This title shall be known and cited as the subdivision ordinance of the city of Lemon Grove or as this title.
No person shall create a subdivision except in accordance with the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act and this title.
Except as otherwise expressly provided in this title, all of the provisions of the Subdivision Map Act which apply to subdivisions as defined in that Act, and all of the provisions of this title apply to subdivisions as defined in this title. This title shall be inapplicable to:
A. 
The financing or leasing of apartments, offices, stores, or similar space within a duplex, multiple dwelling, apartment building, industrial building, commercial building, mobile home park or trailer park;
B. 
Mineral, oil or gas leases;
C. 
Land dedicated for cemetery purposes under the Health and Safety Code of the state.
No real property, improved or unimproved, consisting of a single unit or two or more contiguous units and owned by the same person or persons shall be divided into two or more lots, including any lot retained by the owner, except in accordance with the provision of this title.
A. 
Major Subdivisions. The planning commission is designated as the advisory agency, as that term is used in the Subdivision Map Act, for major subdivisions and shall have the authority to perform the actions as set forth in Section 16.12.260 of this title. The planning commission may prescribe, subject to the approval of the city council, such rules and regulations as are necessary or advisable with respect to the form and content of tentative maps required by the Subdivision Map Act or this title and the data to be furnished with such tentative maps.
B. 
Minor Subdivisions. The planning director is designated as the advisory agency, as that term is used in the Subdivision Map Act, for minor subdivisions and shall have the authority to perform the actions as set forth in Section 16.16.360 of this title. The planning director may prescribe, subject to the approval of the city council, such rules and regulations as are necessary or advisable with respect to the form and content of tentative parcel maps required by this title. Also, the planning director, subject to the approval of the city council, may prescribe rules and regulations as to the form and content of adjustment plats and the data to be filed with such plats.
All tentative maps and tentative parcel maps shall be subject to environmental review in accordance with rules and procedures adopted by the city council pursuant to the Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as amended. Consequently, decisions to approve, conditionally approve or deny any tentative map or tentative parcel map shall be subject to the following:
A. 
Tentative Maps.
1. 
Negative Declaration. Upon receipt of a negative declaration with respect to any tentative map, the planning commission, or on appeal the city council, may proceed to consider the tentative map without an environmental impact report.
2. 
Environmental Impact Report. With respect to any tentative map for which an environmental impact report is required, the planning commission, or on appeal the city council, shall consider such report as independent evidence in determining whether to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the tentative map. In addition to any other discretion granted by law, the planning commission, or on appeal, the city council, shall have the authority to consider the adequacy of the environmental impact report and refer it back to the planning director for preparation of a supplementary report in any case in which such report is deemed necessary for a decision on the tentative map. In cases where a proposal has changed substantially since the time of initial review, such director or commission or council may require a supplementary environmental impact report.
B. 
Tentative Parcel Maps.
1. 
Negative Declaration. Upon receipt of a negative declaration with respect to any tentative parcel map, the planning director, or on appeal, the planning commission or city council, may proceed to consider the tentative parcel map without an environmental impact report.
2. 
Environmental Impact Report. With respect to any tentative parcel map for which an environmental impact report is required, the planning director, or on appeal, the planning commission or city council, shall consider such report as independent evidence in determining whether to approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the tentative parcel map. In addition to any other discretion granted by law, the planning commission, or on appeal, the city council, shall have the authority to consider the adequacy of the environmental impact report and refer it back to the planning director for preparation of a supplementary report in any case in which such report is deemed necessary for a decision on the tentative map. In cases where a proposal has changed substantially since the time of initial review, such director or commission or council may require a supplementary environmental impact report.
Whenever security is filed with the city council pursuant to Section 66493 of the Government Code to secure the payment of taxes or special assessments collected as taxes which are a lien on the property to be subdivided but not yet payable, the city clerk, upon notification by the tax collector that the total amount of such taxes or special assessments have been paid in full, may release the security.
Meaning.
Words used in this title that are defined in the Subdivision Map Act but not specifically defined in this chapter, shall have the same meaning as is given to them in the Subdivision Map Act. Whenever the following words are used in this title, they shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this chapter.
Listing.
1. 
"Adjustment plat"
means a plat prepared pursuant to Article III of Chapter 16.16 of this title and certified by the planning director as having been approved pursuant to this title and filed in the planning department.
2. 
"Bicycle"
means a device, upon which any person may ride, propelled by human power through a belt, chain or gears, and having either two or three wheels in a tandem or tricycle arrangement.
3. 
"Bicycle route"
means the generic term for all facilities that explicitly provide for bicycle travel by a course which is to be traveled.
4. 
"Cable television lines"
means electronic cable, conduit, and any other appurtenances thereto, which distribute television signals.
5. 
"Certificate of compliance"
means a document describing a unit or contiguous units of real property and stating that the division thereof complies with applicable provisions of the Subdivision Map Act and city ordinances enacted pursuant thereto.
6. 
