Easement Riddles

I would offset the road right of way 15' even around the cul de sac.

I would scale it.

"Apparently this particular easement was added later".
What do you mean"added later"? The map you show is not the original plat? There is no deed for the easement?

I wonder if it was an easement that predated the plat and may be mentioned in the legal description or be of record. Secondly if the construction plans are available, you should check them to see if there is any indication of utilities in the vicinity. Note that the 15.00' feet prescribed along the right-of-way is listed as 15' in the area in question.

Good luck.

Dan

It's shown on the original recorded plat, but appears to have been inked in after the original drafting was completed. We haven't been able to locate any pre-existing documents describing the easement nor is anything quoted on the plat. It's left to be assumed that it's being dedicated, but appears to have been an afterthought. It's one of my pet peeves where surveyors don't show 'dedicated this plat' or quote the source for these things. My solution is just to stake the ROW and not the limits of the easement, essentially dodging the question of extent. Just curious how others would handle something like this.

I would scale it in and stake it out. I would cover my A$$ with emails to make sure anyone relying on the location knows that its an approximate location scaled from plat of .... I think you could get it close enough where no one could prove you wrong.

How I would handle it would depend upon what I was doing...

It looks like the SE end of the easement is connected to a lot corner. If the width of that SE end fits the 15' width called for, all that is left is to scale the location of the NE corner of the easement relative to the monument shown. If you find physical evidence or other records that suggest a location substantially different than the plat, I'd conclude the plat created an easement in the "wrong location", and deal with that as needed. To get an idea of the quality of the drafting on that plat you could compare scaled distances to labelled distances. What are the normal specs for the accuracy of drafting? 1/50th, 1/40th, 1/30th of an inch?

I wouldn't burn up a lot of brain cells trying to determine an exact and trigonometrically congruent location and closure for that easement. Simply put, you'd be making stuff up. There apparently is evidence of a grant of easement rights to someone (the public?) as indicated on the document. The area is occupied by a pole line and I guess we know little else.

I run into things like this all the time in the easement business. I've even shown them on drawings, along with the appurtenances that are utilizing the granted rights. But I don't try and "pin" them down with dimensions. If nothing else, attempt to show the easement graphically as accurately as you can (scale it).

There is really no exact location of those rights being recorded. The fact that you might not be able to mathematically locate the boundary of the easement does not affect the simple fact that rights were conveyed and the easement actually exists. Don't make up anything and don't put anything on paper that isn't real.

OK, no poles. Any other utilities? A straight line like that suggests sewer.

Need to pull out the old digitizer pad.

There is nothing in it to date. Poles are in ROW. I was asked to stake the limits for placement of a fiber but hesitant to slap some math on the ground, so I staked the ROW this am and advised the client to avoid any heavy clearing and stay just outside the ROW and try to avoid pissing anyone off.

I agree, it looks like sewer. Whether sanitary or storm I don't know.

A Harris, post: 340399, member: 81 wrote: Need to pull out the old digitizer pad.

Nah, just insert a PDF of the image into your CAD drawing and move/scale it by reference.

Kent McMillan, post: 340549, member: 3 wrote: I find that getting paid for the time and expenses necessary to do a professional job is usually best. :>

skwyd, post: 340552, member: 6874 wrote: Nah, just insert a PDF of the image into your CAD drawing and move/scale it by reference.

[SARCASM]RubberSh:t it using ESRI Arcr@p!! Don't forget the megablather! Digit tax it... Export a SH:P file to local GIS command post. Request ANALyst coooooordinates!!

Wash Hands...

DDSM:beer:[/SARCASM]

skwyd, post: 340552, member: 6874 wrote: Nah, just insert a PDF of the image into your CAD drawing and move/scale it by reference.

[SARCASM]RubberSh:t it using ESRI Arcr@p!! Don't forget the megablather! Digit tax it... Export a SH:P file to local GIS command post. Request ANALyst coooooordinates!!

Wash Hands...

DDSM:beer:[/SARCASM]

Williwaw, post: 340340, member: 7066 wrote:

Subdivision done in mid 1970's. Platted 15' utility easements congruent with ROW's, with one exception. Apparently this particular easement was added later. Doesn't appear to be congruent with ROW and appears to be on an arc based on scaling. No curve data, ties or other means of computing other than scaling. My first inclination was that it must be centered on a pole line but that turns out not to be the case. The poles are entirely within the ROW. Short of scaling, how would you determine the limits of this easement on the ground. Mind you the control within the subdivision is pretty sketchy with little in the way of original corners and subsequent corners don't agree very well. Just take your best shot and move on?

I would check with the platting authority that approved the plat. They may have some information about the added easement in their files.