Code Section

66451.302.  

(a) By January 1, 1987, a city or county or city and county which has within its boundaries, parcels or units of land which are or may be subject to the provisions of Section 66451.301, shall send a notice to all owners of real property affected by Section 66451.301 in substantially the following form:

“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:

(1) On or before July 1, 1981, one or more of the 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.

(2) On July 1, 1981, one or more of the contiguous parcels or units of land is timberland as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 51104, is in a timberland production zone as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 51104, or is land devoted to an agricultural use as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 51201.

(3) On July 1, 1981, one or more of the contiguous parcels or units of land is located within 2,000 feet of the site on which an existing commercial mineral resource extraction use is being made, whether or not the extraction is being made, whether or not the extraction is being made pursuant to a use permit issued by the local agency.

(4) On July 1, 1981, one or more of the contiguous parcels or units of land 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.

(5) [In coastal counties only] Within the coastal zone, as defined in Section 30103 of the Public Resources Code, one or more of the contiguous parcels or units of land has, prior to July 1, 1981, been identified or designated as being of insufficient size to support residential development and where the identification or designation has either (i) been included in the land use plan portion of a local coastal program prepared and adopted pursuant to the California Coastal Act of 1976 (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:

(a) The parcels or units are contiguous and held by the same owner.

(b) One or more of the contiguous parcels or units do not conform to minimum parcel size under the applicable general plan, specific plan, or zoning ordinance.

(c) At least one of the 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 necessary structures, or is developed with a single structure, other than an accessory structure, that is also partially sited on a contiguous parcel or unit.

(d) The parcels or units which do not conform to minimum parcel size were not created by a recorded parcel or final map.

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.”