16.02.020 - Definitions

"Alley" means a public way permanently reserved primarily for vehicular service access to the rear or side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.

"Apartment" means a building designed for or occupied by two or more families living independently of each other, but not including boardinghouses or lodginghouses, hotels, motels, or mobile or trailer homes, condominiums, community apartments or stock cooperatives.

"Apartment vacancy deficiency" means the number of vacant apartments needed to raise the apartment vacancy rate to three percent.

"Apartment vacancy rate" means the number of apartments being offered for rent or lease in the city, shown as a percentage of the total number of apartments both being offered for and actually under rental or lease agreement.

"Apartment vacancy surplus" means the number of apartments being offered for rent or lease in excess of a three percent apartment vacancy rate.

"Applicant" means the owner or owner's representative who is identified to submit and be the liaison with city officials during the processing of a tentative subdivision map or other development application. The "applicant" for subdivision projects is typically also the "subdivider" or "developer".

"Association" means the corporation, organization or person owning, maintaining, and managing common facilities pursuant to the project's organizational documents.

"Block" means the area of land within a subdivision which area is entirely bounded by streets, highways or ways, except alleys, or the exterior boundary or boundaries of the subdivision.

"City building official" or "building inspector" means the person or city department so designated by the city council.

"City engineer" means the engineer or engineering firm or authorized representative thereof hired or appointed by the city council.

"Community development director" means the person or agency hired or appointed by the city council to assist the city in carrying out planning functions required by state law or local ordinance. Also referred to as "director".

"Community housing" and "community housing project" means:

A.

A condominium project, as defined in Section 1350 of the California Civil Code, or successor section, containing two or more condominiums, as defined in Section 783 of the California Civil Code, or successor section;

B.

A community apartment project, as defined in Section 11004 of the California Business and Professions Code, or successor section, containing two or more rights of exclusive occupancy; and

C.

A stock cooperative, as defined in Section 11003.2 of the California Business and Professions Code, or successor section, containing two or more rights of exclusive occupancy.

"Condominium" means an estate in real property consisting of an undivided interest in common in a portion of a parcel of real property together with a separate interest in space in a residential, industrial, or commercial building on such real property, such as an apartment, office, or store. A condominium may include, in addition, a separate interest in other portions of such real property.

"Conversion" means a change in the type of ownership of a parcel or parcels of land, from a use that is not a community housing or community housing project use, together with the existing or added structures, regardless of the present or prior use of such land and structures or whether such structures have been previously occupied, to any of the types of ownership interest defined above under community housing and community housing projects.

"Cul-de-sac" means a street having only one outlet for vehicular traffic.

"Day(s)" shall mean twenty-four hour calendar days which includes holidays and weekends unless otherwise specified.

"Design" means:

A.

street alignments, grades and widths;

B.

drainage and sanitary facilities and utilities, including alignments and grades thereof;

C.

location and size of all required easements and rights-of-way;

D.

fire roads and fire breaks;

E.

lot size and configuration;

F.

traffic access;

G.

grading;

H.

snow storage areas;

I.

land to be dedicated for park or recreational purposes; and

J.

such other specific requirements in the plan and configuration of the entire subdivision as may be necessary or convenient to insure conformity to or implementation of the general plan or any adopted specific plan.

"Developer" means the owner or subdivider with a controlling proprietary interest in the community housing project, or the person or organization making application under this chapter. See also "applicant".

"Development agreement" means an agreement duly entered into pursuant to Government Code Section 65864 et seq. of the state law.

"Development moratorium". For purposes of this title, a development moratorium shall include a water or sewer moratorium, or a water and sewer moratorium, as well as other actions of public agencies which regulate land use, development, or the provision of services to the land, other than the public agency with the authority to approve or conditionally approve the tentative map, which thereafter prevents, prohibits, or delays the approval of a final or parcel map. A development moratorium is deemed to exist for purposes of

this section for any period of time during which a condition imposed by the city or county could not be satisfied because the condition was one which, by its nature, necessitated action by the city or county, and the city or county either did not take the necessary action or by its own action or inaction was prevented or delayed in taking the necessary action prior to expiration of the tentative map.

