Lake Orange, Inc.
Established 1967
Embedded Files
Key Public Documents - Sept. 17, 2019 Orange County Public Meeting
Key Public Documents - Sept. 17, 2019 Orange County Public Meeting
OC BoC Agenda 09-17-19 Item 6-a.pdfIn 2019, the Orange County Board of Commissioners considered a tax refund request submitted by a resident living near Lake Orange. A strip of land on the shore of Lake Orange between the 615' and 620' elevations in the vicinity of the resident's property was the basis of the discussion. Ownership of this strip of land was erroneously attributed to the resident because a prior survey of the resident's property on file with the county was incorrect. As such, the resident and Lake Orange, Inc. had both been paying property taxes on the same strip of land. A new survey commissioned by the resident showed that Lake Orange, Inc. was the rightful owner of property between the 615'-620' elevations. The Orange County GIS map and tax records were updated as soon as this updated survey was filed with the county.
After filing an updated survey, the resident asked for a pro-rated refund of property taxes paid in prior years, which was denied by Orange County. County taxes are charged based on ownership claims submitted to the county by property owners (in the form of surveys and deeds). Conflicting claims of ownership must be resovled by a new survey or a court decision. In short, Orange County GIS maps and tax records reflect the documents filed with Orange County, even if those documents are erroneous. It is up to property owners to file accurate documents of ownership and to resolve any conflicting claims.
Key Public Documents - 2024 Flood Easement Survey
Key Public Documents - 2024 Flood Easement Survey
A critical issue related to the definition of property boundaries and the 615'-620' flood easement was the fact that the entirety of the 620' elevation was not surveyed until Orange County undertook this task in 2024.
A flood easement survey was undertaken to define the contour limits of the 620' elevation. Stated otherwise, the survey was necessary to identify the horizontal extent of potential flooding that might occur if the Lake Orange water level were to rise to the maximum design pool level of 620'.
The survey outputs include maps such as the one linked at the right which identify the 620' elevation (yellow line), the 615' elevation (orange line), and the existing property boundaries as recorded in Orange County GIS system (blue lines). See the Orange County Sept. 17, 2019 Public Meeting document above for information on why these lines may not coincide for all properties. GIS systems are convenient visual representations of property boundaries, not legal authorities.
Importantly, a property boundary survey would be required to provide the legal data necessary to update depictions of property lines in the Orange County GIS system. A boundary survey defines line-segment boundaries and control points (information that can be integrated into a GIS system and codified as a legal description on a deed) from raw survey data. In addition, a property boundary survey would consider title search(es) to define relevant property lines.
2024 Flood Easement Survey.pdfSee other Key Public Documents: Creation of Lake Orange, Subdivisions, Easements, and Covenants and Contracts
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