A. When required. No building or structure shall be erected or enlarged and no building permit shall be issued therefore, on any lot in any zone other than R-1 and R-H, if such lot abuts a highway or street, unless the one-half (½) of the highway or street which is located on the same side of the center of the highway or street as such lot has been dedicated and improved for the full width of the lot including any required diagonal corner cut-off so as to meet the required standards for such highway or street or such dedication and improvement has been assured to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. “Improvement” shall include: roadway, curb, gutter, and sidewalk to city standards; and drainage improvements, traffic control devices, and street lighting. As used in this section: the center of the highway shall mean the established centerlines of those highways as such highways are shown on the Master Plan of Streets and Highways approved by the Council and on file in the office of the City Engineer, as amended or newly adopted and amended from time to time, or otherwise officially determined by action of any governmental body having jurisdiction; and the established centerline of any street shall be determined in accordance with the then centerline of existing pavement.
1. The maximum area of land required to be so dedicated shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the area of any such lot which was of record on the effective date of this chapter in the Orange County Recorder's Office. In no event shall such dedication reduce the lot below a width of fifty (50) feet or an area of five thousand (5,000) square feet. This resulting lot shall be deemed as meeting the minimum lot size requirements under the this zoning code, as amended from time to time.
2. No such dedication shall be required with respect to those portions of such a lot occupied by a main building existing on the effective date of this chapter unless an encroachment permit is granted.
3. No additional improvements shall be required on the area required to be dedicated per the current Master Plan of Arterial Highways where complete roadway, curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements, and adequate street lighting and drainage improvements exist within the then previous dedication contiguous thereto.
4. No building or structure shall be erected on any such lot after the effective date of this chapter, within the area required to be dedicated pursuant to this section.
B. Exceptions.
1. The provisions of paragraph A. of this section shall not apply to the following construction:
a. Additions and accessory buildings incidental to a residential building legally existing on the lot, provided no additional dwelling units or guest rooms are created.
b. Additions and accessory buildings incidental to other than a residential building existing on the lot on the effective date of this chapter, provided that the total cumulative floor area of all such additions and accessory buildings subsequent to such effective date do not exceed two hundred (200) square feet.
c. Nothing in this section contained shall authorize construction of any buildings within the area which would otherwise be required to be dedicated but for the provisions of this section, and no such buildings shall be so constructed.
C. Dedication procedure.
1. Dedication of easements required by any person under the provisions of this section shall be offered in an irrevocable offer of dedication properly executed by all parties of interest including beneficiaries and trustees. A current preliminary title report prepared by a title company may be required by the City Engineer at the expense of the applicant. Such offer shall be in such terms as to be binding on the owner, his heirs, assigns or successors in interest; and shall continue until the City Council accepts or rejects such offer or until one (1) year from the date such offer is filed with the City Engineer for processing, whichever occurs first. The offer shall provide that the dedication will be complete upon acceptance by the City Council and that the offer shall be irrevocable until rejected by the City Engineer or the City Council, or until said one (1) year period expires, whichever is the later. The offer shall be recorded by the City Clerk in the Office of the Orange County Recorder upon its acceptance by the City Council. The City Engineer shall initially accept or reject the offer within thirty (30) days after it is filed with the Development Services Department, subject to subsequent action by the City Council. The offer shall thereafter be promptly processed by the city departments concerned and submitted to the City Council, in order to complete the dedication within one year. If the offer is rejected by the City Council or not processed within one year, the City Engineer shall issue a release from such offer unless the parties making the offer wish to have the time extended.
2. For purposes of this section, dedication shall be considered as satisfactorily assured when the City Engineer initially accepts the offer to dedicate provided for herein. When said City Engineer accepts the offer to dedicate he or she shall notify the Building Inspection Division and the Planning Division.
D. Improvement procedure.
1. Any person required to make improvements by the provisions of this section shall either: make and complete the same to the satisfaction of the City Engineer prior to issuance of a building permit; or, shall file with the City Engineer an agreement and a bond, both in form and content approved by the City Attorney, providing for and guaranteeing completion of the improvements to be constructed under the permit, prior to occupancy or within ninety (90) days after acceptance of any required dedication by the City Council, whichever is later. Said bond shall be in such an amount as the City Engineer shall estimate and determine to be necessary to complete all of the improvements required.
2. Such agreement, in addition to such other terms not inconsistent with this chapter as may be required by the Attorney, shall provide for reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs to the city in the event action is brought thereon to enforce its provisions, and shall contain alternate remedies sufficient in the opinion of the Attorney, to provide the broadest possible protection to the city.
3. Such bond may be either a cash bond or a bond executed by the lot owner as principal and by a company authorized to act as a surety in this state, as surety. The bond shall be payable to the city and be conditioned upon the faithful and timely performance of any and all work required to be done under the agreement.
4. When a substantial portion of the required improvement has been completed to the satisfaction of the City Engineer and the completion of the remaining improvements is delayed due to conditions beyond the owner's control, the City Engineer may accept the completed portion and consent to a proportionate reduction of the surety or cash bond in an amount estimated and determined by the City Engineer to be adequate to assure the completion of the required improvements remaining to be made.
