All parcels of land intended or needed for public use shall be offered for dedication to the City before any subdivision is approved, typically, when the final map is filed. The subdivider shall grant whatever land or easements the City determines are necessary to fulfill the purposes of these regulations. Such dedication of parcels or easements and improvements may be required for the following uses:
(a) 
Streets and alleys, including future streets;
(b) 
Private streets (conditional dedication) for emergency services;
(c) 
Pedestrian and bicycle paths, or sidewalks;
(d) 
Bus stops;
(e) 
Public utilities;
(f) 
Natural watercourses, storm drains and flood-control channels;
(g) 
Public access, including access for maintenance or fire protection;
(h) 
Protection of scenic and environmentally sensitive lands;
(i) 
Street trees;
(j) 
Parks and recreation facilities;
(k) 
Protection of slope banks, areas subject to flooding, and other potentially hazardous areas;
(l) 
School sites as may be necessary in accordance with the Subdivision Map Act;
(m) 
Sites to be preserved for public use as provided in the Subdivision Map Act;
(n) 
Such other public purposes as the City may deem necessary, provided the amount of property required to be dedicated bears a reasonable relationship to the increased need for public facilities created by the subdivision.
(Ord. 370 § 2, 2000)
If, at the time the final map or parcel map is approved, any of the easements set out in Section 66477.2 of the California Government Code are rejected, the offers of dedication shall be irrevocable and the Council may, by resolution at any later date and without further action by the subdivider, rescind its action and accept and open any of these easements for public use. The acceptance shall be recorded in the office of the County Recorder.
(Ord. 370 § 2, 2000)
The City may require that any dedication or offer of dedication of a street shall include a waiver of direct access rights to such street from any property shown on a final map or parcel map as abutting thereon, and that if the dedication is accepted, such waiver shall become effective in accordance with the provisions of the waiver of direct access.
(Ord. 370 § 2, 2000)
Before a final map is recorded, or if dedication and offers of dedication are supplemented by separate instrument, before such instrument or instruments are recorded, a preliminary title report shall be issued for the benefit and protection of the City. Any expense involved in complying with the provisions of this section shall borne by the subdivider.
(Ord. 370 § 2, 2000)
(a) 
The subdivider shall provide for adequate and appropriate public park and/or public recreation facilities for the subdivision by the dedication of lands therein and according to the following requirements, pursuant to the authority granted by Section 66477 of the Government Code (Quimby Act).
(b) 
Prior to consideration of a tentative map, the Community Development Department will identify pursuant to this chapter the land area required for dedication or in-lieu fee payment. The Planning Commission shall state as a condition of approval of a final map whether the subdivider shall dedicate land, pay a fee in lieu thereof, or both, at the option of the Planning Commission for public park and public recreation purposes.
(c) 
General standards for the public interest, health and welfare require that five acres of property for each 1,000 persons residing in the City be devoted to public parks, public recreational trails and/or public recreational facilities.
(d) 
Dedication of land, 50 parcels or more.
(1) 
Where a public parks, public recreational trail and/or public recreational facility has been designated in the General Plan or applicable Specific Plan and it is to be located in whole or in part within the proposed subdivision, the subdivider shall dedicate land for a local park as determined by the following formula:
(Average Population Density of Dwelling Type) X (5.0 Acres)
1000
= Parkland Acreage Requirement per Dwelling
The following table of population density has been established pursuant to Section 66477(2) of the Government Code (where these numbers conflict with the most recent figures available from the Federal Census, the Census numbers shall be used):
Dwelling Type
Average Persons/Unit
Detached (1 unit)
2.25
Attached (1 unit)
1.92
Attached (2 unit)
2.18
Attached (3 or 4 units)
2.28
Attached (5 units)
1.91
Mobile home
1.52
(2) 
When the subdivider is required to provide parkland improvements, a credit for the value of the improvements shall be provided against the payment of fees or dedication of land required.
(3) 
The subdivider may be required to provide any of the following subject to credit:
(i) 
Full street improvements and utility connections including, but not limited to curbs, gutters, street paving, traffic-control devices, street trees and sidewalks to dedicated land.
(ii) 
Recreational improvements including, but not limited to landscaping, irrigation, walkways, site lighting, play equipment, picnic facilities, parking, restrooms and benches.
(iii) 
Fencing along the property line of that portion of the subdivision contiguous to the dedicated land.
(iv) 
Improved drainage throughout the site.
(v) 
Other minimal improvements which the Planning Commission identifies to be essential to the acceptance of the land for park and recreational purposes.
(4) 
Where only a portion of land to be subdivided is proposed as public park under the General Plan or applicable specific plan, or when a major part of the park or recreation facility has already been acquired by the City and only a small portion of land is needed from the subdivision to complete the site, such portion shall be dedicated for park purposes and a fee in lieu of additional land that would have been required to be dedicated shall be paid.
(e) 
Dedication of Land, Less than Fifty Parcels.
(1) 
If the proposed subdivision contains fewer than 50 parcels the subdivider shall have the option to pay a fee in lieu of dedicating land. Such fee shall be calculated in accordance with subsection (f) of this section.
(2) 
In cases where the subdivider proposes the voluntary dedication of land for park and recreation purposes, such land shall be found acceptable for park and recreation purposes by the Planning Commission prior to acceptance of the voluntary dedication of land. The Planning Commission may require payment of in-lieu fees in addition to the voluntary dedication of land.
(f) 
Fees in Lieu of Land Dedication.
(1) 
If there is no park and recreation facility designated in the General Plan or applicable specific plan to be located in whole or in part within the proposed subdivision, the subdivider shall pay a fee equal to the value of the land that would have been required if land had been dedicated. Such fees shall be used for a local facility which bears a reasonable relationship to serve the present and future recreation needs of the residents of the subdivision.
(2) 
Fees paid in lieu of land dedication shall be based on the fair market value of the amount of land within the proposed subdivision which would otherwise have been required. Fair market value shall normally be based on the average value of an acre of land as determined by the total assessed land value within the City or a written appraisal of the land may be requested from an appraiser acceptable to the City if so desired.
(3) 
In-lieu fees must be paid prior to the recording of the final map. Fees shall be determined by the City Engineer and paid to the City for deposit in the park fee fund. Moneys in this fund shall be expended solely for those uses allowed in the government code including the acquisitions or development of public park and public recreation facilities. Fees shall be committed pursuant to the park and recreation program within five years of issuance of building permits on 1/2 of the lots created by the subdivision.
(g) 
Exceptions to Parkland Dedication Requirements.
(1) 
Subdivisions containing less than five parcels and not used for residential purposes shall be exempted from the requirements of this section; provided, however, that a condition may be placed on the approval of such parcel map that if a building permit is requested for construction of a residential structure or structures on one or more of the parcels within four years the fee may be required to be paid by the owner of each such parcel as a condition to the issuance of such permit.
(2) 
The provisions of this section do not apply to commercial or industrial subdivisions; nor do they apply to condominium projects or stock cooperatives which consist of the subdivision of airspace in an existing apartment building which is more than five years old when no new dwelling units are added.
(h) 
Subdivider Provided Recreation Improvements.
(1) 
The value of specific recreation improvements to the subdivided land provided by the subdivider shall be credited against the fees or dedication of land required by this section. The Planning Commission shall approve such improvements prior to agreeing to accept the dedication of land and to require in-lieu fees should the proposed land and improvements be unacceptable or designated in the park and recreation element of the Atascadero General Plan.
(Ord. 370 § 2, 2000)