Subdivision Plans
In a previous edition I discussed the subdivision application process in Manitoba, outside the City of Winnipeg.
Today, I am discussing the role of a Manitoba Land Surveyor throughout the whole process.
I always recommend that any person subdividing their property contact a surveyor at the very beginning.
Surveyor’s are intimately familiar with the entire process. They also understand the role that other professionals have. This includes planners, engineers, lawyers, etc.
A surveyor can help by recommending other professionals and guide landowners through the steps in the process. This helps people navigate efficiently and reduce the chance of unwanted delays.
When a person is ready to proceed they will need to submit an application to a community planning office. Every subdivision application must include a Subdivision Application Map, more commonly referred to as a SAM.
SAM’s show the existing site conditions and the configuration of the proposed development. SAM’s can only be prepared by a Manitoba Land Surveyor.
In case you missed my previous article about the subdivision application process you can find it here; Everything you need to know about subdivisions.
After the application is approved by community planning the land owner will receive a letter of approval. You will need to give your surveyor a copy of the letter of approval. The letter will outline all the requirements and conditions for the subdivision.
Your surveyor will review the letter and the requirements with you.
The most common requirements that a surveyor will need to address include
The surveyor will do the field work and drafting necessary to prepare the Plan of Subdivision. When done the plan will be submitted to the land titles office for review.
Land titles reviews the plan to ensure that it meets the legal requirements for plans. They also ensure that the format of the plan is suitable for registration.
Once land titles approves the plan your surveyor will print the mylars. Mylars are the physical copies of the plan printed on a durable plastic film.
After printing the mylars the surveyor and a witness sign them. The mylars are then sent to community planning for their approval and signatures.
If the approval letter indicates that a utility company requires an easement the surveyor sends a copy of the subdivision plan to them. The utility company notifies the surveyor of their easement requirements.
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In some cases, the utility will request a blanket easement. This is an easement over the entire property. In this case an easement plan is not required. This typically only happens on commercial or multifamily developments.
If the utility company requires an easement over a defined area a Plan of Easement is prepared. The plan is also sent to land titles for review. An example of a defined easement area would be an easement over a 3 metre wide strip along the front of a lot.
It is common for more than one utility company to need an easement. In most of these cases the easements get combined on a single plan. If Manitoba Hydro is one of the companies that needs an easement they will prepare the agreement. The other utilities will sign onto the agreement.
The easement agreement is sent to the lawyer to be executed. Once completed the utility company notifies planning that the easement condition is satisfied.
If drainage or access easements are needed the plans are typically prepared at the same time as the subdivision. They are also submitted to land titles for review.
The mylars for utility easements get sent to the utility company so that they can complete their easement agreements.
The mylars for other easement plans get sent to the client.
Once all the conditions listed in the letter of approval are met community planning will sign and release the mylars. The client then brings the mylars to their lawyer.
The lawyer prepares the registration documents and request forms needed to register the subdivision plan at land titles. Once registered, new titles are issued and the subdivision process is complete.
There is one condition that is becoming more popular. It's the need to verify survey monuments after a development is substantially complete. Municipalities are starting to require that landowners replace all damaged or missing survey bars shown on a plan.
They do this by requiring that a land owner pay a deposit for the approximate cost to replace all survey bars on a plan. If the land owner has their surveyor replace the bars the deposit is returned.
Generally, only some of the survey bars need to be replaced and the cost to have a surveyor replace the missing bars is lower than the deposit. This incentivizes the land owner to have the survey bars put back.
I’m a professional land surveyor and I work in Manitoba and Northwest Ontario, Canada. I have extensive experience in many sectors of the industry and specialize in land development, boundary, condominium, oil & gas, and construction surveys. When not surveying l enjoys spending time with my family, woodworking, and being outdoors; hunting, canoeing and hiking.
Feel free to connect with me anytime on Linkedin or follow me on Twitter where I post about land surveying and land development issues that are of interest to surveyors, land owners and developers.
????Innovations for Surveyors, Mappers and Engineers. themarksman.ca
1 年By First Application Survey do you mean first chance for dozers and scrapers to find the bars for you?
Geomatics/Geospatial Professional
1 年As you're also an OLS, Daniel, is there a substantial difference to the process with the Province of Ontario?
Boundary, Residential & Mortgage Survey's Drafting services
1 年Hello sir Greetings from CAD TECHNO We are specialised in Boundary mortgage residential Survey's Drafting services