Source: https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/morehart-v-county-santa-barbara-31566
Timestamp: 2020-08-10 12:21:32
Document Index: 490075079

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 66499', '§ 1048', '§ 904', '§ 1048', '§ 707', '§ 1086', '§ 65850', '§ 65800', '§ 7', '§ 66411', '§ 66426', '§ 66428', '§ 66424', '§ 2', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 2', '§ 1', '§ 4', '§ 5', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 4', '§ 5', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 421', '§ 51104', '§ 51201', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 1', '§ 66451', '§ 1', '§ 23', '§ 7', '§ 30500', '§ 30000', '§ 66451', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1048', '§ 43', '§ 1048', '§ 2', '§ 65800', '§ 66412', '§ 66469', '§ 66499', '§ 18', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 66451', '§ 7', '§ 8', '§ 66451']

Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara - 7 Cal.4th 725 S030829 - Thu, 05/12/1994 | California Supreme Court Resources
Home > Opinions > Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara
Citation 7 Cal.4th 725
Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara (1994) 7 Cal.4th 725 , 29 Cal.Rptr.2d 804; 872 P.2d 143
[No. S030829.
May 12, 1994.]
Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, Roderick E. Walston, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Jan S. Stevens, Assistant Attorney General, Jamee Jordan [7 Cal.4th 731] Patterson, Deputy Attorney General, Andrew B. Gustafson, Assistant County Counsel (Ventura) and Sally Grant Disco as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.
Plaintiffs applied for a coastal development permit to build a residence on their undersized parcel. The county denied the application on the ground that plaintiffs could recombine their parcel with adjoining parcels. In plaintiffs' action against the county, seeking multiple kinds of relief, the trial court granted judgment for plaintiffs declaring that the county's recombination requirement was preempted by section 66451.10 and related provisions of [7 Cal.4th 732] the Subdivision Map Act, and ordering issuance of a writ of mandate directing the county to set the denial of plaintiffs' application aside. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that even though the act provides the exclusive means by which a county may impose a merger of parcels to control their sale, lease, or financing, the act does not prevent the county's zoning law from requiring merger as a condition to permitting development. We granted review to consider that holding.
Plaintiffs John and Frances Morehart own block 132, a parcel of about 3.7 acres shown on the map entitled, "Plan of Naples, Seventeen Miles West of Santa Barbara Cal.," filed in the county records in 1888. The Naples Townsite (Naples), comprising about 900 acres, appears on that map, as well as on the official county maps of 1888 and 1909, as a grid of lots, blocks, and streets that in fact were never developed. In 1977, a major portion of Naples was purchased by Morehart Land Company, a California corporation [7 Cal.4th 733] of which 49 percent of the stock is held by plaintiffs and 51 percent by their nine adult children. At that time, the county had zoned Naples as agricultural, requiring 10 acres for each dwelling unit. In March 1981, the California Coastal Commission approved the county's local coastal plan, which increased the amount of land required for each dwelling in Naples to 100 acres.
On December 19, 1986, the county issued plaintiffs a certificate of compliance (see § 66499.351) fn. 1 stating in pertinent part: "The parcel covered by this Certificate of Compliance is a legal parcel having been created in [7 Cal.4th 734] 1888 in compliance with the provisions of the California Subdivision Map Act and at that time there was no [county] ordinance enacted pursuant thereto. This parcel is not a developable building site until such time as the [county] determines that the parcel is properly served by domestic water, wastewater disposal, road access, and drainage and protected against flooding, bluff erosion, and soils problems." Similar certificates were issued between 1979 and 1987 for numerous other Naples parcels.
Meanwhile, in August 1988, the county formally enacted two ordinances, Nos. 3718 and 3719, which establish the "AS Antiquated Subdivision overlay district," encompassing Naples, and require that parcels for which a coastal development permit is issued "be combined in order to comply to the maximum extent possible with current density standards." fn. 2 The Coastal Commission approved the county's action in February 1989. [7 Cal.4th 735]
The peremptory writ was promptly served on the county, which, on June 6, 1991, filed both a return to the writ and a notice of appeal from the [7 Cal.4th 736] judgment. The return states that the county "intends to vacate its decision to deny [plaintiffs'] application for a coastal development permit for their lot 132 ... and to process said application." Plaintiffs acknowledge that the permit has in fact been issued.
Rule 13 of the California Rules of Court requires that an appellant's opening brief either "[state] that the appeal is from a judgment that finally disposes of all issues between the parties" or else "[explain] why the order or nonfinal judgment is appealable." The county's opening brief explained that the judgment was appealable because it resolved issues that had been severed from separate and independent issues remaining to be tried. The Court of Appeal disposed of the appealability question in a one-sentence footnote as follows: "The judgment is separately appealable on a severed issue. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1048; Day v. Papadakis (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 503, 508 [282 Cal.Rptr. 548]; Garat v. City of Riverside (1991) 2 Cal.App.4th 259, 276, fn. 8 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 504].)"
The theory of appealability relied on by the Court of Appeal was introduced into California jurisprudence by Schonfeld v. City of Vallejo (1976) 50 Cal.App.3d 401, 416-419 [123 Cal.Rptr. 669] (Schonfeld), and has since been developed, applied, and distinguished, but never disapproved, in a number of Court of Appeal decisions, including those cited by the present [7 Cal.4th 737] Court of Appeal. The theory has not, however, been addressed by this court. Because of doubts about the correctness of the Schonfeld holding, and the holding's continuing effects upon appellate jurisdiction in California, we requested supplemental briefing on whether the trial court's judgment was appealable, and, if the judgment was not appealable, whether this court should reach the merits by considering whether to direct the Court of Appeal to treat the notice of appeal as a petition for a writ of mandate. In response to our first inquiry, neither side suggests any theory of appealability other than that of Schonfeld, and both sides answer our second inquiry in the affirmative.
On appeal, plaintiff Schonfeld contended that because the fourth cause of action remained pending, entry of the judgment was premature. The appellate court rejected that contention on the ground that because of certain orders of the trial court deemed to constitute a severance of the fourth cause of action (50 Cal.App.3d at p. 416, fn. 14), fn. 3 the dismissal of the first two causes of action resulted in a final judgment. (Id. at p. 419.) The court [7 Cal.4th 738] reached that conclusion even though it properly recognized the general rule that " 'there can be but one judgment in an action no matter how many counts the complaint contains' " (id. at p. 417, quoting Bank of America v. Superior Court (1942) 20 Cal.2d 697, 701 [128 P.2d 357]). The court further recognized that none of the established exceptions to the general rule were applicable to the case before it, but went on to explain as follows why it felt called upon to "augment the number of existing exceptions":
The court then proceeded to announce its new exception: "[N]o reported case has dealt with the application of the one final judgment rule to a cause of action severed pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1048. Under that statute, a trial court has broad discretion to consolidate or sever causes of action .... fn. 5 Clearly, the declaratory relief [fourth] cause of action here was properly severed as it raises issues separate and independent from those [7 Cal.4th 739] of the first two causes of action. fn. 6 [¶] We hold, therefore, that in the instant case, since the first two causes of action were properly severed, a final judgment resulted even though the independent fourth cause of action is still pending between the same parties." (50 Cal.App.3d at pp. 418-419.)
