Office of the County Surveyor

The Office of the County Surveyor provides the following services:

• Checking and Recording of Parcel Maps, Subdivision Maps, Records of Survey and County Surveys.
• Conducting surveys as required by the Board of Supervisors and the Courts.
• Maintain the public index, by geographic location, of filings of record of survey, corner records, amended records of survey, certificates of corrections, and other important land surveying documents.
• Determine boundaries of county owned properties, including roads, right of ways, easements and county-controlled areas.
• Authorize retracement surveys of historical land division lines, such as government section lines, ranchos, and subdivision, using monument preservation funds.
• Collaborate with other agencies in the land development process and provide support and expertise to other departments and jurisdictions for the benefit of the public.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The County Surveyor does not survey private property. Contact a licensed land surveyor for this work.

• Hiring Guide: A Guide for Consumers: Hiring a Professional Land Surveyor or Engineer 
• List of Santa Cruz County Land Surveyors
• License Search: Department of Consumer Affairs

Accessing Recorded Surveys and other maps:

The County Surveyor's Index is the County’s Geographical Information System (GIS): Santa Cruz County GIS

The GIS allows you to locate a map geographically, by Assessor’s parcel number, street address, or by Volume and Page of a recorded map. Instructions from the help section: Instructions for Accessing Survey Maps 

Documents are available for download free of charge. Large format printing can be obtained through your local print shop. 

The County Surveyor maintains thousands of land and survey-related records within Santa Cruz County. Historically, these records were accessed at the Santa Cruz County Public Assistance Survey Counter in the County Building at 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz. With GIS, the method for accessing public records has been drastically changed by using a powerful web-based public records retrieval and viewing system. Records and documents are scanned and linked to corresponding geographic locations within the County Landbase system. Then, the records can be easily located and retrieved using most standard Web browsers from any personal computer connected to the Internet.

Items available through Santa Cruz County GIS:

• Recorded Maps Layer (entire County including all cities): Records of Survey, Tract Maps, Parcel Maps, Certificates of Correction, & Corner Records.
• Improvement Plans Layer (mostly County unincorporated areas only): Tract Improvement As‐Builts, MLD Improvement Plans, Public Works Construction As‐Builts, Public Works Drainage As‐Builts (Including city of Capitola), Larger Commercial Project As-Builts, & Plan Lines.
• Non-Recorded Maps Layer (entire County): Miscellaneous Historical Maps, Maps made by the County Surveyor, Road Map, GLO Plats, & Other Non-Recorded Maps. 

Items available from other sources:

Caltrans Right-of-Way Maps 
District 5 Right of Way Records
(805) 549‐3267

• https://dot.ca.gov/programs/right-of-way/rw-maps-surveys-records
• UCSC Library Maps UC Santa Cruz Maps
• UC Santa Barbara Library: California Aerial Photographs 
• The David Rumsey Collection: Online historic maps with a map-based search from the Stanford Library. 
• Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas.Political and physical maps. 
• Online Digital US Geologic Map Database: USGS Maps. 
• Online Maps Collections at the Library of Congress.

Other County Surveyor items available by appointment:

Mobile Homes/ Parks, Assessment Maps, Miscellaneous Maps, Ortho‐photos & Drainage Inventory, A82 Maps, Road Maps, CSA index, 1943 / 1948 Aerials, 1972 Aerials, Viewer’s Reports, U.S. Government Notes and Maps, County Surveyor Field Books