The procedures set forth in this chapter shall govern the processing, approval, conditional approval or disapproval and filing of tentative, final and parcel maps and the modification thereof. Local ordinances may modify such procedures to the extent authorized by this chapter.

subdivider makes an application pursuant to this division, a local agency shall determine whether or not it is able to meet the time limits specified in this chapter for reporting and acting on maps. If the local agency determines that it will be unable to meet such time limits, such agency shall, upon request of a subdivider and for the purpose of meeting such time limits, contract or employ a private entity or persons on a temporary basis to perform such services as necessary to permit the agency to meet such time limits. However, a local agency need not enter into such a contract or employ such persons if it determines either that (1) no such entities or persons are available or qualified to perform such services or (2) the local agency would be able to perform services in a more rapid fashion than would any available and qualified persons or entities.

Such entities or persons employed by a local agency may, pursuant to an agreement with the local agency, perform

all functions necessary to process tentative, final, and parcel maps and to comply with other requirements imposed pursuant to this division or by local ordinances adopted pursuant to this division, except those functions reserved by this division or local ordinance to the legislative body. A local agency may charge the subdivider fees in an amount necessary to defray costs directly attributable to employing or contracting with entities or persons performing services pursuant to this section.

The local agency may establish reasonable fees for the processing of tentative, final and parcel maps and for other procedures required or authorized by this division or local ordinance, but the fees shall not exceed the amount reasonably required by such agency to administer the provisions of this division. The fees shall be imposed pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act, consisting of Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 66000), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 66010), Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 66012), Chapter 8 (commencing

with Section 66016), and Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 66020) of Division 1.

of the notice in compliance with the requirements for service of legal process by mail.

No advisory agency or legislative body shall disapprove an application for a tentative, final, or parcel map in order to comply with the time limits specified in this chapter unless there are reasons for disapproval other than the failure to timely act in accordance with the time limits specified in this chapter.

No fee shall be charged by a local agency as a condition to the approval of a tentative, final, or parcel map for a subdivision, or a division of land which is not a subdivision, which consists of the conversion of a mobilehome park to condominium or stock cooperative ownership interests, except regulatory fees charged for the issuance of a permit and those fees authorized by Section 66451.2.

Applications for an exception from the Subdivision Map Act pursuant to Section 66412, and applications for parcel map waivers pursuant to Section 66428, shall be acted upon by a local agency within 60 days of the application being deemed complete pursuant to Section 65943.

required for the purpose of sale, lease, or financing of the contiguous parcels or units, or any of them.

A local agency may, by ordinance which conforms to and implements the procedures prescribed by this article, provide for the merger of a parcel or unit with a contiguous parcel or unit held by the same owner 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 zoning ordinance of the local agency applicable to the parcels or units of land and if all of the following requirements are satisfied:

affected parcels is undeveloped by any structure for which a building permit was issued or for which a building permit was not required at the time of construction, or is developed only with an accessory structure or accessory structures, or is developed with a single structure, other than an accessory structure, that is also partially sited on a contiguous parcel or unit.

The ordinance may establish the standards specified in paragraphs (3) to (7), inclusive, which shall be applicable to parcels to be merged.

This subdivision shall not apply if one of the following conditions exist:

contiguous parcels or units of land is enforceably restricted open-space land pursuant to a contract, agreement, scenic restriction, or open-space easement, as defined and set forth in Section 421 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

is located within 2,000 feet of a future commercial mineral extraction site as shown on a plan for which a use permit or other permit authorizing commercial mineral resource extraction has been issued by the local agency.

approved land use plan work program or an approved issue identification on which the preparation of a land use plan pursuant to the provisions of the California Coastal Act is based.

For purposes of paragraphs (C) and (D) of this subdivision, “mineral resource extraction” means gas, oil, hydrocarbon, gravel, or sand extraction, geothermal wells, or other similar commercial mining activity.

