SUBDIVISION AND CONDO REGS
In order to approve a subdivision plat, the city or county must also receive and accept with regard to both a water supply system and a sewage disposal system, one of the following:
A certification by a city-owned system or by the owner of a privately owned system that is subject to regulation by the Public Utility Comissioner of Oregon, that water will be available to the lot line of each and every lot depicted in the proposed plat A bond, contract or other adequate assurance by the subdivider to the city or county that the system will be installed by or on behalf of the subdivider to the lot line of each and every lot depicted in the proposed plat A statement that no such system will be provided to any purchaser. While this option is provided by state statute, the city or county may adopt more stringent requirements for water or sewer installations and their availability to each lot. Also, the DEQ must approve method of sewage disposal even if the statement is given.
Conversion condominiums are condominiums in which there is a building, improvement or structure (such as an apartment) that was occupied prior to any negotiation. The restrictions of the condominium law apply to conversion condominiums that are at least residential in nature and are not wholly commercial or industrial in nature. The declarant of a conversion condominium must give every existing tenant notice of intent to convert the tenant's building to a condominium at least 120 days before recording the declaration, bylaws and floor plans for the conversion condominium. He must also provide a copy of the notice to any new tenant before the start of the tenancy.
A notice of conversion states that the declarant intends to create a conversion condominium and provides general information relating to the nature of condominium ownership. It does not constitute a notice to terminate the tenancy and must include a statement to that effect. If the declarant will offer the condominium for sale, the notice will set forth the tenant's rights, provide good faith estimates of the approximate price range for which the unit will be offered for sale to the tenant and estimates of the monthly operational, maintenance and any other common expenses or assessments applying to the unit.
The first step in applying for approval of a subdivision or partition plan is the application stage. The application is accompanied by a map, called a tentative plan, showing the general design or layout of the proposed partition or subdivision. The second stage of the approval process is approval of the final plat of the proposed partition or subdivision. Before granting plat approval, the governing body will determine that the plat complies with applicable zoning ordinances and regulations and is in substantial conformity with the approved tentative plan.
A subdivider may negotiate a lot sale after the tentative plan is approved. He may sell the lots or otherwise dispose of or transfer interests or estates in the land, only after the subdivision has been approved and the plat has been acknowledged and recorded.
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
A subdivider must provide a notarized declaration stating the plat has been prepared and the property subdivided or partitioned in accordance with the law and stating any dedications, easements, or restrictions created. If the declarant is not the fee owner of the property, the fee owner and the vendor must also execute the declaration, consenting to the partition. Finally, if there is any dedication or donation of land to publicpurposes, the holder of any mortgage or trust deed must also sign the declaration
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
A surveyor must certify he has correctly surveyed and marked the land with proper monuments of either concrete, galvanized iron pipe or an iron or steel rod.
The first step in applying for approval of a subdivision or partition is the application stage. A person or his authorized agent or representative will apply in writing to the city or county for approval of a proposed partition or proposed subdivision, showing the true name of the owner and developer of the property and that the requirements of state law and the local governing body would be met by the development. The application is accompanied by a map, called a tentative plan, showing the general design or layout of the proposed partition or subdivision.
Action on these applications is considered to be a judicial act; therefore, quasi-judicial hearings must be held in accordance with their procedural rules. A governing body of the city or county may delegate its power to approve applications for subdivisions and major partitions to its planning commission or to a city or county official, subject to appeal directly to the governing body. In reviewing the tentative plan, the governing body will ascertain whether or not the proposal complies with state law. The proposed subdivision name cannot be similar to or pronounced the same as the name of another subdivision in the county unless the: land platted is contiguous to and platted by the same party that platted the previous subdivision. consent of the previous party is filed and recorded, and all block numbers of the previous plat of the same name are to be continued. Sherwood Estates could not be so named if Sherwood Hills existed in the same county unless the two subdivisions were platted by the same person and next to each other or unless approval was obtained from the developer of Sherwood Hills.
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
All ad valorem taxes and special assessments, fees or other charges which have or will become a lien in that tax year must have been paid. If the amount cannot be determined at that time, an amount estimated by the assessor for taxes, special assessments, fees and other charges must be paid, or a bond not to exceed twice the amount of the previous year's total charges must be deposited with the tax collector to assure payment of the taxes.
If a dwelling unit is to stay as a unit in the conversion condominium without substantial alteration in its physical layout, the tenant who occupies the unit has a right of first refusal. This means the declarant must first offer to sell the unit to that tenant. The offer to sell cannot be presented to the tenant earlier than 30 days after the notice of conversion was delivered to the tenant.
