As used in this chapter:
Advisory agency. The Planning Commission is designated as the advisory agency with respect to tentative maps relating to subdivisions of five (5) or more lots and shall have all powers and duties with respect to said maps and the procedures relating thereto which are specified by law and by this chapter.
The Planning Commission is designated as the advisory agency with respect to tentative maps relating to subdivisions of four (4) or less lots and shall have all powers and duties with respect to said maps and the procedure relating thereto as specified by law and this chapter.
The Planning Department is designated as the advisory agency for purposes of reviewing and approving a tentative map pursuant to subsection 31-9.1 of this chapter.
Arterial street shall mean any street or road passing adjacent to or through the subdivision, which carries the major flow of traffic, and for which the major traffic may ultimately be in excess of two thousand four hundred (2,400) vehicles per day.
Block shall mean the length of the frontage along the property line between consecutive streets intersecting the frontage; and may also mean that area bounded on all sides by the adjacent streets, rights-of-way, railroads, public areas, or subdivision boundary, and includes one (1) or more lots or parcels.
Building Department. The “Building Department” is the agency which serves in an advisory capacity to appropriate advisory agencies and the Town Council concerning topography and soil conditions and their effect on the design and development of the subdivision.
Civil engineer shall mean a professional engineer in the branch of civil engineering holding a valid certificate of registration issued by the State of California.
Collector street shall mean any street within a subdivision or adjacent thereto which, because of its location with reference to other streets or other sources of traffic, carries or will carry traffic from minor streets to the major system of arterial streets; and includes the principal entrance streets for residential developments and streets for circulation of traffic within such developments and serves, or will serve, twenty-four (24) or more dwelling units.
County shall mean the County of Contra Costa, State of California, of which the governing body is the Board of Supervisors.
Critically expansive soils or other soil problems shall mean soil conditions which can cause damage to improvements, including streets, structures and buildings. They shall be tested by acceptable procedures to provide data suitable for making adequate designs for the improvements.
Cul-de-sac shall mean a street which connects to another street only at one (1) end, and serves sixteen (16) dwelling units or less, with a maximum length of seven hundred (700') feet.
Dwelling unit shall mean a building or a portion thereof, or a mobile home, designed for residential occupation by one (1) person or a group of two (2) or more persons living together as a domestic unit.
Engineering Department shall mean the department which serves in an advisory capacity to appropriate advisory agencies and the Town Council concerning streets, drainage and engineering. The Engineering Department is designated as the City Clerk of the Town Council for purposes of receiving final or parcel maps.
Engineering geologist shall mean a professional geologist in the branch of engineering geology holding a valid certificate of registration as an engineering geologist in the State.
Final map shall mean a map prepared in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the Subdivision Map Act, which map is designed to be filed in the office of the Recorder of Contra Costa County.
Flood control district shall mean the “Contra Costa County water conservation and flood control district,” hereinafter referred to as the “flood control district,” which serves in an advisory capacity to appropriate advisory agencies and the Town Council relating to drainage and flood control matters.
Flood hazard shall mean possible occurrence of overflow storm water causing flooding of lands or improvements, or having sufficient velocity to transport or deposit debris, to scour the surface soil, to dislodge or damage buildings, or to cause erosion of the banks of channels.
Freeways shall mean those highways which are defined in Section 23.5 of the Streets and Highways Code of the State, and which, because of their designated location with reference to the County highway system and State highway system, are or will be used primarily for fast, heavy, or dense traffic and for which right of access from abutting property or streets along the right-of-way boundaries will be prohibited or limited.
Frontage shall mean the width of the lot or block measured along the property line adjacent to the street.
Frontage improvements shall mean and consist of curb, longitudinal drainage, sidewalks, street lighting, planting and paving, or any combination thereof.
Frontage road shall mean a street or road adjacent to an arterial, thoroughfare, or freeway, which provides access to abutting properties and protection from the through traffic on the more heavily travelled street.
Geologic hazard or potentially hazardous soil conditions shall mean and include but is not limited to, conditions such as slope stability, ground water seepage, erosion hazards, expansive soil, fault-related hazards, and liquefaction potential.
Health Department shall mean the Health Department of the Town, acting through the Health Officer or his representative, which serves in an advisory capacity to appropriate advisory agencies and the Town Council concerning matters of sanitation and public health.
Improvement plan shall mean a plan prepared under the direction of a civil engineer, registered by the State, showing the location and construction details of all improvements required for the subdivision.
