Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008 - (Page 40)

SURVEYING Understanding What Land Surveying “is” and “isn’t” By Daniel E. Beardslee, PLS This is the first of a three-part series on land surveying. This article describes the actual and practical task of what a land surveying really is. The second article, to appear next month, explains how the surveying process works. The final installment will explain how to find and hire a competent property surveyor. The ability to have a working knowledge of land surveying and property boundaries can be very useful to any landowner and all land development professionals. As with similar technical subjects many people outside the land surveying profession believe they know some rules about boundaries, when in fact most of the rules of thumb and commonly held beliefs are totally incorrect or at least misunderstood. Those of us who work with property boundaries on a daily basis can tell innumerable stories of unpleasant situations that have arisen because of misunderstandings related to poor information or understanding of the subject. Neighbors have ended up hating neighbors over boundary problems that probably never would have arisen had they understood the underlying principles that govern the location of property lines. Usually the land surveyor ends up as the messenger, and although in an adversarial situation where one or the other of the parties to the disagreement is paying the surveyor, that surveyor is almost always totally neutral as to the position of a particular boundary. So don’t shoot the messenger. Although it may seem like a non sequitur, land surveyors don’t really care where boundaries are located. More correctly, they don’t care where they are with respect to the landowners’ expectations. If a line doesn’t fit an existing fence or runs through someone’s house, that fact by itself is not particularly important. The real issue that concerns the surveyor is whether or not the lines that get reproduced on the ground accurately reflect the legal descriptions that are being surveyed. Of course, to the landowner(s), the location of the line, especially in respect to site improvements, is of the utmost importance. What we feel is important for clients to understand is the mission and duty of the land surveyor. The primary role of the land surveyor in determining boundaries is to interpret the deed descriptions and produce a representation of those descriptions on the ground. The surveyor’s experience, education, and judgment are all involved in making those determinations and for those reasons, all states require a licensure to perform land surveys. The requirements for a licensure are usually several years of professional level responsible experience, recommendations by peers, and the passing of a very difficult exam. Licensure in one state is usually not transferable to another state without an examination on the laws relating to property boundaries in the state for which the licensure is requested. The land surveyor does not have the ability to alter boundaries based on landowners’ expectations, or determine issues of unwritten title. Those are legal matters, and again, the land surveyor is the expert messenger that provides the data necessary to factually analyze the boundaries in question and allow the legal system to make determinations of disputed claims. Surveying is an exact science There are a variety of myths about land surveying. One predominant myth is that surveying is an exact science or that there is only one proper place for a surveyor’s stake. Land surveying is plagued by a number of factors that unfortunately make this impossible. This is much to the cha- 40 May 2008 Sustainable Land Development Today

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008

Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008 Contents Our Voice Editorial Board SLDT Resources Addressing a Crisis with Wastewater Recycling Visionary Award Finalists The Jonquil City - How a City Revitalized its Downtown Industry Spotlight: Enviroquip Solar Power System Design and Installation Stormwater: The Return of the Cistern Site Amenity: Fiber Optics Surveying and Mapping Wastewater: Low-Pressure System Special Feature: The Urban Canopy as Infrastructure Industry News Advertiser Index Products/Services Showcase Classifieds The Last Word: Nature Bats Last…

Sustainable Land Development Today - May 2008

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