PLSO The Oregon Surveyor July/August 2021

16 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 44, No. 4 Featured Article continued T the parent deed that created the proper- ty, current ownership, deeds of adjoining property, and copies of easements affect - ing the property must be submitted with the survey. The county surveyor must sign their approval on the plat and the plat must be recorded prior to the sale of any lots. All plats must also comply with the requirements of ORS 209.250. The exception to the separate boundary survey is for a “partition plat” which cre- ates three or fewer “parcels.” Condominiums ORS 100.115: Condominiums in Oregon are very complicated, requiring a “dec- laration” reviewed by the Oregon State Real Estate office, and also requires the preparation of a “Condominium Plat.” In the preparation of the plat, a private surveyor must comply with ORS 209.250 (noted above) and various sections of ORS Chapter 92. Condominium plats generally must comply with the separate boundary survey and title report docu- ment noted above. The plat must show the location of buildings within the con- dominium plat as well as the horizontal and vertical boundaries of units creat- ed within those buildings. The county surveyor reviews the plat, makes a field inspection of the building locations and the boundaries of the units. When satis- fied that the condominiumplat meets the statutory requirements, the county sur- veyor approves the plat before recording. PLSS Corners ORS 209.070: Provides the authority of the county surveyor to establish or rees- tablish public land corners of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and further notes that when the county surveyor prop- erly sets such corners, they become the “legal and permanent corner.” ORS 209.140-209.155: Includes the ability of the county surveyor to recover the cost of reestablishing a corner or references from any person or agency causing dis- turbance or destruction to a PLSS corner. The counties have successfully collected from private property owners, contrac- tors, developers, cities, the state, and large corporations. ORS 203.148: This statute authorizes the county commissioners to establish a “public land corner fund” up to $10 per document tobe collectedon all documents conveying an interest in real property; such as deeds, easements, mortgages, etc., as noted in ORS 205.130(2). It spe- cifically states that this money collected under this statute must be placed in a separate “fund” and must be used for the establishment and reestablishment of Public Land Corners as incurred and authorized by the county surveyor. Other Statutes ORS 368.106: Requires the survey and monumentation of new county roads and the surveys to be filed with the coun - ty surveyor. ORS 201: Relates to county boundaries divided by rivers and coordinates estab- lished by the county surveyor. There are several other duties of the county surveyor, all outlined in Oregon Statutes, such as creating maps or de- scriptions relating to special districts, vacations of public property, way of ne- cessity (granting access to landlocked property), etc. x Chuck Pearson, PLS has been a member of PLSO since 1974 and a life member since 2011. He was Surveyor of the Year in 1988. Among many other positions he has held, Chuck currently serves as secretary/treasurer of the National Association of County Surveyors. Chuck retired in 2011 after serving 34 years as the county survey- or for Washington and Clackamas counties. He still holds a current PLS license.