(A) In the past land has been bought and sold using metes and bounds descriptions, but now with smaller parcels being bought and sold the practice of describing them by metes and bounds is no longer practical.
(B) Many metes and bounds descriptions, past and present, written by unqualified people do not properly describe conveyance of land. Overlaps and gaps have been created by these poor descriptions and can only be corrected by the courts. Descriptions based on a good boundary survey can be checked, therefore the record plat is a highly desirable instrument. The underlying description of the property to be platted can be adjusted or corrected, based on a boundary survey. The recorded plat then becomes a legal document denoting lots and blocks as the subdivision of the described tract of land. Clean, simple and accurate conveyances can then be made and described as lot, block-plat name.
(C) The present platting system was established to provide a simple system for keeping records of the division and ownership of land. State statutes give the registered land surveyor exclusive rights to prepare plats. The statutes also set minimum standards that the surveyor must meet, and regulate the plat itself, as to information required, size, number and kind. The reader is referred to M.S. Ch. 505, as it may be amended from time to time, and the standard procedures for platting in the county.
(Prior Code, § 12-1252)