Mendocino County subdivision committee approves seven boundary line adjustments

The Mendocino County Subdivision Committee on April 10, 2025, approved seven boundary line adjustments that reconfigured lot lines for properties near Willits, Hopland, Ukiah, Laytonville, Leggett and an area listed as Filo. All approvals were unanimous and most were granted with standard recording conditions; two approvals included special conditions addressing septic setbacks and the demolition of an existing building.

Committee action matters because boundary line adjustments change legal parcel boundaries and can affect septic setbacks, building placement and future development or sale. Several county departments reviewed the applications; Environmental Health requested a revised map showing septic/leach-field locations for one adjustment, and Planning staff required demolition and updated site-map conditions for another before recording could occur.

The committee approved the following cases after brief staff summaries and limited agency comment. In every instance the applicant or agent either attended briefly or did not appear; staff recommended standard conditions in most cases and, in two cases, added targeted special conditions to address site-specific issues. Tony Sarais and Ron Franz appeared as agents for multiple applicants and made site-configuration remarks in support of proposed property lines.

Votes at a glance B20250001 (Kenneth and Linda Barales; agent: Tony Sarais) — Reconfigured four lots: Lot 1 to 300 acres, Lot 2 to 220 acres, Lot 3 to 160 acres, Lot 4 to 90 acres; located about 6.8 miles northeast of Willits on the north side of String Creek Road (7980 Hurst Weltz Road). Agency comments: none. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

B20250004 (JK Ranch LLC; agent: Ron Franz) — Reconfigured two lots: Lot 1 to 230 acres, Lot 2 to 426 acres; located about 3.8 miles southeast of Hopland on Old Toll Road (16500 Old Toll Road). Agency comments: none. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

B20250005 (McDowell Valley Farming, LLC; agent: Ron Franz) — Reconfigured two lots and aligned a boundary to an existing road: Lot 1 to 22 acres, Lot 2 to 214 acres; located about 3 miles east of Hopland on State Route 175 (3811 Highway 175). Agency comments: none. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

B20250007 (Friends of Liberty LLC) — Reconfigured four lots adjacent to Ukiah at the terminus of Masonite Road (1307 Masonite Road); Lot 1 to 6.95 acres, Lot 2 to 1.26 acres, Lot 3 to 1.26 acres, Lot 4 to 12.37 acres. Planning staff noted apparent discrepancies between older parcel maps and recent case maps and recommended relying on the updated case maps. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

B20250008 (Jordan Kelso; agent: Tony Sarais) — Reconfigured two lots in Laytonville on Lakeside Drive (1411 and 1431 Lakeside Drive): Lot 1 to 1.05 acres, Lot 2 to 1.16 acres. Environmental Health requested a revised map showing the location of the leach field and required setbacks so staff could confirm required separations from the new property line; the committee approved the adjustment with that special condition. Outcome: approved (unanimous) with special condition requiring a revised site map showing leach field and setbacks prior to recording.

B20250009 (Butler Goldshall, LLC; agent: Richard Wise) — Reconfigured two lots in Leggett on Drive Thru Tree Road (67674 and 67672 Highway 271): Lot 1 to 0.17 acres, Lot 2 to 0.46 acres. Planning staff recommended two special conditions because the proposed new line would cross an existing structure that the applicant intends to demolish: (1) an updated site map showing required setbacks must be submitted and approved prior to recording clearance; and (2) a demolition permit for the structure must be final prior to recording clearance. The committee approved the adjustment with those planning special conditions. Outcome: approved (unanimous) with demolition and site-map conditions.

B20250010 (Courtney Bailey and Chris Butler; agent: Ron Franz) — Swap of roughly half an acre between two lots near Signal Ridge Road (7041 Signal Ridge Road, listed as 3 miles west of Filo): Lot 1 approximately 5.53 acres, Lot 2 approximately 2.38 acres. Agency comments: none. Outcome: approved (unanimous).

Discussion and direction - Tony Sarais, appearing as agent, said aligning the boundary to a creek “makes sense from the point of view that we’re using the creek as a natural geographic boundary between the properties.” That remark was recorded during the Barales case presentation. - Melissa Nunez of Mendocino County Environmental Health asked that the Lakeside Drive (B20250008) case include a revised site/tenement map showing the septic/leach-field location so staff could confirm setbacks from the proposed new property line; the committee made that a condition of approval. - Staff planner Russ Ford (staff planner for the docketed cases) recommended special conditions on the Leggett case (B20250009) to ensure a structure that will be intersected by the new line is demolished and that setbacks are demonstrated before the adjustment is recorded. Ford also noted that older parcel-mapping sources appeared out of date for the Friends of Liberty LLC sites and that the case maps should be treated as current.

Meeting context and next steps The committee moved through the agenda with limited public comment and no extended debate; committee members and agency representatives generally had no objections. In each case staff will withhold recording clearance until required conditions are satisfied (standard and site-specific). The committee adjourned after completing the boundary-line agenda; no minor subdivisions were heard at this meeting.