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CHAPTER 62
SUBDIVISION LAW
Article 1. General Provisions.
Article 2. Procedure for Subdividing Land.
Article 3. Lot Parcelling and Agricultural Subdivisions.
Article 4. Requirements for Plans and Maps.
Article 5. Improvements.
Article 6. Variances and Appeals.
Article 7. Penalties, Amendments, Interpretation and Separability.
ARTICLE 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 62101. Title.
§ 62102. Purpose and Intent.
§ 62103. Compliance with Master Plan.
§ 62104. Exemptions: Decedents’ Estates: Parental Division of Property.
§ 62105. Definitions.
§ 62106. Authority of the Commission.
§ 62107. Commission Approval.
§ 62108. General Requirements for Subdivisions.
§ 62108.1.Agricultural Subdivision Requirements.
§ 62109. Subdivision Located Without the Territorial Confines of Guam.
§ 62110. Subdivision Application, Verification of.
§ 62111. Government Subdivisions.
§ 62112. Public Rights of Way.
§ 62101. Title.
This Chapter shall be known The Subdivision Law.
SOURCE: GC ‘18000.
§ 62102. Purpose and Intent.
The purpose of this Chapter and of any rules, regulations,
specifications and standards adopted, pursuant thereto, is to control and
regulate the development and/or subdivision of any land for any purpose
whatsoever. Such control and regulations is determined to be necessary to
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provide for the orderly growth and harmonious development of the territory;
to insure adequate traffic circulation through coordinated street, road and
highway systems; to achieve individual property lots of maximum utility
and livability; to secure adequate provisions for water supply, drainage,
sanitary sewerage and other health requirements; to permit the conveyance
of land by accurate legal description; and to provide logical procedures for
the achievement of this purpose.
SOURCE: GC ‘18001 as amended by P.L. 12-90.
§ 62103. Compliance With Master Plan.
Development and/or subdivision of all land and roads shall conformto
that land use or road location delineated in the latest revision of the
Territorial Master Plan, initially approved in April 1967.
(a) Construction on land designated for future road or public purposes,
contrary to the use indicated in the Master Plan, shall not be authorized,
irrespective of land ownership.
(b) Specifications for construction, repair, and/or reconstruction of
roads shall conform to Department of Public Works Standards, and shall
follow requirements delineated for that zone in which the subdivision or
construction is located.
SOURCE: GC ‘18001.1 enacted by P.L. 12-90.
AG OPINION: Even though the 1967 Master Plan was never adopted by the
Legislature prior to the enactment of P.L. 12-20, the enactment of this § 62103 has the same
effect– requiring compliance with the Plan. BOP 90-0321 (4/19/90).
§ 62104. Exemptions: Decedents’ Estates: Parental Division of
Property.
(a) Article 5 of this Chapter shall not apply to land which is an asset of
the estate of decedent, provided, however, that, before the distribution of
any such land by the court, the Territorial Planner or Commission may enter
his or its appearance and require street and utility easements on said land to
insure lot divisions consistent with the general plan and with the provisions
of § 62501.
(b) Article 5 of this Chapter shall also not apply to land which has been
owned in fee simple by a person who divides said land among his living
children or their descendants by way of inter-vivos gift; provided, however,
that such land shall be deeded to said children or descendants in fee simple
and said deeds shall contain alienation clauses to the effect that the children
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or descendants shall not give, sell, or convey in fee simple such lots for a
period of at least five (5) years; and further provided, that the Territorial
Planner or Commission shall require street and utility easements on said
land to insure lot divisions consistent with the general plan and that the
minimum size of each lot, including that retained by the grantor, if any,
shall be no less than seven thousand two hundred (7,200) square feet.
Where the streets and alleys have not been improved within the subdivision,
the subdivider, for the purposes of having his subdivision map approved
and recorded by Land Management, shall be required either to secure a
bond for the said improvement, or to sign an affidavit stating to the effect
that the said improvement shall be accomplished within a reasonable period.
The government of Guam shall not be held responsible for making the said
improvement. The deed transferring the property may provide that the
children or descendants may mortgage the property for the purpose of
constructing a residence on the property.
SOURCE: GC ‘18001.5 amended by P.L. 11-125; P.L. 13-153:1; subdivision (b)
amended by P.L. 15-131:5. Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 21-144:9(a) (12/29/92).
Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 22-153:1(b) (12/30/94).
§ 62105. Definitions.
