Finding the Property Line

My neighbor to the north, whose large lot fronts on Mud Bay, has long been concerned about identifying the exact location of the line that divides her property from mine and the house just to the east of mine. I used the word “finding” rather than “surveying” in the title because she isn’t a licensed surveyor. But she sails, understands navigation and the use of a GPS, and owns a laser light. She put those skills to work and seems to have done an accurate job. Part of the evidence is that she uncovered a long-buried surveyor’s mark in an area that is underwater during the highest tides (see photo).

Finding the property line wasn’t easy. Even though she started with a couple of known points, there are few good lines of sight along her 400-foot southern border. That’s due to the steep terrain and blocking vegetation (clumps of hawthorne, vine maple, and sharp-thorned blackberries). Plus there’s confusion from man-made structures added years ago like rock walls, lamp posts, and driveways, which are close to the line and might even be on the wrong lot.

Undaunted she carefully read the property descriptions on the Kitsap County web site, including surveyor Muller’s notes, and then got out her laser. Because the laser can only be used in total darkness, she warned her neighbors not to worry if they saw some strange lights. Over the course of a couple of late evenings she and her son found and marked the entire property line with reflector poles, stakes, and those pink brushy-looking markers used during highway construction.

So did she open a can of worms or confirm that the line is pretty much where we all thought it was? Back to the right side of the photo, which faces east away from Mud Bay. My property is on the right. Hers is on the left. If you line up the reflector with the edge of the gravel walkway, which is dead-on in relation to the line, you can sight along the property line. The shed in the background is correctly located. But the left edge of the steps in the foreground is clearly on her property. Not shown and further up the hill are a lamp post and the edge of the S-curve of my driveway. The lamp post is on my property, but part of the driveway isn’t. The family in the house just east of mine apparently has some rhododendron plants that aren’t completely on their property. Oops.

Fortunately my neighbor was doing this out of curiosity. At least that’s what she’s said so far about her discovery. It is strange to think that the property line is different than we all imagined. But it likely won’t change things much. Meanwhile my neighbor and her son are building a trail down to the beach. I plan to help by hauling whatever materials they need in my truck.