Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 236 - Platting lands and recording and vacating plats.
236.34 - Recording of certified survey map; use in changing boundaries; use in conveyancing.

236.34 Recording of certified survey map; use in changing boundaries; use in conveyancing.
(1) Description and uses.
(am) A certified survey map of not more than 4 parcels of land, or such greater maximum number specified by an ordinance enacted or resolution adopted under par. (ar) 1., consisting of lots or outlots may be recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the land is situated.
(ar)
1. Notwithstanding s. 236.45 (2) (ac) and (am), a municipality, town, or county that has established a planning agency may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution that specifies a maximum number of parcels that is greater than 4 into which land that is situated in the municipality, town, or county and zoned for commercial, multifamily dwelling, as defined in s. 101.01 (8m), industrial, or mixed-use development may be divided by certified survey map.
2. Before the enactment of an ordinance or the adoption of a resolution under subd. 1., the governing body of the municipality, town, or county shall receive the recommendation of its planning agency and shall hold a public hearing on the ordinance or resolution. Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication of a class 2 notice, under ch. 985. Any ordinance enacted or resolution adopted shall be published in a form suitable for public distribution.
3. Notwithstanding subd. 1., an ordinance enacted or resolution adopted under subd. 1. by a municipality may specify the number of parcels into which land within the extraterritorial plat approval jurisdiction of the municipality, as well as land within the corporate limits of the municipality, may be divided by certified survey map if the municipality has the right to approve or object to plats within that area under s. 236.10 (1) (b) 2. and (2).
4. If more than one governing body has authority to enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution under subd. 1. with respect to the same land and those governing bodies enact ordinances or adopt resolutions with conflicting provisions, any certified survey map affecting that land must comply with the most restrictive provisions.
(bm) A certified survey map may be used to change the boundaries of lots and outlots within a recorded plat, recorded assessor's plat under s. 70.27, or recorded certified survey map if the reconfiguration does not result in a subdivision or violate a local ordinance or resolution.
(cm) A certified survey map may not alter areas previously dedicated to the public or a restriction placed on the platted land by covenant, by grant of an easement, or by any other manner.
(dm) A certified survey map that crosses the exterior boundary of a recorded plat or assessor's plat shall apply to the reconfiguration of not more than 4 parcels, or such greater maximum number specified by an ordinance enacted or resolution adopted under par. (ar) 1., by a single owner, or if no additional parcels are created. Subject to sub. (2m), such a certified survey map must be approved in the same manner as a final plat of a subdivision must be approved under s. 236.10, must be monumented in accordance with s. 236.15 (1), and shall contain owners' and mortgagees' certificates that are in substantially the same form as required under s. 236.21 (2) (a).
(1m) Preparation. A certified survey must meet the following requirements:
(a) The survey shall be performed and the map prepared by a professional land surveyor. The error in the latitude and departure closure of the survey may not exceed the ratio of one in 3,000.
(b) All corners shall be monumented in accordance with s. 236.15 (1) (ac), (c), (d), and (g).
(c) The map shall be prepared in accordance with ss. 236.16 (4) and 236.20 (2) (a), (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), and (L) and (3) (b), (d), and (e) at a graphic scale of not more than 500 feet to an inch, which shall be shown on each sheet showing layout features. The map shall be prepared with a binding margin 1.5 inches wide and a 0.5 inch margin on all other sides on durable white media that is 8 1/2 inches wide by 14 inches long, or on other media that is acceptable to the register of deeds, with a permanent nonfading black image. When more than one sheet is used for any map, each sheet shall be numbered consecutively and shall contain a notation giving the total number of sheets in the map and showing the relationship of that sheet to the other sheets. “CERTIFIED SURVEY MAP" shall be printed on the map in prominent letters with the location of the land by government lot, recorded private claim, quarter-quarter section, section, township, range and county noted. Seals or signatures reproduced on images complying with this paragraph shall be given the force and effect of original signatures and seals.
(d) The map shall include a certificate of the professional land surveyor who surveyed, divided, and mapped the land which has the same force and effect as an affidavit and which gives all of the following information:
1. By whose direction the professional land surveyor made the survey, division, and map of the land described on the certified survey map.
2. A clear and concise description of the land surveyed, divided, and mapped by government lot, recorded private claim, quarter-quarter section, section, township, range and county; and by metes and bounds commencing with a monument at a section or quarter section corner of the quarter section that is not the center of a section, or commencing with a monument at the end of a boundary line of a recorded private claim or federal reservation in which the land is located. If, however, the land is shown in a recorded subdivision plat, recorded addition to a recorded subdivision plat, or recorded certified survey map that has previously been tied to the monumented line of a quarter section, government lot, recorded private claim, or federal reservation in which the land is located, the land shall be described by the subdivision name or certified survey map number and the description of the lot and block thereof.
3. A statement that the map is a correct representation of all of the exterior boundaries of the land surveyed and the division of that land.
4. A statement that the professional land surveyor has fully complied with the provisions of this section in surveying, dividing, and mapping the land.
(e) A certified survey map may be used for dedication of streets and other public areas, and for granting easements to the public or any person, society, or corporation marked or noted on the map, when owners' certificates and mortgagees' certificates which are in substantially the same form as required by s. 236.21 (2) (a) have been executed and the city council or village or town board involved have approved such dedication or grant. Approval and recording of such certified surveys shall have the force and effect provided by s. 236.29.
(em)
1. Except as provided in subd. 2., if the certified survey map divides land into more than 4 parcels in accordance with an ordinance enacted or resolution adopted under sub. (1) (ar) 1., notwithstanding pars. (b) and (c), the survey and the map shall comply with ss. 236.15, 236.20, and 236.21 (1) and (2) and the map shall be submitted to the department of administration for a review of the compliance with those sections.
