old plat, showing no easements on its face, but stating "in addition to any easements shown hereon , a five foot strip is reserved along the rear lot line of each lot for a public utility easement." fairly standard notation around here up until a couple decades ago. so you have a 4 sided lot, bounded on 3 sides by right-of-way. which one is the rear? all other lots in the subdivision have a clearly infer-able rear line, this single lot being the exception. again, the great spines down at the city refuse to make a call- but of course they'll spit this back out regardless of which line i take to be the rear.
anybody have any guidance on this? my inclination is to cite the original plat note verbatim and leave it at that, but apparently there are site plan issues hinging on this determination. (which isn't going to make me feel any more compelled to make a call, but will add to some stink eye headed my way, i'm sure.)
Dear Client:
In the course of preparing the survey of your property located at______, the following issue has arisen.
(explain issue)
Given the fact that zoning issues can be quite complex, it is our opinion that the best course of action at this point is that you engage your land use council to prepare a zoning opinion for the property. Once council and regulatory staff have discussed the issue and determined how the note in question is to be determined, we can then go forward and issue the survey with confidence that the easement location will be much less likely to impact the development of the site in the future.
Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter and I am, of course, available at your and your attorney's convenience to discuss the matter in greater detail.
Best Regards
Flyin Solo, LS
I had the same/similar situation back in 2005. My lot was a "pizza slice", two sidelines and a long curved front on the r-o-w. I simply placed the note on the drawing. Builder insisted I depict the easement line on the plat. I instructed him to contact an attorney, the title company, and the jurisdictional authority to provide me in writing which line was the "rear" and then I would indicate on a revised survey and refer to the provided note and signatory. Never heard from him again concerning that lot. The jurisdictional authority indicated to him which line they considered the rear and he built his house.
I should have added...
Mine was a 15' building setback from the "rear"; along w/ 7.5' easement along all sidelines. Sideline easements were easy, the setback needed the interpretation.
Has there never been a building there? If there was, I would check historic aerials or some similar resource to see if you can determine an orientation by previous use.
Durned city folk get all stewed over some of the silliest things. They need to move to the boondocks so they can fret over how far it is to the nearest Thai restaurant.
Odd shaped lots can be difficult. As a Borough Zoning Officer as well as a surveyor I have run into this problem a few times. First choice would be to choose a line or lines that are close to being parallel with the front (street) line. Second choice might be to decide that there is no rear line and then see how the side setback lines intersect. A Third choice might be to create a "Setback" line parallel to the street line and then set it at the rear yard setback distance from the most extreme point in the "Rear" of the lot.
One other point, the orientation of the structure on the lot never determines the front or rear of the lot except perhaps on a square corner lot.
If The Easement Does Not Line Up With Adjacent Easements...
...it is useless.
If you can pick a line which makes it useful, cite your reasons and move on.
Paul in PA
You have an ambiguity which allows for extrinsic information.
For example which line actually has utilities along it?
Typically the rear easements are for utilities such as power, phone, water and sewer.
This one might be easy
Which side has the address for the site? Opposite side is the the rear, maybe.
If you could post a pic of that "old plat" it might shed some light on the situation. The lot geometry might have a clue. Too many possibilities without some sense of the layout.
But probably getting a second opinion from a savvy land attorney may be the proper move for this issue. Just to spread the liability around. 😉
In Los Angeles County (California), for irregular lots, the County Zoning Code places the responsibility on the Planning Director to determine front, rear and side yards. See below:
22.48.040 Yard and lot line location—Determined by director when.
On corner lots, through lots with three or more frontages, flag lots, and irregularly shaped lots where the provisions of this Title 22 do not clearly establish location of yards and lot lines, the director shall make such determination.
