Newly incorporated City is given discretion over final map approval

In the first published ruling upon the subject, the Second District Court of Appeal has rul that the newly incorporated City of Goleta had the discretion to set aside a final subdivision map.

Ordinarily, approval of a final map is ministerial, and the city would have no discretion as lengthy as the conditions of the tentative map were satisfied. on the other hand in this case, the of recent origin city had discretion because Santa Barbara shire had approved the tentative map shortly before Goleta incorporated. A 1998 amendment to the Subdivision Map Act--Government digest [section] 66413.5--"creates an exception to the general domination that approval of ...