Today was a big day at our house. We had the property lines surveyed and the findings will be officially recorded with King County. And it’s been just the oddest sensation–a little anxiety while watching the stakes go in the ground, and sort of a grown-up-responsible-success feeling too.
The anxiety comes in part from the official-ness of it. The markers that have been set are not only for our convenience but they become part of a permanent record. We have been wanting a survey for some long time now, and the neighbor’s request that our dilapidated common fence be replaced prompted us to finally contract to have the surveyors come out.
But as you may or may not know, our property abuts an abandoned street (easement) and over the years the previous owners totally took advantage of their secluded location to encroach into the abandoned street, most significantly by building out-buildings and a pond. We’ve known about this encroachment of course, to some degree. But the extent was undeniably revealed today as the surveyors drove stakes.
Of course we are a little anxious. Have we opened a can o’ worms? Will someone from SDOT come and demand we excavate and remove our pond (which would suck because the birds love it). Well, I doubt that such things would happen, but technically they could, and being the rule-loving person that I am I sometimes fret about the times I don’t exactly follow the rules.
The surveyors were great. They were very focused on getting the job done yet amenable to our questions and our hovering. We worked with A.S.P.I. They had come recommended by attorney Michael P. Jacobs who has used them several times to help resolve boundary line disputes and adjustments. So I was comfortable they would produce a good survey–it was a bonus that the crew was great to work with.
I am glad to have this task off our ToDo list where it’s been sitting for a few years. But it’s just the weirdest sensation, having done this very “grown-up” and official act. I am still trying to discern what I feel really, and where it came from.