5. Whenever the owner elects to deposit a cash bond, the city is authorized in the event of any default on his part, to use any or all of the deposit money to cause all of the required work to be done or completed, and for payment of all costs and expenses therefore, including reasonable city overhead. Any money remaining shall be refunded to the owner, and the owner shall be liable for any deficiency. Whenever a surety bond has been filed in compliance with this section, the city is authorized, in the event of any default on the part of the principal, to enforce collection, under such bond, for any and all damages sustained by the city by reason of any failure on the part of the principal faithfully and properly to do or complete the required improvements.
6. The term of the bond shall begin on the date of the deposit of cash or the filing of the surety bond and shall end upon the date of the completion to the satisfaction of the City Engineer of all improvements required to be made. The fact of such completion shall be endorsed by a statement thereof signed by the City Engineer, and the deposit shall be returned to the owner, or the surety bond may be exonerated at any time thereafter.
7. For purposes of this section, improvement shall be considered as satisfactorily assured when the City Engineer accepts the cash or surety bond provided for herein or the improvements required to be made have been completed to his satisfaction so expressed in writing. When the City Engineer accepts the bond or the work has been completed to his satisfaction he shall notify the Building Inspection Division thereof.
E. Issuance of building permits after certification of dedication and improvement. When all dedication and improvements required by this section have been completed or satisfactorily assured, a building permit may be issued.
F. Fees waived. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section to the contrary, no fee shall be charged for the rendering of any service by the city in connection with any dedication required by the provisions of this section and not a part of a subdivision or parcel map proceeding.
(See page 10).
G. Lots affected by street widening.
1. On a lot which is affected by street widening required by the provisions of this section, all required yards, setbacks, parking area, loading space and building locations for new buildings or structures or additions to buildings or structures shall be measured and calculated from the new lot lines being created by said widening; provided, however, that for the purpose of establishing the required front yard depth on a frontage where the ultimate street line has been determined under the provisions of this section, the depths of all existing front yards may be measured from such ultimate street line instead of the front lot line.
2. In applying all other provisions of this section, the area of such lot shall be considered as that which existed immediately prior to such required street widening.
H. Dedication and improvement standards.
1. All highways and streets shall be dedicated, constructed, and improved in accordance with the following requirements insofar as such is practical and will not create an undue hardship. All improvements required to be made by the provisions of this paragraph H. shall be done in accordance with the applicable standards of the City of Brea Public Works Standard Plans and Specifications and current Master Plan of Arterial Highways.
2. In addition, each intersection of streets and highways shall be dedicated so as to provide a diagonal corner cutoff located such that the distance between the right-of-way line and the ultimate curb return, measured at the center of the curb return, is fourteen (14) feet at the intersection of such highway and any other street or highway, which shall be improved in accordance with the standards for such highway set forth in this section and in the aforesaid Standards Plans and Specifications. The City Engineer may require that the fourteen (14) foot distance be increased as necessary to provide for wheelchair ramps and/or other special conditions.
3. Street improvements as used in this section shall be deemed to include drainage structures and improvements in the public right-of-way (after required dedication) determined by the City Engineer to be necessary to eliminate increased water flow resulting from the proposed improvement on the lot, traffic control devices, traffic signal interconnect, and street lighting in accordance with requirements from time to time being imposed in connection with subdivisions.
4. The City Engineer may approve and allow such variations and deviations from the aforesaid requirements as he determines are made necessary by the conditions of the terrain and the existing improvements contiguous to the property involved.
I. Appeal.
1. Any person required to dedicate land or make improvements under the provisions of this section may appeal any determination made by the Engineer in the enforcement or administration of the provisions of this section to the City Council.
2. Such an appeal shall be in writing; shall state in clear and concise language the grounds therefor; and shall be filed with the City Council within ten (10) days of the date of the Engineer's action which is appealed from. Within twenty (20) days from the date of the filing of such an appeal the City Engineer shall transmit the appeal together with all relevant information in its files and its report and recommendation thereon to the City Council.
3. The City Council may make such modifications in the requirements of this section or may grant such waivers or modifications of the determinations which are appealed to them as they shall determine are required to prevent any unreasonable hardship under the facts of each case or to obviate any required improvement unrelated to any increased traffic flow or obstructions to traffic flow occasioned by the new construction so long as each such modification or waiver is in conformity with the general spirit and intent of the requirements of this section, which is to provide for dedication and improvements where new construction on any lot will increase traffic flow or presents an obstruction to traffic flow on highways and streets. All such new construction shall presumptively be in this category, and it shall be the burden of the appealing property owner to show otherwise.
J. City may share the cost of making unusual improvements. Upon proper application to the City Council and upon recommendation of the Engineer, the city may accept and provide for contribution toward the cost of making any improvement required by the provisions of this section which the Engineer determines will cost an amount greatly in excess of the cost to other property owners who are required to make improvements under the provisions of this section in the immediate vicinity of the said improvement.
K. City Engineer to determine street alignment. Whenever uncertainty exists as to the proper application of the provisions of this section in the matter of street alignment, the Engineer shall determine their application in conformity with the spirit and intent of this section.
L. Notification to permit applicants required. When the City Engineer determines that the provisions of this section are applicable to any building permit application, he or she shall inform the permit applicant of his or her determination, of the specific requirements of this section which he or she determines to be applicable thereto and of the availability and procedure for appeal of his or her determination to the City Council.
M. Permit, inspection and plan check fees for streets, alleys, or public roads. The City Council shall adopt by resolution all permit fees related to street and highway improvements.
(Ord. 442, passed 4-28-69; Am. Ord. 965, passed 4-4-95)