The following words and phrases, when used herein, shall have the
meaning respectively hereto ascribed to them, except where a different
meaning may be clearly indicated by the context:
(a) Agricultural Subdivision shall mean a subdivision having no lots,
parcels or sites smaller than ten thousand (10,000) square feet, except when
located on top of the Northern Aquifer, the minimum ten thousand (10,000)
square foot lot must be connected to a public or other EPA-approved sewer
system, and in which all lots, parcels or sites are used principally for
agriculture, single family resident sites or as an agriculture-homesite
combination; except that the term Agricultural Subdivision shall include a
subdivision resulting from distribution by the court pursuant to § 62104(a)
or (b) of this Chapter with no lots, parcels or sites smaller than ten thousand
(10,000) square feet, with sewer connection or other EPA-certified sewage
disposal only if located over the Northern Aquifer, and in which all lots,
parcels or sites are used principally for agriculture, single family sites, or as
an agricultural homestead combination
(b) Commission shall mean the Territorial Land Use Commission.
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(c) Easement shall mean a grant by the owner of land for a specified
use or uses of said land to a person or persons, to the public generally, or to
the government of Guam.
(d) Engineer shall mean a person who is registered pursuant to Title
XLIII, Government Code of Guam, as an Engineer, and holds a current
certificate of registration issued by the Board of Engineering and
Architectural Examiners or a person exempted under the provisions of said
Title XLIII.
(e) Improvements shall mean any beneficial or valuable site additions
or alterations to a subdivision property including street grading and
surfacing, water service, sanitary sewers, facilities provided for drainage
and site grading.
(f) Non-Access Reservation shall mean the limiting of access between a
right-of-way and the adjacent land. (A non-access reservation shall be
provided only when required by the Commission and the right of access to
and from such land across the right-of-way boundary shall be dedicated to
the government of Guam.)
(g) Plan, General shall mean the general plan or plans for guiding the
physical development of the territory of Guam as adopted by the
Commission and approved by the Governor.
(h) Plan, Precise shall mean the detailed plan or plans for guiding and
controlling the physical development of specific projects as adopted by the
Commission and approved by the Governor.
(i) Planning Division shall mean the Planning Division of the
Department of Land Management.
(j) Record Map shall mean the final subdivision map designed to be
placed on record in the Land Records of the Department of Land
Management.
(k) Reservation shall mean an area of land which the subdivider
reserves free and clear of all structures for a future specified purpose.
(l) Resubdivision shall mean the resubdividing of land in a subdivision
or lot parcelling subdivision or portions thereof so as to create a new or
different subdivision of such land other than is presently or record, and shall
include modifications to lot lines, the creation of one or more additional lots
or any other action of land division which is not consistent with the
recorded subdivision or lot parcelling subdivision map.
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(m) Reversion to Acreage shall mean the voiding of a previous
subdivision in order to revert the platted lots contained therein back to the
original parcel or parcels which existed prior to the subdivision.
(n) Right-of-Way shall include the entire width between property lines
of a highway, street or alley.
(o) Sanitation Division shall mean the Sanitation Division of the
Department of Public Health and Social Services.
(p) Subdivide shall mean the act of creating a subdivision.
(q) Subdivider shall mean any individual, firm, association, syndicate,
corporation, trust or any other legal entity proceeding to effect a subdivision
of land for himself or another.
(r) Subdivision shall mean the division of any parcel of land into six (6)
or more lots. Subdivision shall include resubdivision and reversion to
acreage and, where appropriate to context, relates to the process of
subdividing or to the land subdivided regardless of the method used to
accomplish such action, whether by sale, design, rent, lease, deed of gift,
grant in gift or any other method of transferring title whether for
renumeration or not and whether immediate or future.
(s) Subdivision, Lot Parcelling shall mean the division of a lot legally
existing on the effect date of this Chapter into no more than five (5) parcels.
Lot parcelling of a lot shall include all methods of such action whether by
sale, design, rent, lease, deed of gift, grant in gift or any other method of
transferring title whether for renumeration or not and whether immediate or
future.
(t) Surveyor shall mean a person who is registered pursuant to Title
XLIII, Government Code of Guam, as a land surveyor, and holds a current
certificate of registration issued by the Board of Engineering and
Architectural Examiners or a person exempted under the provisions of said
Title XLIII.
(u) Tentative Map shall mean a preliminary subdivision map of the
purpose of showing the design of a proposed subdivision and the existing
conditions in and around it.
(v) Territorial Planner shall mean the Chief of Planning Division,
Department of Land Management, Government of Guam.
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Territorial Surveyor shall mean the person designated as the
Territorial Surveyor by the Director of Land Management.