For purposes of this section, when determining whether contiguous parcels are held by the same owner, ownership shall be determined as of the date that notice of intention to determine status is recorded.

A merger of parcels becomes effective when the local agency causes to be filed for record with the recorder of the county in which the real property is located, a notice of merger specifying the names of the record owners and particularly describing the real property.

Prior to recording a notice of merger, the local agency shall cause to be mailed by certified mail to the then current record owner of the property a notice of intention to determine status, notifying the owner that the affected parcels may be merged pursuant to standards specified in the merger ordinance, and advising the owner of the opportunity to request a hearing on determination of status and to present evidence at the hearing that the property does not meet the criteria for merger. The notice of intention to determine status shall be filed for record

with the recorder of the county in which the real property is located on the date that notice is mailed to the property owner.

At any time within 30 days after recording of the notice of intention to determine status, the owner of the affected property may file with the local agency a request for a hearing on determination of status.

Upon receiving a request for a hearing on determination of status from the owner of the affected property pursuant to Section 66451.14, the local agency shall fix a time, date, and place for a hearing to be conducted by the legislative body or an advisory agency, and shall notify the property owner of that time, date, and place for the hearing by certified mail. The hearing shall be conducted not more than 60 days following the local agency’s receipt of the property owner’s request for the hearing, but may be postponed or continued with the mutual consent of the local agency and the property owner.

At the hearing, the property owner shall be given the opportunity to present any evidence that the affected property does not meet the standards for merger specified in the merger ordinance.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the local agency shall make a determination that the affected parcels are to be merged or are not to be merged and shall so notify the owner of its determination. If the merger ordinance so provides, a determination of nonmerger may be made whether or not the affected property meets the standards for merger specified in Section 66451.11. A determination of

merger shall be recorded within 30 days after conclusion of the hearing, as provided for in Section 66451.12.

If, within the 30-day period specified in Section 66451.14, the owner does not file a request for a hearing in accordance with Section 66451.16, the local agency may, at any time thereafter, make a determination that the affected parcels are to be merged or are not to be merged. A determination of merger shall be recorded as provided for in Section 66451.12 no later than 90 days following the mailing of notice required by Section 66451.13.

If, in accordance with Section 66451.16 or 66451.17, the local agency determines that the subject property shall not be merged, it shall cause to be recorded in the manner specified in Section 66451.12 a release of the notice of intention to determine status, recorded pursuant to Section 66451.13, and shall mail a clearance letter to the then current owner of record.

continue to effect the merger of parcels pursuant to that ordinance, unless the parcels would be deemed not to have merged pursuant to the criteria specified in Section 66451.30. The local agency shall record a notice of merger for any parcels merged pursuant to that ordinance.

merger and no further proceedings under the provisions of this division or a local ordinance enacted pursuant thereto shall be required for the purpose of sale, lease, or financing of those contiguous parcels or units, or any of them, until such time as the parcels or units of land have been lawfully merged by subsequent proceedings initiated by the local agency which meet the requirements of this article.

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, until such time as the parcels or units of land have been lawfully merged by subsequent proceedings initiated by the local agency which meet the requirements of this article.

be applicable to any parcels or units which meet the criteria of subdivision (a) but which were transferred, or for which the owner has applied for a building permit, during the period between January 1, 1986, and the effective date of this section.

Prior to amending a merger ordinance which was in existence on January 1, 1984, in order to bring it into compliance with Section 66451.11, the legislative body of the local agency shall adopt a resolution of intention and the clerk of the legislative body shall cause notice of the adoption of the resolution to be published in the manner prescribed by Section 6061. The publication shall have been completed not less than 30 days prior to adoption of the amended ordinance.

