I was drafting a boundary plat for a client that requested that I show the county building setbacks based on current zoning. I don't do many surveys in that county so I went to the website that every other county uses for public access. Strange, not available. Called the county zoning office and requested a pdf or even a paper copy. The young lady was helpful and emailed a pdf of the page containing the specific information I needed. I replied and thanked her and again requested a copy of the land use regs in their entirety offering to pay reasonable fees for it. Didn't get a response after that. There were some interesting setbacks using some factor of the right of way width. I needed a bit of clarification due to the fact that the right of way where we were working was variable in no consistent fashion (thanks DOT). When I called for some interpretation of the setback wording, she responded in her southern dialect "Well, I guess you'll have to go measure the right of way so it isn't variable anymore". I was at a total loss for words to reply in any sensible way...
I ended up quoting the regs verbatim on the plat without graphically depicting them. That is one of the dumbest responses I have ever heard from a county official.
that my Client could not place hoofed animals in his pasture in the center of his 100+ acre farm.
you don't reason with people like this
Release 2.2 billion gallons from the reservoir please.
That they are here to help me 😉
I was preparing a conditional use permit for a Client on a road with a variable width right of way. R/W was uniform on my Client's side but jagged due to various dedications on the opposite side. The City's only reqirement was that I "straigten out" the R/W on the other side so that it was a uniform 50' wide.
I needed a bit of clarification due to the fact that the right of way where we were working was variable ...
In her defense, the right of way (probably) wasn't variable, but rather it was varied. Words mean things. I know that variable is commonly used by surveyors in such situations, but it isn't correct English.
Times 2.
We're from the government and we are here to help.
In her defense, the right of way (probably) wasn't variable, but rather it was varied. Words mean things. I know that variable is commonly used by surveyors in such situations, but it isn't correct English.
The adjective "variable", defined by Merriam-Webster, correct English it is.
variable
adjective
var·i·able ˈver-ē-ə-bəl
Synonyms of variable
1
a
: able or apt to vary : subject to variation or changes
variable winds
variable costs
b
: fickle, inconstant
2
: characterized by variations
3
: having the characteristics of a variable
4
: not true to type : aberrant
—used of a biological group or character
Submitted a plat for review in a municipality that the minimum lot size is "1.50 acres". One of the lots calc at 1.4995 acres, so I rounded up to 1.50 acres. The reviewer had a cogo program, and he rejected the plat because the lot didn't meet the minimum requirements. I started explaining I rounded it, when he interrupted me and said "you can round down but you can't round up. When you round up, you're adding something that doesn't exist..." At this point, I knew it was useless to continue. I revised the plat to make the lot 0.01' wider, all good and recorded......
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you...