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OPINION NO. 74_28 <br />PAGE TWO <br />Section 34-98 purports to exempt certain property <br />from the requirements of Article IV, specifically property <br />which is any part of a former parcel which was divided into <br />parcels smaller than 12,000 square feet (about 1/4 acre) by <br />a recorded final subdivision map. On its face, it purports <br />to exempt an owner of such property from the necessity of <br />.filing any new r.1ap prior to any conveyance of such property <br />even though the property lines may differ from those set forth <br />in the recorded subdivision map, in circumstances where Article <br />IV would otherwise apply. Section 34-98 assumes that the owner <br />is making a new division of land within one of the five cate- <br />gories listed in Section 34-99. <br />To the extent that Section 34-98 creates a valid <br />exemption, it applies whether or not the new division will <br />effect an increase or decrease in the number of lots within <br />the recorded subdivision. There is nothing in the language of <br />the section to limit its effect to new divisions which merely <br />rearrange property lines without changing the .number of lots. <br />However, the provisions of Chapter 34 of the Santa <br />Ana .Municipal Code are valid only to the extent that they con- <br />form with the limitations on municipal power over land divi- <br />sion regulation imposed by the Subdivision Map Act. That Act, <br />in B..& P. Code Section 11535 (d) requires parcel maps to be <br />submitted to the city's governing body for review and approval <br />in the same manner as final subdivision maps. The only excep- <br />tion allowed by the state law is a waiver procedure permitted <br />in the cases of division into four or less parcels or division <br />into forty acre parcels. Section 34-98 does not create a <br />waiver procedure in conformity with the requirements of B & P <br />Code Section 11535(d). <br />Section 11535 (d) does, however, allow the city to <br />choose whether to impose the requirement. of filing a tentative <br />map prior to submission of the final map. Section 34-98 does <br />create a valid exemption, therefore, with respect to the Article <br />IV provisions pertaining to preliminary parcel maps. <br />The conclusion, therefore, is that any division of <br />property falling within Section 34-99 requires the filing of a <br />parcel-map, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section <br />34-98. However, property within the scope of 34-98 is exempt <br />-76- <br />