Bloxham

Jacques (or Jack) Bloxham and Janette Magoc (the Bloxhams) and Todd Saldinger and Barbara Saldinger, also known as Barbara Zylbert (the Saldingers), disputed the location of their common property lines. At trial, the determinative issue was the location of the western boundary of the Shoquel Augmentation Rancho (more recently denominated the Soquel Augmentation Rancho; hereinafter sometimes “Rancho”), a line roughly seven miles long. The deed descriptions of the parties’ parcels at issue include calls to that western boundary line of the Rancho (hereinafter Rancho line).

The exterior boundaries of the Rancho were surveyed by United States Deputy Surveyor John Wallace in 1858, and the plat of the Rancho specified that it encompassed over 32,702 acres. The comers, or termini, of the Rancho line are SA-2 (at the southerly end) and SA-3 (at the northerly end). The parties’ surveyors reached different conclusions about the location of the Rancho line and the parties’ common boundaries.

Following a court trial, which included a judicial view of the property, the court quieted title in favor of the Bloxhams. On appeal, the Saldingers contend that the survey done by their…