The majority of the appellate opinions that accept and apply this Schonfeld holding treat it as requiring, for appealability of a judgment on fewer than all issues, that the decided issues not only were ordered to be tried separately fn. 7 by the trial court but also are perceived by the appellate court itself to be separate and independent from the issues remaining to be decided. (DeGrandchamp v. Texaco, Inc. (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 424 [160 Cal.Rptr. 899] [appeal dismissed from judgment on "severed" cause of action because it was not separate and distinct]; James Talcott, Inc. v. Short (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 504, 506, fn. 1 [161 Cal.Rptr. 63] [deciding appeal from partial summary judgment on causes of action to enforce debt guaranties because they were "totally 'independent' " from other causes of action alleging fraudulent conveyances of guarantors' assets]; National Auto. & Casualty Ins. Co. v. Frankel (1988) 203 Cal.App.3d 830 [250 Cal.Rptr. 236] [rejecting appeal from judgment on complaint "severed" from untried cross-complaint because the decided and undecided issues were closely related]; Korean United Presbyterian Church v. Presbytery of the Pacific (1991) 230 Cal.App.3d 480, 485, fn. 1 [281 Cal.Rptr. 396] [hearing appeal from judgment on "severed" issues because they were "reasonably separate and independent from the remaining untried issues"]; Garat v. City of Riverside (1991) 2 Cal.App.4th 259, 275-279 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 504] [hearing appeal on issues that were actually "severed" and were "separate and independent" from undecided issues].) Day v. Papadakis, supra, 231 Cal.App.3d 503, adds to the requirements that the issues be tried separately and be independent from the remaining issues, a further requirement, based on Schonfeld's above quoted language, that "the circumstances of this case are 'so unusual' as to warrant abandonment of the [one final judgment] rule in this instance" (id. at p. 513).
Other decisions, however, disregard any inquiry into whether the decided issues were separate and independent from the undecided issues. Instead, they cite Schonfeld as a basis for appellate jurisdiction over a judgment determinative of fewer than all the issues simply on the ground that those issues were in fact severed by the trial court. (Highland Development Co. v. City of Los Angeles (1985) 170 Cal.App.3d 169, 179 [215 Cal.Rptr. 881] [basing appealability on "de facto severance" of the cause of action underlying the appealed judgment]; Bank of the Orient v. Town of Tiburon (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 992, 998, and fn. 8 [269 Cal.Rptr. 690] [reciting severance of the appealed judgment and treating "[t]his procedure" as "appropriate in these unusual circumstances"]. fn. 8 )
In announcing its new exception to the one final judgment rule, the Schonfeld opinion purports to follow the examples of other judicially created exceptions. The examples cited apply one of two principles: (1) Judgment in a multiparty case determining all issues as to one or more parties may be treated as final even though issues remain to be resolved between other parties (see Schonfeld, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at p. 417, citing Johnson v. Hayes Cal. Builders, Inc. (1963) 60 Cal.2d 572, 578 [35 Cal.Rptr. 618, 387 P.2d 394]; Aetna Cas. etc. Co. v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. (1953) 41 Cal.2d 785, 788-789 [264 P.2d 5, 41 A.L.R.2d 1037]; Nicholson v. Henderson (1944) 25 Cal.2d 375, 379-381 [153 P.2d 945]); and (2) the order appealed from may be amended so as to convert it into a judgment encompassing actual determinations of all remaining issues by the trial court or, if determinable as a matter of law, by the appellate court, and the notice of appeal may then be treated as a premature but valid appeal from that judgment; see Schonfeld, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at p. 418, citing Shepardson v. McLellan (1963) 59 Cal.2d 83, 88-89 [27 Cal.Rptr. 884, 378 P.2d 108]; see also DeGrandchamp v. Texaco, Inc., supra, 100 Cal.App.3d 424, 431-433).
Those examples, however, are consistent with the codification of the one final judgment rule in Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1, subdivision [7 Cal.4th 741] (a). Subject to exceptions not applicable here, that subdivision authorizes appeal "[f]rom a judgment, except ... an interlocutory judgment," i.e., from a judgment that is not intermediate or nonfinal but is the one final judgment. (Knodel v. Knodel, supra, 14 Cal.3d 752, 760.) Judgments that leave nothing to be decided between one or more parties and their adversaries, or that can be amended to encompass all controverted issues, have the finality required by section 904.1, subdivision (a). A judgment that disposes of fewer than all of the causes of action framed by the pleadings, however, is necessarily "interlocutory" (Code Civ. Proc., § 904.1, subd. (a)), and not yet final, as to any parties between whom another cause of action remains pending.
Before Schonfeld was decided in 1975, it was "well settled" in California that a judgment disposing of fewer than all causes of action between the parties was nonappealable even if those causes of action were separate and distinct from the causes of action remaining to be tried. (U.S. Financial v. Sullivan (1974) 37 Cal.App.3d 5, 11 [112 Cal.Rptr. 18] [U.S. Financial].) Schonfeld expressly disagrees with U.S. Financial and attempts to justify its departure from the settled rule on the ground that "no reported case has dealt with the application of the one final judgment rule to a cause of action severed pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1048." (50 Cal.App.3d at p. 418.) But that section was not intended to affect finality for purposes of appeal. [1] (See fn. 9)(See legis. committee com., 18A West's Ann. Code Civ. Proc., supra, § 1048, p. 176, quoted in fn. 5, ante.) fn. 9
Schonfeld also notes that under rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (hereafter rule 54(b)), "separate appealable judgments may be rendered on counts that present separate claims for relief" (50 Cal.App.3d at p. 418) and suggests that the U.S. Financial court should have followed that court's inclination to adopt the substance of the federal rule (ibid.; see 37 Cal.App.3d at p. 11 ["Were we free to do so, we should be inclined to adopt the rule ...."]). The federal experience with rule 54(b), however, demonstrates the drawbacks of a rule that simply declares judgments on separate claims (however defined) to be appealable. [7 Cal.4th 742]
"Largely to overcome this difficulty, Rule 54(b) was amended, ... [effective] 1948[, to provide that]: [¶] '... the court may direct the entry of a final judgment upon one or more but less than all of the claims only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay ....' [¶] To meet the demonstrated need for flexibility, the District Court is used as a 'dispatcher.' It is permitted to determine, in the first instance, the appropriate time when each 'final decision' upon 'one or more but less than all' of the claims ... is ready for appeal.... A party adversely affected by a final decision thus knows that his time for appeal will not run against him until this certification has been made." (Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Mackey (1956) 351 U.S. 427, 434-436 [100 L.Ed. 1297, 1305-1306, 76 S.Ct. 895], italics and fns. omitted; see Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. General Electric Co. (1980) 446 U.S. 1 [64 L.Ed.2d 1, 100 S.Ct. 1460] [explaining factors district court may consider in determining whether to enter final judgment on a separate claim]; Kallay, A Study in Rule-Making by Decision: California Courts Adopt Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) (1982) 13 Sw. U.L.Rev. 87 [discussing Schonfeld].)
The court in Schonfeld, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d 401, 418, explained that it was attributing appealability to a cause of action ordered to be tried separately only because of "circumstances ... so unusual that postponement of the appeal until the final judgment on Schonfeld's fourth cause of action would cause so serious a hardship and inconvenience as to require us to augment the number of existing exceptions [to the one final judgment rule]." But like the original rule 54(b), the Schonfeld holding leaves it "inherently difficult to determine by any automatic standard ... which of several multiple claims were sufficiently separable from others to qualify for ... appealability" (Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Mackey, supra, 351 U.S. 427, 434 [100 L.Ed.2d 1297, 1305], italics added), or to determine whether the "hardship and inconvenience" that would result from postponing appeal until final disposition of the entire action are sufficient to warrant immediate [7 Cal.4th 743] appealability. If appealability under the Schonfeld holding is in doubt, the losing party must appeal immediately to avoid waiving rights to appellate review fn. 10 and may receive no authoritative ruling on the appealability issue until the case has been briefed, argued, and decided. (An earlier determination of appealability may or may not result from proceedings to dismiss the appeal initiated by the respondent or the appellate court itself.)
[2] Accordingly, we hold that an appeal cannot be taken from a judgment that fails to complete the disposition of all the causes of action between the parties even if the causes of action disposed of by the judgment have been ordered to be tried separately, or may be characterized as "separate and independent" from those remaining. Statements to the contrary in Schonfeld, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d 401, and its progeny are disapproved. fn. 11 A petition for a writ, not an appeal, is the authorized means for obtaining review of [7 Cal.4th 744] judgments and orders that lack the finality required by Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1, subdivision (a). Because the trial court's judgment in favor of plaintiffs did not complete the disposition of all of plaintiffs' causes of action against defendant county, the judgment was not appealable.