An offer to sell a conversion unit to the tenant will terminate 60 days after the tenant receives it or gives written rejection of it, whichever occurs earlier. The offer must be accompanied by a copy of all applicable disclosure statements issued by the Real Estate Commissioner and does not constitute a notice to terminate the tenancy.
The second stage of the approval process is approval of the final plat of the proposed partition or subdivision. A plat includes a final map and other writing containing all the descriptions, locations, specifications, dedications, provisions and information concerning a subdivision or partition.
Approval of an application and tentative plan is binding on a city or county for purposes of the preparation of a plat. Therefore, as long as the development conforms to the approved plan and all conditions required for approval of the application and tentative plan, the city or county is committed to approving the final plat for recording, even if a more restrictive land use law is imposed after approval.
Cities and counties must regulate partitions and subdivisions and approve any street or road created for the purpose of partitioning. They have the right to adopt standards and procedures governing approval of subdivision and partition plats, including requirements for: placement of utilities, width and location of streets or minimum lot sizes and other requirements needed to lessen street congestion. securing safety from fire, flood, slides, pollution or other dangers. providing adequate light and air. preventing overcrowding of land. facilitating adequate provision of transportation, water supply, sewerage, drainage, education, recreation or other needs, and the protection and assurance of access to wind for potential electrical generation or mechanical application.
Before regulations may be adopted, the planning commission must hold public hearings. After a hearing the planning commission has 60 days to make recommendations to the governing body, which has the authority to adopt the regulation after holding another hearing.
Chapter 92 of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) regulates the legal separation and marketing of subdivisions and partitions of land in Oregon. The law has two purposes:
Give the local jurisdictions, cities and counties, authority to regulate the legal separation of land into smaller lots or parcels. This authority is contained in the portion of the statute known as the Subdivisions and Partitions Law. Give the Real Estate Commissioner authority to oversee the marketing and sale of undeveloped, legally separated land to consumers. This authority is contained in the portion of the statute known as the Subdivision and Series Partition Control Law.
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
Locations and descriptions of all monuments must be recorded on the plat, with distances and angles of all boundary lines conforming to the surveyor's certificate shown. The plat must also show the location, dimensions and purpose of all proposed or existing easements and the area of each lot or parcel.
A condominium may be terminated if all of the unit owners execute and record an instrument of termination signed by the county assessor, obtain the consent or agreement of all unit lienholders, and file a copy of the recorded instrument with the Commissioner. A portion of the property may be removed from the provisions of the law by recording an amendment to the declaration and an amended plat. Property may also be removed from the provisions of the condominium law if: 90% of the unit owners agree that it is obsolete and to sell it; or 60% of the unit owners agree that damaged or destroyed property is not to be repaired, reconstructed or rebuilt by the unit owners' association.
Property removed from the provisions of the law is considered owned in common by all the unit owners. Each unit owner is entitled to the total of the fair market value of his unit and his share of the common element interest. This is determined by dividing the fair market value of the unit and common element interest by the total fair market values of all units and common element interests. The fair market value of each unit and common element interest can be determined by: an agreement of all of the unit owners; or by an independent appraiser selected by the association board of directors. For Example - Mrs. DeBeck owns a unit in a condominium that, per the agreement of 90% of the owners, is obsolete, to be removed from the provisions of the Oregon Condominium Act, and to be sold. Her unit has been appraised at $62,700. The total appraised value of all the units is $2,598,000 and of the common elements is $222,300. Two percent (2%) of the common elements relate to her unit. As a result, she would get $67,146 ($62,700 for her unit plus $4,446 [2% of the $222,300 value of the common elements]). This would amount to 2.38% of the total net proceeds ($67,146/$2,820,300).
Partitions and Subdivisions This law applies when land which exists as a unit of land or contiguous units of land under single ownership at the beginning of a calendar year is divided during the calendar year. When land is divided into two or three units, the process is called partitioning and the units are called parcels.
Rocky Beaches owns a single parcel at the beginning of the calendar year and in May partitions it, creating two parcels. In August, Rocky partitions one of the two parcels creating a third parcel. If Rocky does not create another parcel until after the first of the following year, it will continue to be considered a partition because he will have created a total of three parcels in that calendar year. After the first of the next year, the partitioning process can be started again by dividing one of these parcels.
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
The county assessor, irrigation, drainage, water control and improvement districts, and the governing body have approved the plat.
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
The county or city surveyor has approved the plat, after checking the site and the plat, taking measurements and making any computations necessary to determine that the plat and survey are accurate.
To submit property to unit ownership, a person must record a declaration in every county in which the property is located. The declaration is the most important of all condominium documents as it creates the condominium and the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) for the condominium. When recorded, it converts the property to a number of single deed estates.
The person who records a declaration is called a declarant. If the declarant is not the fee owner of the property, the fee owner and the vendor under any instrument of sale must also execute the declaration to show their consent.
