THEODORE R. MCKELDIN, GOVERNOR 1591

WHEREAS, In 1836 a copy of the original plat of Charles-
town was made by one John Janney, and although it appar-
ently was not made under public authority, there are copies
of it still in use and it corresponds exactly with the original
map in all the particulars set forth in the aforementioned
certificate of John Veazy, Deputy Surveyor; and

WHEREAS, The owners of the several lots in said Town
have over the years failed to confine their properties within
the bounds as shown on said plat, but on the contrary have
exceeded their proper bounds, particularly along the streets
and alleys, and have in fact encroached upon the streets and
alleys of said Town, and as a result the streets of said
Town as presently used are not of the full width called
for in the original survey of said Town; furthermore, if
those property owners who have so encroached on said
streets were required to give up all the land so held by
them to which they have no legal title, irreparable harm
would be done to them; and

WHEREAS, A great majority of property owners in said
Town are now aware of the fact that because of the en-
croachment upon the streets and alleys of the Town as
originally laid out, they may not have a good and mer-
chantable fee simple title to all the land of which the several
property owners are presently in possession; and

WHEREAS, There has resulted a number of disputes be-
tween property owners, and between property owners and
the Town officials over property lines and street lines, and
in order to establish the street lines and the property lines
of the 200 lots of the Town proper, and at the same time
endeavor to arrive at a solution insofar as the present loca-
tion of streets in the Town are concerned, and to protect or
assure to the several property owners the land, or so much
thereof as is practicable, which they now occupy, but which
encroaches on the streets as originally laid out, the Town
engaged the services of a reputable firm of civil engineers,
who have made a complete survey of the Town establish-
ing the original lines of the 200 lots and the streets and
alleys, as accurately as possible; they have endeavored by
their survey to show to what extent the several present
property owners have encroached upon said streets of said
Town; and after considering these factors and at the same
time giving consideration to the present width and loca-
tion of the streets in said Town as determined by present
usage, a fair and feasible plan of streets, uniform in width,
but of considerably less width than originally laid out, has