Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/161/749.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 02:36:20+00:00

Document:
JOHN TAFT CORPORATION, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. ADVISORY AGENCY FOR THE COUNTY OF VENTURA, Defendant and Appellant; COUNTY OF VENTURA, Real Party in Interest and Appellant.
Dorothy L. Schechter, County Counsel, and Andrew B. Gustafson, Assistant County Counsel, for Defendant and Appellant and for Real Party in Interest and Appellant.
Stanley E. Cohen, Robert B. England, Mitchel B. Kahn and Cohen, England & Whitfield for Plaintiff and Respondent.
The Advisory Agency for the County of Ventura and the County of Ventura (referred to collectively as the County) appeal from a writ of mandate directing the County to release the notice of intention to record a notice of violation (Gov. Code, § 66499.36) fn. 1 which it recorded February 2, 1983, on two lots transferred by John Taft Corporation (Taft) to Charles and Helen Willett. We conclude that Taft's conveyances of these two lots without prior County approval, while retaining the balance of its contiguous land, violated section 66499.30, subdivision (b) of the Subdivision Map Act (the Map Act) and Ventura County Ordinance Code section 8211. We therefore reverse the trial court's order.
The facts are undisputed. On June 26, 1878, the two lots in question were public lands owned by the United States of America (United States). On that date a United States Government Survey Map (U.S. Survey Map), prepared according to federal statutes governing the survey and subdivision of public lands (formerly Rev. Stat., § 2395 et seq., now 43 U.S.C. § 751 et seq.), was approved and filed in the office of the U.S. Surveyor General for the State of California. The U.S. Survey Map outlined and identified, among other things, lots 1, 2 and 3 of section 21 in Township 4 North, Range 22 West, San Bernardino Meridian in California. The boundary lines between lots 1 and 2 and between lots 2 and 3, respectively, were administratively drawn on the U.S. Survey Map and they do not represent lines actually run or surveyed.
The trial court found that descriptions of the parcels which the patent conveyed to James Gibson were determined according to the U.S. Survey Map, rather than according to the acreage description. The court further concluded that this conveyance was a "subdivision" by the United States of the real property into the separate and distinct parcels described in the patent pursuant to the federal statutes governing the survey, subdivision and sale of public lands. It was not subject to any then-existing California statutes regulating the subdivision of land, or to any local ordinances enacted pursuant thereto.
On May 5, 1965, Taft acquired title to lots 1 and 2 and a portion of lot 3. Each conveyance in the chain of title running from the United States to Taft had been accomplished by a single instrument which separately identified, but did not divide ownership of lots 1, 2 and 3 of section 21. On July 6, 1971, Taft acquired an additional 20-acre parcel of land contiguous to the southern border of the portion of lot 3 which it already owned. It then owned lot 1 of approximately 47.25 acres, lot 2 of approximately 43.75 acres, a portion of lot 3 containing approximately 27.10 acres and the additional 20-acre parcel.
Effective February 25, 1972, the County enacted an ordinance which altered the zoning and specified a minimum parcel size of 40 acres. Taft concedes that the 27.10-acre portion of lot 3 which it owned was thereby merged with the newly acquired contiguous 20-acre parcel. The County acknowledges that if each of the three lots was a separate and distinct parcel under the Map Act immediately prior to passage of its ordinance, that would be the only merger of Taft land resulting from the ordinance.
The County Advisory Agency conducted hearings on April 20, 1983, with respect to these lots. Based on the evidence adduced at these hearings, the Ventura Resource Management Agency then determined (1) that the 20-acre parcel and lots 1, 2 and 3 (which it treated as a single parcel) "ceased to exist as two separate lots and merged into a single lot as of February 25, 1972," and (2) that the conveyances of lots 1 and 2 constituted illegal land divisions in violation of the Map Act and local ordinances.