In Olson v. Cory (1984) 35 Cal.3d 390 [197 Cal.Rptr. 843, 673 P.2d 720], we granted a petition for hearing and thereby brought the case here for decision as if the appeal had originally been taken to this court. (See Knouse v. Nimocks (1937) 8 Cal.2d 482 [66 P.2d 438]; 9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure, supra, Appeal, § 707, pp. 678-679.) After briefing and argument, we concluded that the order from which the appeal had been taken was not appealable, but that the records and briefs included in substance the elements necessary to a proceeding for writ of mandate, and that we had power to treat the purported appeal as a petition for that writ. We also decided to exercise that power because of the unusual circumstances that the case presented. [7 Cal.4th 745] (Olson v. Cory, supra, 35 Cal.3d at p. 401.) Examining the merits, we held that the trial court's order purportedly appealed from was incorrect in several respects. Accordingly, we ordered the issuance by this court of a peremptory writ of mandate, directing the trial court to vacate its order and to make a new order consistent with this court's opinion. (Id. at p. 408.)
[3] The next question is whether we should in fact reach the merits of the present case as a basis for determining whether to direct the Court of Appeal to issue the writ. The standards for making that determination are essentially the same as those outlined in Olson v. Cory, supra, 35 Cal.3d 390, 401, by which we decided under the former procedure whether we ourselves should treat the notice of appeal as a petition for the writ.
The briefs and record before us contain all the elements prescribed by rule 56 of the California Rules of Court for an original mandate proceeding. The functional equivalents of any necessary verifications (see Code Civ. Proc., §§ 1086, 1089) are supplied not only by the verified pleadings but also by the certifications of the clerk's transcript by the clerk of the trial court and of [7 Cal.4th 746] the reporter's transcript by the clerk and the reporter. There is no indication that the trial court as respondent would wish to appear separately or become more than a nominal party to a writ proceeding. (Olson v. Cory, supra, 35 Cal.3d at p. 401; People v. Cimarusti (1978) 81 Cal.App.3d 314, 320 [146 Cal.Rptr. 421].)
Despite this mootness, the issue remains of immediate importance to the orderly planning for possible development of thousands of other antiquated subdivision parcels held in Santa Barbara County and throughout the state by many landowners including plaintiffs themselves and their affiliates. "If an [7 Cal.4th 747] action involves a matter of continuing public interest and the issue is likely to recur, a court may exercise an inherent discretion to resolve that issue, even though an event occurring during its pendency would normally render the matter moot." (Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Fales (1973) 8 Cal.3d 712, 715-716 [106 Cal.Rptr. 21, 505 P.2d 213]; see Downtown Palo Alto Com. for Fair Assessment v. City Council (1986) 180 Cal.App.3d 384, 391 [225 Cal.Rptr. 559] [deciding moot issue of validity of Palo Alto city ordinance because of testimony that 50 other California cities had adopted similar ordinances].) The continuing public interest in the present issue and its likely recurrence is another unusual circumstance indicating that we should resolve the issue here.
[4] The general principles governing state statutory preemption of local land use regulation are well settled. "The Legislature has specified certain minimum standards for local zoning regulations (Gov. Code, § 65850 et seq.)" even though it also "has carefully expressed its intent to retain the maximum degree of local control (see, e.g., id., §§ 65800, 65802)." (IT Corp. v. Solano County Bd. of Supervisors (1991) 1 Cal.4th 81, 89 [2 Cal.Rptr.2d 513, 820 P.2d 1023].) "A county or city may make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws." (Cal. Const., art. XI, § 7, italics added.) " 'Local legislation in conflict with general law is void. Conflicts exist if the ordinance duplicates [citations], contradicts [citation], or enters an area fully occupied by general law, either expressly or by legislative implication [citations].' " (People ex rel. Deukmejian v. County of Mendocino (1986) 36 Cal.3d 476, 484 [204 Cal.Rptr. 897, 683 P.2d 1150], quoting Lancaster v. Municipal Court (1972) 6 Cal.3d 805, 807-808 [100 Cal.Rptr. 609, 494 P.2d 681]; accord, Sherwin-Williams Co. v. City of Los Angeles (1993) 4 Cal.4th 893, 897 [16 Cal.Rptr.2d 215, 844 P.2d 534].)
We first inquire whether the challenged ordinances enter an area fully occupied by general law "expressly," and shall later turn to the question whether they are within an area fully occupied "by legislative implication." The allegedly preemptive statute here is section 66451.10, subdivision (b) (hereafter section 66451.10(b)). It provides that sections 66451.10 through [7 Cal.4th 748] 66451.21 constitute "the sole and exclusive authority for local agency initiated merger of contiguous parcels," and that "parcels may be merged by local agencies only in accordance with the authority and procedures prescribed by [those sections]." The question of express preemption turns on whether the field thereby occupied encompasses the ordinances under which the county rejected plaintiffs' application for a development permit. "How the relevant field occupied by the allegedly preemptive state legislation is defined is often crucial to the result: 'If the definition is narrow, preemption is circumscribed; if it is broad, the sweep of preemption is expanded.' [Citations.]" (Candid Enterprises, Inc. v. Grossmont Union High School Dist. (1986) 39 Cal.3d 878, 886, fn. 4 [218 Cal.Rptr. 303, 705 P.2d 876].)
The literal terms of the Subdivision Map Act regulate the division of land into parcels only for purposes of sale, lease, or financing. The overall purpose of the act is to regulate subdivisions. (See, e.g., § 66411 [standards for local regulation of subdivisions]; § 66426 [tentative and final maps may be required for most subdivisions containing five or more parcels]; § 66428 [parcel map may be required for other subdivisions].) " '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, lease or financing, whether immediate or future except for leases of agricultural land for agricultural purposes." (§ 66424, italics added.) [7 Cal.4th 749]
The foregoing provisions purport to govern only those ordinances that impose or require merger of parcels as a condition to the parcels' sale, lease, or financing. The only consequence imposed upon a local agency's failure to comply with the prescribed merger-ordinance procedures is that the parcels may be separately sold, leased or financed as if unmerged. [7 Cal.4th 750]
Sections 66451.10 to 66451.21 thus expressly occupy the field of procedures for parcel mergers that are "local agency initiated" and are "by" the local agency. Plaintiffs contend that the challenged ordinances come within that field because they provide that before issuance of a coastal development permit, parcels "shall be required to be combined in order to comply to the maximum extent possible with current density standards" (Ord. No. 3718, § 2, italics added; see fn. 2, ante). An ordinance is not within the expressly occupied field, however, simply because it requires merger as a condition to granting an owner's request of permission to build. [7 Cal.4th 751]
We next consider whether the Subdivision Map Act (the Act) impliedly preempts the challenged county ordinances. [6] "In determining whether the Legislature has preempted by implication to the exclusion of local regulation, we must look to the whole purpose and scope of the legislative scheme. There are three tests: '(1) the subject matter has been so fully and completely covered by general law as to clearly indicate that it has become exclusively a matter of state concern; (2) the subject matter has been partially covered by general law couched in such terms as to indicate clearly that a paramount state concern will not tolerate further or additional local action; or (3) the subject matter has been partially covered by general law, and the subject is of such a nature that the adverse effect of a local ordinance on the transient citizens of the state outweighs the possible benefit to the municipality.' " (People ex rel. Deukmejian v. County of Mendocino, supra, 36 Cal.3d 476, 485, quoting In re Hubbard (1964) 62 Cal.2d 119, 128 [41 Cal.Rptr. 393, 396 P.2d 809]; accord, Sherwin-Williams Co. v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 4 Cal.4th 893, 898; IT Corp. v. Solano County Bd. of Supervisors, supra, 1 Cal.4th 81, 90-91; Western Oil & Gas Assn. v. Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control Dist. (1989) 49 Cal.3d 408, 423 [261 Cal.Rptr. 384, 777 P.2d 157]; Fisher v. City of Berkeley (1984) 37 Cal.3d 644, 708 [209 Cal.Rptr. 682, 693 P.2d 261]; Galvan v. Superior Court (1969) 70 Cal.2d 851, 859-866 [76 Cal.Rptr. 642, 452 P.2d 930].)