"Engineer" means a civil engineer competent to practice civil engineering as defined in Section 6731 of, and who is registered under the provisions of, the Business and Professions Code of the state of California, who is retained to provide civil engineering services related to land subdivision.

"Engineer (soils)" means a civil engineer registered in the state of California with a specialty and experience in the investigation and analysis of soils.

"Environmental impact report (EIR)" means a detailed statement setting forth the environmental effects and considerations pertaining to a project as specified in Section 22100 of the California Environmental Quality Act, and may mean either a draft or a final EIR.

"Final map" means a subdivision map supported by complete surveying data prepared in accordance with the subdivision map, the conditions of approval of the tentative map and in acceptable form for processing and filing for record, as provided herein.

"Improvement" means such street work and utilities to be installed, or agreed to be installed, by the subdivider on the land to be used for public or private streets, highways, ways, and easements, as are necessary for the general use of the lot owners in the subdivision and local neighborhood traffic and drainage needs as a condition precedent to the approval and acceptance of the final tract or parcel map thereof. The word "improvement" shall also refer to such other specific improvements or types of improvements, the installation of which, either by the subdivider, by public agencies, by private utilities, by any other entity approved by the city or by a combination thereof, is necessary or convenient to insure conformity to or implementation of the general plan or any applicable specific plan.

"Land surveyor" means a person qualified and licensed to practice land surveying in the state of California as defined in Section 8726 of the Business and Professions Code.

"Lot" means an area of land created or to be created, or established or to be established for purposes of sale, lease, finance, division of interest or separate use, separated from other lands by description on a subdivision map or parcel map. See also "Parcel".

"Lot line adjustment" means a minor shift or rotation of an existing lot line or other such adjustment where the number of parcels which existed theretofore remain unchanged on an approved and recorded parcel or parcels of land as shown on a recorded map or record of survey.

"Major subdivision" or "major land division" means a subdivision involving the creation of five or more lots, units or parcels.

"Merger" means the joining of two or more contiguous parcels of land under one ownership into one parcel.

"Minor boundary shift" or "minor lot line adjustment". See "Lot line adjustment".

"Minor subdivision" or "minor land division" means a subdivision involving four or less lots, parcels or units.

"Net area" means total land area exclusive of areas within any existing or proposed public or private street, road, flood control channel, or easement for ingress or egress and exclusive of the area within any existing or proposed easement wherein the owner of the lot or parcel is prohibited from using the surface of the ground. Included in the "net area" is the area lying within public utility easements except as otherwise provided in this code, sanitary sewer easements, landscaping easements, public service and tree maintenance easements.

ent for ingress or egress and exclusive of the area within any existing or proposed easement wherein the owner of the lot or parcel is prohibited from using the surface of the ground. Included in the "net area" is the area lying within public utility easements except as otherwise provided in this code, sanitary sewer easements, landscaping easements, public service and tree maintenance easements.

"Organizational documents" means the declaration of restrictions, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and any contracts for the maintenance, management or operation of all or any part of the community housing project, including a proposed pro forma budget.

"Parcel" means a lot or a larger piece of land from which, typically, smaller "lots" may be created.

"Parcel map" means a map showing a subdivision for which a parcel map is required under subsection (a), (b), (c) or (d) of Section 66426 of the Government Code of the state, and other subsections for which a final map is not required under the Subdivision Map Act, prepared in accordance with the provisions of this title and the Subdivision Map Act, and designed to be recorded in the office of the county recorder.

"Permanent domestic water supply" means potable water in a quantity sufficient to adequately and continuously supply the total domestic requirements of all customers and shall include requirements for fire protection under maximum demand conditions, to be provided by a system approved by a public health agency of the state or the county. Potability shall be determined in accordance with standards established by the state or the environmental health division of the county or the federal government.