In order to have a final plat approved and recorded,
The survey for any subdivision or partition plat must be made by a registered professional land surveyor based on Federal Geodetic Control Committee guidelines. Each lot or parcel must be numbered consecutively, with lengths and courses of all boundaries of each lot or parcel shown and each street named.
The declaration will provide a general description of each unit and all buildings, including the number of stories and basements of each building, the total number of units and the principal construction materials. It will also contain a unit designation (i.e., a number and/or letter designating the unit), a description of the boundaries and square footage of each unit, and any other data necessary for proper identification of the unit.
The unit includes within its boundaries: all spaces. nonbearing interior partitions. windows and window frames, exterior doors and door frames. all fixtures and improvements. utility service line outlets for power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, air conditioning and waste disposal. if walls, floors or ceilings are included but do not contribute to the structural or shear capacity of the condominium: all lath, furring, wallboard. plasterboard, plaster and paneling. tiles. wallpaper, paint. finished flooring. any materials constituting any part of the finished surfaces. Except as set forth above, all other portions of the walls, floors or ceilings are a part of the common elements.
Also, all streets and roads for public use are dedicated without any reservations or restrictions other than the right to regain possession, if they are vacated by the governing body, and other than easements for public utilities. All common improvements, such as streets, roads, parks, sewage disposal and water supply systems, are donated if that was a condition of approval of the tentative plan.
This donation is called a dedication. Dedication is the act of setting aside for public use such property as streets, utility easements, school sites, parks, recreational facilities and the like. Dedication can be provided on the plat or by a separate dedication or donation document on a form provided by the city or county. Explanations of all common improvements required as conditions of approval of the tentative plan must be referenced and recorded. These explanations are necessary to show the exact intention of the dedicator or public agency. A notation that the owners dedicate all areas shown for public purposes would not indicate whether the areas are for public utility easements only or could be used by private telephone and TV cable companies. Showing an area on a plat as a common area or as being reserved for park purposes would not indicate whether the land is to be used only by the residents of the subdivision or by the general public as well.
Recorded plats may be amended by an affidavit of correction to show courses or distances omitted from the plat, to correct errors in the courses or distances or in the property descriptions shown on the plat, or to correct any other errors or omissions ascertainable from the data shown on the final plat. The amendment cannot be made to change courses or directions in order to redesign the lot configurations. The surveyor who filed the plat (or the county surveyor if the original surveyor has died) must prepare the affidavit, and the county or city surveyor must certify that they examined it. The surveyor must also have the affidavit recorded.
To change the configuration of lots, parcels or easements of a recorded plat, a person must follow the procedures for replatting. In general, these are the same as those for the original plat approval.
A declaration contains:
a description of the property, including property on which a unit or a limited common element is located. a statement of the interest in the property being submitted to the condominium form of ownership, whether fee simple, leasehold, easement and/or other interest. It also contains the condominium name. The name must include the word "condominium" or "condominiums" or the words "a condominium" and cannot be the same as or deceptively similar to the name of any other condominium located in the same county.
The law exempts the following transactions from the definition of a partition:
division of land resulting from a lien foreclosure, foreclosure of a recorded contract for the sale of real property or the creation of cemetery lots An adjustment of a property line by the relocation of a common boundary where an additional unit of land is not created and where the existing unit of land reduced in size by the adjustment complies with any applicable zoning ordinance A division of land resulting from the recording of a subdivision or condominium plat A sale or grant by a person to a public agency or public body for state highway, county road, city street or other right-of-way purposes A sale or grant of excess property resulting from the acquisition of land by a public agency or public body for right-of-way purposes A sale or grant as part of a property line adjustment incorporating the excess right of way into adjacent property
A condominium includes:
the land, if any; any buildings, improvements and structures on the property; and any easements, rights and appurtenances belonging to the property.
General Common Elements The general common elements are all portions of the condominium that are not part of a unit or a limited common element. They include:
the land; the foundations, columns, girders, beams, supports, bearing and shear walls, roofs, halls, corridors, lobbies, stairs, fire escapes, entrances and exits of a building; the basements, yards, gardens, parking areas and outside storage spaces; central services installations for power, light, gas, hot and cold water, heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, waste disposal and incinerating; all apparatus and installations existing for common use, such as elevators, tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, and ducts; premises for lodging of janitors or caretakers; and all other elements necessary or convenient to the existence, maintenance and safety of a building and the condominium or normally in common use. Sarah Miller purchased a condominium which included several common facilities, including a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a putting green. These common elements would be owned by Sarah and the owners of the units of the condominium in the form of undivided fractional or percentage interests, even if nothing were stated in their respective unit deeds.
