Land Surveyors in Lakewood, CA

Seventeen Thousand Houses in Under Three Years

Lakewood went from farmland to a finished suburb almost overnight. Developers Louis Boyar, Mark Taper and Ben Weingart bought about 3,375 acres, opened sales in March 1950, and by 1953 some 17,500 houses were built and occupied. In 1954 residents voted to incorporate rather than be annexed by Long Beach, and the city's practice of contracting for services with the county became known as the Lakewood Plan.

Uniform Lots, Unequal Changes

The tract lots were laid out to a repeating pattern, and the original houses were small. What makes each property different now is everything added since: family rooms pushed into the back yard, garages converted, second stories, patio covers, pools, and the concrete block walls that owners put up between yards after the builders left. Those walls are the most common source of line questions here, because they were built by neighbours, not engineers, and they seldom sit exactly on the recorded boundary.

The Name Confusion

Lakewood Village sits right against the city on its western side and shares the name, but it is actually a Long Beach neighborhood. Knowing which city a lot is in decides which setback rules and permit counter apply, so it is worth checking the tax bill before ordering drawings.

What Gets Ordered Here

A boundary survey when a block wall or fence is being replaced, and an ADU site plan survey for the many owners converting a garage or building in the back yard. Room additions need staking on tight setbacks and sometimes an as-built survey of what was already added. Designers on second-story projects ask for a topographic survey for drainage. Commercial parcels along Lakewood Boulevard and around the mall bring ALTA work, owners resolving a shared-wall encroachment may need a lot line adjustment, and elevation certificates are uncommon but asked for near the San Gabriel River side.

Lakewood Survey FAQs