The statewide merger provisions (§ 66451.10 et seq.) appear to reflect two overall concerns. First, they provide landowners with elaborate procedural safeguards of notice and opportunity to be heard before their lots can be involuntarily merged. Second, although the merger provisions' literal terms apply only to local agency initiated merger of parcels for purposes of sale, lease, or financing, an examination of the "whole purpose and scope of the legislative scheme" (People ex rel. Deukmejian v. County of Mendocino, supra, 36 Cal.3d 476, 485) reveals a state concern over local regulation of parcel merger for purposes of development as well. Accordingly, we proceed to examine the relationship of these statutory concerns to the county ordinances by " 'study[ing] the history and purpose of the [state] enactment and the previous state of the legislation on the subject, as well as other statutes in pari materia and the benefits sought to be provided' " (Mooney v. Pickett (1971) 4 Cal.3d 669, 677, fn. 9 [94 Cal.Rptr. 279, 483 P.2d 1231], quoting County of Los Angeles v. Frisbie (1942) 19 Cal.2d 634, 639 [122 P.2d 526]).
The Act's provisions on merger of parcels (§§ 66451.10-66451.21; see fn. 13, ante) were enacted in 1983 (Stats. 1983, ch. 845, § 2, p. 3097) and were modified by various amendments in 1984, 1985, and 1986. The enactment repealed (id., § 1) and replaced former section 66424.2, which was adopted in its original form in 1976 (Stats. 1976, ch. 928, § 4, p. 2120) and amended or revised in 1977 and 1980 (Stats. 1977, ch. 234, § 5, p. 1034; Stats. 1980, ch. 402, § 2, p. 788; id., ch. 1217, §§ 2-3, p. 4127). Each version of former section 66424.2, as well as the present legislation (§ 66451.10 et seq.), [7 Cal.4th 753] begins by providing, subject to stated exceptions and qualifications, that "[n]otwithstanding section 66424 [defining 'Subdivision'] [...], two or more contiguous parcels or units of land ... shall not [merge or be deemed merged] by virtue of the fact that [such] contiguous parcels or units are held by the same owner, and no further proceeding under the provisions of this division [the Act] or a local ordinance enacted pursuant thereto shall be required for the purpose of sale, lease, or financing of [such] contiguous parcels or units or any of them." (§ 66451.10; Stats. 1976, ch. 928, § 4, p. 2120; Stats. 1977, ch. 234, § 5, p. 1034; Stats. 1980, ch. 402, § 2, p. 788; id., ch. 1217, §§ 2-3, p. 4127.) fn. 17 Thus, the enactments apparently sprang from a concern that without them, section 66424 would cause contiguous units of land that had already been qualified as separate parcels under the Act to be automatically merged by virtue of common ownership and thus to require further compliance with the Act before they could be sold separately. As stated earlier, section 66424 generally defines a "subdivision" as "the division ... of any unit or units of ... land, ... shown on the ... county assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units, for the purpose of sale, lease or financing ...." (Italics added.) The italicized wording has been part of the Act as far back as 1937. fn. 18
The opinion relied principally on our decision in Hill v. City of Manhattan Beach (1971) 6 Cal.3d 279 [98 Cal.Rptr. 785, 491 P.2d 369] (hereafter Hill), which is apparently the only California appellate decision that both addresses the question of treating otherwise separate parcels as merged by virtue of their common ownership and antedates any of the enactments of parcel merger provisions between 1976 and 1986, including former section [7 Cal.4th 754] 66424.2, and section 66451.10 et seq., and their amendments. The Attorney General's opinion characterizes the Hill decision as "inferentially approv[ing] the concept that when a statute regulating land use treats adjoining or contiguous parcels under the same ownership as one parcel, the parcels will be regarded as 'merged.' " (56 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen., supra, at p. 512.)
Against this background, the Legislature enacted the various versions of former section 66424.2 between 1976 and 1980 and then, from 1983 to [7 Cal.4th 755] 1986, the present parcel merger sections (§ 66451.10 et seq.) and their amendments. All of that legislation begins with a general negation of automatic parcel merger by virtue of common ownership, followed by a delineation of particular circumstances and conditions under which merger will take place. Those circumstances and conditions, which vary from statute to statute, are the primary indicators of the paramount state concern affecting the county ordinances before us.
The present merger provisions (§§ 66451.10-66451.21), enacted in 1983 and amended during the next three years, expand and elaborate upon former section 66424.2 by providing (1) stricter procedural safeguards for owners of contiguous parcels, and (2) specific substantive conditions, relating primarily to suitability for development, under which parcels would be eligible for merger. We turn to an examination of each of those two aspects of the merger provisions to ascertain whether either reflects " 'a paramount state concern [that] will not tolerate further or additional local action [i.e., the present county ordinances]' " (People ex rel. Deukmejian v. County of Mendocino, supra, 36 Cal.3d 476, 485, quoting In re Hubbard, supra, 62 Cal.2d 119, 128).
Petitioners contend that the county ordinances improperly transgress a legislative intent that a required merger of parcels be accompanied by these procedural safeguards. But as the record in this case illustrates, a property owner receives just as much due process under the ordinances as would be [7 Cal.4th 757] afforded under the Act's merger provisions. Under the Act, a merger of parcels is initiated by recorded notice to the owner of an intention to determine status. Such a notice would be superfluous under the ordinances because application of the merger requirement is initiated by the owner's own application for a development permit.
Section 66451.11 prescribes the specific conditions under which local parcel-merger ordinances may make parcels eligible or ineligible for merger. An ordinance may provide for merger of commonly owned contiguous parcels only if (1) one of the parcels is below the minimum size that a local zoning ordinance requires for development, and (2) one of the parcels is essentially undeveloped. (§ 66451.11; id., subd. (a).) The local agency may then merge the parcels if any one of them is on land that was set aside on or before July 1, 1981, as open-space land (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 421), timberland (§ 51104, subd. (f)), agricultural land (§ 51201, subd. (b)), or land within 2,000 feet of "commercial mineral resource extraction," or if the parcel had been "identified or designated" prior to July 1, 1981, under the California Coastal Act of 1976, "as being of insufficient size to support [7 Cal.4th 758] residential development." (§ 66451.11, subd. (b)(A)-(b)(E).) fn. 23 Otherwise, merger is permitted only if one of the parcels comprises less than 5,000 square feet, or was not created in compliance with applicable law, or fails to meet current standards for sewage disposal, water supply, slope stability, or vehicular access, or "[i]s inconsistent with the applicable general plan and any applicable specific plan, other than minimum lot size or density standards" (§ 66451.11, subd. (b)(7), italics added). (§ 66451.11, subd. (b).) fn. 24
These conditions provide local agencies with broad authority to impose a merger of parcels that fail to meet any of numerous qualitative standards as building sites. The statute does not, however, authorize imposition of merger simply because a parcel is undersized by local zoning standards unless one of the parcels to be merged is less than 5,000 square feet. (§ 66451.11, subd. (b).) [7 Cal.4th 759]
Section 66451.11, on the other hand, imposes numerous alternative conditions that may make parcels eligible for compulsory merger under a local ordinance. (See fn. 24, ante.) Most of those conditions pertain to qualitative unsuitability for development. In the absence of all those conditions of qualitative unsuitability, parcels may not be merged unless one of them was illegally created or is less than 5,000 square feet. Legal parcels that are not unsuitable for development under the other standards and are 5,000 or more square feet in area may not be merged even though they fall short of the "standards for minimum parcel size, under the zoning ordinance of the local agency." (§ 66451.11.) These provisions clearly reflect a paramount state concern that uniform statewide standards govern local agencies' use of compulsory parcel merger as a means of enforcing zoning restrictions on [7 Cal.4th 760] development. The development-oriented nature of practically all the statutory merger standards requires rejection of the county's contention that the statutory merger provisions are merely intended to restrict imposition of merger as a means of controlling the separate sale, lease, or financing of parcels without regard to their prospective development.
