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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05191998 - D4 Contra + - ' Costa TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS t County FROM: DENNIS M. BARRY, AICP �,+, .'' *q* DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT �t . DATE: May 19, 1998 SUBJECT: May 19, 1998 Hearing can the Appeal by Charles Pringle of an Administrative Decision by the Director of Community Development Determining that Four Assessor' s Tax Parcels in the Knightsen area Do Not Constitute Separate Legal Building Sites (APN 20-180-020, -022, - 025, & -027) (Andrieu Property) , County File ##21977775 SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION E 1. Find that the Appellant has not : A. Provided adequate evidence that the four Assessor' s tax ' parcels each constitute a separate legal building site. B. Exhausted all Administrative Remedies by, having failed to first apply for Certificates (or Conditional Certificates) of Compliance pursuant to Government Code Sections 65499 .35 and 66412 .6 . as advised by .staff . 2 . Deny the Appeal . 3 . Authorize Community Development Department staff to find the four parcels qualify as only two legal building sites, defined as follows: so-called Parcel One consisting of APN 020-180-022 and -027, and so-Called Parcel Two consisting of APN 020-180- 020 & -025 . Prior to issuance of a building permit on Parcel One, the appellant would need to comply with the public notice and review requirements of the Small Lot Ordinance, Section 82-10 . 002 (c) of the Ordinance Cade . 4 . To determine the steps necessary to qualify for a building permit on any of the four assessor' s parcels as separate building sites : CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X _ YES SIGNATURE ,; RECOMMENDATION OF COUN'T'Y ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE (S) : ACTION OF BOARD ON May 19, 1APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER. x See Addendum for Board action. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A x UNANIMOUS (ABSENT I TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES : NOES : ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact : Bob Drake [ (925) 335-12141 Orig: Community Development Department ATTES`T`ED? M y.,'t<.) , 1 ()5)R Cc : Charles Pringle PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF Elsworth Andrieu THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS County Counsel C0 Y ADMINISTRATOR Public Warks Dept . BY a , DEPUTY c: \wpdoc\pringle.bo RD\ Appeal of Administrative Decision Request for Residential Building Pexmits for Four Assessor's Tax Parcels, Kn.ightsen area Charles Pringle - Appellant, County File #ZX977775 A. Advise the appellant/owner to file with', the Community Development Department for certificates of compliance in accord with the provisions of Government Code Section 66499 .35 . B�..,,, Direct the Community Development Department to conduct a r`ib fed public hearing before the zoning Administrator on an app7"ft� for certificate of compliance for each of the sject a� s is parcels prior to issuing and recorg a certifica conditional certificate of compliance. Prior to holdxr ~-�, hearing, the Public Works Department and the Knightsen Tow3risory Council shall be provided an opportunity to comm on the application. The notice of the hearing shall be 1. d to the owners of property within 300 feet of the site. F L IMP The applicant paid a fee of $125 for this appeal. When considering the staff time in preparing this staff report and the hearing of the appeal, staff will have minimally expended approximately 9 hours of time towards the review of this appeal, or equal to approximately $540. Thus, the staff costs are estimated to exceed revenues collected by more than $700 . There is no provision in the adopted fee schedule to collect additional revenue from the applicant to cover the full amount of the staff expense. CKGR9= The County has received an appeal of an administrative decision by the Community Development Department relative to an attempt to qualify for building permits for residential development on each of four lots in the east county area. On or about April. 13, 1995, Charles Pringle approached the Application and Permit Center to obtain clearance from Community Development Department staff for building permits for four separate residences on four separate assessor' s parcels in the Knightsen area . The parcels are located on the east side of Eden Plains Road, north of Sunset Road. The four parcels are part of a larger holding of the owner, Elsworth Andrieu. Mr. Pringle was informed by the Community Development Department staff that staff did not have evidence that any of the four sites qualified under State law as a legal building site. Thus, staff informed Mr. Pringle that the Community Development Department was not authorized to clear the proposed residences as required by law before a building permit may issue . Staff informed Mr. Pringle that Assessor' s Tax parcels are representations of geographic tax units and are not necessarily recognized by State law in every instance as a legal building site. Further, staff informed Mr. Pringle that any of the four parcels had been legally created as authorized under planning law. Staff also advised Mr. Pringle that he should apply for a Certificate (or Conditional Certificate) of Compliance pursuant to Sections 66499 .35 and 66412 . 