SB-9 Lot Split Surveys

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Senate Bill 9 lets many single-family homeowners split one lot into two, a process the state calls an urban lot split. Cities are required to review these applications ministerially, meaning through objective standards rather than a discretionary hearing, so a qualifying project can move faster than a standard subdivision. Whether your lot actually qualifies, and what the new parcel lines need to look like, comes down to survey and mapping work most homeowners have never had to do before. We handle that part.

What we check before you spend money on design

• Whether your lot sits within a designated urbanized area or urban cluster, a requirement under state law
• Whether the proposed split keeps both resulting parcels at least 40% of the original lot size, the minimum ratio SB-9 allows
• Access requirements, since each new parcel needs street frontage, an alley, or another qualifying form of access
• Local objective standards your city has adopted on top of the state minimums, which vary city to city

What we provide

• Feasibility review of your lot's size, shape, and access before you commit to the project
• Boundary survey of the existing lot
• Tentative and final parcel map preparation and processing
• Legal descriptions for the new parcels
• Monumentation of the new lot line, with corner records and Record of Survey filings at the County Surveyor

A few things worth knowing going in

An SB-9 lot split does not trigger a property tax reassessment under Proposition 13. It also doesn't require CEQA environmental review, which is a large part of why the process moves faster than a conventional subdivision. Most cities do require the property owner to sign an affidavit agreeing to occupy one of the resulting units as a primary residence for a set period after recordation, so this isn't purely an investment play without any residency commitment. Rules on rent-controlled units, recently-tenanted properties, and certain protected land types can disqualify a lot outright, so an early feasibility check is worth doing before you invest in architectural plans.

Where this applies

SB-9 is state law, so it applies throughout Orange County, though every city layers its own objective standards on top of the state minimums. We handle the local layer, from Dana Point to San Clemente to Laguna Niguel and beyond, so you're not guessing which rules are state-mandated and which ones your specific city added.