When is a legal rectangular survey system description unsuitable?

A legal rectangular survey system description, often referred to as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), is typically employed for properties that have a standardized rectangular shape. This system divides land into townships and ranges, allowing for straightforward identification of tracts of land based on their relationship to a specific baseline and principal meridian.

When a property is irregular in shape, the legal rectangular survey system becomes unsuitable because the established rectangular grid does not correspond well to properties that do not conform to this standardized layout. In such cases, the boundaries of the land may not fit neatly within the parcels defined by the survey system, making it difficult to describe or identify the land accurately using traditional legal descriptions. Instead, alternate methods of boundary description, such as metes and bounds, may be more appropriate for irregularly shaped properties, as they provide the flexibility needed to accurately outline the exact dimensions and boundaries.

While properties that are square or being used for commercial purposes can often still utilize the rectangular survey system effectively, and properties less than one acre might still fall within a grid or be part of a particular section, irregularly shaped properties present unique challenges that the rectangular system is not designed to address.