Chapter 11-2
DEFINITIONS
Sections:
11-2-01 Definitions.
For the proposes of this title, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this title are defined as follows:
(a) "Advisory Agency" shall mean the Planning Commission of the City, charged with the duty of making investigations and reports on the design and improvements of proposed divisions of real property, the imposing of requirements or conditions thereon, or the authority to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove maps.
(b) "Block" shall mean 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.
(c) "Condominium" shall mean 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 the real property, such as an apartment, office, or store. A condominium may include, in addition, a separate interest in other portions of the real property.
(d) "Conversion" shall mean the creation of a separate ownership of existing real property, together with a separate interest in space of residential, industrial, or commercial buildings.
(e) "Design" shall mean:
(1) Street assignments, grades, and widths;
(2) Drainage and sanitary facilities and utilities, including alignments and grades;
(3) The location and size of all required easements and rights-of-way;
(4) Fire roads and fire access;
(5) Lot size and configuration;
(6) Traffic access;
(7) Grading;
(8) Land to be dedicated for park or recreational purposes; and
(9) Other specific requirements in the plan and configuration of the entire subdivision as may be necessary or convenient to insure conformity to, or the implementation of, the General Plan or any adopted Specific Plan.
(f) "Easement" shall mean the dedication of land for the purpose of installing and maintaining utilities, sewage, drainage, plantings, circulation, and other purposes.
(g) "Environmental Impact Report (EIR)" shall mean 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 (CEQA) and may mean either a draft or a final EIR.
(h) "Final map" shall mean a map showing a subdivision for which a tentative and final map is required by the Subdivision Map Act or this title, 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.
(i) "General Plan" shall mean the General Plan of the City adopted January 24, 1984, and any amendments thereto.
(j) "Improvement" shall mean and refer to street work, storm drainage, utilities, and landscaping to be installed, or agreed to be installed, by the subdivider on the land to be used for public or private streets, highways, 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 other specific improvements or types of improvements, the installation of which, either by the subdivider, by public agencies, by private utilities, or by any other entity approved by the local agency, or by a combination thereof, is necessary or convenient to insure conformity to or the implementation of the General Plan or any adopted Specific Plan.
Improvements shall be constructed in accordance with the Standard Specifications and Plans and/or, when applicable, with standards as adopted by local utility companies.
(k) "Lot" shall mean a parcel or portion of land separated from other parcels or portions by description, as on a subdivision, parcel, or record of survey map, or by metes and bounds, for the purpose of sale, lease, or separate use.
(l) "Lot line adjustment" shall mean a minor shift or rotation of an existing lot line or other adjustment between two (2) or more adjacent parcels, where land taken from one parcel is added to an adjacent parcel, and where a greater number of parcels than originally existed is not created.
(m) "Merger" shall mean the joining of two (2) or more contiguous parcels of land under one ownership into one parcel.
(n) "Monument" shall mean a metal or concrete marker, with the surveyor's number indicated, which is placed to denote a survey point.
(o) "Parcel map" shall mean a map showing a division of land of four (4) or less parcels as required by this title, prepared in accordance with the provisions of this title and the Subdivision Map Act.
(p) "Remainder" shall mean that portion of an existing parcel which is not included as part of the subdivided land. The remainder shall not be considered as part of the subdivision for numbered lots (as governed by the Subdivision Map Act) but shall be shown on the required maps as part of the area surrounding the subdivision development.
(q) "Street" shall mean an alley, arterial, bicycle lane, collector street, minor street, cul-de-sac, expressway, freeway, frontage road, part-width street, and pedestrian walk which shall conform to the requirements contained in the Standard Specifications and Drawings and other Specific Plans as are required by the Planning Department and approved by the City Engineer.
(r) "Subdivider" shall mean a person, firm, corporation, partnership, or association who or which proposes to divide, divides, or causes to be divided real property into a subdivision for oneself or for others, except that employees and consultants of persons or entities, acting in such capacity, shall not be "subdividers."
(s) "Subdivision Improvement Standards" shall mean Standard Specifications and Plans and other standards approved by the Council which shall govern the improvements to be constructed pursuant to this title and the Subdivision Map Act.
(t) "Subdivision" shall mean the division, by any subdivider, of any unit or units of improved or unimproved contiguous land 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. Property shall be considered as contiguous units even if it is separated by roads, streets, utility easements, or railroad rights-of-way. "Subdivision" shall include a condominium project, as defined in this section or in Section 1350 of the Civil Code of the State, or a community apartment project, as defined in Section 11004 of the Business and Professions Code of the State, or the conversion of existing dwelling units to a stock cooperative, as defined in Section 11003.2 of said Business and Professions Code. "Subdivision" shall include any division of land by gift or inheritance (probate). 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 the purpose of computing the number of parcels.
"Subdivision" shall not include:
(1) 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 lease or financing;
(2) Land divided by mineral, oil, or gas leases;
(3) Land dedicated for cemetery purposes pursuant to the Health and Safety Code of the State; and
(4) Lot line adjustments. Lot line adjustments shall be approved by the Council.
(u) "Subdivision Map Act" shall mean Sections 66410 though 66499, as amended, of the Government Code of the State.
(v) "Tentative map" shall mean and refer to a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvements of a proposed subdivision, and the existing conditions in and around it, and need not be based upon an accurate or detailed final survey of the property.
(w) "Zoning Ordinance" shall mean Chapter 2 of Title 9 of this Code or any ordinance enacted under zoning laws. In the event of a conflict between any section, part, or condition addressed in this title to any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase in the Zoning Ordinance, the Zoning Ordinance shall prevail, and the conflicting subdivision area is hereby repealed.