The trial judge concluded that this decision was erroneous because on February 25, 1972, Taft owned lot 1, lot 2, and the merged lot 3 as separate and distinct parcels which had been created pursuant to federal statutes [161 Cal. App. 3d 753] regulating the subdivision of public land owned by the United States. The lots were not subject to any then-existing California laws regulating the division of land, or to any local ordinances enacted pursuant thereto at the time of their creation, and they were not deemed merged solely because they had continued to be held by a single owner. Since they conformed to the minimum parcel sizes established by the County zoning ordinance, no further proceedings under the Map Act or County ordinances were required, and Taft's conveyances of the two lots did not constitute illegal subdivisions. (§§ 66424.2, subd. (a), 66499.30, subd. (d).) Therefore, the trial court ordered that a writ of mandate issue to procure the release of the notice of intention filed by the County.
[1a] The County contends that the trial judge erred in concluding that the original lots 1, 2 and 3 held by Taft constituted separate and distinct parcels of land which were created prior to the Map Act and therefore were not subject to its provisions, or to County ordinances.
The County concedes that lots 1 and 2 are "legal subdivisions" within the meaning of the federal survey law and that in California the Map Act exempts "established subdivisions." It argues, however, that the conveyances of these lots to the Willetts are not exempt from the Map Act because the word "subdivision" has a different meaning there than it does in the federal survey law.
After California became a part of the United States in 1848 all of its public lands--those not encompassed by the boundaries of a pueblo or a Spanish or Mexican land grant--were surveyed utilizing the system prescribed by the federal survey law. (See 1 Ogden, Revised Cal. Real Property Law (Cont.Ed.Bar 1974) § 14.4, pp. 588-593; 43 U.S.C. § 751 et seq.) fn. 2 The survey established a grid system oriented to north and south meridians and utilized six-mile square townships as its basic building blocks.
The Map Act regulates the manner in which an owner of a contiguous block of land may "subdivide" or convey a portion of land while retaining the balance. Section 66424 provides, in pertinent part: "'Subdivision' means the division, by any subdivider, of any unit or units of 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 purpose of sale...." Subdivision under the Map Act may be lawfully accomplished only by obtaining local approval and recording a final map (§ 66426 relating generally to five or more parcels) or a parcel map (§ 66428 relating to the creation of four or fewer parcels) with the county recorder (§§ 66411.1, 66468).
[1b] We therefore focus on the question whether the U.S. Survey Map "established" a "subdivision" which "created" lots 1, 2 and 3 as "lawful parcels" which were exempt within the meaning of sections 66424.2 and 66499.30, subdivision (d) of the Map Act. Section 66412.7, enacted in 1980, provides that "[a] subdivision shall be deemed established" on the date the required map is recorded; if a subdivision is exempted from map requirements, it is established when the application for a certificate of exemption is filed with the local agency. The Legislature thus places significance on subdivision map recordation and local agency control. We are guided by this legislative intent.
Federal statutes provide for recordation of the U.S. Survey Map at the office of the U.S. Surveyor General (43 U.S.C. § 751) rather than the local office of the County recorder. Furthermore, the term "legal subdivision" may be applied to any unit smaller than a section which is an "aliquot" part of the section based on the quadrant even if that unit is not actually depicted on the U.S. Survey Map. (Jacob N. Wasserman (1967) 74 Interior Dec. 392.) The Map Act specifically requires a parcel map for divisions of quarter-quarter sections or other small units (§§ 66426, 66426, subdivision (d).) Therefore, the "legal subdivisions" referred to by the federal survey laws have not been "established" within the meaning of the Map Act. Had the Legislature intended to exempt such units of land from the Map Act, a [161 Cal. App. 3d 757] specific exemption from the "subdivision" definition of section 66424 could have been provided.
The writ of mandate is reversed.
FN 1. All references hereinafter are to the Government Code unless otherwise specified.
FN 2. This survey system is outlined in the federal statutes and further described in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Manual of Surveying Instructions (1947).

References: v. 
 § 66499
 § 2395
 § 751
 § 14
 § 751
 § 751