Do property survey lines measure along the incline of a hill or on a level plane under the hill?

Question

I have 6 acres of land going up the side of a hill. If I took it all away and leveled my land would I have less property, or does the survey measurements take into account that I live on a hill and have already calculated the survey stakes on a flat plane?

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

I have not yet taken Land Transactions, but I believe the property lines are drawn regardless of the topography of the area (with exception to riparian [river] property). When land transactions are drawn, they are drawn looking at an overview of the land, and not measuring out with a tape measure over the surface of the land. So, in your situation, if your property line is 100 feet long, the property would stretch from one edge to 100 feet in the proper direction, regardless of topography -- so therefore if you are on a hill as you are, or if you had a deep gorge in the interim, they would not affect where the other edge of the property is located. When land is surveyed, the surveyors measure by using a sighting device and a post to measure the absolute line, not a measuring tape to determine the "lay of the land" line to the other edge of the property.

Actually, from the look of your question, measuring on an invisible plane above (or below) the land should give you more property -- by measuring the hillside, you are measuring the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Using the Pythagorean theorem, but replacing your property numbers with different figures, by measuring the hillside you are measuring a hypotenuse of 5, where the base of your triangle is 4, and the rise is 3 (3^2 + 4^2 = 5^2 == 9+16=25). What you should be measuring is that your triangle has a base of 5, with different figures for the rise and hypotenuse (i.e. that the hypotenuse (surface length) of your triangle is actually longer)

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

On a horizontal plane under the hill.

Answer 3

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