08/02/2026
Lots of towns enact zoning bylaws to regulate the placement of buildings and other structures in relation to the boundary lines of private property. In doing so they write dimensional requirements that specify the distances from the front, rear and side boundaries called setbacks.
In one case the clients wish to know how large of an addition they can make and still meet the setback requirements. If the dimensions are known, a site plan can usually show the addition to scale. However the clients wish to maximize the size of their addition and asked if I would stake out the required setbacks to let them know the space they have.
I thought of something better and it came from an old survey trick that was used before the age of electronic surveys with laser beams. It is called the range line, and surveyors used it to locate buildings and fences from the survey base line.
Older hand-written survey notes from the DOT often show it as if it were a projection from the survey base line to locate buildings. A line defined by the side of a building or by a fence may be extended visually to its intersection with a survey line.
Surveyors would run a primary reference or traverse line parallel or adjacent to the building or fence then sight along the exterior wall of the building or fence using a survey instrument to see where that line "ranges in" or intersects the main survey line. Finally measure the distance from the survey line to the building or fence to map its location.
I presented the drawing shown to allow the clients and their builder to see just how much room they have for their addition without having to hire our team to go out at an addition charge.
