We will be doing a survey soon for a young couple who intend to construct a very nice home on a five-acre tract out in the middle of 160 acres owned by her father. We will also describe an access easement from the tract directly to the nearest road despite there being no actual intention of ever constructing a road. This is strictly to make the bank happy in the extremely unlikely of foreclosure. (Dad is a surgeon and she is the only child.)
The oddball need is for a 5-foot by 5-foot tract to be deeded to the young couple. The rural water district that serves that area dictates that the water meter must be installed as close to the road right-of-way as possible and MUST BE ON PROPERTY YOU OWN. The tiny tract will have the center of the meter lid in the center of the tract. A separate utility easement will be required, to satisfy the bank, for water and other utilities crossing the father's property to reach the 5-acre home tract.
I have dealt with a similar case involving the same rural water district. In that case, a couple divorced resulting in the wife getting to keep the house and the west 20 acres while the husband kept the east 60 acres. The existing water meter was located near the southeast corner of the total tract. The husband had to deed the 5-foot by 5-foot tract around the water meter to the wife.
That would never fly here in my neck of the woods.
> ...MUST BE ON PROPERTY YOU OWN
That seems like one of those regulations that needs to be seriously looked at. In most parts that would be an illegal split.
What is wrong with the IN/EG easement also being a public utility easement, and putting the meter in the R/W? After all they do need power, phone, maybe sewer, etc to go along with the water service. Problem solved.
Around here, that easement thing would never fly.
We've got lots of subdivisions with "flag lots", but a "land-locked" parcel being deeded out with access by easement only is generally a no-no.
Why can the easement become a fee parcel?
Yeah, when I saw the diminsions, I knew it was utility. We did a 10'x10' for a telephone junction one time. Stupid rules.
I've been out of land development for a while but it seems like the flag lot thing comes and goes into favor. For a while the Planning Dept wants flag lots then the leadership changes and they prefer an easement. The physical result is the same, the difference is fee vs easement.
I suppose it just shows the differences in various states. Flag lots have been a no-no for at least 20 yrs where I've worked. They tend to like joint easements, with only 1 driveway (in the name of road safety), that will meet the road frontage requirements. The requirements change depending on how many parcels are served. One of the biggest issues is maintenance and whether its public or private. Utilities are always public, but access rights vary.
I've done a couple of those postage stamp utility parcels, but technically they never fit zoning regulations, and sometimes directly violate state law. Thus the easement approach, which in my mind makes more sense.
But at the end of the day it's usually best to just give them what they want and CYA, which is likely Mr Cow's dilema
There is some lawyer sitting behind a desk somewhere who thinks he made an honest dollar for adding that paragraph to the requirements.
I have done many small tracts for water access to include the well that more than one person is hooked onto and accessories and have an easement from a public roadway to the parcel for peoples continued water rights and shared maintenance of the well.
DSL boxes around here are placed on tracts owned by the service company. Have done dozens of those and only a few have a box on them.
The local rural water utility has made an agreement with the county commissioners and judges statewide thru a Texas water rights clause that has been interpreted to have right to place their utilities within public roadways and across private land along and under public roads without an easement. Thereby taking away any possibility of having to negotiate with a land owner or be responsible for any problems the location of their utility may cause the land owner.
Sounds like an odd way of doing things. Generally, utilities here are located within the road ROW, and water meters would be just outside the property at the front property corner.
Yeah, probably some attorney somewhere. OTOH, I might charge $100 to write up a description on the 5'X 5' parcel of land.;-)
That's because the metro Memphis area has too many control freaks.
About 25 years ago I created five 1'x 1' square parcels. They were sold for $60,000 each to people who wanted to be members of a property owner's association. Ownership was required for membership in the association, which was required to be able to play golf on the course within the subdivision. Even though it violate a number of zoning regulations there was no problem getting them approved. I prepared an Amended Plat and monumented the corners - very strange process.
Recently I was required to create a flag lot with a 1' wide strip about 250 feet in length because a water company interprets the State Corporation Commission regulations to require that the water meter be place on owned property. The County planning supervisor acknowledged that it was bizzare, and violated both zoning standards and common sense, but approved it any way. If the adjoining owners both erect fences on their property lines this owner will have to maintain/repair his water line in a 1' strip! I created a 16' wide easement to deal with this, but no one required it...
Don't know where in AZ that stuff would ever fly (certainly not around here), but sometimes clients are just plain wrong and stupid and we need to keep them on course. I'd say a 1x1 five lot subdivision is downright fraud, as it is a subdivision. Be intesting to see that record of survey... (just noticed the 25 yrs ago, but you get the point)
Don't know about the 1x250 strip, but something is amiss. Especially with some kind of overlapping easement.
All this must be on a reservation, or some faraway corner some place?
5' by 5' tract, No Problem, All In One Deed
One deed with non severable tract one, tract two, water easement and access easement.
In most jurisdictions such a small parcel cannot exist by itself. Utilities are special exceptions, written into most state laws, over riding local zoning.
Paul in PA