2. Subdivision 1. does not apply if any of the following applies:
a. The certified survey map is only changing the boundaries of lots and outlots in a recorded plat, recorded assessor's plat under s. 70.27, or recorded certified survey map, regardless of whether the certified survey map crosses the exterior boundary of the recorded plat, assessor's plat, or certified survey map.
b. The certified survey map is dividing land that is wholly situated in a 1st class city.
c. The certified survey map is dividing unincorporated land in a county with a population of 750,000 or more.
(er)
1. Except as provided in subd. 2., the certified survey map and survey shall comply with the rules of the department of transportation described in s. 236.13 (1) (e) and the map shall be submitted to the department of transportation for a review of the compliance with those rules if all of the following apply:
a. The certified survey map divides land into more than 4 parcels in accordance with an ordinance enacted or resolution adopted under sub. (1) (ar) 1.
b. The certified survey map is changing the external boundary of a recorded plat, recorded assessor's plat, or recorded certified survey map.
c. The certified survey map or recorded plat, recorded assessor's plat, or recorded certified survey map shows lots that abut or adjoin a state trunk highway or connecting highway.
2. Subdivision 1. does not apply if any of the following applies:
a. The certified survey map is dividing land that is wholly situated in a 1st class city.
b. The certified survey map is dividing unincorporated land in a county with a population of 750,000 or more.
(f) Within 90 days of submitting a certified survey map for approval, the approving authority, or its agent authorized to approve certified survey maps, shall take action to approve, approve conditionally, or reject the certified survey map and shall state in writing any conditions of approval or reasons for rejection, unless the time is extended by agreement with the subdivider. Failure of the approving authority or its agent to act within the 90 days, or any extension of that period, constitutes an approval of the certified survey map and, upon demand, a certificate to that effect shall be made on the face of the map by the clerk of the authority that has failed to act.
(2) Recording.
(a) Certified survey maps prepared in accordance with subs. (1) and (1m) shall be numbered consecutively by the register of deeds and shall be recorded in a bound volume kept in the register of deeds' office, known as the “Certified Survey Maps of .... County", or stored electronically in the register of deeds office.
(b) If the certified survey map is approved by a local unit of government, the register of deeds may not accept the certified survey map for record unless all of the following apply:
1. The certified survey map is offered for record within 12 months after the date of the last approval of the map and within 36 months after the date of the first approval of the map.
2. The certified survey map shows on its face all of the certificates and affidavits required under subs. (1) and (1m).
(2m) County approval authority.
(a) Except as provided in par. (b), a county planning agency under s. 236.10 (1) (b) 3. or (c) 2. has no authority to approve or object to a certified survey map that divides land that is located in a town that has, before the certified survey map is submitted for approval, enacted an ordinance under s. 60.23 (34) withdrawing the town from county zoning and the county development plan.
(b) A county planning agency under s. 236.10 (1) (b) 3. or (c) 2. may object to any of the following portions of a certified survey map that divides land located in a town described in par. (a):
1. Any land shown on and subject to the certified survey map that is shoreland, as defined in s. 59.692 (1) (b), in the county.
2. Any land shown on and subject to the certified survey map that is in a 100-year floodplain in the county.
(3) Use in conveyancing. When a certified survey map has been recorded in accordance with this section, the parcels of land in the map shall be, for all purposes, including assessment, taxation, devise, descent, and conveyance, as defined in s. 706.01 (4), described by reference to all of the following:
(a) The number of the map.
(b) The lot or outlot number of the parcel.
(c) If the map is assigned a document number, the document number assigned to the map.
(d) If the map is assigned a volume and page number, the volume and page where the map is recorded.
(e) The name of the county.
(4) Vacation. A certified survey map may be vacated by the circuit court of the county in which the parcels of land are located in the same manner and with like effect as provided in ss. 236.40 to 236.44, except that application for vacation of the certified survey map may be made by any of the following:
(a) The owner of any lot or outlot in the land that is the subject of the certified survey map.
(b) The county board if the county has acquired an interest by tax deed in any lot or outlot in the land that is the subject of the certified survey map.
History: 1979 c. 248 ss. 22, 25 (3); 1983 a. 189 s. 329 (26); 1983 a. 473; 1987 a. 390; 1997 a. 99; 1999 a. 96; 2001 a. 16; 2005 a. 9, 41; 2013 a. 272, 358; 2015 a. 48, 178; 2017 a. 102; 2017 a. 207 s. 5; 2017 a. 243; 2021 a. 238 s. 45.
While s. 236.29 (1) provides that every donation or grant to the public marked or noted as such on a properly recorded plat shall be deemed a sufficient conveyance to vest the fee simple of all parcels of land so marked or noted, statutory dedication requires compliance with statutory procedure. For the state to rely on s. 236.29 (1) to convey property via a certified survey map (CSM) that marked a parcel as a dedication, the property first has to be properly dedicated in accordance with sub. (1m) (e). Under that statute, the city council or village or town board involved must have approved the dedication. As no governmental board involved in the development in this case approved any road dedication or land grant for inclusion in the CSM, the CSM lacked the force and effect required to convey the property to the state. Somers USA, LLC v. DOT, 2015 WI App 33, 361 Wis. 2d 807, 864 N.W.2d 114, 14-1092.
Sub. (2) requires that certified survey maps be numbered consecutively without dependent reference to ownership, developer, or surveyor. 61 Atty. Gen. 34.
Certified survey maps under this section cannot substitute for subdivision surveys under s. 236.02 (8) [now sub. (12)]. Penalties under s. 236.31 apply to improper use of certified surveys. 67 Atty. Gen. 294.