Bright v. Board of Supervisors

Opinion

BROWN (Gerald), P. J.

The county appeals the judgment granting Anthony W. Bright a peremptory writ of mandate which directs the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County to. reconsider its decision of January 8, 1975 denying Bright permission to subdivide his land by parcel map. The only question is whether Bright’s proposed division of land is subject to the Subdivision Map Act.

On November 18, 1966, Bright acquired by grant deed a parcel of land, Parcel A, which he holds as separate property. An adjoining parcel, Parcel B, was acquired by Bright and his wife, as joint tenants, on April 29, 1968. On May 7, 1971, by grant deed Bright transferred his intérest in a portion of Parcel B to his wife as her separate property. This division created Parcel C. On May 30, 1973, Bright filed a tentative parcel map in which he proposed to divide Parcel A into four lots. In due time he was notified the San Diego Planning Department disapproved his application because it was a subdivision and did not follow the requirements of the Subdivision Map Act. At the time this decision was made, the applicable statute defined a subdivision as “. . . any real property, improved or unimproved, or portion thereof, shown on the latest equalized county assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units, which is divided for the purpose of sale, lease, or financing, whether immediate or future, by any subdivider into five or more parcels; . . .” (Stats. 1972, ch. 706, p. 1287; formerly Bus. & Prof. Code, § 11535; now Gov. Code, §§ 66424, 66411-12, 66428, 66475.)

The Subdivision Map Act requires a subdivider to file, get approval of and record a subdivision map (Stats. 1943, ch. 128, p. 865, formerly Bus. & Prof. Code, § 11500 et seq; now Gov. Code, § 66410 et seq.). Anyone who offers to sell or lease any part of a subdivision without complying with the act is subject to criminal sanctions (Stats. 1943, ch. 128, p. 868;

[194]

formerly Bus. & Prof. Code, § 11541; now Gov. Code, § 66499.31). The purpose of the act is to coordinate planning with the community pattern laid out by local authorities and to assure proper improvements are made so the area does not become an undue burden on the taxpayer

(Pratt

v.