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PA-1400209 March 3, 2015 Page 2 of 3 application and map. It must do so on the basis of a specific affirmative determination that each of the resulting parcels is large enough to sustain the agricultural uses to which it is restricted and it must make a finding that the subdivision will not result in residential development of the resulting parcels, except where residential use will be incidental to the commercial agricultural use of the land. The Board of Supervisors must determine whether the proposed subdivision conflicts with the Subdivision Map Act or the Williamson Act. The Board of Supervisors must deny approval of a tentative map or parcel map involving Williamson Act contracted land "...if it finds that either the resulting parcels following a subdivision of that land would be too small to sustain their agricultural use or the subdivision will result in residential development not incidental to the commercial agricultural us of the land...(Government Code §66474.4(a))." The principal purpose of Government Code §66474.4 is to ensure that subdivision of contracted land for residential purposes does not occur. The Legislature has acted to limit the permissibility of residential subdivisions because of a subdivision's irreversible erosion of the enforceability of the Williamson Act's requirement to protect agricultural land and, thus its constitutional basis for the preferential tax benefit. The State of California Attorney General's Office has opined that the Williamson Act prohibits subdividing contracted lands for residential purposes regardless of parcel size (75 Ops. Att'y Gen. 278 (1992); 62 Ops. Att'y Gen. 233 (1979); 54 Ops. Atty Gen. 90 (1971)). The Legislature, through the enactment of Senate Bill 985 (Chapter 1018, Statutes of 1999, §15), concurred with these Attorney General opinions and made them declaratory of existing law, adding the following: "In enacting Section 14 of this act...clarifying that a landowner's right to subdivide is subject to the Williamson Act...therefore, the subdivision of enrolled lands for residential purposes is prohibited by both the Williamson Act and by Section 66474.4 of the Government Code..." In a case where the landowner and County desire to develop parcels for residential uses, we recommend that the proposed subdivision be postponed until the land is out of contract through non-renewal. It is the County's responsibility to ensure that subdivision of Williamson Act land for residential purposes does not occur. To address this issue, some counties have included "no build' provisions for Williamson Act parcel splits, and others have included agricultural income requirements for parcels before additional houses could be built. Such conditions may protect both the property owner and the County from potential Williamson Act violations. MATERIAL BREACH The County and landowner should also be aware that under Government Code §51250 construction of buildings not related to agricultural use on newly created parcels of contracted land may be subject to the breach of contract penalties. While it is the County's responsibility to enforce the sanctions contained in Government Code §51250, the Department is also empowered to take actions against breaches of contract. Government Code §51250 provides an enhanced penalty for a material breach of contract. The enhanced penalty is 25 percent of the unrestricted fair market value of the