Overhead Electric Easement

I suggest speaking with the power authority about the matter, particularly about the "swing" radius of the wires.

Cheers,

Derek

my experience is that most of the recorded easements for overheads state who can and cannot do what in the easement area. get out the reading glasses and check what they have done in the easement instrument in your clients case. construction of a building is probably prohibited.

building in the easement w/out an okie-dokie on paper from the utility ain't a good idea and possibly illegal.

> Client has an overhead electric easement that across the East 28' of the property. The proposed new addition he wants would be to the city's front building setback of 15', also on the East side of the property.
>
> Can a building be placed in an overhead utility easement, if the proposed building does not obstruct or limit the use of the existing overhead electric. I am having a debate with myself if this can be possible.

If the client is paying for the addition with a loan from a bank, credit union, or whatever financial institution they choose, there more than likely will be title work done. Right off the top, the title insurer isn't going to cover that area of the building within the easement. Then the lender is gonna have a problem with it.

If no lender, I suspect whichever agency doles out the permits for the addition is gonna have a problem with the protrusion into the easement.

Start out by reading the easement grant. The conditions/restrictions may already be spelled out on the grant. I would suggest that you start there before calling/asking anyone what can/can't be done in the easement area. The conditions/restrictions are negotiated differently on nearly every easement.

If you start by calling, all you'll do is make the person on the other end of the phone or counter think they have the authority to tell you what you can or can't do.

Keep in mind, too, that there are regulatory (safety) issues which define the minimum separations from the improvements and the wires.

All information has value. Make sure you're getting compensated for your knowledge acquired on behalf of the client.

JBS

:good: :good: with what JB said.

The surveyor's ONLY duty would be to locate the items as requested and notify the land owner of the problem.
The affect of this conflict is a legal opinion and must be settled by an attorney with the easement owner.
The surveyor has no say in the matter other than locating the proposed building and the easement. Surveyor's work with geometry not legal issues.
The surveyor's opinion has no legal standing. He can locate the items, but the affect of that data is up to an attorney only.
Do the survey, nbotify the land owner of the confloict and your job is done. Anything beyond that is none of the surveyor's business. Surveyor's cannot issue legal judgements. To presume to do so adds liability that can end up with you in court as a defendant. You better have a boatload of E&O insurance if you want to go this route.

1. The terms of the easement are critical.
2. Most modern building codes do not allow for the construction of a structure under overhead wires.
3. If this is a real power line easement, the power companies typically do not even allow construction of patios, roads or other ground level features within the easement.
4. If this is for a minor connection, why not run the service underground and have the easement expunged?
5. Can the lines be moved? Will the other parties play ball?

My two neighbors were very surprised at their closings. The realtors never revealed that I hold 6 easements over their two properties: gas service, water service, overhead utilities, another overhead utility, driveway and parking. I drew all the plans that are recorded, so I know exactly where my rights exist.

When the gas company upgraded the main, the foreman tried to tell me my service was illegally located. I had to push right back with my knowledge of the easement.

One neighbor tried to push me to abandon my parking easement because his insurance company had concerns. Not my problem unless he wanted to fork over the costs associated with reconstruction of the driveway, loss of lawn and other general consideration.

I ran the overheads underground. When I sell the property, I will expunge these easements as they are no longer necessary.

> The surveyor's ONLY duty would be to locate the items as requested and notify the land owner of the problem.
Perhaps that is true in MS, but not in the areas that I work.
We are expected to have basic knowledge of the effects of the various encumbrances, and provide guidance.

> The surveyor's opinion has no legal standing.
True, however the opinion of any Attorney caries the same weight = none, it is an Opinion.

Listen to what JBS said. He has it nailed.