[8] The county contends that the Act's merger provisions (§§ 66451.10-66451.21) do not apply to plaintiffs' parcel because the parcel was not created pursuant to the Act. The fact of the parcel's creation is not in issue because the county's answer to the complaint "admits that 'Lot 132', the [7 Cal.4th 761] subject land of these proceedings, was created by [a] pre-1893 Antiquated Subdivision map which map is commonly known as the 'Naples Townsite.' " Thus, we need not consider any of the prerequisites to creation of a parcel that preceded California's first subdivision map statute in 1893 (Stats. 1893, ch. 80, § 1, p. 96). Instead, the question presented by the county's contention is whether a parcel so created is covered by the present Act's merger provisions.
Our construction of section 66451.10(a) is reinforced by a related provision of section 66451.11, which sets forth numerous conditions under which a local agency may require a merger of contiguous parcels that are commonly owned and are less than the minimum size required by the local zoning ordinance. As discussed earlier, some of section 66451.11's provisions allow the involuntary merger of a parcel that is less than 5,000 square feet, or fails to meet certain standards for development (e.g., water supply, sewage disposal, slope stability, vehicular access), or is inconsistent with an applicable general plan or local plan in respects other than minimum lot size. (For text of § 66451.11, see fn. 24, ante.) But under section 66451.11, subdivision (b)(2), a lot that is not eligible for merger under any of the section's other conditions may be involuntarily merged if it "[w]as not created in compliance with applicable laws and ordinances in effect at the time of its creation." That provision, which permits involuntary merger of parcels created in violation of then-applicable laws, regardless of any other circumstances, clearly does not apply to pre-1893 parcels created when there was not yet any land-division law to violate. The exclusion of pre-1893 parcels from blanket eligibility for involuntary merger under section 66451.11, subdivision (b)(2), implies a legislative intent to include such parcels in the Act's merger provisions. [7 Cal.4th 762]
Some indication of what costs the Legislature declined to reimburse may be found in chapter 59 of the 1993 Statutes, enacted as an urgency measure on June 30, 1993. Section 1 states "the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to relieve local entities of the duty to incur unnecessary expenses in [7 Cal.4th 763] certain aspects of the following subjects: [¶] ... [¶] (g) Real property subdivision mergers...." (Stats. 1993, ch. 59, § 1.) Section 23 provides: "The Legislature finds and declares that certain state-mandated local programs which in prior years have been suspended through nonappropriation in the state budget should be permanently eliminated and that this is the purpose of this act." (Id., ch. 59, § 23.) The "act" amends only one of the merger provisions with which we are concerned here: Section 7 of the legislation amends section 66451.13 to provide that before recording a notice of merger, the local agency "may," instead of "shall," send the owner by certified mail, and record, a notice of intention to determine status. (Id., ch. 59, § 7.) fn. 26
[10] The county, and the California Coastal Commission appearing as amicus curiae, contend that because the county ordinances were required to be approved by the commission as part of the county's local coastal program (see Pub. Resources Code, § 30500 et seq.; Citizens of Goleta Valley v. Board of Supervisors (1990) 52 Cal.3d 553, 570 [276 Cal.Rptr. 410, 801 P.2d 1161]), the ordinances constituted implementation of the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Pub. Resources Code, § 30000 et seq.) and so cannot be preempted as merely local legislation. The merger provisions themselves, however, spell out their relationship to the Coastal Act. Section 66451.11, subdivision (b)(E) (hereafter section 66451.11(b)(E)) provides that the preemptive merger standards of section 66451.11 do not apply if "[w]ithin the coastal zone, ... one or more of the contiguous parcels ... has, prior to July 1, 1981, been identified or designated as being of insufficient size to support residential development [by] either (i) ... the land use plan portion of a local coastal program ..., or (ii) prior to the adoption of a land use plan, ... by formal action of the California Coastal Commission ...." (Italics added.) Conversely, any coastal parcel identified after July 1, 1981, in the manner described in section 66451.11(b)(E), as being insufficient for [7 Cal.4th 764] development, remains subject to the preemptive merger standards. As explained in footnote 23, ante, the county does not contend here that plaintiffs' parcel was excluded from the operation of those standards by any such identification prior to July 1, 1981.
The judgment from which this appeal is taken is not appealable because it does not complete the disposition of all of the causes of action against the county alleged in the complaint and therefore is not final. We have reached [7 Cal.4th 765] the merits, however, as a basis for determining whether the notice of appeal should be treated as a petition for a writ of mandate. We conclude that the trial court's judgment declaring the county ordinances to be preempted by, and therefore invalid under, sections 66451.10 to 66451.21 of the Subdivision Map Act is correct, because the purpose for which the ordinances require merger, i.e., "to comply with current density standards," is not a permissible ground for compelling merger under section 66451.11 (see § 66451.11, subd. (b)(7)). Accordingly, there appears no need for issuance of a writ of mandate to the trial court. The judgment of the Court of Appeal is reversed with directions to dismiss the appeal.
The majority instead hold that, whatever the rule for pre-1893 paper subdivisions, the subdivision lot in question exists because the County of [7 Cal.4th 766] Santa Barbara (hereafter County), in its answer to plaintiffs' complaint, said it exists. Because of this admission, the majority claim they do not consider "any of the prerequisites to creation of a parcel that preceded California's first subdivision map statute in 1893 ...." (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 761.)
Even in its earliest incarnations, California subdivision law has sought to ensure at the very least that subdividers provided accurate maps with sufficient information to give constructive notice of the subdivision to the public and to subsequent purchasers. (See Curtin et al., Cal. Subdivision Map Act Practice (Cont.Ed.Bar 1987) § 1.2, pp. 2-3.) The 1893 statute, for example, provided that the "proprietor" of a subdivision "cause to be made out an accurate map or plat thereof," which would accurately depict the boundaries and uses of property reserved for public purposes, and which further accurately describe "[a]ll lots intended for sale, either by number or letter, and their precise length and width." (Stats. 1893, ch. 80, § 1, p. 96.) Moreover, it is an elementary common law rule that a deed conveying real property can be voided if the property description is insufficiently definite to permit the property to be readily located. (Saterstrom v. Glick Bros. Sash. etc. Co. (1931) 118 Cal.App. 379, 380-381 [5 P.2d 21]; Scott v. Woodworth (1907) 34 Cal.App. 400, 409 [167 P. 543].)
In this case, the County and amicus curiae County Counsel's Association of California point to the inaccuracy and lack of information on the one-page map that purportedly created the Naples subdivision in 1888. fn. 1 I doubt whether a subdivision map that does not even meet the standard of the [7 Cal.4th 767] common law, or of the 1893 statute, by accurately depicting and recording a subdivision can be said to "create" that subdivision within the meaning of section 66451.10, subdivision (a), particularly where that subdivision's only subsequent existence has been on paper. (See John Taft Corp. v. Advisory Agency (1984) 161 Cal.App.3d 749, 756-757 [207 Cal.Rptr. 840] [purported subdivision lots depicted on United States Survey map filed in 1878, but not recorded with the county, does not create subdivision under the Subdivision Map Act].)
­FN *. Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One, assigned by the Acting Chairperson of the Judicial Council.
