EDT 51-Floor Plan Design1 CHAPTER 12 Legal Descriptions and Site Plan Requirements Sacramento City College EDT 51 Kenneth Fitzpatrick, P.E.

2EDT 51-Floor Plan Design LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS u Virtually every piece of property in the United States is described for legal purposes. u Descriptions are referred to as legal descriptions.

3EDT 51-Floor Plan Design LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS u Every legal description is unique and cannot be confused with any other property. u Legal descriptions of properties are filed in local jurisdictions, u County or u Oarish courthouses.

4EDT 51-Floor Plan Design LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS u Legal descriptions are public records and may be reviewed at any time.

EDT 51-Floor Plan Design5 Site

6 LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS u A site is u An area of land u Generally one plot or construction lot in size. u The term site is synonymous with plot and lot.

7EDT 51-Floor Plan Design LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS u A plat is a map of part of a city or township showing some specific area, such as a subdivision made up of several individual lots. u There are usually many sites or plots in a plat.

8EDT 51-Floor Plan Design LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS u There are three basic types of legal descriptions: u 1. metes and bounds u 2. rectangular survey system u 3. lot and block.

EDT 51-Floor Plan Design9 Metes and Bounds System

10EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u Metes, or measurements, u and u bounds, or boundaries, u may be used to identify the perimeters of any property. u This is referred to as the metes and bounds system.

11EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u The metes are measured in u Feet u Yards u Rods (rd) u Surveyor's chains (ch). u There are u 3' in 1 yard u 5.5 yards or 16.5' in one rod u 66' in one surveyor's chain.

12EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u The boundaries may be u A street u A fence u A river.

13EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u Boundaries are also established as bearings, u Bearings are directions with reference to one quadrant of the compass. u There are 360 O in a circle or compass. u Each quadrant has 90 0.

14EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u Degrees are divided into minutes and seconds. u There are u 60 minutes (60') in 1 0 and u 60 seconds (60") in 1 minute.

15EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u Bearings are measured clockwise or counterclockwise from north or south. u For example, a reading 45 0 from north to west is labeled N 45 0 W. u Refer to Figure 12.1.

16EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Figure 12.1

17EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u If a bearing reading requires great accuracy, fractions of a degree are used. u For example, u S 30 O 20' 10" E u reads from south 30 degrees 20 minutes 10 seconds to east.

18EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Metes and Bounds System u The metes and bounds land survey begins with a monument, known as the point-of-beginning (POB). u This point is a fixed location and in times past has been a pile of rocks, a large tree, or an iron rod driven into the ground. u Refer to Figure 12.2

19EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Figure 12.2 Beginning at a point 1200' north ' west from the southeast corner of the Asa Stone Donation Land Claim No. 49, thence north ' west 1026' to a pipe, thence south ' west 442' chains to center of road, thence south ' east 1145', thence north 48 O 30' east 778.8' to place of beginning.

20EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Typical Metes/Bounds Description u Beginning at a point 1200' north ' west from the southeast corner of the Asa Stone Donation Land Claim No. 49, thence north ' west 1026' to a pipe, thence south ' west 442' chains to center of road, thence south ' east 1145', thence north 48 O 30' east 778.8' to place of beginning.

EDT 51-Floor Plan Design21 Rectangular Survey System

22EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Rectangular Survey System u The states in an area of the United States starting with the western boundary of Ohio to the Pacific Ocean, and including some southeastern states were described as public land states.

23EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Rectangular Survey System u Within this area the U.S. Bureau of Land Management devised a system for describing land known as the rectangular survey system. u Parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude were used to establish areas known as great land surveys.

24EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Rectangular Survey System u Lines of latitude, also called parallels, are imaginary parallel lines running east and west. u Lines of longitude, also called meridians, are imaginary lines running north and south.

25EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Rectangular Survey System u The point of beginning of each great land survey is where two basic reference lines cross. u The lines of latitude, or parallels, are termed the baselines u The lines of longitude, or meridians, are called principal meridians.

26EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Rectangular Survey System u There are 31 sets of these lines in the continental United States, with 3 in Alaska. u At the beginning, the principal meridians were numbered u The numbering system ended with the sixth principal meridian passing through Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

27EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Rectangular Survey System u The remaining principal meridians were given local names. u The meridian through one of the last great land surveys near the West Coast is named the Willamette Meridian because of its location in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. u Refer to Figure 12.3.

