Chances are, neither of those are the correct answer. There are two factors to consider before we can address this question, the first is your street public (meaning that the right of way for the road is owned by the municipality/county/state) or second, is it a private street (meaning you potentially own the land where the road is but there is an easement in place that gives permission for the land to be used for access).
If your street is public, where your property ownership is going to depend on what the right of way width is. In most residential neighborhoods, the right of way is designed to be 50 feet in width. Of the 50 feet, the road width that is actually paved is about half of that, or 25 feet.
That means that there is an additional 25 feet of right of way land that is not paved but that is available for use by the municipality/county. If they build the road in the middle of the right of way area, that leaves an additional 12.5 feet on either side of the road. Within that 12.5 feet you will typically find the curb, sidewalk, and possibly utility lines.
So – if you want to know where your front property line is located, you would need to go to the middle of the street, measure 25 feet towards your house, and that would be the front property line.
If you have a private road, there is a good chance that you may own a portion of the land where the street is located. Private right of way widths vary greatly. They can be as narrow as 10 feet and as wide as 100 feet.
If you want to know how wide the public right of way or private easement area is, you can obtain a copy of the subdivision plat to find that information. It should be clearly marked within the road area.
You can also hire a land surveyor to locate your property for you so that you know exactly where your property ownership begins and ends.
Cardinal Surveying would like the opportunity to earn your business. They service the greater St Louis Metro area, have been rated A+ with the Better Business Bureau since 2003, have surveyed over 27,000 properties and are a family owned company who prides themselves on producing accurate results with exceptional customer service. They can be contacted via email at [email protected] or phone at 636.922.1001. They look forward to working with you for all your land surveying needs.
