Surveys: Interpreting a Survey

I didn't view phjj's post as a slam either. I saw it as advice that no matter how competent a surveyor might be, the advice one can give to a problem over the internet is very limited. As my signature line states, I am a surveyor, not your surveyor. If I were your surveyor, we would have a signed contract and an initial project meeting in which you give me all the information that you are aware of and I ask you questions to find out what your goals are, and to see if you have additional information that is pertinent but that you may not recognize as so.

Of those who have posted here (and I think posted to your June thread; it seems familiar), two of us are licensed surveyors, each with 30+ years of experience. Neither of us can give you definitive answers. We can only give you our impressions and some things to consider.

As I understand it, the properties in question are in an area that was mapped by lot & block, but that map is not in effect because it was never recorded or some similar reason. As I recall, the properties, rather than being described as Lot X of Block Y, are described as beginning at a Lot Corner or Block Corner of one of the nearby recorded subdivisions (as I recall, the block in question was 1 or 2 blocks away from blocks of recorded subdivisions).

In some cases, unrecorded maps can have a controlling effect, but if the metes & bounds deed descriptions of the parcels within the mapped area do not call for the unrecorded map and do not predominantly follow courses as shown on the unrecorded map, the map will rarely have a controlling effect.

The deviations in bearing (323 1/2 vs 333, 35 vs 44.5) could be functions of magnetic declination (magnetic vs astronomic directions), or records could have changed due to a transposition of numbers or typo somewhere back in the chain of title. No way to know until those possibilities are investigated. The only effective way to investigate that is to be the surveyor on the job. A surveyor who recognizes that the greater part of the job is investigation, and who will be thorough in that investigation, will not be cheap. In fact, that surveyor may be among the most expensive. Not what you want to hear, but not much way around it.

Tract, in the context of land and boundaries, rather than being a pamphlet providing an overview of the Good News message of the Gospel, refers to a parcel of land. It is usually a parcel which has been or can be divided into smaller parcels, but can refer to a single residential size lot as well.