­FN 1. Section 66499.35 provides that on request of a property owner, a city or county must determine whether the property complies with the Subdivision Map Act or ordinances enacted pursuant to the act. If the property complies, the city or county must record a certificate of compliance. If it does not comply, the city or county may record either a certificate of compliance or a conditional certificate of compliance. The conditions imposed may be any that would have been applicable to the division of the property when the applicant acquired his or her interest. A recorded final map, parcel map, or "official map" constitutes a certificate of compliance with respect to the parcels it describes.
­FN 2. Section 1 of Ordinance No. 3718 adds a new subsection 5 to section 35-128 of the county coastal zoning ordinance. It provides that "within any area designated as an AS Antiquated Subdivision overlay district pursuant to Section 35-102, no lot shall be excused from the minimum lot size requirements of the applicable specific district regulations of the Comprehensive Plan, except that a lot or lots with combined area insufficient to meet minimum lot size requirements for a single dwelling may be used as a single building site if such lot or lots were held in separate ownership prior to the date of a Board of Supervisors resolution initiating a rezoning to the AS Antiquated Subdivision overlay."
­FN 3. In fact, the fourth cause of action in Schonfeld was not "severed"; instead the trial court ordered it be tried separately. The Court of Appeal in Schonfeld failed to recognize that Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 no longer authorizes severance of a civil action. A former version of the statute stated, in pertinent part: "An action may be severed and actions may be consolidated, in the discretion of the court ...." (Stats. 1927, ch. 320, § 1, p. 531.) In 1971, however, the statute was rewritten to its present form and no longer contains the term "severed," but instead grants trial courts the authority to "order a separate trial of any cause of action ... or of any separate issue ...." (Italics added.) Unfortunately, the title given Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 by at least one publisher still contains the word "severance" (18A West's Ann. Code Civ. Proc. (1980 ed.) § 1048, p. 175), and the Legislative Committee Comment to Code of Civil Procedure section 1048, and many appellate courts, use the term "sever" to describe orders for separate trials within a single action.
­FN 4. It seems anomalous to invoke "the workload of the appellate courts" as justification for relaxing the one final judgment rule. One of the purposes of the rule is to alleviate undue burdens on the appellate courts resulting from " 'piecemeal disposition and multiple appeals in a single action' " (Knodel v. Knodel (1975) 14 Cal.3d 752, 760 [122 Cal.Rptr. 521, 537 P.2d 353], quoting 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed.) pp. 4050-4051; see now 9 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (3d ed. 1985) Appeal, § 43, pp. 66-67; see Day v. Papadakis (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 503, 512 [282 Cal.Rptr. 548] [overly broad relaxation of the rule has "grave potential for clogging appellate court dockets"]; Kinoshita v. Horio (1986) 186 Cal.App.3d 959, 966 [231 Cal.Rptr. 241].)
­FN 5. Code of Civil Procedure section 1048, subdivision (b), as amended in 1971, provides: "The court, in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice, or when separate trials will be conducive to expedition and economy, may order a separate trial of any cause of action, ... or of any separate issue or of any number of causes of action or issues ...." The Assembly Committee comment to the section states: "Section 1048 does not deal with the authority of a court to enter a separate final judgment on fewer than all the causes of action or issues involved in an action or trial. [Citations.] This question is determined primarily by case law, and Section 1048 leaves the question to case law development." (Legis. committee com., 18A West's Ann. Code Civ. Proc., supra, § 1048, at p. 176.)
­FN 6. The "separate and independent" nature of Schonfeld's fourth cause of action is open to question. In the second cause of action, he sought to enforce the lease as a partial assignee. The fourth cause of action sought a declaration that his interest was based on a valid mortgage and not an invalid assignment prohibited by the lease. (50 Cal.App.3d at p. 417; see also id. at p. 406.) The opinion upholds rejection of the claim as assignee (second cause of action) on the ground that the assignment for security was actually a mortgage (id. at p. 421); yet, the mortgage claim (fourth cause of action) could not be directly ruled upon because it remained pending in the trial court.
­FN 7. In the cases discussed, post, it is unclear whether issues which were purportedly "severed" from other issues were in fact formally severed (such that two separate cases with separate docket numbers and separate judgments would be rendered), or were merely bifurcated, that is, certain issues or causes of action were ordered tried separately.
­FN 8. Bank of the Orient disregards another significant judicial limitation on the Schonfeld holding. In Armstrong Petroleum Corp. v. Superior Court (1981) 114 Cal.App.3d 732 [170 Cal.Rptr. 767], a severance order rendered at the same time as a judgment on less than all causes of action for the express purpose of permitting an immediate appeal was held to be unauthorized by Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 (see fn. 5, ante) and therefore invalid. The Armstrong court distinguishes Schonfeld as permitting final judgments only on causes of action severed for trial, and even then only under "unusual" circumstances. (114 Cal.App.3d at pp. 736-737.) Armstrong was followed in California Dental Assn. v. California Dental Hygienists' Assn. (1990) 222 Cal.App.3d 49, 58-59 [271 Cal.Rptr. 410], and approved in Day v. Papadakis, supra, 231 Cal.App.3d 503, 510-511.
­FN 9. There are sound reasons for the one final judgment rule. As explained in Kinoshita v. Horio, supra, 186 Cal.App.3d 959, "[t]hese include the obvious fact that piecemeal disposition and multiple appeals tend to be oppressive and costly. [Citing, inter alia, Knodel v. Knodel, supra, 14 Cal.3d 752, 766.] Interlocutory appeals burden the courts and impede the judicial process in a number of ways: (1) They tend to clog the appellate courts with a multiplicity of appeals.... (2) Early resort to the appellate courts tends to produce uncertainty and delay in the trial court.... (3) Until a final judgment is rendered the trial court may completely obviate an appeal by altering the rulings from which an appeal would otherwise have been taken. [Citations.] (4) Later actions by the trial court may provide a more complete record which dispels the appearance of error or establishes that it was harmless. (5) Having the benefit of a complete adjudication ... will assist the reviewing court to remedy error (if any) by giving specific directions rather than remanding for another round of open-ended proceedings." (186 Cal.App.3d at pp. 966-967.)
­FN 10. Code of Civil Procedure section 906 summarizes the rulings that are reviewable on appeal from a final judgment and then adds: "The provisions of this section do not authorize the reviewing court to review any decision or order from which an appeal might have been taken."
­FN 11. Any statements in the following cases contrary to our holding are disapproved: DeGrandchamp v. Texaco, Inc., supra, 100 Cal.App.3d 424; James Talcott, Inc. v. Short, supra, 100 Cal.App.3d 504, 506, footnote 1; National Auto. & Casualty Ins. Co. v. Frankel, supra, 203 Cal.App.3d 830; Korean United Presbyterian Church v. Presbytery of the Pacific, supra, 230 Cal.App.3d 480, 485, footnote 1; Garat v. City of Riverside, supra, 2 Cal.App.4th 259, 275-279; Day v. Papadakis, supra, 231 Cal.App.3d 503; Highland Development Co. v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 170 Cal.App.3d 169, 179; Bank of the Orient v. Town of Tiburon, supra, 220 Cal.App.3d 992, 998, and footnote 8.
­FN 12. Amicus curiae briefs in support of the county have been filed by the California Coastal Commission and the California State Association of Counties. Amicus curiae briefs in support of plaintiffs have been filed by the California Association of Realtors, the California Land Surveyors Association, the Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California, the Pacific Legal Foundation, and the following entities asserting interests as owners of the indicated quantities of land: Coastal Forest Lands, Inc. (70,000 acres in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties), Huntington Beach Company (30,000 acres throughout California), Rancho San Carlos Partnership (20,000 acres in Monterey County), Sierra Pacific Industries (1.2 million acres of Northern California timberland), and Watson Land Company (substantial remaining amounts of the 75,000-acre Rancho San Pedro in Los Angeles County).
­FN 13. Sections 66451.10-66451.21 comprise article 1.5, entitled "Merger of Parcels," which was added in 1983 (Stats. 1983, ch. 845, § 2, p. 3097) to chapter 3, entitled "Procedure".
