Easements: What are they and Who uses them?

On the Road in Arizona, working on a utility easement survey for a large power transmission line.

"HEY! I JUST BOUGHT THIS PLACE AND HERE YOU ARE WALKING ALL OVER IT!"

Sound familiar? It happens more often than you think. What that person might be accessing is an easement. Easements come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and forms, so trying to break down every kind of easement here isn't feasible, but we can at least discuss them in general.

To define an easement, it is a right to use, enter, or "enjoy" the use of a particular piece of property. This isn't done by you; it's usually by another adjacent landowner or utility company. Let's take a quick look at some different types of easements you might encounter:

Access Easements:

Sometimes known as an Ingress/Egress Easement, this is what I would consider the simplest form of an easement. I own Parcel A; you own Parcel B, and the easiest way to get to your property is by crossing mine. The best way to ensure you have access across my property is to draft an easement. You may also see these used to access public property, such as cutting across private land to reach a fishing spot, park, or even Forest Service/BLM land.

Utility Easements:

These are usually straightforward as well. A telecom company might approach you to install a fiber optic line across your property. Another example might be for a power company to set up a power line, or an oil and gas company to install a pipeline. There are many utilities that might need access across your land, sometimes for your benefit, but usually to benefit others around you.

Other Easements:

Some less common easements include light and air easements, which are more prevalent around airports and larger cities. A good example to explain is for an airport runway. Obviously, it wouldn't be ideal for an airplane to maneuver around a 300-foot-tall building just a couple of feet outside the airport's property, so an easement is established that covers a certain distance, height, and angle from the end of a runway to better protect airplanes. This means you might not be able to build a 25-foot-tall building just outside the runway, but you could potentially build it half a mile away.

So, what makes an easement an easement?

These days, it's usually easier to define easements. A good easement, in the sense of being well-written, will include many details such as: Why it is being created (pipeline, access, etc), who it is for (a company, individual, etc) and where it is like with a legal description. This legal description would include where it is located, how wide it is, how long it is in effect, and perhaps a general description of its purpose (access, pipeline, water, etc.). They can also be shown at the time of a subdivision plat being completed and then placed into public benefit. However, this isn't always the case! Often, easements were created as what are called "Blanket Easements," which are usually very vague and can require a lot of interpretation. For instance:

"A 5-foot strip of land lying in the SW ¼ of Section 8, Township 137 North, Range 91 West." It doesn't define a starting point, an end, direction, or even its purpose... it's just... there. Sometimes, it's easy to define, like with a power line where you can locate the power poles or the underground line. Other times, you may not have any idea where it is and may take some interpretation on trying to find it.

This example shows a few different easements:

In the upper right corner, you have a curve for the main access road entering and exiting the subdivision.

In the lower side of the image you see a 60’ wide access and utility easement.

Other times, it's not so easy, like:

An Access Road Easement written sometime in the 1940s where the road, as far as we can tell, no longer exists.

"A 30-foot-wide strip of land, beginning 800 feet west of the Northeast corner of the Northwest quarter, thence southerly to the south line of the Northwest Quarter, thence Southeasterly to the east line of the Southwest Quarter."

It sounds good until you realize "southerly" and "southeasterly" could mean different directions, making the route unclear.

An example of this easement: An old roadbed was discovered, which is no longer in use. Does that look Southerly? More importantly, it is supposed to continue, “southeasterly” but it doesn’t, so where is it?

Utilities:

Let's talk about utilities a bit, who accesses them, and why. I'll speak in generalities here since I'm far from an expert on these matters, but generally, if you have utilities on your property, they will likely need inspection:

Electric meters used to be read every month by someone entering your backyard. Now, with smart meters, this isn't always necessary as they transmit data wirelessly, but access is still needed for emergencies or to replace faulty equipment.

Cable/Fiber Optic services also have equipment that might hang off the back of your house. Although it is less common, they may need to update or repair equipment. When changing property ownership, they might need to disconnect and reconnect services or in my case, repair lines damaged during home renovations. Oops!

Oil/Gas Pipelines are frequently inspected, either on the ground with ATVs or more commonly from the air using drones, planes, or helicopters. They look for changes in vegetation indicating leaks or check reclamation to ensure vegetation is growing post-installation.

So where do I start?

If you think you have an easement on your property and you need to understand more about it, the easiest step is to consult with a land surveyor, they can help define where the easement is located and if necessary, complete a land survey of your property and easement. The survey would define the boundaries of your land and could also define where easements are located. Usually these easements also show up in a title report when you purchase the property. Supplying your surveyor with that information could be very helpful in the research process. You may also want to consult with an attorney if you are questioning some of the language around your easement.

Furthermore, if you are planning on buying property and you know you have to drive across someone else’s land or if you want to access across someone else land, I would strongly suggest having a survey completed. This would help with the creation (or checking) of the easement and an attorney can draft up the rest of the language surrounding it and as we saw in the example above, roads can move around!

In Conclusion:

Easements can range from straightforward utility rights to complex access agreements affecting your property use. Whether they're access, utility, or specialized easements like those for light and air, understanding their terms is crucial. If you're unsure about easements on your land, consulting with a land surveyor or an attorney can provide clarity. Remember, every piece of land has its story, and easements are often part of that narrative.

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