Can I divide this property?

Anderson Valley scenery

Can I divide this property?  That’s another question people often ask me.  People buying property here are often coming from an urban area where the lots are an acre or less (usually a lot less).  So when they see that a property they are interested in is ten, twenty, forty or eighty acres, they want to know if they can parcel some of that off.  Generally, the answer is no.

Unless you are purchasing a property in town, be that Philo or Boonville, the odds are that the county zoned the property you are looking at for larger acreages.  Mendocino County designed its zoning to protect the County's rural character - meaning, larger parcels with fewer homes.  The largest parcel size is 160 acres and when you get out on some of the old ranches these are the sizes you will find.  

A brief history may be helpful.  In the 1970’s and 1980’s owners were splitting up many of the big ranches and dividing them into smaller parcels, creating some of the subdivisions we have today.  In Anderson Valley we have Rancho Navarro, Holmes Ranch and the Nash Ranch and Clow Ridge ranch.  Over the hill the best known is the McNab Ranch, but there are others as well.  Owners split many of these into much smaller parcels - Mostly 10-acre properties make up Rancho Navarro.  Holmes Ranch is 20 acres.  As the County developed and grew, the county created the building department and implemented zoning laws.  The county limited many of the larger ranches to 160-acre minimums, while some are 80 acre minimums.  This was to stop these huge ranches from continuing to go from one large parcel of thousands of acres to many small homesteads.

Today you will find these large parcels with one or two homes on them and a lot of space besides.  Sometimes that space is steep and unusable terrain, sometimes a forest covers it.  Other times it’s open grassland or oak studded hillsides.  It's natural for someone used to small plots to want to put that land to use for housing, but Mendocino County does not set things up that way.  So just because you are buying 30 acres with a home, it’s unlikely that you will be able to split the property.

There are exceptions.  Sometimes sellers offer more than one parcel and if the conditions are right you can divide - the basic condition is that there are certificates of compliance for the parcels allowing a split.  There are further conditions as well - access easements, septic studies and water requirements as well.  These have changed and grown more restrictive over time and I refer you to the County website for up to date information.

In Mendocino County it is unlikely that you will be able to divide the parcel you are purchasing.  Developers have already divided most parcels as small as they are going to be.  It’s always worth asking if there is more than one parcel number, just in case, but chances are the answer will be no.  So go enjoy the space you are buying!