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The Legislative Service Commission staff updates the Revised Code on an ongoing basis, as it completes its act review of enacted legislation. Updates may be slower during some times of the year, depending on the volume of enacted legislation.

Chapter 157 | Ohio Co-ordinate System

 
 
 
Section
Section 157.01 | Ohio co-ordinate systems.
 

The systems of plane rectangular co-ordinates which have been established by the United States department of commerce for defining and stating the positions or locations of points on the surface of the earth within the state shall be known as the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927 and the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983. This chapter applies only to the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927 and the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983 and to the use of these systems.

Under these systems the state is divided into a north zone and a south zone.

The area included in the following counties on the effective date of this amendment, shall constitute the north zone: Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fulton, Geauga, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Holmes, Huron, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Portage, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Wayne, Williams, Wood, and Wyandot.

The area included in the following counties on the effective date of this amendment, shall constitute the south zone: Adams, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Licking, Madison, Meigs, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Preble, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, Warren, and Washington.

Section 157.02 | Designation of system in land descriptions.
 

As established for use in the north zone, the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927 or the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983 shall be named, and in any land description in which it is used it shall be designated, the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, north zone, or the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983, north zone.

As established for use in the south zone, the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927 or the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983 shall be named, and in any land description in which it is used it shall be designated, the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, south zone, or the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983, south zone.

Section 157.03 | Plane co-ordinates - description.
 

The plane co-ordinates of a point on the earth's surface, to be used in expressing the position or location of such point in the appropriate zone of the systems specified in section 157.01 of the Revised Code, shall consist of two distances, expressed in United States survey feet and decimals of a United States survey foot when using the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, and expressed in metres and decimals of a metre when using the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983. One of these distances, known as the "x co-ordinate," shall give the position in an east and west direction; the other, known as the "y co-ordinate," shall give the position in a north and south direction. These co-ordinates shall be made to depend upon and conform to plane rectangular co-ordinate values for the monumented points of the North American horizontal geodetic control network as published by the United States department of commerce and whose plane co-ordinates have been computed on the systems defined in this chapter. Any such station may be used for establishing a survey connection to either Ohio co-ordinate system.

Section 157.04 | Plane co-ordinates as evidence of land boundary borders.
 

Plane co-ordinates, used to reference and describe land boundary corners and made a part of the recorded description of such corners, shall be considered adequate evidence of the location of such corners in the absence of original physical monuments or other acceptable controlling evidence of original corner locations. In all instances where reference has been made to such co-ordinates in land surveys, the scale, sea level, and grid factors must also be stated for the survey lines used in computing ground distances and areas.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require a purchaser or mortgagee of real property to rely wholly on a land description, any part of which depends exclusively upon either Ohio co-ordinate system.

Section 157.05 | Description of land extending from one zone into another.
 

When any tract of land extends from one zone into the other the co-ordinate zones established by section 157.01 of the Revised Code, the positions of all points on its boundaries may be referenced to either of the two zones.

Section 157.06 | Ohio co-ordinate system definitions.
 

(A) As defined by the United States department of commerce:

(1) The "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, north zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes of 40° 26' and 41° 42' along which parallels the scale shall be exact; the origin of co-ordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 82° 30' west of Greenwich and the parallel 39° 40' north latitude. This origin is given the co-ordinates: x = 2,000,000 feet and y = 0 feet.

(2) The "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, south zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the Clarke spheroid of 1866, having standard parallels at north latitudes 38° 44' and 40° 02' along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of co-ordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 82° 30' west of Greenwich and the parallel 38° 00' north latitude. This origin is given the co-ordinates: x = 2,000,000 feet and y = 0 feet.

(B) As defined by the United States department of commerce:

(1) The "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983, north zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 40° 26' and 41° 42' along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of co-ordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 82° 30' west of Greenwich and the parallel 39° 40' north latitude. This origin is given the co-ordinates: x = 600,000 metres and y = 0 metres.

(2) The "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983, south zone" is a Lambert conformal conic projection of the North American datum of 1983, having standard parallels at north latitudes 38° 44' and 40° 02', along which parallels the scale shall be exact. The origin of co-ordinates is at the intersection of the meridian 82° 30' west of Greenwich and the parallel 38° 00' north latitude. This origin is given the co-ordinates: x = 600,000 metres and y = 0 metres.

Last updated May 9, 2022 at 11:54 AM

Section 157.07 | Maximum positional error in land descriptions.
 

Co-ordinates based on either Ohio co-ordinate system and used to describe and locate positions of land boundary corners shall be surveyed and determined within a maximum positional error of plus or minus 0.05 metres, except that it may be less than 0.05 metres if local land survey standards of practice for positional errors so dictate, with respect to the nearest horizontal control station established in conformity with the standards of accuracy and specifications for first and second-order geodetic surveying as prepared and published by the federal geodetic control committee of the United States department of commerce. The standards and specifications issued by the federal geodetic control committee in force on the date of such survey shall apply. The publication by the United States department of commerce of existing control stations or the acceptance by the department of newly established control stations with intent to publish them shall constitute evidence of adherence to federal geodetic control committee specifications. These limitations may be modified by a duly authorized state agency to comply with local conditions.

Section 157.08 | Execution of control densification and monumentation.
 

Extension of co-ordinate control by qualified surveyors for local co-ordinate control densification shall be executed in conformity with standards of accuracy and specifications for first or second-order geodetic surveys as prepared and published by the federal geodetic control committee of the United States department of commerce pursuant to section 157.07 of the Revised Code. Control monumentation for analysis of land boundaries, construction control, engineering design and planning, and photogrammetric survey control for such purposes shall be executed in conformity with the standards of accuracy and specifications for first, second, or third-order geodetic surveys as prepared and published by the federal geodetic control committee in force on the date of such survey.

Section 157.09 | Acceptable measurement evidence for land and other surveys.
 

Distances, bearings, and areas computed indirectly from co-ordinates shall be considered acceptable measurement evidence for land and other surveys if such co-ordinates have been determined in accordance with sections 157.04, 157.07, and 157.08 of the Revised Code.

Section 157.10 | Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927.
 

Use of the terms "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, north zone," or "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927, south zone," on any map, report of survey or other document shall be limited to co-ordinates based on the "Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927" as defined in this chapter.

Section 157.11 | Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983.
 

In accordance with sections 157.01 to 157.10 of the Revised Code, the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927 shall not be used after 1999 and the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983 shall be used after that date. Nothing in sections 157.01 to 157.10 of the Revised Code shall be construed to require that land descriptions using the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1927 and recorded before January 1, 2000, be conformed to the Ohio co-ordinate system of 1983.