SOURCE: GC ‘18002. Subsection (a) amended by P.L. 13-153:2, P.L. 14-145:9; and
P.L. 15-57:8; further amended by P.L. 21-144:9(b) (12/29/92). Subsection (a)
amended by P.L. 22-161:5 (12/30/94); further amended by P.L. 23-59:2.
§ 62106. Authority of the Commission.
The Commission shall have jurisdiction and cognizance of all matters
relating to subdividing and subsequent development of land within the
territory. The Commission shall prescribe and adopt such rules and
regulations, which shall include, but not be limited to, specifications and
standards for development of subdivisions, as are, in its judgment,
necessary to effectuate the purposes and intent of this Chapter. Such rules
and regulations may provide for delegation of functions of review and
inspection of proposed, tentative and final plans and maps, and of
subdivisions, to other agencies and departments of the government. Such
rules and regulations shall become effective upon approval by the
Governor.
SOURCE: GC ‘18003.
§ 62107. Commission Approval.
No subdivision map presented for filling as a record in the Department
of Land Management shall be recorded without the prior approval of the
Commission. The Commission shall not approve the record map of a
subdivision unless such map conforms to all the requirements of this
Chapter and any applicable rules, regulations, specifications or standards
adopted by the Commission. No subdividers shall subdivide any land except
in accordance with this Chapter, or sell, lease or assign, or offer for sale,
any subdivision or a proposed subdivision or any part thereof, or any lot,
parcel to site therein until the record map has been officially recorded.
SOURCE: GC ‘18004.
§ 62108. General Requirements for Subdivisions.
In all subdivisions presented for recording under this Chapter the
subdivider shall:
(a) Not subdivide or develop land for any purpose contrary to the
provisions of the Zoning law, Chapter 61 of this Title of the Guam Code
Annotated.
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(b) Cause every lot to abut a roadway right-of-way having a minimum
width of forty (40N) feet; provided, however, that in agricultural
subdivisions and in parental subdivisions, every lot shall abut a roadway
right-of-way having a minimum width of twenty (20N) feet.
(c) Except as may be provided for pursuant to ‘56111, Title 5, Guam
Code Annotated, provide for the installation of power, water and telephone
lines, fire hydrants, roads and highways within the subdivision in accord
with any general or precise plan approved by the Commission.
(d) Where an established framework of local streets exists, provide for
the uniformity of street widths and alignment thereto with the streets of the
subdivision, and for the continuation of existing street names.
(e) Provide for adequate light, air privacy on all lots regardless of land
use, and design the location of streets to prevent excessive grading and
scarring of the landscape.
(f) Provide sufficient drainage of the land to provide reasonable
protection against flooding.
(g) Provide that streets within residential areas shall not be planned for
through traffic in order to insure privacy and safety.
(h) In cases where public access is not already provided, dedicate land
for public access by right-of-way for pedestrian travel from a public
highway or public street to abutting lands below the high-water mark on any
coastal shoreline, and to dedicate land for public access by right-of-way
from a public highway or public street to abutting public lands in the hills
and jungle so such lands shall be accessible for hiking, hunting, fruit-
picking and other recreational purposes.
The right-of-way shall be clearly designated on the final map of the
subdivision or development upon the dedication of land for a right-of-way
as required by this Subparagraph and acceptance by the Territory, the
Territory shall thereafter assume the cost of improvements for and the
maintenance of the right-of-way, and the subdivider shall accordingly be
relieved from such costs.
SOURCE: GC ‘18005. Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 10-157; (h) added by P.L. 13-
69:2. Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 21-130:10 and P.L.25-011:11.
§ 62108.1. Agricultural Subdivision Requirements.
(a) Any person or persons subdividing agriculturally-zoned land into
six (6) or more lots, parcels or sites that are less than twenty thousand
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(20,000) square feet per lot with the intention of selling three (3) or more of
the subdivided lots shall be required to make improvements consistent with
§ 62108 of Title 21 of the Guam Code Annotated.
(b) In agricultural subdivisions with lots, parcels or sites less than
twenty thousand (20,000) square feet, when located over the Northern
Aquifer, all lots must meet the requirements set forth in _3219(c) of Chapter
3 of Title 18 of the Administrative Rules and Regulations of the
government of Guam before final approval on adequate lot sizes can be
given.
(c) Agricultural subdivisions are permitted in Zoning District 2-Low
Intensity of the Zoning Code of Guam.
SOURCE: Added by P.L. 22-161:5(b) (12/30/94). Amended by P.L. 23-59:3.
