Woodlake Municipal Code Ch. 16.34 Definition of Terms

The definitions and meanings of the words and phrases used in this title shall be as defined in the Subdivision Map Act. "May" indicates an action which is permissive and "shall" indicates an action which is mandatory. All words in the singular shall include the plural, the plural, the singular. Each gender shall include the other. Each tense shall include the other tenses.

(Ord. No. 642, § 3, 5-23-2022)

"Abut" means to be contiguous to and in actual contact along a common line.

"Access road" means a road which connects a subdivision to a public road.

"Alley" means a public thoroughfare for the use of pedestrians and/or vehicles, producing only a secondary means of access to the abutting property.

"Applicant" means the property owner or his/her authorized agent or contractor who is requesting approval of a project.

"Approved" means approved by the council or by the department having jurisdiction on such matters, unless otherwise specified.

"Approved private road" means a strip of land approved by the council for road purposes, which has not been dedicated or accepted as a public road and which connects a parcel of land with a public road.

"Arterial," "collector," "local collector" and "local" mean a road designated as such in the circulation element of the General Plan of the City of Woodlake, adopted by the council.

"Building official" means the building official of the City of Woodlake, or his/her designee.

"Building setback area, front" means an area extending across the full width of the lot between the front lot line or the existing or future street right-of-way and a structural setback line parallel thereto. On corner lots, the shortest street frontage shall be the front building setback area.

"Building site" - see "lot."

"Building setback area, rear" means an area extending across the full width of the lot between the rear lot line and a setback line parallel thereto.

"City" means the City of Woodlake, California.

"City engineer" means the city engineer of the City of Woodlake, or his/her designee.

"Clerk" means the city clerk for the City of Woodlake, or his/her designee.

"Commission" means the city planning commission.

"Community apartment" means an undivided interest in common in the land coupled with the right of exclusive occupancy of an apartment unit which is part of a community apartment project.

"Community development director" means the community and economic development director of the City of Woodlake, or his/her designee.

"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.

"Council" mean the city council of the City of Woodlake.

"County recorder" means the county recorder of the County of Tulare.

"Cul-de-sac" means a road which terminates in a permanent turnaround and which by design is not intended to continue beyond its terminal point.

"Dead-end road" (stub road) means a road which is terminated at the boundary line of the subdivision, but which will be required to be extended at a later date to provide access to abutting land.

"Dedicated road" means a right-of-way dedicated to the city for road purposes, and legally accepted as such by the city.

"Design" means:

A. Street alignments, grades, and widths.

B. Drainage and sanitary facilities and utilities, including their alignments and grades.

C. Location and size of all required easements and rights-of-way.

D. Fire roads and firebreaks.

E. Lot size and configuration.

F. Traffic access.

G. Grading.

H. Land to be dedicated for park or recreation purposes.

I. Such other specific requirements in the plan and configuration of the subdivision ensure conformity to or implementation of the General Plan or adopted specific plans.

"Designated remainder" means any unit or units improved or unimproved land not divided for the purpose of sale, lease, or finance and designated as remainder by a subdivider for purposes of Section 66424.6 of the Subdivision Map Act.

"Dividing strip" means a separation between opposite directional flows of traffic. It may also serve to separate a road or highway from the parallel frontage road which provides access to property.

"Double frontage lot" (or through lot) means a lot having frontage on two (2) roads and having the right of access to both of those roads but excluding corner lots.

"Dwelling unit" means a group of rooms or a single room with kitchen facilities occupies or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters by a family or other group of persons living together, or by a person living alone, irrespective of the age of the occupant or occupants.

"Easement for public road" means a right-of-way offered to the city for road purposes by a division of land. upon acceptance by the city, it is deemed a city road.

"Existing lot or building site" means a designated lot or contiguous lots on a lawfully established subdivision map or record of survey so existing upon the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title, or a whole parcel of land under separate ownership so existing upon the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title, or such a lot or separate parcel of land thereafter lawfully created.

"Final map" is the official map which is recorded by the county recorder indicating the divisions of land within the subdivision.

"Flood hazard" means a hazard to land or improvements due to seasonal inundation or to overflow water having sufficient velocity to transport or deposit debris, scour the surface soil, dislodge or damage buildings, or erode the banks of watercourses.

"Freeway" means a highway for through traffic with full control of access and generally with grade separation at intersections.

"Frontage" means that portion of a parcel of property which abuts on a public or approved private road.

"Frontage road" (service road or outer highway) means those roads which parallel freeways, highways, or other major streets, providing for access to abutting property or for circulation, and which are separated from the highway or street by a dividing strip.

"General Plan" means the General Plan of the City of Woodlake, adopted by the city council containing statement of policies, including text and diagrams, setting forth objectives, principles, standards, and plan proposals, for the future physical development of the city.

"Improvement" refers to 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 map or parcel map.

Improvement also refers 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 council, or by a combination thereof, is necessary or convenient to insure conformity to or implementation of the General Plan, or any approved specific plan.

