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I have my eye on a 10 acre parcel on a nice Southern slope I want to build on, already talked to the local departments and the zoning fine went through all of the common steps.
My concern is the topography suggests a possibility of seasonal run off and I want to find out if it exists and if its bad enough to throw a stick in my plans can a surveyor figure this out or is it a different professional?
It would just be a guess, even professionals. I'd wait until spring to see and wait until a good rainy week to visit the property and see where the problem areas are. Some parts will have better drainage than others and professionals cant guess soil types and drainage.
The building is permanent, have patience on deciding where to put it. If the survey company picks a bad location, its no skin off his back. Your the one who has to deal with it.
What state? A lot of the various state Departments of the Environment (by whatever name) would likely know. Or you could ask the appropriate County entity. The US Army Corps of Engineers might know, also.
You could also tell by vegetation in many cases, or look for a high water line.
Remember, swamps have trees and marshes have grass.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Geologist. Be careful about contacting the local environmental authorities, they could require costly mitigation measures if they find any endangered plants/creatures or wetlands that would be damaged by construction. If the zoning and building departments approved it without an environmental review you won't want to bring them into it.
Geologist. Be careful about contacting the local environmental authorities, they could require costly mitigation measures if they find any endangered plants/creatures or wetlands that would be damaged by construction. If the zoning and building departments approved it without an environmental review you won't want to bring them into it.
If most building requirements are similar then "bringing" in local authorities won't matter much. Site plans are going to have wetlands marked on them as well as any water course.
From personal observation mitigation before you build is orders of magnitude cheaper than mitigation after you violate various restrictions. Especially when you factor in fines, which in MD increase if you violate knowingly.
It's in Oregon, planning, sanitation and all building do track wetlands and water extensively in this state and they all say that it is not a creek or they would have it on the map, the area is up the hill from a river and due to agriculture and water issues has the highest monitoring in the country of these kinds of features.
But I am a eagle scout and have enjoyed rural activities all my life have some hobby grade surveying skills, we dug our are own septic when I was a kid and I've helped out on a dozen perk tests in my life, dug wells and I'm familiar even if ignorant about code issues and every time I look at this strip through the middle it looks like a creek bed in person(snows on the ground atm) and on google earth it looks like it goes miles up in to he hills and is a water path.
Provided it didn't flood the whole lot, I wouldn't care if it were a seasonal creek but I know I need a 100 foot clearance for septic approval plus another 75 feet away from the first site as a back up.
The price for the acreage is well below market value which is why I am weary, but it was being sold due to a death & I am paying cash so I was able to get it down a bit.
I talked extensively to the county sanitation and they were confident it wasn't water and suggested that with a lot that size I shouldn't have a problem even if it was, but I want to take every measure I can to make sure the sites going to be buildable.
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