Improvements shall mean and refer to such street work, drainage facilities, utilities, and other facilities required to be installed by the subdivider on the land to be used for public or private streets, highways, ways, and easements as a condition precedent to the approval and acceptance of a final or parcel map thereof. “Improvements” also refer to such other specific improvements or types of improvements, the installation of which, either by the subdivider, by public agencies, by private utilities, by any other entity approved by the local agency or by a combination thereof, is necessary or convenient to insure conformity to or implementation of the General Plan or any specific plan adopted pursuant to Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.
Industrial street shall mean a street serving traffic within an industrial development.
Inundation shall mean and is used to indicate ponded storm water or storm water in motion of sufficient depth to damage property due to the mere presence of water or the depositing of silt.
Lot shall mean that portion of a parcel of land which is delineated or described as a single integral unit on the subdivision map.
Major drainage channels or conduits shall mean those channels or conduits which serve a drainage area of four (4) square miles or more.
Marginal strip shall mean the area between the edge of the traveled roadway or curbline, and the adjacent property line.
Median shall mean the area separating two (2) roadways within the right-of-way.
Minor drainage channels or conduits shall mean those channels or conduits which serve a drainage area of one (1) square mile or less.
Minor street shall mean any street which serves traffic for not more than twenty-four (24) dwelling units.
Minor subdivision shall mean a subdivision of four (4) or less lots.
Ordinance specifications shall mean and refer to the ordinance specifications as approved by resolution of the Town Council, in effect at the time of filing the parcel map or final map of the subdivision, three (3) copies of which are filed with the City Clerk.
Parcel shall mean all land which is contiguous and under one (1) ownership.
Parcel map shall mean a map prepared in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the Subdivision Map Act.
Path shall mean a right-of-way designated for use only by pedestrians and not intended for use as a way for motor-driven vehicles. Public paths are rights-of-way offered for dedication by a final or parcel map or deeded to and accepted by the Town Council. Private paths are for the benefit of the owners of lots designated on the final or parcel map.
Planning Department shall mean the technical staff of the Planning Agency and is one (1) of the divisions of the Town government. “Planning Department” shall also be the Clerk of the advisory agency for purposes of receiving tentative maps and Clerk of the Appeals Board and legislative body for purposes of filing appeals as provided in the Subdivision Map Act.
Ponding of local storm water shall mean standing storm water in local depressions. As distinguished from sheet overflow water, this water originates on or in the vicinity of the subdivision, and due to the condition of the ground surface, does not reach a drainage channel or conduit.
Preliminary soil report shall mean a report prepared by a soil engineer based upon adequate test borings or excavations in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the Subdivision Map Act.
Private road shall mean any parcel of land or nonexclusive easement not owned by the County, Town, or the State, which is used or intended to be used for access to a lot or parcel.
Public street shall mean a street for which the fee title or right-of-way is owned by the Town, or offered for dedication to the public and accepted by the Town.
Secondary drainage channels or conduits shall mean those channels or conduits which serve a drainage area less than four (4) square miles and more than one (1) square mile.
Sheet overflow shall mean water of minor depths either quiescent or flowing at velocities less than those necessary to produce serious scour.
Soil engineer shall mean a civil engineer who is experienced in soil mechanics, who investigates and reports on the stability of existing or proposed slopes, who controls the installation and compaction of fills, who recommends soil bearing values, and who provides design criteria and calculations for special earth structures such as buttress fills.
Street shall mean a way, excluding a path or alley, for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Subdivider shall mean a person, firm, corporation, partnership or association who proposes to divide, divides or causes to be divided real property into a subdivision for himself or for others.
Subdivision shall mean the division of any improved or unimproved land, shown on the latest equalized 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 for the cultivation of food or fiber or the grazing or pasturing of livestock. Property shall be considered as contiguous units, even if it is separated by roads, streets, utility easement or railroad rights-of-way. “Subdivision” includes a condominium project, as defined in Section 1350 of the Civil Code or a community apartment project, as defined in Section 11004 of the Business and Professions Code. Any conveyance of land to a governmental agency, public entity or public utility shall not be considered a division of land for purposes of computing the number of lots. “Subdivision” shall not include a division resulting from a conveyance of land or interest therein to an abutting property owner, not involving the creation of a new building lot or site, and both parcels or lots will conform in all other respects to this division and the zoning ordinance after such division, provided it is approved by resolution of the Planning Commission.
Tentative map shall mean a map for the purpose of showing the design of a proposed subdivision and the existing conditions on and around the proposed subdivision.
Thoroughfares shall mean those roads of general Town importance which are designated as Town thoroughfares, either existing or proposed, on the Town General Plan of roads.
Town shall mean the Town of Danville in the County of Contra Costa in the State of California.