You can give an opinion, but you cannot make a legal determination in ANY state. Surveyors can do the geometry, but they have no judicial standing. (This is one of the reasons that most real estate guys no longer require "exception statements" ob ALTA's stating encomeberance or benefit from the surveyor.)
You can tell your client that it appears that his neighbor's improvements encroach on his property, but you cannot tell the neighbor that his improvements encroach onto the property and he must move them. That constitutes a legal opinion and a survey license does not empower you to do so.
Do your job and let the lawyers do their job. When you do the lawyer's job for him, you pick up the liability that he does not want to address.

> You can give an opinion, but you cannot make a legal determination in ANY state.
Surveyors make "legal determinations" every day. We do it every time we express a professional opinion with regard to a boundary location, a setback limit, or a building height. Determining the limit of an easement or the placement of a building is routine survey work that has legal ramifications. You don't call an attorney or a judge every time you need a building located; you call a surveyor.

>Surveyors can do the geometry, but they have no judicial standing.
This misrepresentation of the surveying profession is precisely why it's in fear of loosing significance in society. Of course we don't have the authority of a court. We are expected, however, to have the knowledge, skills, expertise, and experience to lay foundation for professional opinions we express. I don't carry Professional E&O insurance for my math skills.

> You can tell your client that it appears that his neighbor's improvements encroach on his property, but you cannot tell the neighbor that his improvements encroach onto the property and he must move them. That constitutes a legal opinion and a survey license does not empower you to do so.
There is a big difference between expressing an "expert opinion" and a "legal opinion." Under my professional surveyor's license. The courts, the legislators and the councilors create the law. It's up to surveyors to know and obey the law. Attorneys give legal advice to their clients. Surveyors provide expert opinions based upon the application of the law to the facts of the circumstances before them. The rules of evidence were modified decades ago. Experts are expected to express an opinion based upon their skills, knowledge and expertise in light of the facts.

> Do your job and let the lawyers do their job. When you do the lawyer's job for him, you pick up the liability that he does not want to address.

Surveyors are expected to "do their job." Attorneys do theirs. The knowledge that a surveyor brings to the table is precisely what brings value to the surveyor. If you want to remain cautious and not incur liability, then I'd suggest you never bother getting a license in the first place. If you want to make a living as a land surveyor, then you must obtain the specialized knowledge, skills, and expertise expected of a land surveyor and you must not be afraid to require good payment for those skills you've acquired.

JBS

Yep, you nailed it.

Are there no supports poles in the easement? Is this to be used as an access through their easement?

This is relevant for me since I was asked just recently to do a temporary easement for an overhead service line to a project office trailer. This site is three hours away. We have done a boundary of the entire facility, however the trailer was at a different location last time we were there. They want to move it to another location.

The electric company wanted to have the operator issue a blanket easement but one of the owners, an attorney, balked and wanted something more specific. The electric company's representative then suggested describing it a 15 feet each side of the electric line as constructed in quarter Section XX, T-X-N, R-X-E, etc.

Fine with me, except that will not be compliant with the new Illinois Standards for Legal Descriptions, because it has to be referenced to a known corner and re-creatable at any time (even after the line and trailer are gone).

I know this client is not going to want to pay for six hours of travel time to tie in the pole and job trailer in order to write a metes and bounds description, so I wrote it up as the south 100 feet of the east 100 feet of quarter quarter section XX.

However this discussion has me questioning whether this will be legal if the trailer is in that 100 X 100 area (which I'm sure it will be).

Any thoughts on this particular issue?

Any thoughts on this particular issue?

Your solution sounds good to me. I'd let the client know that if the trailer is moved out of the described easement you will be billing several hours to come out and change the easement description, and that's after his lawyer and the power company agree.

I think that the lawyer's objection to the temporary blanket easement is bit extreme, and it's the client's problem. And power companies around here (I have no experience in Illinois) would simply deal with this with an "agreement for temporary service" and let it go at that.

Another solution I've seen is to have the electric company run power to a riser and meter somewhere on the job and let the contractor's electrician handle the downstream connections from there.

:good: :good: