Submitting Plats for DNR Platting Authority Approval

"An Act establishing the Department of Natural Resources as the platting authority in certain areas of the state; relating to subdivisions and dedications; and providing for an effective date."
per A.S. 40.15.300 - .380 and A.S. 40.15.900.

• Unorganized Borough Plat Submittal Application Form PDF
• Submittal Requirements
• Plat Standards Basis of Bearing | Legend | Plat Approval & Certificates
• Monuments
• Legal Access
• Final Plat Submittal
• Field Standards

Minimum Submittal Requirements for plats submitted pursuant to AS 40.15.300.

A plat submittal for review shall include the following:

A. Two full size paper copies of the plat with a Title Block including the subdivision name, location by Section, Township, Range and Meridian and the contact information for the surveyor submitting the plat.

B. Plat Review Fees

C. A Certificate to Plat from a title company, current within 90 days of the submittal.

D. Written comments regarding utility easements within the subdivision from utility companies that serves the subdivision.

E. Supporting documents: (as necessary)
a) Parent parcel subdivision plat;
b) Deeds;
c) DOT/PF comments;
d) Documentation of legal access to the parent parcel, etc.

F. Lot summaries showing bearings, distances, parent parcel and individual lot closures with acreage.

Submittals shall be made to:
Platting Officer for the Unorganized Borough
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Mining, Land & Water
550 West 7th Ave., Suite 650
Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3576

The statutory 45 day review period begins upon receipt of the above at this office.

A. The plat must have a vicinity map, a minimum of four inches by four inches, with a scale of one inch representing one mile, in the upper right-hand corner; the map must show sections, townships and ranges, boundaries such as national forest or municipal boundaries, and other prominent physical or natural features such as roads, lakes, or rivers; the source and year of the base map used must be indicated;

B. The basis of bearings must be shown on the plat;

C. North arrow showing magnetic declination;

D. Description of monuments, including markings, recovered and set;

E. Location description with section, township, range, and meridian and Recording District must be shown in the title block;

F. ADNR's General Notes:

1. The error of closure of this survey does not exceed 1:5000.
2. All bearings shown are true bearings as oriented to the basis of bearing and the distances shown are reduced to horizontal field distances.
3. The natural meanders of the ordinary high water (mean high water) line forms the true bounds of __(parcel name)__. The approximate line of ordinary high water (mean high water), as shown, is for area computations only. The true __(parcel name)__ corners being on the extension of the sidelines and their intersection with the natural meanders. (Use the appropriate nomenclature)
   
   BASIS OF BEARING (for plats based on GPS)
   
   The Basis of Bearing on this plat was determined by a high precision GPS survey using ____(brand and model)____ receivers differentially corrected and processed using ___(software name and version)____ software.

G. Download file of Certificates (listed below) (PDF). PLAT APPROVAL | ACCEPTANCE OF DEDICATION | CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP AND DEDICATION | CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP | CERTIFICATE OF BENEFICIARY | SURVEYOR'S CERTIFICATE[used on all plats] | TAX CERTIFICATE [use where applicable] | AFFIDAVIT OF BENEFICIARY

(a) In a subdivision with five or fewer lots, the monuments required to be established at controlling exterior corners include each angle point, each point of curvature, and any point on the subdivision exterior boundary that is more than 1,320 feet from a monument. Each monument at each controlling exterior corner must consist of a minimum 5/8-inch by 24-inch rebar with a minimum two-inch diameter aluminum cap.

For monuments that are

(1) set by a survey under this subsection,

(A) the surveyor shall stamp the cap with the corner identification, year set, and surveyor's registration number, and shall orient this information so that it may be read when the reader is facing north; and

(B) if both the cap and the pipe are nonferrous metal, the surveyor shall permanently attach additives with magnetic qualities at both the top and bottom of the monument; or

(2) recovered, the surveyor shall

(A) certify that the existence of controlling exterior corners of the subdivision has been established in the field; and

(B) show the current condition, description, and markings of all recovered monuments.

(b) In a subdivision of more than five lots, each corner to be monumented must include each angle point and each point of curvature in the boundary of each lot in the subdivision. The surveyor shall monument each interior corner with a minimum 5/8-inch by 24-inch rebar with a plastic or aluminum cap bearing the surveyor's registration number.

(c) A surveyor who finds monuments and accessories in a disturbed condition shall make sufficient ties to existing monuments of record to properly control the field location of the parent parcel boundaries. The surveyor shall return disturbed monuments and accessories to the original position and condition as nearly as possible or replace them so as to perpetuate the position.

Legal Access is required to be provided to the subdivision, and to all lots within the subdivision.

For subdivisions abutting the State Highway System, DNR will submit copies of the preliminary plat to DOT/PF for their review and comments. We recommend that the surveyor submit the preliminary subdivision design to DOT/PF prior to setting monuments. Under some circumstances DOT/PF may require the subdivision to be re-designed to limit the number of access points, to meet minimum sight distances, etc.

DOT/PF's review will be greatly assisted if topographical information is provided, including the location of existing structures and driveways. Inclusion of natural topographical features such as drainage's and contours, where they might affect access, will also be useful.

It is the subdivider's responsibility to address DOT/PF's concerns affecting their ROW's as a condition of plat approval.

After review by DNR, the surveyor shall submit the final plat. (1) the base sheets must be of good quality linen or mylar at least three mils thick and must be one of two standard sizes: 18 inches by 24 inches or 24 inches by 36 inches;

-As part of each acknowledgement by a notary, the notary's seal must be affixed to the original plat and each original plat copy; the seal should be applied by permanent inked stamp, as use of embossed seals is not recommended; a notary may acknowledge more than one signature in a single acknowledgement so long as the signature date is the same for each signature and so long as the notary sets out in the acknowledgement the complete name of each person whose signature is being notarized

Plat shall be free of tape, repairs, paste-on materials or other appliques; if these kinds of techniques were used in plat production, a black line mylar copy may be used as a new original, so long as the copy maintains the density of line, clarity of background, accuracy, and other qualities of a normal original; reproducible mylars duplicated by ammonia or photostatic process will not be accepted.

The final plat mylar and one blackline print must be submitted for approval to the department; the print must be made before any certificates or acknowledgments on the mylar original are signed and before any official seals are applied; both the mylar and the print must be signed and sealed separately in black ink;

With the final plat submittal, the surveyor shall include an update to the Certificate to Plat, current within 90 days. Ownership and Beneficiary Certificates shall be signed by all shown on the certificate to plat.
Filing Fees

Error of closure of the field survey shall not exceed 1:5000. The self checking field procedures shall support the accuracy requirements.

Determination of boundaries common with the bed of state-owned waters shall be conducted pursuant to 11 AAC 53.120.

• Regulations (PDF)
• Forms - Certificates and Legend (PDF)
• A Paper on: Platting Authority in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska (PDF) as presented at the 34th Annual Survey & Mapping Conference.

If you have any questions, contact Amy Orange-Posma at (907) 269-8524