Guidelines and Requirements for Range Points

Range Points are the survey monumentation used to permanently establish & preserve the public rights-of-way in the City and County of Denver. This practice has been in effect in the City and County of Denver since the late 1800s. Ordinance 41 Series 1886 requires “stones not less than two feet long and four inches square, properly marked, or iron bolts not less than two and one-half feet long, and one and one-half inches in diameter, set or driven one foot below the established grades of the streets at all points of intersections of range lines; said range lines to be run approximately twenty feet from the northerly and westerly sides of each street”. Many of these original monuments are still being used to control the right-of-way of existing streets. The City and County of Denver Surveyors are striving to recover, preserve, and perpetuate range point control that is based on our historic City records in a manner consistent with the care and professionalism of our predecessors who originally established the control system.

Today, establishment or reestablishment of Range Points is a requirement of the development approval process by the PUD/PBG Site Plan Rules & Regulations page 29.  

Diligent Search for Existing Range Points

After a surveyor has completed a comprehensive review of all available records, including but not limited to Plats, Official Surveys and Resurveys, tie books, Monument Records, and Land Survey Plats, the surveyor begins the field survey. Once in the field, the surveyor has a duty to make a diligent search for all range point monuments referenced directly or indirectly in the records. The search should include a 2 foot by 2 foot by 3 foot deep excavation at the site of the range line intersection. The search for monuments must continue until the monuments are located or until there is an explanation for their absence. Located monuments should be enclosed in a monument box per current City Standards. Absent monuments should be replaced using the best available records and evidence and set to current City Standards.

Range Points in New Developments

Range Points must be set at all points of curvature, angle points, intersection of streets & at the boundary of a subdivision. New Range Points should be set in conformance with existing range lines whenever possible. Range points in all new streets shall be installed per CCD standards as directed in the Range Point Document referenced above.