CITY OF SAN DIEGO

There are two surveying departments at the City of San Diego along with a records department. The City Surveyor responsible for approving and signing subdivision maps is located on the 5th floor of the City Operations Building located at 1222 First Avenue in downtown San Diego.

The city records department is located on the 2nd floor of 1222 First Avenue.

The city field division is located at 9485 Aero Drive in Kearny Mesa, very close to the County of San Diego Operations Complex where the County Surveyor and County map records are archived.

The map records division on the 2nd floor is staffed by non-surveyors and do not conduct their work under the direction of either of the principal land surveyors employed by the City of San Diego. As a result, records personnel are not familiar with tie points, field notes and other land surveying records. Although it is the city’s stated policy to perform survey records research at the records department, in most instances, although the records you are seeking may be stored on microfiche, it is probably city staff will be unable to assist you as it is probably they will not know where the records are located or what they look like. It is therefore preferred to conduct your research at the field division at 9485 Aero Drive.

Of all the unique documents on file with the city, perhaps the most valuable and important documents are the city “tie point surveys.” These were principally produced in the 1930’s as a WPA project and in the older sections of the city, they are the best available evidence as to the location of controlling monuments, most of which are composed of lead plugs set in a drill hole in the sidewalk, centered with a small brass nail. Over time, these have been replaced or updated with conventional brass discs set by the city engineer.