first published week of: 01/23/2023
Remember When? A "Harlow Report" From October 10, 2022
California Law Criminalizing Drawing Lines On Maps Cripples Innovation
by Mike Greenberg
California’s licensing requirements could be weaponized to shut down any similar company, stifle innovation, and deny customers access to valuable services.It might sound ridiculous, but if you’ve ever drawn a map—whether a diagram of your backyard to show a landscaper the work you’d like done or directions on a napkin for a lost tourist—you might be a criminal. A new lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to end California’s unique law criminalizing such activity.
Ryan Crownholm is a Sherman Oaks-based entrepreneur who learned this lesson the hard way. Ryan runs MySitePlan.com, where he uses publicly available Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps to create drawings for clients. The drawings, called site plans, simply depict the location of various features on a property, such as buildings, driveways, fences or vegetation. His drawings don’t authoritatively determine where any features are located, like surveys do. Ryan’s customers use these site plans for a variety of reasons. Homeowners use them to show building department officials where they plan to do small projects on their property, such as building a shed. Apartment complexes use them to show residents where to find dumpsters or fire exits. Wedding venues use them to show how the property can be set up for the big day. MySitePlan.com has created more than 40,000 drawings for happy customers over nearly a decade of work.
In December 2021, Ryan received a citation from the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, claiming he was illegally practicing “unlicensed land surveying.”
Read full story at Orange County Register…