"City standards"
means those standards and specifications, including standard drawings, as may be adopted by resolution of the city council from time to time. These standards are to be on file in the office of the city clerk.
7. 
"Director of public health"
means the city manager or a designee.
8. 
"Filing date"
means the date on which a tentative map or tentative parcel map receives a negative declaration or notice of completion from the planning director. The time limits specified in the Subdivision Map Act for reporting and acting on maps shall commence with the filing date as defined above.
9. 
"Fire marshal"
means that person designated by the city council, pursuant to Section 2.12.020 of this code.
10. 
"Improvement"
means:
a. 
Such street work and utilities, including street lights and walkways, to be installed or agreed to be installed by the subdivider on 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, drainage, flood control, fire protection and sanitation needs as a condition precedent to the approval of a parcel map or final map.
b. 
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 ensure conformity to or implementation of the general plan required by Article 5 (commencing with Section 65300) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, or any specific plan adopted pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 65450) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.
11. 
a. 
"Lease"
means and includes an oral, as well as a written lease, tenancy at will, month-to-month or similar tenancy.
b. 
This title shall not apply to the leasing of apartments, offices, stores or similar space within an apartment building, industrial building, commercial building, or trailer park, except as provided in subsection 12 of this section, nor shall this title apply to mineral, oil or gas leases. Except in the case of subdivisions, as defined by Section 66424 of the Subdivision Map Act, the provisions of this title shall not apply to short-term leases (terminable by either party on not more than thirty days' notice in writing) of a portion of the operating right-of-way of a railroad corporation, defined as such by Section 230 of the Public Utilities Code.
12. 
"Lease project"
means a development wherein two or more residential or commercial buildings are constructed and maintained on a parcel of land and apartments, offices, stores or similar space are leased within one or more of the buildings, overall control of the land and buildings comprising the project being retained by the lessor. The following shall not be included when computing the number of buildings within a lease project:
a. 
Accessory or satellite buildings;
b. 
Parking structures;
c. 
Commercial buildings having a floor area of less than four hundred square feet.
13. 
"Lot"
means a lot, parcel or tract of real property.
14. 
"Lot area"
means the horizontal areas within the boundary lines of a lot exclusive of:
a. 
The area of any street right-of-way or road easement;
b. 
Any flood control easement or walkway which, as a condition of approval of the subdivision map on which the lot is shown, must be fenced; and
c. 
Any portion of the lot which is less than thirty-five feet wide for a distance of fifty feet or more and which is designed or used to provide vehicular or pedestrian access to the part of such lot which is designed for use as a building site.
15. 
"Major subdivision"
means a subdivision of five or more lots.
16. 
"Minor subdivision"
means a subdivision of four or fewer lots.
17. 
"Notice of violation"
means a document describing a unit or contiguous units of real property, naming the owners thereof, and describing the manner in which such real property has been divided, or has resulted from a division, in violation of the Subdivision Map Act and city ordinances enacted pursuant thereto.
18. 
"Parcel map"
means a map prepared pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 66444), Chapter 2, Division 2, Title 7 of the Government Code (Subdivision Map Act).
19. 
"Planning director"
means the community development director of the city.
20. 
"Remainder parcel"
means the largest of four or fewer lots created by the division of an original lot or parcel, which largest lot contains a gross area equal to or greater than the sum of the areas of the other lot or lots created, but not less than forty acres.
21. 
"Street"
means all highways, streets, roads, and alleys both public and private, as well as public and private easements for ingress and egress.
22. 
"Subdivider"
means a person, firm, corporation, partnership or association who proposes 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.
23. 
"Subdivision"
means the division, by any subdivider, of any unit or units 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 purposes 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 separated by roads, streets, utility easements or railroad rights-of-way. "Freeway," as defined in Section 23.5 of the Streets and Highways Code, shall not be considered as roads or streets for the purpose of interpreting this section. Subdivision includes a condominium project, as defined in Section 1350 of the Civil Code, a community apartment project, as defined in Section 11004 of the Business and Professions Code, or the conversion of five or more existing dwelling units to a stock cooperative, as defined in Section 11003.2 of the Business and Professions Code. As used in this section, "agricultural purposes" means the cultivation of food or fiber or the grazing or pasturing of livestock.
24. 
"Subdivision Map Act"
means the Subdivision Map Act as set forth in Division 2 of Title 7 of the Government Code of the state of California.
25. 
"Tentative map"
means a map made for the purpose of showing the design and improvement 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.
26. 
"Tentative parcel map"
means a map prepared for the purpose of showing the design and improvement of a proposed minor subdivision.
27. 
"Through lot"
means a lot having frontage on two parallel or nearly parallel streets.
28. 
"Vesting tentative map"
means a tentative map for a subdivision which conforms with all applicable requirements of the State Subdivision Map Act and the city subdivision ordinance, and confers upon the subdivider certain rights established by the city subdivision ordinance.
29. 
"Vesting tentative parcel map"
means a vesting tentative map prepared in conjunction with a parcel map.