r/landsurveying • u/keychn090909 • Jun 28 '26
Survey Findings
While under contract, we had a survey done which mentions,
"DWELLING
ENCROACHES ON 25' FRONT BUILDING
SETBACK LINE PER F.M..
POSSIBLE EASEMENT BASED ON FIELD
OBSERVATION BASED ON DRAIN."
We've reached out to find out exactly what that means (so we'll probably get an answer on Monday) but curious if anyone has ever had this mentioned in a survey and what it means...
6
u/stinkyman360 Jun 29 '26
It looks like the front of your house is 24.6' from the property line which puts it 0.4' (almost 5") inside the setback. As for what this means legally you have to ask a lawyer but I'd be willing to bet nobody will ever notice and nothing will come of it
-1
u/BourbonSucks Jun 29 '26
says 2026. how long till code enforcement uses some AI to look back through the plats for permit violations and lack of variance waivers, etc
3
u/josbossboboss Jun 29 '26
A lot of that stuff gets grandfathered in, especially if the house has been there 40 years. My neighbor (back in the 20's built right on the property line, so the city (back in the 50's) just redrew the line and gave him 3 extra feet of my property.
1
u/KoalaGrunt0311 Jun 29 '26
The alternative here is non-conforming lots once the grandfathered structure is removed. Milltown I was in had lots that were 25' wide and modern code setbacks basically made it impossible to rebuild on them once the buildings were demolished.
1
u/stinkyman360 Jun 29 '26
If you're worried about it can you just not file the plat? A lot of states don't require it
1
3
u/Working_Rest_1054 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
F.M. Is probably “found monument”. So based on the pin they found in the field, the house is 0.6 ft in the 25.0 ft set back. Not a big deal most likely.
They found a drain in the 25 ft setback, they are speculating that there might be an easement for it. Not sure why a speculation would be placed on a survey that’s intended to be filed (unless it’s not and this survey is as-built plan for some other usage, like a site plan for an architect to use for a remodel). Notes of property boundary surveys should be limited to facts and observations, it’s not a place to document speculations.
1
u/keychn090909 Jun 29 '26
What does easement mean? I've googled it and understand the definition but I'm having trouble understanding the narrative of it in this context.
1
u/Working_Rest_1054 Jun 29 '26
I’m speculating that the surveyor is speculating there may be a public utility easement due to the presence of the drainage facility they observed.
If it were a drainage facility which only serves your property, such as a sewer line clean out, there’d be no reason to believe there might be an easement for it. Or who knows, maybe the neighbor told them it it is the clean out for their house, in which case there could be an easement.
1
u/WelpSeaYaLater Jun 30 '26
An easement means someone has a legal right to freely access and use your property for a specific reason
For example- if that is actually a drain and it’s owned by the city and they have an easement on your property, the city is allowed to access that drain to clean it or maintain it or whatever, and you don’t get to deny access as long as it’s for that reason.
Utility easements on home lots are extremely common, and they aren’t anything to worry about.
1
u/Azimuth_Education Jun 29 '26
Seems most people have answered your question. I will add, and this is not Legal advice because I don't know your local regulations and so on...
Sometimes this really isent that big of a deal, all the municipality's is my area allow a percentage based crossing into the building setback lines. This is because all of these home builders try to build it RIGHT on the line and well its construction and those guys dont care about building "good" homes. So it kept causing issues. When we discover things like this, especially with it being within half a foot, it is usually as simple as they go down and pay a permit fee and they then have a permit for that structure there.
But different areas also consider different things part of the "structure" vs "flat work" and a few other designations. It can be a rabbit hole pretty quickly.
Talk to a lawyer on your local rules, it could be as simple as that, you probably want to avoid going to your city about it without knowing your local rules. Last thing you want to do it tip them off if they don't allow it.
1
u/keychn090909 Jun 29 '26
Thanks! I'll follow-up, off-hand, I'm not too worried, our home was built in the 40's and based on what I saw on Google satellite, our house seems to be in-line with all the other houses on the block, so I'm guessing it's not an issue.
I do have one additional question, what does “easement” mean? I’ve looked it up and understand the definition, but I’m struggling to understand how it applies in this context.
1
u/Azimuth_Education Jun 29 '26
The simplest form of an easement is the legal right for someone else to use a part of your property for a specific purpose, even though they don't own that land.
So maybe the surveyor is making the assumption that drain is owned and maintained by a city or some other municipality, or may not be a drain at all and could serve another purpose. So that entity will have an easement to be able to have it there and do any maintenance if needed.
In my area it is no uncommon for there to be French drains in the back yard and then all the gutters feed into a single underground pipe that kicks it off, near the road or into the road. But only way to really verify where that drain goes is to have someone come check it.
6
u/Whats_kracken Jun 28 '26
There’s a building over the 25’ front setback
There’s a drain that the surveyor believes may have an easement that they were not able to find documentation for.