I had an interesting real life job that I worked on last week, I was asked to stake about 1500 feet of access and utility easement consisting of five (5) calls that was recorded last month from a survey that I have sense found out was performed in February of 2012. The only information that I was provided by the client was an address and a description of the easement with no names or dates of the parties involved. The description did have the adjoining property owner’s name and deed reference that the easement is suppose to be adjacent to. In doing my field work, I find all but one of the original stakes placed by the original surveyor in February, all within hundredths of the computed location. The missing stake is suppose to be in the center of the 15 foot easement, 7.5 feet off of the property line as stated in the description. The adjoining owner showed me his original deed and map of his rectangular one (1) acre lot made in 1972, which was the same as I have, thus showing that the property line has not changed. I found three (3) of his corners, but not the one at the end of the property line in question, which is only 143 feet from his other rear corner and find that the easement as described by bearings and distances places the missing stake (an angle point of approximately 90?) about 25 feet from the property line instead of the 7.5 feet as stated in the easement. In looking at the easement description I can see that the easement centerline was computed approximately three (3) degrees off of parallel to the property line. I know there will probably be two answers to the question, so here goes. Do you follow in the original surveyor’s footsteps and replace the stake where he had it or do you stake the easement parallel and adjacent to the property line as stated in the description (but was not staked that way on the ground for property owners to approve)? This easement is located in rural farm land in North Carolina.
Hijack-
alt+0176 makes the ° symbol.
I did not notice that it got changed when I posted it. It was a degree symbol ° in word (alt 248) when I orginaly typed it.
I'm guessing you should make your client aware of the discrepancy and proceed from there.
Yes, in North Carolina we are required to provide our client with a map or report of our findings for any staking.
I would contact the previous surveyor to ask questions. No insinuation of wrong doing on his part, just checking up on the instructions he was given.
BTW, is your client the same guy who employed the previous surveyor? If so, why did the client switch horses in midstream?
Cow,
Thanks for the suggestions, I have done just that. The recorded easements did not have the surveyors' name or company anywhere in the recorded documents, the adjoiner had a copy of the map sent to him by the tower compay with an additional easement across his property for him to sign based on the erroneous location of his property line by 25 feet. I told him based on my survey that the easement was not needed and I was able to contact the original surveyor and he suggested that the easement across the parent tract be “Tweaked” to read that the easement was not adjacent to the common property line, the easement was staked that way.
