Wendy Lathrop

Wendy Lathrop, PS, CFM, is licensed as a Professional Land Surveyor in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, and has been involved since 1974 in surveying projects ranging from construction to boundary to environmental land use disputes. She is a Professional Planner in New Jersey, and a Certified Floodplain Manager through the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM).

Articles by Wendy Lathrop

• Fighting city hall over land

  Tuesday, February 06, 2018

  ​Once upon a time (1989 to be exact) in a place not so far from where I live, a man (Francis Galdo) bought a home across the street from a vacant parcel owned by the City of Philadelphia. That parcel, along with others, had been acquired by condemnation in 1974, subsequent to a 1956 consenting ordinance and 1962 agreement to the Pennsylvania Department of Highways plans to establish and occupy certain rights of way, streets and traffic interchanges as part of the construction of the Delaware Expressway within the city.

• More questions than answers

  Wednesday, November 29, 2017

  Some of the messages that find their way to me by email (and sometimes by phone) pose questions that are far more complicated than the inquirer anticipates. Recently, a brief, two-sentence question (couched in an only slightly longer message) required me to write many paragraphs to describe and explain all the variables involved that precluded me from giving a solid answer. Incidentally, I also asked that I not be given more information since I didn't have time to research and respond to all those specifics, and some of it would be beyond my expertise.

• How surveyors can help in hurricane recovery

  Tuesday, October 24, 2017

  After a stressful week of trying to locate an old friend in Houston after Hurricane Harvey left town, her brief email reassured me she was safe and had not lost everything. She was among the fortunate. Hundreds of thousands of others across the Caribbean and southeastern parts of the U.S. are going to be out of their homes (if they still have homes left) and jolted into a struggle to regain some sense normalcy for quite a while.

• Boundary disputes: A tale of two townships

  Wednesday, June 28, 2017

  While looking for a recent example of boundary line commissions in action for a workshop I was to present, I came across a 2015 case that not only illustrated the application of a particular statutory procedure but also presented some fine support of basic boundary principles.

• Being a good 3-D neighbor

  Tuesday, April 04, 2017

  Ownership of land runs from the highest point in the heavens to the center of the earth — or so we are generally informed as we surveyors begin our studies of real property characteristics. However, that vast expanse of ownership does not equate to full possession when it comes to such things as allowing airplanes and satellites cross the skies above us; some aspects are beyond an owner's full control. Neighbors above and below us have rights, too.