L. R.,
L. R. I understand your point.
I'm saying that if a landowner wants to put up his fence and not use a PLS, go right ahead! Just don't complain when said fence is in the wrong place. If a landowner wants to design the drainage, sanitary sewers and all of the other utilities for his new subdivision, go right ahead! Just don't complain when things don't work right. You have no problem with that, right?
Or........ let the guy who has been tested by the state and found to be competent do what he is an expert at doing and save yourself, presumably, a whole lot of money on down the line.
I've found boundaries to be extremely stable. Sometimes when resurveying a piece of property, a surveyor might make a poor decision as to where the original corner was. Sometimes monumentation set or reset in the correct place move through outside influence. I think it would be wise to set something near your property monumentation that will be visible in the forseeable future and reference that thing to your corner monument. Then it becomes a simple matter to locate the correct monuments and build from those.
As for being the only ones who can read text on a monument,we most certainly are not, as I believe monkeys can be taught to read. However, neither monkeys nor laymen practice the profession of land surveying, as they do not have the expertise to determine whether or not "that monument" is the original, undisturbed, monument or a perpetuation thereof. They just aren't qualified, is all I'm saying.
> The lines are all brushed up so just eyeballing wouldn't do anything to warn one that the corner even looked funny.
I must object to the use of the phrase "looked funny" on a professional surveying message board.
According to the Bettendorf city attorney, the correct phrase is "looks catawampus."
J. B.
I most emphatically agree with you as to items 1 through 4, but the City employees are not doing just that. They are telling the landowners that, "That there rod with cap is your property corner". Of course I am making those words up, but that is the gist of the article. To tell anyone that after simply digging up a rod with cap, and not tying said ir/cap to all of the necessary adjoining monuments is a criminal act, whether it be done by a layman or a registered Iowa LS.
Again, I do not know all of the story. I may be all wet. I hope to know more soon.
I do enjoy the process of learning. I learn 2 or 3 things every day, some of which are actually important.
> ...the correct phrase is "looks catawampus."
:good:
gene
So, when you get into the annual T. S. P. S. state spelling contest, I should not put my money on you?
Thank you in advance.
The discussion seems to be about pins that are out of position, either on purpose or by accident. What if it's the original pin in its original location but it's the wrong pin?
For example:
Suppose the owner of Lot 1 wants to build a garage in the northwest corner of his lot. The city inspector goes out, waves his Schonstedt around, finds the northeast corner of Lot 1, the southwest corner of Lot 1 and the southeast corner of Lot 5. Nothing looks "catawampus" to him and he tells the property owner, "Those are your corners. Stay 3 feet from the side line and 5 feet from the back line." Accordingly, the property owner builds his garage, which is now encroaching 14 feet onto Lot 2.
Who incurs the liability? Can the city attorney fix this with a variance (as proposed by the Bettendorf city attorney)?
I don't have a problem with landowners relying on our corners. They are taking a chance when they use them, but that is their choice, if they are wrong its their fault. When someone else does it for them, thats the problem. What if they city guy is wrong? The above example is a good one, and I saw a similar thing happen here. They were lucky though and barely built it within the setback.
> With that logic, why bother to ever re-survey a once surveyed parcel...
Sometimes they can't find the monument and it takes a professional to find it. Of course, a professional will also confirm its location at the same time. If the owner takes care of his survey and his monuments, there's little reason to re-survey a "once surveyed parcel."
JBS
Like a street PC or PT just a short distance away? It would still have a cap on it, but it sure wouldn't be the corner.
But our good friends at the Iowa Bar Association are probably licking their chops on this one. The inevitable claim the city "stole some of my land and gave it to my neighbor without due process" is not far away.
I've lived in Bettendorf. It's a prosperous City, probably the richest of the main five in the quad cities. I'm sure the hungry lawyers in the region are getting ready to pick the deep pockets.....
Freemire said the work was being done for the city's own purpose, and homeowners should be able to count on the pins being placed correctly because they are placed by licensed land surveyors and engineers.
I just love it. I mean, it would seem that somebody is praying to the saint of assumptions!!!
N
A Letter to the Editor on the Bettendorf Issue
A Letter to the Editor on the Bettendorf Issue
"pin location is neither rocket science nor brain surgery!"
Well, I guess it isn't. If it was I couldn't do it 🙁
Don