"Record of survey" means a map prepared in accordance with provisions of the Land Surveyors Act to delineate land boundaries, property lines or other lines or points of survey.

"Remainder" means that portion of an existing parcel which is not included as part of the subdivided land. The remainder is not considered as part of the subdivision but must be indicated on the required maps by deed reference to the existing boundaries of such remainder if the remainder has a gross area of five acres or more.

"Reversion to acreage map" means a map prepared in accordance with provisions of state law for purposes of reverting previously divided parcels to acreage, and as otherwise provided herein.

"State Subdivision Map Act" or "Map Act" means California Government Code Sections 66410 through 66499.58.

"Street" means a way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, road, avenue, drive, or way of any other designation which has been dedicated for public use and accepted by the city, or has been laid out and constructed as a city street, or has been made a public street or road pursuant to law. It includes public streets constructed by federal, state and county agencies, but not private streets or private alleys.

designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, road, avenue, drive, or way of any other designation which has been dedicated for public use and accepted by the city, or has been laid out and constructed as a city street, or has been made a public street or road pursuant to law. It includes public streets constructed by federal, state and county agencies, but not private streets or private alleys.

"Street, private street" means a way for vehicular traffic, however designated, which is not intended or proposed to be accepted by the city, and for which any offer of dedication or other offer for acceptance shall be rejected until such time as specified conditions for acceptance have been fully complied with.

"Street, arterial" means a street which, because of its design and location with respect to other streets and other sources of traffic, is used to carry relatively heavy volumes of traffic through the town and between districts of the town or as an approach to a freeway.

"Street, collector" means a street which, because of its design and location with respect to other streets and other sources of traffic, is used to carry traffic from local streets to arterial streets or frequented destinations.

"Street, local" means a street which, because of its design and location with respect to other streets, is used primarily for access to the abutting properties.

"Stock cooperative apartment project" means a stock cooperative as defined by Section 11003.2 of the Business and Professions Code of the state, where the "improved real property" referred to in that section is residential real property including, but not limited to, multifamily residential property, and where "exclusive occupancy in a portion of the real property" includes, but is not limited to, occupancy in a dwelling unit on the property.

"Subdivider" means a person, firm, corporation, partnership or association who proposes to divided, divides or causes to be divided, real property into a subdivision for himself, or for others, except that employees and consultants.

"Subdivision" means the division by any subdivider of any unit or units of any improved or unimproved land or any portion thereof, shown on the latest equalized county assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units, for the purpose of sale, lease or financing, whether immediate or future, except for leases of agricultural land for agricultural purposes. Property shall be considered as being contiguous even if separated by roads, streets, utility easements or railroad rights-of-way. "Subdivision" includes a condominium project, as defined in Section 783 of the Civil Code of the state, a community apartment project, as defined in Section 11004 of the Business and Professions Code of the state or the conversion of five or more existing dwelling units to a stock cooperative, a stock cooperative apartment project as defined in this section. Any conveyance of land to a governmental agency, public entity, public utility or subsidiary of a public utility for conveyance to such public utility for rights-of-way shall not be considered a division of land for purposes of computing the number of parcels. Likewise, buildings divided into apartments, offices, stores, or similar space within apartment buildings, industrial buildings, commercial buildings, mobile home parks, or trailer parks for the purpose of rent, lease or financing and land dedicated for cemetery purposes under the Health and Safety Code of the state of California, are not considered a division of land. As used in this section, "agricultural purposes" means the cultivation of food or fiber or the grazing or pasturing of livestock. (See also "Major subdivision" and "Minor subdivision".)

"Tentative map" means a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvements of a proposed subdivision and the existing conditions in and around it.

"Unit" means the element of a community housing project which is to be exclusively owned or occupied individually, and not in common with the owners of other elements of the project.

"Vesting tentative map" means a tentative map which is clearly labeled "Vesting Tentative Map" in order to assure certain vested development rights in accordance with Section 16.03.090 of this title and Chapter 4.5 of the state Subdivision Map Act.

(Adopted by Ord. 646 on 7/18/1988)