­FN 14. The statutory language omitted from this quotation describes the parcels to which the provision applies. We hereinafter discuss and reject the county's contention that the omitted description does not include plaintiffs' block 132. (See post, pp. 760-762.)
­FN 15. Section 65802 provides: "No provisions of this code, other than the provisions of this chapter [i.e., §§ 65800-65912], and no provisions of any other code or statute shall restrict or limit the procedures provided in this chapter by which the legislative body of any county or city enacts, amends, administers, or provides for the administration of any zoning law, ordinance, rule or regulation."
­FN 16. Section 66451.10(b) states the following exceptions to its provision of "sole and exclusive authority" for mergers initiated and carried out by local agencies: "This exclusive authority does not, however, abrogate or limit the authority of a local agency or a subdivider with respect to the following procedures within this division: [¶] (1) Lot line adjustments [see § 66412, subd. (d)]. [¶] (2) Amendment or correction of a final or parcel map [see § 66469 et seq.]. [¶] (3) Reversions to acreage [see § 66499.11 et seq.]. [¶] (4) Exclusions. [¶] (5) Tentative, parcel, or final maps which create fewer parcels."
­FN 17. The initial bracketed ellipsis pertains only to section 66451.10. The words "be deemed merged" in the third bracketed phrase replace the preceding word, "merge," in all but the 1976 enactment.
­FN 18. See section 2, subdivision (g), of the Act, Statutes 1937, chapter 670, page 1874. When the Act was moved to the Business and Professions Code (Stats. 1943, ch. 128, p. 865), the definition of "subdivision" became section 11535 of that code. Present section 66424 was added in 1974, when the Act was moved to the Government Code (Stats. 1974, ch. 1536, p. 3464).
­FN 19. In 1976, the Attorney General issued an opinion having implications strikingly different from those of the 1973 opinion discussed in the text. The 1976 opinion concluded: "Where a unit of land has been subdivided in compliance with the Subdivision Map Act ... and six contiguous unimproved lots of that subdivision are purchased by one individual who is not the original subdivider, ... a sale of one of the lots does not constitute a division of land under section 66424 ...." (59 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 239 (1976).) The 1973 opinion was distinguished on the grounds that there (1) the two parcels treated as merged were "created in compliance with both state and local law (without specific reference to ... the Subdivision Map Act)," and (2) the opinion did not purport to interpret the Act but relied heavily upon the Hill decision, which "was based on an interpretation of the city ordinances defining a lot and not upon a concept that any two contiguous lots in common ownership should be treated as one parcel for all purposes." (Id. at p. 241, distinguishing 56 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 509, supra.)
­FN 20. The 1977 amendment added, "or which was built prior to the time such permits were required by the local agency," and declared the addition "declaratory of existing law." (Stats. 1977, ch. 235, § 18, p. 1041.)
­FN 21. The procedural provisions may be summarized as follows: A merger becomes effective when the local agency records (with the county recorder) a notice of merger, specifying the names of the record owners and describing the property. (§ 66451.12.) Before recording a notice of merger, the local agency may record, and send to the record owner by certified mail, a "notice of intention to determine status," stating "that the affected parcels may be merged pursuant to the standards specified in the merger ordinance" and "advising the owner of the opportunity to request a hearing ... and to present evidence ... that the property does not meet the criteria for merger." (§ 66451.13; for recent modification of this section, see fn. 22, post.) Within 30 days, the owner may file a "request for a hearing on determination of status." (§ 66451.14.) The local agency must then fix a time, date and place for the hearing, which must be held before the legislative body or an advisory agency within 60 days unless continued by mutual consent. The owner must be notified by certified mail. (§ 66451.15.) At the hearing, the owner may "present any evidence that the affected property does not meet the standards for merger specified in the merger ordinance." The local agency must then determine whether the parcels are to be merged and notify the owner of the determination. The merger ordinance may authorize a determination of nonmerger whether or not the parcels meet the standards for merger. (§ 66451.16.) If the owner does not file a timely request for hearing, the local agency may nonetheless make a determination of merger or nonmerger. (§ 66451.17.) A determination of merger must be recorded within 30 days in the manner provided by section 66451.12. (§§ 66451.16, 66451.17.) If the local agency decides against merger, it must record a release of the notice of intention to determine status and mail a clearance letter to the owner. (§ 66451.18.)
­FN 22. By urgency statute, effective June 30, 1993, section 66451.13 was amended to provide that the local agency "may," rather than "shall," send to the owner by certified mail, and record, a notice of intention to determine status. (Stats. 1993, ch. 59, § 7.) The amendment is discussed at pp. 761-763, post, in connection with the county's contention that the merger provisions' preemptive effect has been suspended by the Legislature.
­FN 23. In the Court of Appeal, the county contended that the coastal development exception of section 66451.11, subd. (b)(E), applies to plaintiffs' parcel because, in 1980, the local coastal plan stated that development should be discouraged in Naples generally. Plaintiffs replied that neither their parcel nor any other Naples parcel had been individually identified or designated as too small for residential development, and that the county had permitted residential construction on other Naples parcels as recently as 1987. The county does not renew the contention in this court.
­FN 24. Section 66451.11 provides that a local ordinance may provide for merger "if any one of the contiguous parcels or units held by the same owner does not conform to standards for minimum parcel size, under the [applicable] zoning ordinance ... and if all the following requirements are satisfied:
­FN 25. The suspension provisions appear in each Budget Act under item 8885-101-001. (See, under that item, Stats. 1990, ch. 467, provision 5, subd. (s); Stats. 1991, ch. 118, provision 4, subd. (o); Stats. 1992, ch. 587, provision 4, subd. (o); Stats. 1993, ch. 55, provision 4, subd. (o).)
­FN 26. Sections 8 and 9 make it optional, instead of mandatory, for a local agency to publish a resolution of intention before amending a merger ordinance that was in existence on January 1, 1984, or adopting a new merger ordinance under section 66451.11. (Stats. 1993, ch. 59, §§ 8, 9, amending §§ 66451.20, 66451.21.)
­FN *. Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One, assigned by the Acting Chairperson of the Judicial Council.
­FN 1. As County Counsel's Association of California describes it, "[t]he Plan of Naples is a one-page sketch map recorded in 1888. It depicts approximately 240 rectangular blocks and irregular fractional blocks, of which about 227 are numbered. The blocks numbered 31, 44, 60, 69, 70 and 142 are shown divided into approximately 170 pencil-shaped parcels that are unnumbered. The paucity of information on the map reveals that it does not qualify as a record of survey. For example, it gives no dimensions for any of the parcels or for the vast majority of the blocks, and lacks references to bearings, monuments, relationships to adjacent tracts, scale, compass points, or the date of any survey. (See Bus.&Prof. [Code §] 8764.) The map does show the blocks as being separated by a rigidly rectangular grid of streets drawn in apparent disregard for topography and natural features. The streets, in blind obedience to this plan, run straight across the barrancas depicted on the map and plunge over the coastal cliffs into the sea. Petitioners claim that each of these 240 blocks and 170 parcels must be recognized as a legal parcel for the purposes of the modern Subdivision Map Act."
­FN 2. In addition to the concession made in its answer, the County has made other admissions as to the legal existence of lot 132, most notably in the certificate of compliance issued for the property in 1986, which stated that the lot is a "legal parcel having been created in 1888 in compliance with the provisions of the California Subdivision Map and at that time there was no County of Santa Barbara Ordinance enacted pursuant thereto." However, this case does not decide whether acts of recognition such as those performed by the County in this case could estop a County from asserting that a parcel had not been "created" for purposes of section 66451.10, subdivision (a).
Petition for review after the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment in an action for writ of mandate and other relief. This case concerns whether the Subdivision Map Act preempts efforts of local agencies to require owners of contiguous substandard lots to merge them as a condition to issuance of a development permit. (Gov. Code, section 66451.10.)
