A. 
In addition to any other method for the creation of an easement, an easement may be created by a recorded covenant of easement made by an owner of real property to the City. An easement created pursuant to this section may be for parking, ingress, egress, emergency access, light and air access, landscaping, or open-space purposes.
B. 
At the time of recording of the covenant of easement, all the real property benefited or burdened by the covenant shall be in common ownership. The covenant shall be effective when recorded and shall act as an easement pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 801) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code, except that it shall not merge into any other interest in the real property. Section 1104 of the Civil Code shall be applicable to conveyance of the affected real property.
C. 
A covenant of easement recorded pursuant to this section shall:
1. 
Describe the real property to be subject to the easement and the real property to be benefited thereby;
2. 
Identify the approval, or designation granted which relied upon or required the covenant; and
3. 
Be in form and substance acceptable to the City Attorney.
D. 
A covenant executed pursuant to this section shall be enforceable by the successors in interest to the real property benefited by the covenant.
E. 
Such a covenant of easement may be required as a condition of any tentative parcel or tract map, conditional use permit, variance, or other discretionary land use approval under Titles 16 and/or 17 of the Orange Municipal Code.
(Ord. 8-91)
A. 
Any person, whether or not having title to any affected real property, may petition the City for a release of any covenant of easement created pursuant to this chapter. Such petition shall be in writing, shall clearly set forth the reasons such a release is sought and shall be accompanied by payment in full of the processing fee therefor, which shall be in the amount of $100.00 or such other amount as the City Council shall, by resolution, determine from time to time is reasonable, calculated to recover the costs of processing such a petition.
B. 
Such a petition shall be presented to the Planning Commission for determination in a public hearing upon not less than 10 days' notice mailed to the owners of record on the last equalized property tax assessment of the Orange County Assessor of the properties benefited and burdened by the easement and of all property within a 300 foot radius of either the benefited or burdened property. In addition, notice of such public hearing shall be published at least once, not less than 10 days prior to such hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
C. 
The Planning Commission shall grant a release upon a determination that the restriction of the property imposed by the covenant of easement is no longer necessary to achieve the land use goals of the City. The decision of the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council by any affected person in accordance with provisions of Title 17 relating to appeals of decisions on conditional use permits. Such a release shall be effected by recordation of a release document executed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk, upon authorization of the City Council.
(Ord. 8-91)
Nothing in this chapter shall create in any person other than the City and the owner of the real property burdened or benefited by the covenant standing to enforce or to challenge the covenant or any amendment thereto or release therefrom as set forth in Section 65875 of the California Government Code.
(Ord. 8-91)