Subsection (b) amended by P.L. 25-011:12. Subsection (c) added by P.L. 25-011:13.
§ 62109. Subdivision Located Without the Territorial Confines of
Guam.
No person subject to the licensing provisions of 21 GCA Chapter 100
(Real Estate Law) shall sell or lease nor offer to sell or lease any interest in
a subdivision located without the territorial confines of Guam unless the
subdivision plan has been submitted to and approved by the Real Estate
Commissioner. The Commissioner shall not approve any plan for a
subdivision located without the territorial confines of Guam until he has
issued a public report on the subject property. Such public report may be
issued by the Commissioner based on facts disclosed from the state in
which the property is located or based on an independent investigation on
the part of the Commissioner. Approval of a subdivision located without the
territorial confines of Guam by the Commissioner shall not relieve any
person from any further requirement for registration or regulation of such
transaction provided elsewhere under the laws of Guam.
SOURCE: GC ‘18006 enacted by P.L. 13-191:1.
§ 62110. Subdivision Application, Verification of.
Any subdivision application provided for by this Chapter shall not be
accepted or approved by the Commissioner unless it shall be certified under
penalty of perjury or verified before a notary public or other officer
qualified to administer oaths. Such certification or verification shall extend
to the documents and supplemental materials as well as to the statements
contained in the application itself.
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SOURCE: GC ‘18007 enacted by P.L. 13-191:1.
§ 62111. Government Subdivisions.
In any subdivision of government of Guam land, including land of
autonomous agencies, in which there are more applicants for lots within the
subdivision than there are lots, the Director of Land Management shall
conduct a public lottery, under the direction of the Attorney General, among
those applicants holding the same priorities to determine which applicants
of equal priority obtain the lots.
SOURCE: Added by P.L. 21-14:17.
§ 62112. Public Rights of Way.
(a) The public shall have the right to pass unhindered over a Public
Right of Way. For the purposes of this Chapter, a Public Right of Way
includes (1) easements for roadways created by law or operation of law; (2)
those subdivision easements, access, or rights of way created by delineation
on approved maps, way of formal grants or dedication of easement, access,
or right of way, regardless of formal acceptance by the government; and (3)
those rights of way mandated by the Subdivision Law within a subdivision
or lot parceling which appear on an approved final subdivision or lot
parceling map as dedicated easements, dedicated access, rights of way, or
roadways.
(b) The signature of the owner and approval of the Department of Land
Management on a final subdivision or lot parceling map delineating an
easement, access, roadway, or right of way, thereby grants to the public the
right to pass unhindered over that public right of way.
(c) The Department of Public Works shall have oversight responsibility
for the development of public rights of way through the Highway
Encroachment permitting process. However, such oversight responsibility
notwithstanding, the Government of Guam shall in no way be encumbered
to develop this roadway. The obligation to develop the roadway shall
remain with the subdivider as provided in Ԥ 62501 of this Chapter.
(d) A public right of way serves the public and all the landowners
whose properties abut the easement, and the subdivider shall in no way
retain special property rights that would allow him to encroach upon,
obstruct, place obstructions upon, hinder passage over, place signs upon, or
hinder maintenance of the public right of way.
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(e) The subdivider shall in no way retain special property rights that
would allow him to charge fees for passage or otherwise, that would allow
him to prohibit, and therefore, discriminate against, any member of the
public from using the public right of way.
(f) The subdivider shall in no way retain special property rights that
would allow him to grade, change water courses upon, or modify the
topography and roadway elevation of the public right of way without the
prior written authorization from the Department of Public Works.
(g) The subdivider shall in no way retain special property rights that
would allow him to use any portion of the public right of way to meet set-
back or other zoning requirements.
(h) In subdivisions approved since 1975 where the subdivider has not
opened, improved, or established a public access road, any landowner
whose property is served by the public right of way may, with the express
written authorization of the Department of Public Works, take necessary
and reasonable measures to make the public right of way passable for
ingress and egress to his property. The subdivider shall in no way retain
special property rights that would allow him to obstruct the lawful
development of this public right of way.
(i) In subdivisions where the subdivider or the government has not
maintained the public right of way, any landowner whose property is served
by that right of way may take the necessary and reasonable measures to
maintain that portion of the easement that immediately abuts his property.
Reasonable maintenance is herein defined as cutting brush, mowing
vegetation, filling potholes, and removing rocks and other obstructions to
passage; it does not include grading or otherwise changing the topography
or elevation of the roadway
SOURCE: Added by P.L. 27-118:2.
Solar 