Kalapana

[Fredesch]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Is there anyway to pinpoint a vacant lot using satellite pictures? All we have is a TMK number and the road names.

One thing you could try to put your lots coordinates in Google Earth. If you do that, you should be pretty close. All land records will have coordinates on them. If you don't recognize the form of the coordinates, they are probably in the local state plane coordinate system, which will already be in a map projection. You might even be able to download the coordinates as a KML file which you could load in Google Earth and show as an overlay.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

One thing you could try to put your lots coordinates in Google Earth.

You're assuming a lot. This is Hawai'i. My deed refers to the location as a particular Lot # from the 1930's subdivision, which was penciled in on the tax map circa 1959, when statehood went through. You want longitude and latitude?

In the immortal words of the late Rep Replinger, "What you think 'dis is, automation?"

[hotzcatz]

Most plat maps reference points that have been pinned in place and named. We never even got a plat map for the place, just a TMK number. And those aren't referenced by latitude and longitute that I know of. If they ever get around to putting the roads back in, then we will be able to find it.

Well, the current USGS maps don't even show the roads there anymore. However, a historical USGS map showed the road along with the latitude and longitute, sort of, anyway. So, we got a rough idea of where it might be on Latitude and Longitute and then looked at it on Google Earth and it's pretty much lava land. The satellite data was supposed to be 2013, so that's fairly current.

[Fredesch]

Wow, the legal descriptions for land are really poor. The one I looked at referenced a street and a pipe. Really, that is so 1850... If you have a description like that and you get a lava flow, all the landmarks will be covered. Maybe no one cares at that point, but it seems like a really bad way to do business in this day and age.

One would hope as property changes hands they would require a surveyor to amend the description with coordinates.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

One would hope as property changes hands they would require a surveyor to amend the description with coordinates.

Welllll... they kinda sorta do.... WHEN the property changes hands, which is not often... and IF they can't find the old pins. But people don't like spending the money for a surveyor if they don't have to.

[hotzcatz]

The surveyors just redo the existing, you get the same lot description: "starting from a point 12,450.2' NNW from "Puuala" to a pipe" etc. etc. They are very similar to the land descriptions used on the land grants signed by King Kamehameha III.