Thu, 05/12/1994 7 Cal.4th 725 S030829 Review - Civil Appeal closed; remittitur issued
1 Morehart, John M. (Respondent)
P.O. Box 25540
2 Morehart, Frances (Respondent)
1126 Santa Barbara
3 County Of Santa Barbara (Appellant)
4 Rancho San Carlos Partnership (Amicus curiae)
Represented by Michael J. Burke
One Ecker Bldg., #200
5 Watson Land Company (Amicus curiae)
6 California Coastal Commission (Amicus curiae)
Represented by Jamee Jordan Patterson
7 California Land Surveyors Association (Amicus curiae)
8 Coastal Forest Lands, Inc. (Amicus curiae)
Represented by Clayton E. Clement
9 Consulting Engineers & Land Surveyors Of California (Amicus curiae)
Represented by James P. Corn
11 California Association Of Realtors (Amicus curiae)
12 Huntington Beach Company (Amicus curiae)
Represented by Timothy A. Tosta
Two Embarcader Center
Represented by Orrin F. Finch
14 Sierra Pacific Industries (Amicus curiae)
Represented by Deborah A. Boyd
Post Office Box 6678
May 12 1994 Opinion: Reversed
Jan 22 1993 Petition for review filed
Respondent John Morehart Et Al.
Jan 25 1993 Received:
Feb 10 1993 Answer to petition for review filed
By: Aplnts. County of Santa Barbara
Feb 11 1993 Request for depublication (petition for review pending)
by non-party Pacific Legal Foundation
Feb 22 1993 Reply to answer to petition filed
Resps Morehart Et Al.
Mar 10 1993 Received letter from:
Atty General Re Typo in letter of 3-2-93
Mar 11 1993 Petition for review granted (civil case)
Apr 12 1993 Opening brief on the merits filed
By Resps Moorehart, Et Al
Appellants County of Santa Barbara Et Al [asking to 6-11-93]
From Counsel for Rancho San Carlos Partnership, in support of Resps., John M. and Frances Morehart.
May 5 1993 Extension of time granted
Appellants' answer brief on the merits to 6-11-93
Watson Land Company in support of Resps.
May 6 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
Of Rancho San Carlos Partnership. brief Due: 6/1 Replies Due: 6/21
Watson Land Company [Respondents] answer Due 6-21-93
Watson Land Company [Respondents]
May 27 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
California Coastal Commission in support of Respondent County of Santa Barbara
Jun 1 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Rancho San Carlos Partnership in support of Petnrs
Jun 2 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
California Coastal Commission in support of Applts. Ans Due: 6-30-93
Jun 2 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
California Coastal Commission in support of Appellants. Ans Due: 6-30-93
County Counsel Santa Barbara to file Applnt's answer brief/merits [asking to 6-15-93] (permission granted verbally by the Court)
Jun 15 1993 Answer brief on the merits filed
Appellants County of Santa Barbara Et Al [Perm]
Jun 21 1993 Response to Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Appellants County of Santa Barbara Et Al to Amicus brief of Watson Land Company and Rancho San Carlos Partnership
Jun 25 1993 Application for Extension of Time filed
To file Resp's reply brief on the merits To 8-4-93
Jul 1 1993 Extension of time granted
To file Resp's reply brief on the merits To August 4, 1993
Jul 2 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
California Land Surveyors Assn. in support of Respondents (brief Under Same Cover)
Coastal Forest Lands, Inc. ("Cfl") in support of Respondents - w/brief
Jul 7 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
Consulting Engineers & Land Surveyors of Calif. in support of Resp Morehart (w/brief) (Rec'd in Sac 7-2-93)
Jul 8 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
Calif Land Surveyors Assn [Respondents] answer Due: 8-2-93
Jul 8 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Calif Land Surveyors Assn [Respondents]
Coastal Forest Lands, Inc. [Respondents] answer Due: 8-2-93
Coastal Forest Lands, Inc. [Respondents]
Jul 9 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California (Celsoc) in support of Resps Morehart Ans Due: 8-6-93
Jul 9 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California in support of Resp Morehart Ans Due: 8-6-93
California State Association of Counties and Counties and Cities in support of Applts County of Santa Barbara, Et Al.
Jul 20 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
California State Association of Counties (Csac), Et Al. in support of Applts. Ans Due: 8-10-93
Jul 20 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
California State Association of Counties (Csac), Et Al in support of Applts. Ans Due: 8-10-93
Jul 27 1993 Application for Extension of Time filed
By Counsel for Applts, County of Santa Barbara, asking to file A Consolidated answer to A/C briefs 8/20/93
Jul 29 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
By Huntington Beach Co. in support of Resps. brief attached
Jul 30 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
By California Assoc of Realtors in support of the Resps Morehart Et Al(AC brief Under Same Cover)
Aug 3 1993 Reply brief filed (case fully briefed)
by plaintiffs and respondents
Aug 3 1993 Order filed:
The time to file appellant's consolidated responce to amicus curiae briefs of Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California, California Land Surveyors Association & Coastal Forest Lands, Inc., is hereby extended to and including 8/20/93.
Aug 3 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
By Huntington Beach Company. Ans. Due 8-25-93
Aug 3 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Huntington Beach Company in support of Resps.
Aug 4 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
Pacific Legal Foundation in support of Respondents Morehart (w/brief)
Aug 10 1993 Response to Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Resps to Amicus Cal State Association of Counties
Aug 10 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
California Association of Realtors in support of Respondents. Ans Due: 8-25-93
Aug 10 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Pacific Legal Foundation in support of Respondent Morehart. Ans Due: 8-25-93
Aug 23 1993 Response to Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
County of Santa Barbara (Consolidated answer) (Rule 40n - Fed Ex) (See Doc Ev 38)
Aug 26 1993 Response to Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
Applt County of Santa Barbara - Consolidated response to A/C's of Huntington Bch Co., Pacific Legal Fdn & Cal Assn of Realtors (Rule 40n)
5 Volumes Administrative Record from Santa Barbara County Superior Court (Appeals - Cathy Vea)
Sep 20 1993 Received application to file Amicus Curiae Brief
In support of Resps. Morehart filed By: Dun & Martinek (App.Only)
Sep 28 1993 Letter sent requesting supplemental briefing
Simultaneous briefs due 10-20-93. Reply briefs due 11-8-93.
Sep 29 1993 Permission to file amicus curiae brief granted
Sierra Pacific Industries in support of Resps. (Firm of Dun & Martinek) brief Due: 10-18-93 Ans Due: 11-8-93
Atty Monk requesting case not be Set for Oral Argument in December or January
Oct 19 1993 Amicus Curiae Brief filed by:
By Sierra Pacific Industries in support of John M. Morehartet Al (40n)
Brief of Petnrs'. in response to Crt'S. Inquiry Re. Appealability.
Oct 21 1993 Filed:
App County of Santa Barbara, Et Al. brief Re Appealability in response to Court's letter.
May 12 1994 Opinion filed: Judgment reversed
with directions to dismiss the appeal. Majority Opinion by Lucas, C.J. -- joined by Kennard, Arabian, Baxter, George & Kremer (P.J. CA 4/1, assigned) JJ. Concurring Opinion by Mosk, J.
May 26 1994 Opinion Modified -- no change in judgment
Jun 20 1994 Received:
Clayton E. Clement (Clement Fitzpatrick & Kenworthy)
James P. Corn (Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott)
Timothy A. Tosta (Baker & Mc Kenzie)
Wendy Cole Lascher (Lascher & Lascher)
Orrin F. Finch (Pacific Legal Foundation)
Michael J. Burke (Ellman, Burke, Hoffman & Johnson)
Deborah A. Boyd (Post Office Box 6678)
SCOCAL, Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara , 7 Cal.4th 725 available at: (https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/morehart-v-county-santa-barbara-31566) (last visited Monday August 10, 2020).