6 of the Government Code. A -2- Appeal of Administrative Decision .Request for Residential Build nq Permits for Four Assessor's Tax .Parcels, Knightsen area Charles Pringle -- .Appellant, County',File #ZI977775 Conditional Certificate of Compliance would indicate necessary conditions (possibly including entitlement actions) that would have to be complied with before a building permit could be issued for a particular site . Subsequently, on April 29, 1998, Mr. Pringle received written confirmation from the Community Development Department that the proposed development would not qualify for building permits . That , same day, Mr. Pringle filed an appeal of the ladministrative decision by the Community Development Department . PERTINENT T AW Legal lots are parcels that were created in accord with State and County subdivision law requirements, or were created 'prior to those laws taking effect. The laws have been enacted over a period of years with increasing regulatory effect. Some of the more relevant enactments of the State and County are summarized below. In 1693, the State Legislature adopted a law that required the recording of subdivisions into small Lots for the purposes of sale (Stat 1893, Chapter 80) . In 1937, the Subdivision Map Act was adopted that prohibited the sale of land without prior governmental approval . In 1953, the County Subdivision Ordinance was enacted that defined a subdivision as a division of a parcel into five or more lots. It did not regulate divisions of fewer than five lots. The law also required that noticed public hearings be conducted prior to a decision on a tentative subdivision map application,. In 1958, the County enacted an amendment to the Subdivision Ordinance to regulate small divisions (four or fewer parcels) . It should be noted that Section 66424 provides that' a subdivision means the division of any unit or units of land shown, on the latest equalized assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units, for the purpose of sale, lease or financing. It goes on to specify that property shall be considered as contiguous units even if it is separated by roads, streets, utility easement or railroad rights- of-way. ights-- of-way. Notwithstanding the above subdivision process requirements, current subdivision law also authorizes that lots created prior to March 4, 1972 may be conclusively presumed to have been lawfully created if any subsequent purchaser acquired that parcel for valuable consideration without actual or constructive knowledge of a violation of the subdivision law. (Refer to Section 66412 (b) of the Government Code. ) Last year, staff was approached by the owner of the property, Elsworth Andrieu, regarding the ability of the existing property to qualify for building permits . He provided staff with several grant deed and title instruments pertaining to the subject four assessor' s parcels and two other intervening assessor' s parcels (APN 020-180-021 & -026) . Staff had asked Mr. Andrieu to supply a chain-of-title (that is, copies of grant deed instruments) for the six parcels for the last forty years . Regrettably, there are -3- Appeal of Administrative Decision Request for Residential Building .Permits for Your Assessor's Tax Parcels, Knightsen area Charles Pringle _ Appellant, County File #ZI977775 apparent gaps in the deed instruments which were available to the owner. Refer to a letter dated May 6, 1997 . The deed instruments included a copy of a 11/2/22 deed to the Knightsen Irrigation District conveying a 50-foot strip of land. However, based on a review of the grant deeds that were provided to staff, staff advised Mr. Andrieu that the deed descriptions describe only three historic parcels among the area of the six assessor' s parcels. The documentation indicates that these Parcels consist of the following configurations: Parcel One : APN 020-180-022 & -027 (Subject of Appeal) Parcel Two: APN 020-180-020 & -025 (Subject of Appeal) Parcel Three: APN 020-180-021 & -026 (Not subject to Appeal) The deeds describe each of the three historic parcels as a unit of land which emits a strip of land that was conveyed to the Irrigation District. Staff advised Mr. Andrieu that the conveyance of right-of-way to the Irrigation District does not cause the legal division of the properties that became physically separated by the right-of-way for purposes of sale, leasing or financing. Staff could find no evidence that any of the six assessor' s parcels were legally created prior to the enactment of subdivision regulation. Nor did staff find that any of the six assessor' s parcels could be conclusively presumed to have been lawfully created under Section 66412 (b) of the Government Code insofar as there was no evidence of a deed instrument recorded prior to March 4, 1972 that had separately described any of the assessor' s parcels . Accordingly, staff advised Mr. Andrieu that unless he could provide evidence that any of the six assessor' s parcels constituted legal building sites, none would be able to qualify for building permits . ropertiez Dee=d Eligible as Legal Builcling Sites Staff is prepared to issue a building permit on each of the three historic parcels subject to compliance with zoning requirements . However, before a building permit may be issued on 'Parcel One, a discretionary approval will be required. The parcel constitutes approximately 4 .8 acres and has an average width of 165 feet, both substandard dimensions for the existing zoning. Development of this site will require that the applicant/owner comply with the design review requirements including public notice of the Small Lot Review Ordinance. REVIEW OF ERINGLE APPEAL The appeal letter provides no evidence supporting the appellant' s position that the County should be required to find that the four parcels constitute legal building sites . The appellant may be confusing parcels on the Assessor' s Map as legal building sites . Individuals often misunderstand that an assessor' s parcel as permitting the owner to convey the assessor' s parcel without first obtaining a subdivision map. The assessor' s parcel designations have no effect on application of the Subdivision Map Act, and owners may not divide land along the lines of the assessor' s parcels for the purpose of sale, lease, or -4- Appeal of Acbinistrative Decision .Request for Residential Building Permits for Four Assessor's Tax Parcels, Knightsen area Charles Pringle - .Appellant, County File #Z1977775 financing without first obtaining a subdivision map. The function and purpose of the assessor is to raise revenue and not to regulate the division of land. The appellant may also be confusing the physical separation of the parcels which occurred in 1922 by conveyance of a strip of Land to the Irrigation District as a legal subdivision in which properties to the east of the strip was legally