Hailey · Ketchum · Sun Valley · Bellevue · Blaine County
Land surveys in the Wood River Valley.
Scale and Key Surveying performs boundary, topographic and ALTA/NSPS land title surveys, construction staking, and legal descriptions and exhibits in Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley, Bellevue and unincorporated Blaine County.
The firm is based in Boise, about two and a half hours from Hailey by road in good conditions, and travels to the valley for field work. Seth Kursel, PLS (Idaho license 1181318), takes the call and does the work. The firm holds Idaho Certificate of Authorization 3281730 and is veteran-owned.
WHERE IT IS FILEDRecords
- Records of survey and corner records are filed with the Blaine County Clerk, Auditor and Recorder in Hailey. Approved subdivision plats are filed there too, under Idaho Code 50-1310
- Idaho Code 55-1904 lists the surveys that require a record of survey, filed within 90 days of completion
- Idaho Code 55-1604 requires a corner record for public land survey corners, center quarter corners and tie corners established, rehabilitated or used as control, within 90 days unless an existing corner record already describes the corner
WHO REVIEWS ITPlanning offices
How it works
From Boise to your site.
1. Scope and research.
Deeds, plats, records of survey and corner records are reviewed before the trip. You receive a proposal stating limits, deliverables, fee basis and travel.
2. Field trip.
Field work is scheduled once you authorize the proposal and access is arranged.
3. Draft and file.
Any record of survey or corner record the work requires is filed with the county recorder.
Fee and schedule
What drives the fee and schedule here.
- Travel from Boise, and the number of trips the scope needs
- Snow cover: monuments and ground detail under snow may not be found or measured, so some work waits for bare ground
- Which jurisdiction reviews the work, and its submittal calendar
- The state of monuments and prior surveys of record
- River frontage: flood zone lines, ordinary high water mark and riparian setbacks, where the reviewing office asks for them
Fees and dates are set in the proposal once these are known. An inquiry does not book field work.
Questions
What valley owners ask first.
Has Scale and Key completed surveys in Blaine County?
No. Scale and Key is a new firm with no past projects in the valley. Before he was licensed, Seth worked on the survey staff of a prior employer in the Treasure Valley, drafting plats and surveys under another licensee's responsible charge. Those were that firm's projects, not Scale and Key's.
Will my survey be recorded?
Idaho Code 55-1904 requires a record of survey when the survey, for example, sets monuments at corners of record not previously monumented or discloses a material discrepancy with surveys of record. Under 55-1908, topographic surveys and construction staking do not require one unless those conditions are met.
What coordinate system is used?
Blaine County falls in the Central Zone of the Idaho plane coordinate system, which Idaho Code 55-1702 ties to the State Plane Coordinate System of the National Geodetic Survey. Idaho Code 55-1704 requires any document reporting those coordinates to name the datum, adjustment, epoch and zone, and Scale and Key drawings will state them.
My lot is near the Big Wood River. What changes?
Hailey requires a Flood Hazard Development Permit before development in the Special Flood Hazard Area. Blaine County's original parcel modification application asks for FEMA floodplain or floodway lines, the ordinary high water mark, the riparian setback district and avalanche lines, where applicable. Ketchum and Blaine County report that FEMA is updating the valley's Flood Insurance Rate Maps, so confirm the current map with the reviewing office.
Can you survey a lot line adjustment or prepare a plat?
Yes, that work is within the license. The city or county approves the change, and each has its own applications and steps, so the first task is confirming them with the planning office listed above.