Prior to the adoption of a merger ordinance in conformance with Section 66451.11, by a city or county not having a merger ordinance on January 1, 1984, the legislative body shall adopt a resolution of intention to adopt a merger ordinance and fix a time and place for a public hearing on the proposed ordinance, which shall be conducted not less than 30 nor more than 60 days after adoption of the resolution. The clerk of the legislative body shall cause a notice of the hearing to be published in the manner prescribed by Section 6061. Publication shall have been

completed at least seven days prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall:

tourism industry entrusts its significant economic interests to its agricultural and open-space lands, the highest and best use for the agricultural land in the Napa Valley is for agricultural production.

provision of law, the County of Napa may adopt ordinances to require, as a condition of the issuance of any permit or the grant of any approval necessary to develop any real property which includes in whole or in part an undeveloped substandard parcel, that the undeveloped substandard parcel be merged into any other parcel or parcels that are contiguous to it and were held in common ownership on or after the effective date of this act, whether or not the contiguous parcels are a part of the development application, except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (d) and (e).

the general plan and any applicable specific plan.

Prior to adopting any ordinance authorized by Section 66451.22, the legislative body of the County of Napa shall conduct at least one public meeting at which local officials shall allow public testimony regarding the proposed ordinance in addition to the noticed public hearing at which the legislative body proposes to enact the ordinance.

Any parcels or units of land for which a notice of merger had not been recorded on or before January 1, 1984, shall be deemed not to have merged if on January 1, 1984:

restricted open-space land pursuant to a contract, agreement, scenic restriction, or open-space easement, as defined and set forth in Section 421 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

mineral extraction site as shown on a plan for which a use permit or other permit authorizing commercial mineral resource extraction has been issued by the local agency.

issue identification on which the preparation of a land use plan pursuant to the provisions of the California Coastal Act is based.

For purposes of paragraphs (3) and (4), “mineral resource extraction” means gas, oil, hydrocarbon, gravel, or sand extraction, geothermal wells, or other similar commercial mining activity.

Each city or county, as applicable, may establish the standards specified in paragraphs (3) to (7), inclusive, of subdivision (a), which shall be applicable to parcels deemed not to have merged pursuant to this section.

If any parcels or units of land merged under a valid local merger ordinance which was in effect prior to January 1, 1984, but for which a notice of merger had not been recorded before January 1, 1988, and one or more of the merged parcels or units of land is within one of the categories specified in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 66451.30, the parcels or units of land shall be deemed not to have merged unless all of the following conditions exist:

If all the conditions described in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (d) above exist, only a parcel or unit

of land which does not conform to minimum parcel size shall remain merged with a contiguous parcel.

“The city or county sending you this notice has identified one or more parcels of land which you own as potentially subject to a new state law regarding the merger of substandard parcels which are located in one or more of the following categories:

made, whether or not the extraction is being made pursuant to a use permit issued by the local agency.

(Division 20 of the Public Resources Code), or (ii) prior to the adoption of a land use plan, been made by formal action of the California Coastal Commission pursuant to the provisions of the California Coastal Act of 1976 in a coastal development permit decision or in an approved land use plan work program or an approved issue identification on which the preparation of a land use plan pursuant to the provisions of the California Coastal Act is based.”

“The new state law contained in Section 66451.301 of the Government Code, generally provides for parcels or units of land located in one or more of the above-described areas which were merged prior to January 1, 1984, and for which the local agency did not record a notice of merger by January 1, 1988, the parcels are deemed unmerged on January 1, 1988, unless all of the following conditions exist:

same owner.

In order to determine whether this new law applies to your property, you should immediately

contact the ____ Department of (City or County) to assist you in determining the application of the new law.”

“WARNING. Your failure to act may result in the loss of valuable legal rights regarding the property.”

Upon application made by the owner and payment of any fees authorized by Section 66451.33, the local agency shall make a determination that the affected parcels have merged or, if meeting the criteria of Section 66451.30, are deemed not to have merged.

66451.12.

A city or county may impose a fee not to exceed those permitted by Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 54990) of Part 1, payable by the owner, for those costs incurred with respect to a parcel for which application for a determination that the parcels meet the criteria of Section 66451.30 is made.