subdivided from the properties west of the strip. However, as indicated above, the mere physical separation of parcels does not constitute a legal subdivision under the law. If the owner of this property decides to file 'a subdivision application to create the existing four assessor' s' lots as legal building sites under subdivision and planning law, there are several matters that will need to be considered. The owner would be required to obtain ether entitlements before a subdivision application could be approved. Three of the assessor' s parcels are less than five acres in size. Relevant General Plan PQicies an onia The site is designated Agricultural Lands by the General Plan Land Use map. Policy #8-w of the Conservation Element specifies that the minimum parcel size for Agricultural subdivisions is 5-acres . Therefore, a subdivision of land under the Assessor' s parcel configurations could not be found consistent with the general plan as required: by law. To satisfy the general plan consistency requirement, the owner would have to apply for and have the County amend the general plan to a residential designation (e.g. , Single Family Residential - Very Low) . The property would also have to be rezoned from General Agricultural, A-2 (5-acre minimum) , to a conforming zoning district (e.g. , Single Family Residential, R-100) . However, it should also be noted that the site is located outside of the Urban Limit Line. Any proposed general plan amendment to redesignate the site to a Residential general plan category would also require adjustment to the Urban Limit Line. .Any adjustment of the Urban Limit Line requires a four- fifths vote of the Board of Supervisors pursuant to Section 82-1 . 018 of the County Ordinance. Prior to accepting a subdivision application, the County would require adoption of a general plan amendment for the site. Drainage I=rovement (Collect and Convey) Reauirements Any subdivision application would likely be conditioned to require drainage improvements which could be so extensive as to make completion of a subdivision cost prohibitive. The site lies to the east of Marsh Creek, on the flat plains south of the Town of Knightsen. The subdivision ordinance requires that all subdivisions convey runoff generated flowing onto and collected on a property to an adequate manmade or natural watercourse. For the Knightsen area, it is the current practice of the Public Works Department to recommend the granting of an exception to the collect and convey requirement where the proposed parcels are 10 acres in size or larger. Where the parcels being proposed are less than 10 -5- Appeal of Adm.inistratire Decision Request for Residential Building Permits for Four Assessor's Tax Parcels, Knicghtsen area Charles Pringle - Appellant, County File #ZI977775 ' acres in size, the current practice of the Public Works Department is to recommend that all subdivisions comply with the collect and convey requirement, notwithstanding any related cost . The particular drainage opportunities for the subject property are not known, but it appears that satisfying the collect and convey requirement for development of this site could be very costly, possibly involving the construction of drainage improvements 1-2 miles to reach an adequate watercourse. Improvements may require the crossing of roads and other barriers, and obtaining drainage releases from various property owners . Filina for and Public Hearing of CertificaLea (ConditiQnal e i f axe Qf QQ=Iiance As a method for determining whether the assessor' s parcels are legal and what steps would need to be followed to allow for development, the Board should advise the appellant to file for certificates of compliance on each of the four assessor's parcels . The State law authorizes staff to record a certificate of compliance or a conditional certificate of compliance as deemed appropriate. Further, the Board should direct the Zoning Administrator to conduct a noticed public hearing prior to executing and recording a certificate. The owners of the property within 300 feet should receive prior notice of the hearing, and the Knightsen Town Advisory Council should be provided an opportunity to comment on the applications for certificates of complianceprior to a decision. The costs of the certificate of compliance review would be borne by the applicant in accord with the adopted fee schedule,. Each parcel would require a separate certificate application ' including an initial fee of $625, plus additional fees if time and material expenses exceed 1201 of the initial fee. ALTERNATIVE ACTIO If the Board is satisfied that adequate evidence has been presented that the four parcels were lawfully created, then the Board could grant the appeal and authorize staff to issue building permits subject to compliance with the zoning ordinance. In this circumstance, several of the parcels would still be subject to discretionary approvals before a building permit could be issued. Three parcels are substandard in size and would therefore be subject to the public notice and design review requirements of the Small Lot ordinance which would have to be followed for purposes of evaluating compatibility of proposed improvements with the surrounding area. -6- ADDENDUM TO ITEM D.4 MAY 19, 1998 This is the time noticed by the Clerk of the Beard for hearing on the administrative appeal of Charles Pringle from the decision of the Community Development Director determining that four separate Assessor' s Tax Parcels do not constitute separate legal building sites, County File ZI 97-7775, Knightsen area. Dennis Barry, Community Development Director, presented the staff report on the appeal, and described the parcels in question, and presented a brief history of the appeal . Mr. Barry modified the staff recommendation 4 to delete part B. The following person presented testimony: Charles Pringle, 8300 Jantzen Road, Modesto, appellant/applicant . The Board discussed the matter. There being no further speakers, on recommendation. of Supervisor Canciamilla, IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that staff recommendations 1, 2, 3, and 4A are APPROVED.