A recent article was published in the Virginia Pilot regarding a disagreement about a piece of property in East Ocean View’s Pretty Lake area in which 15th Bay Street owners claim they were permitted to mow their yard containing salt grass while the City of Norfolk inspector found that the owners altered the wetlands without a permit.
When purchasing property, most people rarely meet with a land surveyor, although this trained professional plays a significant role in every real estate transaction. The surveyor has the ability to properly locate and mark property corners as well as identify and map the contours of existing ground surfaces and features including trees, buildings, streets, utility poles, manholes and walkways. Land surveys are needed before land is transferred to clearly establish boundaries and for development of any tract of land. Based on a client’s needs, the surveyor can make appropriate recommendations about the proper type of survey which may be a boundary, topographic, mortgage, site plan or volumetric.
In reference to the 15th Bay Street dispute over wetlands, home owners could initially contact their local municipality, ask them to flag the wetlands on their property so a land surveyor would be able to then show on a topographic survey the delineating wetlands on their individual parcel. In this particular situation, the limits of the wetlands would be set and a record would have been made with the city.
In 1972, the Virginia Tidal Wetlands Act was designated to protect the tidal wetlands by establishing a permitting system for their protection managed by a network of local wetlands boards to make conservation-vs-development judgements on projects with individual municipalities. Boards may grant,modify or deny permit applications for shoreline alterations that lie within their jurisdiction.
WPL performs over two-hundred physical surveys per year for real estate transactions. In addition, WPL performs ALTA Land Title Surveys for a wide range of clientele. Contact us today with any of your site design or planning needs.