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29EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Townships u The great land surveys were broken down into smaller surveys known as townships and sections. u The baselines and meridians were divided into blocks called townships. u Each township measures 6 miles square.

30EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Townships u The townships are numbered by tiers running north-south. u The tier numbering system is established either north or south of a principal baseline. u For example, the fourth tier south of the baseline is labeled Township Number 4 South, abbreviated T. 4 S.

31EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Townships u Townships are also numbered according to vertical meridians, known as ranges. u Ranges are established either east or west of a principal meridian. u The third range east of the principal meridian is called Range Number 3 East, abbreviated R. 3 E.

32EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Townships u Now combine T. 4 S. and R. 3 E. to locate a township or a piece of land 6 miles by 6 miles or a total of 36 square miles. u Refer to Figure 12.4.

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34EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u Townships are divided into units that are mile square, called sections. u Sections in a township are numbered from 1 to 36. u Section 1 always begins in the upper right corner, to the left and down u Refer to Figure 12.5.

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36EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u The legal descriptions of land can be carried one stage further. u For example, Section 10 in the township given would be described as Sec. 10, T. 4 S., R. 3 E. u This is an area of land 1 mile square.

37EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u Sections are divided into acres. u One acre equals 43,560 sq., and one section of land contains 640 acres.

38EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections and Quarters u In addition to dividing sections into acres, sections are divided into quarters, u Refer to Figure 12.6.

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40EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections and Quarters u The northeast one-quarter of Section 10 is a 160-acre piece of land described as NE 1/4, Sec. 10, T. 4 S., R. 3 E. u When this section is keyed to a specific meridian, it can be only one specific 160-acre area.

41EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u The section can be broken further by dividing each quarter into quarters. u Refer to Figure 12.7.

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43EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u If the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 10 were the desired property, then you would have 40 acres known as SW 1/4, NE 1/4, Sec. 10, T. 4 S., R. 3 E.

44EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u The complete rectangular system legal description of a 2.5-acre piece of land in Section 10 reads: u SW 1/4, SE 1/4, SE 1/4, SE 1/4 Sec. 10, T. 4 N., R. 8 W of the San Bernardino Meridian, in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. u Refer to Figure 12.8.

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46EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Sections u The rectangular survey system may be used to describe very small properties by continuing to divide a section of a township. u Often the township sections legal description may be used to describe the location of the point of beginning of a metes and bounds legal description, especially when the surveyed land is an irregular site or plot within the rectangular survey system.

47EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Lot and Block System u The lot and block legal description system can be derived from either the metes and bounds or the rectangular system. u Generally when a portion of land is subdivided into individual building sites, the subdivision is established as a legal plot and recorded as such in the local county records.

48EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Lot and Block System u The subdivision is given a name and broken into blocks of lots. u A subdivision may have several blocks, each divided into a series of lots. u Each lot may be 50' >< 100', for example, depending on the zoning requirements of the specific area.

49EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Lot and Block System u Refer to Figure 12.9 u Shows an example of a typical lot and block system. u A typical lot and block legal description might read: LOT 14, BLOCK 12, LINCOLN PARK NO. 3, CITY OF SALEM, STATE. u This lot is the shaded area in Figure 12.9 (page 202).

50EDT 51-Floor Plan Design

51 Site Plan Requirements

52EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Site Plan Requirements u A site plan, also known as a plot or lot plan, is a map of a piece of land that may be used for any number of purposes. u A site plan is a plan view drawing. u Site plans may show a proposed construction site for a specific property.

53EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Site Plan Requirements u Sites may show topography with contour lines, u or u the numerical value of land elevations may be given at certain locations.

54EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Site Plan Requirements u Site plans are also used to show how a construction site will be excavated u These plans are then known as grading plans. u Site plans can be drawn to serve any number of required functions; all have some similar characteristics, which include showing the following:

55EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Site Plan Requirements u A legal description of the property based on a survey u Property line bearings and directions u North direction u Roads and easements u Utilities u Elevations.

56EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Site Plan Requirements u The site plan plan presents information only about the property and utilities. u It does not show proposed construction.

EDT 51-Floor Plan Design57 Plot Plan

58EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Plot Plan u A Plot Plan is a plan view drawing u A Plot Plan shows the u Site. u Location. u Orientation. u of the buildings on the property.

59EDT 51-Floor Plan Design Plot Plan u The plot plan is drawn using information provided by a surveyor and recorded on a site plan. u The plot plan shows both the property and proposed construction.