Ingress egress easement rights

[spokes21]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Arizona.

I own an ingress/egress easement to cross another persons property to get to my land. I have owned the property for 10 years. I have just built a house and want to pave the gravel driveway (which is on the easement) to my house. My neighbor, who owns the property that my easement/driveway is on, says I have no right to pave his property. He said I purchased a lot with a gravel driveway, and that's all it will ever be. He says I only have the right of ingress/egress, I do not have the right to change the character of his property.

I believe I have the right to pave the driveway because I own the easement. If I do pave the property, I will have to trench along the easement and put in a culvert to prevent rain water from washing across the pavement.

Do I have the right to pave the easement/driveway?

 

[rowz]

I do not know WHY you would have a right to improve.alter someone elses property without permission. You have the right to use it not change it.

Others here will know better and perhaps more specifically to your location, but that the way I see it.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in Arizona.

I own an ingress/egress easement to cross another persons property to get to my land. I have owned the property for 10 years. I have just built a house and want to pave the gravel driveway (which is on the easement) to my house. My neighbor, who owns the property that my easement/driveway is on, says I have no right to pave his property. He said I purchased a lot with a gravel driveway, and that's all it will ever be. He says I only have the right of ingress/egress, I do not have the right to change the character of his property.

I believe I have the right to pave the driveway because I own the easement. If I do pave the property, I will have to trench along the easement and put in a culvert to prevent rain water from washing across the pavement.

Do I have the right to pave the easement/driveway?

**A: it all depends upon the language in the easement document. Get a copy of the recorded easement agreement and read it.

 

[drewguy]

Check your state law. In a number of states, an access easement comes with the right to make reasonable improvements to make it suited for its intended use. That's likely to include paving.

See my post here:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/neighbors-boundaries-108/vague-easement-442983.html#post2137522

 

[FarmerJ]

Unless your state laws OR the easement it self grant you the right to alter the easement you have no right to do so. BTW you do not own the easement, your property holds the right to cross the other land owners property , this is not ownership even though it benefits you. Any changes that are made to this neighbors land if permitted are owned by the neighbor and they are gonna have to pay higher taxes IF improvements cause a so called market value increase at city / county assesors offices. You might be better off learning how wide of a driveway you would have to have if you were to buy land from any neighbor in order to have your own access to the public road. Then instead of getting into a fight with the neighbor use your energys towards trying to negotiate buying a strip of land from them so your free to do as you see fit since it would be your land. A real estate atty can help you with that. OR last option is to wait till that property is going to be sold some day, then buy it so you can give your self a strip of land and then sell it minus that strip, OF course then too your atty can help you get rid of the easement, OR even re write it for you.