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DURING THE 1970s, California entered the modern era of land use regulation. Sweeping new laws and landmark court decisions created a powerful suite of planning, subdivision and environmental regulations aimed at protecting the environment and controlling growth.
The first zoning ordinance in the nation was introduced in New York City in 1916. After surviving a U.S. Supreme Court challenge in 1926, the idea spread rapidly throughout the country. Zoning became one of the only tools California cities and counties had for controlling development from the 1920s through the 1960s.
During the post World War II boom years of the 1950s and 1960s, abuses by developers coupled with an increased environmental awareness led Americans to demand tougher land use regulations. In 1972, California mandated comprehensive general plans for all cities and counties. The State further required that all zoning and subdivision regulations be consistent with the general plan. The City of Petaluma received national attention when it decided to limit housing development to 500 units per year. Petaluma’s decision was upheld in 1976 by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
In 1972, the California Supreme Court issued its famous Friends of Mammoth v. Board of Supervisors decision, which required environmental impact reports for private projects. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), passed in 1970, had originally applied only to public projects.
Proposition 20 (the California Coastal Initiative of 1972), which later became the California Coastal Act of 1976, mandated a state-wide coastal plan to be adopted by all California coastal cities and counties. Mendocino County adopted the coastal element of their general plan in November, 1985.
In 1974, the California Subdivision Map Act was toughened up and rewritten. The State had a mapping act as early as 1907, but it was mainly a method for assuring title to subdivided lots. The new Map Act required subdividers to conform to the local general plan and zoning ordinance, prepare environmental impact reports, construct improvements, dedicate land and pay impact fees for such things as parks and schools.
Buried under this new layer of land use regulations, old subdivisions dating back to before the Civil War still exist. Some of these underlying parcels are legitimate, some are illegal and some are the obvious remains of failed land speculation schemes.
The State of California attempted to clear up the confusion by amending the Subdivision Map Act in 1984. The amendments set forth some guidelines for the merger and non-merger of underlying parcels and required cities and counties to adopt implementing ordinances.
With few exceptions, the Map Act requires local governments issue a certificate of compliance if a landowner can provide proof that any underlying parcel was separately owned prior to the adoption of the local land division regulations. Landowners usually enlist the help of a local title company to search for underlying parcels. Using old deeds and other records as evidence, the landowner merely fills out a form and can get an instant subdivision through a simple administrative procedure.
Property rights advocates say that certificates of compliance provide a necessary protection against unlawful takings of private property by government agencies. They argue that landowners are entitled to these old lots which were not recognized when the new land use regulations took effect. Planning advocates regard certificates of compliance as a major loophole in the strict planning and environmental controls mandated by the public.
Many landowners in Mendocino County have found that certificates of compliance combined with boundary line adjustments are an inexpensive way to add value to their property. In some cases, the resulting subdivision simply creates lots which are similar in size to their neighbors’ legally nonconforming lots. In other cases, the newly-created lots can block ocean views, destroy agricultural land and increase densities beyond the limits of the general plan.
Mendocino County’s Local Coastal Program Five-Year Review, published in May, 1999, revealed that nearly as many new parcels were created through certificates of compliance (362) as were created by land divisions (383) within the county’s coastal zone since 1985. No one knows how many of these phantom subdivisions exist throughout the county or how many new lots will be created in the future from underlying parcels.
In December, 1997 the County Board of Supervisor’s took a stand on certificates of compliance by voting unanimously to deny a boundary line adjustment for the 500 acre Bridgeport Ranch south of Elk. The County had previously issued six certificates of compliance for the ranch, but the Supervisors would not allow a boundary line adjustment which would have re-configured these old parcels into four ocean front lots.
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors took a similar stand in March, 1999 when they adopted a controversial emergency ordinance prohibiting landowners from adjusting lot lines to create more parcels than are allowed under the current zoning ordinance.
The following is a summary of the rules regarding certificates of compliance derived from the state Map Act, the Mendocino County Division of Land Regulations and other sources. For a more thourough explanation of County rules and policies, contact the Mendocino County Planning and Building Department.
- The County may recognize certain lots created by patent, deed or sale prior to March 4, 1972. Before this date it was permissible to divide a parcel into two lots without County approval.
- Minimum lot sizes are 6,000 sf with public water and sewer, 12,000 sf with either public water or public sewer, and 40,000 sf with neither.
- Each lot must have access to a public road. The access must meet minimum County standards.
- The underlying parcel must have been created legally.
- The lot must meet slope stability standards.
- The lot must meet public health and safety standards.
- The lot must comply with the general plan, except for minimum lot size and density standards.
- Certificates of compliance will normally not be granted for resource lands under Williamson Act contracts (agricultural preserves) or zoned TP (timber production), with some exceptions.
- A subdivision or boundary line adjustment will normally extinguish underlying parcels, with some exceptions.
- The County can restrict or deny boundary line adjustments for lots created through certificates of compliance.
- The County can restrict or deny development on lots created through certificates of compliance.
- Within the coastal zone, boundary line adjustments require a coastal development permit.
Certificates of compliance, although controversial and misunderstood, can have a major impact on real estate value. Buyers and sellers of rural land, and the real estate agents who represent them, should include a search for underlying parcels along with the standard title report.
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Chet Boddy, Real Estate Appraisal, Sales and Consulting
43300 LR Airport Road, #59, Little River, CA 95456
707-937-4011, office
707-937-4818, fax
chet@chetboddy.com
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Copyright © 2002 Chet Boddy, All Rights Reserved
Chet Boddy is a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, Realtor“ and real estate consultant who has lived on the Mendocino Coast since 1976. Look for this and other real estate columns on Chet’s web site at www.chetboddy.com
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