CA Supreme Court Rejects 19th Century Subdivision Map

Maps recorded prior to the first state subdivision law in 1893 do not automatically create parcels for today’s purposes, a unanimous California Supreme Court has ruled.In the clearest decision ever on the validity of "antiquated subdivisions," the court rejected arguments of property owners that the Subdivision Map Act grandfathers pre-1893 maps."[W[e hold that antiquated subdivision maps, recorded in the absence of an applicable subdivision statute, ordinance, or regulation, did not in themselves establish subdivisions or create legal parcels that mandate the issuance of certificates of compliance for the subdivided parcels they depict," Justice Marvin Baxter wrote for the court."