Parcel Maps in El Sobrante, CA

El Sobrante is one of the few places in west Contra Costa County where large-lot splits still pencil out. The valley's semi-rural parcels — some with horse setups, many on lots far larger than the county minimum — make it a natural candidate for minor subdivisions under the Subdivision Map Act, which allows a parcel map for divisions of four or fewer lots. Because El Sobrante is unincorporated, there is no city hall in the process: the tentative map, conditions of approval, and final map all run through Contra Costa County planning and public works, and the recorded map ends up with the County Recorder and County Surveyor in Martinez. We work in that county pipeline constantly and know what the map checkers expect.

Feasibility comes first, and in El Sobrante it involves more than zoning math. Some older parcels here rely on septic systems, and a split that looks fine on paper can fail if the new lot cannot support a septic field or documented water service — questions we flag before you spend money on a tentative map. Access is another common constraint: long shared driveways and creek-adjacent frontages along the San Pablo Creek drainages need workable easements, and hillside edges toward the San Pablo Reservoir watershed can limit buildable area. Our feasibility review lays these issues out so you can decide with real information.

When the project moves forward, our Trimble terrestrial laser scanner lets us capture the boundary evidence and a full topographic base in a single mobilization — driveways, drainage, structures, and grade across acreage that would take days with conventional methods. That one dataset supports the tentative map, the septic and grading consultants, and the final map, and the monuments we set are perpetuated per Business and Professions Code §8771.