I have worked on cross country transmission of electrical, communication and petro-chemical lines. One of the biggest hurdles it seems is the R/W. These outfits have huge legal logistics and are probably the most successful "scum bags" when it comes to placing their facilities smack dab in the middle of property they don't own, for as little a monetary outlay as they can get away with.
I believe some of their success can be attributed to the fact their adversary is usually an individual private property owner. These guys get what they want.
Something with which to "fight" these utility folks I have toyed with in my mind for some time might actually have some merit. There would be monumental legal advise required, but I think it might work.
If an 'entity' could get enough contiguous property owners to join in and dedicate "routes" as easements (or possibly fee) and then sit on the route until say a pipeline company needed to get "from here to there" and became interested in the route. Instead of spending the years (literally) trying to patchwork a route together and spend all that time and money in court, the R/W could be had....at a price. Instead of dedicating easement to the utility company, this "trust" or "block" of property owners would lease or rent the R/W. Possibly even stipulate annual revenues that fluctuated with profits gleaned from the transportation of their product. Those generated revenues could be paid as dividends to members and contributors of the trust.
Just their creation would give these large strips of land an assessable paper value. If the utility company that wanted the route wouldn't play ball and decided to attempt eminent domain condemnation, the "trust" could prove tremendously larger damages than merely just property values. I believe the business model could be defended against condemnation. If the utility companies didn't want to "play ball" they would be free to seek their route elsewhere. But if enough property owners invested in such a trust or co-op, the big boys might be forced to play ball. Rather than merely giving up a dedicated easement, revenues for the benefit of the fee owners could be generated.
Crazy idea, but I think somewhere in there is a viable alternative to just being forced to grant R/W to anybody that has the money to bully the public.
One of the best clients I've ever had is a power company. They impressed me with the way they bent over backwards to respect landowners. They are also the largest source of conservation funding (aside from sportsmen) in our State.
I'm sorry to hear your experience is skin different..
Interesting post. What are the land values (rural) per acre in your area?
FL/GA PLS., post: 401078, member: 379 wrote: Interesting post. What are the land values (rural) per acre in your area?
$10k
The trick would be figuring out what route some unidentified company would want in the future.
Contiguous would be the main problem. We had it difficult at times trying to build an 800 mile gathering system without condemnation rights. Odly enough some of the most difficult landowners were the tracts that were in unit meaning if the well wasn't flowing they weren't getting a royalty checks. We did a lot for the community and spent a lot of money on purchasing the row, not to mention more of than not when a public road was messed up or someone's cows got out it automtically our fault and we paid for it.