"Improvement plans" means the plans, profiles, cross sections, and specifications of all proposed improvements, including the information required by Chapter 16.30.

"Improvement standards" means the same as standard specifications, as set forth in Chapter 16.30.

"Local road" means any public road that is used or is intended to be used for the principal purpose of serving as access to abutting property.

"Lot" means:

A. A parcel of real property with a separate and distinct number or other designation shown on a subdivision map recorded in the office of the county recorder; or

B. A parcel of real property delineated on an approved record of survey map or parcel map as filed in the office of the county recorder and, if required by Title 18 of this code, abutting at least one (1) public road or approved private road.

"Inundation" means ponded water or water in motion of sufficient depth to damage property due to the presence of the water or to deposits of alluvium.

"Lot line" means any line bounding a lot as herein defined.

"Lot line adjustment" means the relocation of an interior lot line between two (2) to four (4) adjacent parcels, where the land taken from one (1) parcel is added to an adjacent parcel, and where a greater number of parcels than originally existed is not thereby created.

"Merger" means the joining of two (2) or more contiguous parcels of land under one (1) ownership into one (1) parcel.

"Parcel map" means a map showing a subdivision of four (4) or fewer parcels, as required by the subdivision act and this chapter, prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act and this chapter, and designed to be filed for recordation in the office of the county recorder. This excludes a remainder parcel and may be greater than four (4) parcels if certain exceptions apply.

"Person" means person, firm, corporation, or organization.

"Planned development" means a subdivision consisting of one or more planned developments as said term is defined in Business and Professions Code section 11003.

"Planning commission" means the planning commission of the City of Woodlake, duly appointed in accordance with Section 2.24.020 of the Woodlake Municipal Code.

"Private road" means the same as approved private road.

"Public road" means any state highway, county or city street, avenue, highway, or road system of the public agency having jurisdiction thereof or to be included within the maintained road system by agreement between the agencies and the subdivider.

"Restricted access strip" means a strip of land not less than one (1) foot in width for the purpose of regulating access to part-width and dead-end roads until such time as such roads may be completed or extended.

"Secretary of the planning commission" means the secretary of the planning commission of the city, duly appointed by the council, and includes staff designated or assigned to the review of subdivision maps.

"Specific plan" means a plan for a specific area designated by the council, including all detailed regulations, conditions, programs, and proposed legislation which shall be necessary or convenient for the systematic implementation of each element of the General Plan.

"Standard specifications" means the design and improvement requirements established by the council applicable at the time of approval of a tentative subdivision map or tentative parcel map and as set forth in the city standard specifications manual or any amendments thereto.

"Street, arterial" means a street that is used or is intended to be used as the principal route of traffic flow, connecting areas of major traffic generation to highways and county roads.

"Street, collector" means a street that is used or is intended to be used for the principal purpose of collecting traffic from local streets and transferring it to arterial streets or highways.

"Street, dedicated" means a right-of-way dedicated to the city and legally accepted by the city council for public use as a street.

"Street, local" means any street other than a collector street, arterial, or freeway that provides direct access to abutting properties and serves local versus through traffic. Also used to mean a street that is used or is intended to be used for the principal purpose of serving as access to abutting properties.

"Street, public" means any street which is dedicated or proposed to be dedicated for public use and is maintained or proposed to be maintained by the city or the county or the state.

"Stub road" (dead-end road) means a road which is terminated at the boundary line of the subdivision, but which will be required to be extended at a later date to provide access to abutting land.

"Subdivider" means a person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association who proposed to divide, divides, or causes to be divided, real property into a subdivision for himself or for others, except that employees and consultants of such persons or entities, acting in such capacity are not subdividers.

"Subdivision," for the purposes of this chapter, means a division by any subdivider of any unit or units of improved or unimproved land, or any portion thereof, shown on the latest equalized county assessment role 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 contiguous units even if parcels are separated by roads, streets, utility easements, or railroad right-of-way. Subdivision includes a condominium project as defined in Section 1350 of the Civil Code of the state or community apartment project as defined in Section 11004 of the State Business and Professions Code. Any conveyance of land to a governmental agency, public entity, or public utility shall not be considered a division of land for purposes of computing the number of parcels. As used in this section, "agricultural purposes" means the cultivation of food or fiber or the grazing or pasturing of livestock.

"Subdivision Map Act" means the Subdivision Map Act of the State of California, Government Code section 66410 et seq., inclusive, as that act currently provides or is subsequently amended.

"Tentative map" refers to a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvement of a proposed subdivision and the existing conditions in and around it. It need not be based upon an accurate or detailed final survey of the property.

"Tentative parcel map" refers to a map meeting the requirements of Section 16.12.010 and made for the purpose of showing the design and improvement of a proposed subdivision and the existing conditions in and around it. It need not be based upon an accurate or detailed final survey of the property.

"Vesting tentative map" means a map which meets the requirements of a tentative map as described in this title and Government Code Section 66498.1. and has conspicuously printed on its face the words "vesting tentative map."

(Ord. No. 642, § 3, 5-23-2022)