California Surveyors Forums

Even though topo calls are not necessary, or a technical item required on a record of survey, how many of you show a topo call if you feel it may assist future surveyors to have a better understanding of the property before going into the field? I've seen record of surveys showing pavement of roadways, CL of creeks, ridge lines, etc. What is your feeling if you see a map with a dashed line in the back corner of a property identifying "STEEP HILLSIDE AREA".
The total parcel acreage is approximately 1 acre.

Keith,
Topo calls could fall under 8764 (g), Any other data for the intelligent interpretation of the various items and location of the points, Lines, and area shown, or convenient for the identification of the survey or surveyor, as may be determined by the civil engineer or land surveyor preparing the record of survey. My opinion that showing a "STEEP HILSIDE AREA" could be beneficial in some areas, such as areas that are susceptible to slide activity especially if you have set a points within that steep hillside area. That being said I would show tie dimensions to the line delineating the area just as I would show a tie to any feature shown on the map.

How about adding elevations to top of survey monuments to aid in monument recovery. Easy to do now days in a lot of instances. Just a thought. Jp

I am not allowed to post copies of any of my surveys. I will email a copy to you. It is filed in San Diego as ROS 15986 and was a massive and expensive boundary dispute that was settled by the use of topo calls. Bud Uzes gave me a hand with it.

If anyone else is interested, message me and I will share with you.

I'll note drainage features on my maps.
Present and historical drainage patterns are often important matters in my litigation support assignments.

Topo calls are an excellent source of information and may be extremely helpful decades later.

Happy Holidays!

See the attached.

PLS7393 wrote:What is your feeling if you see a map with a dashed line in the back corner of a property identifying "STEEP HILLSIDE AREA".
The total parcel acreage is approximately 1 acre.

Depending upon how distinct the nearest grade break is, how it's shown on the map, and the overall amount and presentation of that call and other mapped content, it could be useful.

If there is no distinct grade break to show, I'd be less inclined to note "Steep Hillside Area" unless all the surrounding terrain is pretty flat. If the map is already packed with other, more useful & informative calls & notations, I'd probably leave it off.

It comes down to how useful is that call (or any other) going to be to the next person who may search for the lines & monuments shown on the map.

If your concern is a CS telling you that you can't show it but you believe including it serves some useful purpose, thank the CS for his or her suggestion and leave it on. However, if you are getting a suggestion from the CS to remove it, carefully consider whether the depiction & notation actually provide useful info. If not of much use, although you certainly may leave it on, consider leaving it off anyway. Map clarity may be of more use than a vague topo call that doesn't provide sufficient info to relocate a corner or to narrow a search area to a much smaller space than other info would.

The more data shown the better in my opinion, as long as its retrace-able. I used ties to very old buildings to re-establish a block corner that was very difficult to determine just this summer.

I agree with the use of topo calls, does it hurt anything besides the CS's ego?

One time I recovered a monument that called out to be several feet below the surface and another that was relative to a wall footing. Makes our job so much easier (especially if they just want a couple corners flagged up) and gives another check.