California Surveyors Forums

I have a project in Simi Valley and have a question regarding a possible Certificate of Compliance. The subject parcel has a meets and bounds deed that was recorded prior to 1972. This would normally make the parcel a legal lot. Unfortunately, the City has an ordinance in place stating that the parcel must be deeded prior to, I think, 1955. The City is mandating that my client record a Parcel Map on the property. I believe the SMA states that we can still file a Certificate of Compliance; however, the City told me they deal with all Certificate of Compliance submittals by mandating a Parcel Map. This doesn’t sound correct to me, especially since there is already an existing permitted structure existing on site.

Any ideas?

Ryan:

The last paragraph of §66499.34 reads:
The issuance of a permit or grant of approval for development of real property, or with respect to improvements that have been completed prior to the time a permit or grant of approval for development was required by local ordinances in effect at the time of the improvement, or with respect to improvements that have been completed in reliance upon a permit or grant of approval for development, shall constitute "real property which has been approved for development," for the purposes of subdivision (c) of Section 66499.35, and upon request by the person owning the real property or a vendee of such person pursuant to a contract of sale, the local agency shall issue a certificate of compliance for the affected real property.

Get a copy of the permit and provide it to the local jurisdiction.

The permit IS the Certificate of Compliance. End of story.

I have successfully used this in a number of cases where the parcel was "illegally subdivided" but was issued a permit to develop. The permit can be for ANYTHING, including an electric meter to run a light to shine on a cross for a church that owned an undeveloped parcel for which the local jurisdiction was requiring a Conditional Certificate of Compliance.

Intimate knowledge of the Subdivision Map Act is critical.


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Below is the responce from the City:

The interpretation of 66499.35(b) is that if a parcel is not in compliance, a conditional cert will be recorded. However, the City will apply developmental conditions that would have been appropriate at the time of (illegal) parcel creation. This will require a parcel or tract map, as part of the CUP processing, but will not require any right-of-way construction conditions beyond what is already being required for this development.

We have also been advised by our City Attorney's office, based on conversations, that an illegal parcel cannot be "grand-fathered" as being legal just because it had a building permit issued for it once before.

Again, if you can have your title company produce a deed for this property recorded before 1955, then the parcel will be presumed to be legally created, but may still require the filing of a certificate of compliance.

The date of 1955 refers to an opinion from the Ventura County Surveyor, and as defined for staff by the Principal Engineer for Land Development with the City of Simi Valley. See attached sheet, especially the instruction at the bottom of the page.

The entirety of the chapter must be read in order to understand the context of the statue.

The purpose of the Certificate of Compliance is to allow the local jurisdiction to approve the legal status of the parcel in question. The owner of the parcel may not be granted permits to develop the property if the parcel is not a legally created parcel. That is the import of this portion of the Subdivision Map Act.

The interpretation of this is that, if the jurisdiction grants a permit to develop the property in any fashion, the jurisdiction HAS ALREADY ACCEPTED THAT THE PARCEL STATUS IS LEGAL. The permit, itself, is a form of compliance.

A similar situation exists with parcels created by a Parcel Map or Final Map. These parcels are never granted additional certificates because the Parcel Map or Final Map IS the certificate. A property owner CAN request a Certificate of Compliance from the jurisdiction. Because the jurisdiction has already granted the legal status under the Map, the Certificate is really pro forma.

In the same manner, the permit to build IS the Certificate of Compliance. The request, under Section 66499.34 is merely a formality. Under the statute, the jurisdiction MUST (no interpretation necessary, it's clearly spelled out) issue the certificate.

Since the jurisdiction is being so recalcitrant, you may have to ask the Court for an Order of Mandamus, essentially telling the jurisdiction to do its job under the law. You may also ask for the Court to award filling costs and attorney cost, but not lost revenue due to project delays.

Advise your client to contact an attorney with significant experience in real estate and development law if they want to pursue this.

The date of 1955 refers to an opinion from the Ventura County Surveyor

Note to self: Next time you need a legal opinion, be sure to ask the Ventura County Surveyor, who appears to be authoritative in these matters.

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After haggling with the City for awhile I believe I finally have them convinced. When I asked them "Will you please provide me with submittal requirements and an application form?", the response from Engineering was "No. Yours is my first one in ten years working here."

I replied with the City Ordinance below:

9-63.020 - Certificates of Compliance
The City shall process and decide upon applications for Certificates of Compliance in compliance with Map Act Sections 66499.34 and 66499.35, and as follows.
A.
Application. Any owner of a parcel, or any vendee of the owner in compliance with a contract of sale of the parcel, may submit to the City Engineer, in a form developed by the City, an application for a Certificate of Compliance. The application shall be accompanied by a current title report, deeds and other documentation necessary to a determination, and the processing fee specified by the City Schedule of Service Charges.

I then asked again for the application to be provided.