Finalize Your Land Survey (plat)

If you want to divide your property or reconfigure existing lots of land, you must get your proposed land division reviewed and approved by the City. 

Before you can finalize your land survey, you must work with the City’s Planning Division to get tentative plan approval. Once you have tentative plan approval, you will work with the  City’s Public Works Department and your land surveyor to finalize your land survey and record your plat.

The tentative plan approval process differs based on the type of division you want to do and requires approval from the Planning Department. [Salem Revised Code (SRC) Chapter 205]:

The general process for tentative plan approval is:

• Application preparation: Review the application requirements and procedures specific to what you want to do:

• Partition: Divide your land to create three or fewer parcels of land within a calendar year

• Subdivision: Divide your land to create four or more lots within a calendar year

• Phased subdivision: Divide your land to create four or more lots, but divide the subdivision into individual phases whose final plats are recorded over time

• Planned unit development (PUD): Develop your property with more flexibility in site development standards, common areas, and open space than is allowed through traditional zoning. (It can be approved with or without a land division such as a partition or subdivision.)

• Replat: Reconfigure lots or parcels and public easement within a recorded plat

• Manufactured dwelling park subdivision: Divide land within a manufactured dwelling park

• Application. Submit your land use application, fees, and all required materials to Planning staff at the Permit Application Center.

• Staff reviews your application for completeness. If the application is not complete, you will be notified as to what information is missing and will have 180 days to submit the additional information. You may track the status of your application online at the City of Salem permit tracking webpage.

• Notification. After all required information is submitted and the application is deemed complete, staff sends notice of the proposal, indicating a public comment period of 14 days, to you, the property owner, the relevant neighborhood association, and property owners within 250 feet. (Staff prepares the notification list of property owners.)

• Public hearing: Applies only to a PUD.

• Decision. The Planning Administrator issues a decision to approve or deny the application based upon whether the proposal meets the applicable criteria.

• Staff sends a copy of the decision (noting 15-day appeal period) to you, the property owner, the relevant neighborhood association, and property owners within 250 feet.

• If no appeal is filed and the City Council does not initiate review of the application, the tentative plan decision becomes effective.

• Construction. After the tentative plan is approved, you must construct all required improvements, comply with required conditions of approval, and submit a final plat for review and signature by the Planning Administrator and City Surveyor.

City staff must review plats for completeness before you submit the final plat Mylar and application for processing.

The pre-submittal review includes a detailed review to ensure the final plat conforms with the tentative land use decisions. City staff will make sure:

• The project meets all land use conditions
• Required improvements have been constructed or secured
• Necessary agreements and easements are in place

The pre-submittal review does not include a plat review by the City Surveyor for conformance with Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) map standards. The City Surveyor and Planning Administrator will only evaluate the final plat in Mylar form after the initial review process has been deemed complete.

The City Surveyor is available for a peer-to-peer review of the plat during the initial review process, upon request. These meetings are intended to answer any general survey related questions or issues from the Project Surveyor prior to submitting a final plat in Mylar form.

Filing fee

A filing fee will be charged for all pre-submittal review requests. The amount of the fee depends on the type of application and is adjusted annually by the City Council. Contact Development Services staff at the Permit Application Center to find out the required fee, or check the current fee schedule.

Pre-submittal requirements

The following pre-submittal documents need to be submitted to Development Services staff at the Permit Application Center for a pre-submittal review (approximately 15 days):

• One paper copy and one electronic copy (PDF) of the final plat

• A title report no older than 15 days

• A signed Affidavit of Consent from any trust deed holder

• Paper copies of all easements and exceptions listed in the Title Report, or a Title Report with electronic hyperlinks allowing direct access to the documents.

• For properties owned by an organization, such as a trust or limited liability corporation, also provide an Operating Agreement for review

Before requesting a review of the paper plat, please make sure you have addressed all the items on the following pre-submittal checklist:

• Conditions, Covenants, and Restrictions or Joint Access Easement and Maintenance Agreement are recorded

• Construction plans for required private and/or public improvements are approved, and permits have been issued

• All required improvements have been accepted by the City, or an improvement agreement/deferral agreement is recorded

• A Performance Security has been provided for required public improvements, if applicable

• Condensed Conditions of Approval document signed by the Planning Division has been recorded and returned to Development Services at the Permit Application Center

• Copies of off-site easements and right-of-way dedication have been provided to the City

• Verification of storm drainage maintenance agreement has been provided, if applicable

• Floodway boundaries are delineated on the plat, if applicable

• Post-monumentation certificate and identification of corners to be post-monumented are prepared and submitted to Development Services, if applicable

• The City Surveyor will prepare a post-monumentation deposit estimate as part of the pre-submittal review

• A check for the deposit estimate must be provided at the time of Mylar submittal

• A signed Affidavit of Consent from any fee owner, vendor, mortgage or trust deed holder, as required by ORS 92.075 (see example of Affidavit of Consent forms for Marion County and Polk County)

• Provide an Affidavit of Consent recording statement on the plat

• Subdivision name has been approved by the appropriate county jurisdiction

• Provide documentation of approval with your application

• For phased subdivisions under different ownership, an Affidavit of Consent from the previous owner is required

• Street name approval: Proposed new street names will be reviewed and approved by City Staff at the time of the Pre-Submittal review.

• Final plan approval through the Planning Division is complete for all planned unit development applications as required by SRC 210.030.

• Provide additional documentation or evidence, if not clearly obvious, to demonstrate compliance with conditions of approval

• Carefully review the plat intake review checklist to ensure the final plat conforms to ORS 209.250 and ORS 92.012 map standards

Once the pre-submittal review process has been deemed complete, an approval notice for Mylar submittal will be sent to your project surveyor. You or your surveyor may then submit the final plat application to Development Services staff at the Permit Application Center.

Final application requirements

• The final plat in Mylar form
• A completed Final Plat Application
• A title report not older than 15 days

Final review

Once the application requirements are met:

• City review (30 days). The City Surveyor will review the final plat in Mylar form and provide approval or redline comments to your private surveyor within 30 days of submittal.

• Submit revisions (30 days). Your surveyor must then satisfy redlines comments and submit a revised Mylar to the City within 30 days of receipt of redline review comments.

• Final review (10 days). The final Mylar is reviewed and signed by the City Surveyor and Planning Administrator and returned to your surveyor for recording with the appropriate County. This final process typically takes 10 business days.