of tract maps and parcel maps, and the procedures to be followed in securing the approval of the city regarding such maps. To accomplish this purpose, the regulations outlined in this title are determined to be necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety and general welfare.

B. Any references herein to the Subdivision Map Act, or a specific section thereof, shall refer to the Subdivision Map Act as most currently amended.

(Ord. 1150 § 2 (part), 1999)

Except where the context otherwise clearly requires, the definitions set forth in this chapter shall be applied to the words and phrases used in this title. The definitions set forth in the Subdivision Map Act shall be deemed to be definitions applicable to the same words and phrases used in this title. The definitions set forth in the Sierra Madre zoning regulations shall be deemed to be definitions applicable to this title.

"City" means the city of Sierra Madre.

"City clerk" means the city clerk of the city of Sierra Madre.

"City engineer" means the city engineer of the city of Sierra Madre.

"City manager" means the city manager of the city of Sierra Madre.

"Community apartment project" means joint ownership of the land by the various owners with an exclusive right to occupy a given dwelling unit.

"Condominium" means joint ownership of the land by the purchasers with ownership of a defined area of air space where the dwelling unit is located as more fully defined in the California Civil Code.

"Condominium construction" means the construction of a condominium, community apartment project or stock cooperative as defined below. (Condominiums and community apartment projects are required to comply with the Subdivision Map Act while stock cooperatives are not, unless made so by the California Department of Real Estate.)

"Condominium conversion" means a process or effect of transferring ownership of a building to a condominium in accordance with appropriate law. Condominium conversion, as used in this chapter, means the conversion of existing units to condominiums, community apartment projects, or stock cooperatives (condominiums and community apartment projects, or stock cooperatives are required to comply with the Subdivision Map Act while stock cooperatives are not, unless required to do so by the California Department of Real Estate).

"Director of development services" means the director of development services or the director of planning and community preservation of the city of Sierra Madre.

"Director of public works" means the director of public works of the city of Sierra Madre.

"Stock cooperative" means ownership of the land and buildings by a corporation; tenants own shares of stock and thus are entitled to an exclusive right to occupy a dwelling unit, or they lease a dwelling unit.

"Vesting tentative map" means a tentative map, as defined in the Subdivision Map Act, that shall have printed conspicuous on its face the words, "Vesting Tentative Map" at the time it is filed.

(Ord. 1185 § 2 (part), 2000; Ord. 1150 § 2 (part), 1999)

(Ord. No. 1466, § 13, 3-28-23)

No land shall be divided and developed for any purpose which is not in conformity with the general plan, specific plan, if applicable, or zoning code provisions of the city.

(Ord. 1150 § 2 (part), 1999)

By resolution, the city council shall set appropriate filing and processing fees which shall apply to all subdivisions, lot line adjustments and other divisions of land contemplated by the Act.

(Ord. 1150 § 2 (part), 1999)

A. Purpose. The purpose and intent of the city council in enacting the provisions of this chapter are to:

1. Allow for the denial or condition approval of a map or other land division under this title to protect historic resources to the fullest extent permitted by and in furtherance of the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act, California Government Code Section 66410, et seq.

2. Implement the provisions of the city's general plan and zoning ordinance by providing for the preservation of historic resources upon the subdivision of land.

B. Definitions. In addition to the other definitions used in this title, the following words and phrases utilized in Chapter 17.82 of this code shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

Historic Resource. As utilized herein, the term "historic resource" shall be consistent with the definition in the California Environmental Quality Act and include all of the following:

1. A resource listed in, or determined to be eligible by the State Historical Resources Commission, for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources;

2. A resource designated as a historical landmark or a potential historic resource in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 17.82 of this code;

3. Any object, building, structure, site, area, or place that meets one or more of the following criteria:

a. Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of California's and/or Sierra Madre's history and cultural heritage;

b. Is associated with the lives of persons important in the state's or city's past;

c. Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic value; or

d. Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

C. Preservation of Historic Resources. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any application for an approval under this title shall be denied, or approved on such conditions as the decisionmaker deems reasonably necessary for the preservation of any historic resource, if approval or approval without such conditions would result in a substantial adverse change to the significance of a historic resource.

(Ord. 1242 § 1 (Exh. A), 2006)