What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri - My husband and I are looking to build in the next year, on 25 acres of land we own in a rural area. The well has been dug, the septic is going in as I type, now we need an easement for electricity. We've had the Co-op come out and give us our options, as they can't run a line from the existing line down the road, and it has to come in from an easement from a neighbor.
So first, we asked the closest neighbors, (we'll call them Neighbor A) who have a line at the back of their 10 acres, very far from their house, about 100 feet from our fence line. We've offered to have the line buried, access from our parcel so there would be no trucks coming in their land, etc and they won't budge. I FULLY understand this is their right, and they don't have to give us an easement. Although I think this is awful of them, that's simply because it will now cost us 10's of thousands to come in from miles away and we'll have to come in overhead instead of having the line buried (mainly because we have heavy limestone and a very large ridge that it will come down to get to our new house location). This will also mean cutting down acres and acres of beautiful trees.
Now moving onto the next neighbor, who singed an easement, granting the co-op authority to put the easement in to run the overhead line to our land. She (Margie) singed this about 2 months ago, and passed away about 2 weeks ago. The easement was notarized, and sent to the Co-op, but has not yet been recorded with the County. Margie had told my husband that she was willing her land to Jeremy, who has spoken to my husband several times and knows the plan. He even stated "Whatever we have to do to get you power". So we moved ahead with hiring an arborist crew to come take out the 30' of tree line (for acres!) needed to bring the power line through. They're set up to come this Sunday, so my husband texts Jeremy yesterday to find out what he wants done with the trees we're going to be cutting down on his land; sold, stacked, etc. and Jeremy responds by saying "I'm not sure we can start yet because that easement wasn't filed before Margie died and the property is now in the courts, so I'll need to talk to my lawyer to see if we can do anything before it's released to me". Now, I've done enough research to know the easement doesn't even HAVE to be filed, and that it runs with the land, not the owner. So technically, there's nothing he can do at this point. BUT, we can't make him understand that by Sunday if he doesn't want to, we don't want a bad relationship with him, and we also have to access his land through locked gates because of cattle, to cut the trees.
So, this is where I reach my limit with this easement crap. I'm beyond upset that it's so difficult and I just wish the first neighbor would give us the easement for an underground line, which would literally only be about 800 feet, vs acres of trees lost and overhead line coming through. My first question is, can a utility easement be written so that the co-op has to access neighbor A's easement from our land, and we will repair the barbed wire fence and any other damage, each and any time (at onset and any repair or maint) at our own expense?? I ask, because I'm going to go back to neighbor A and beg, plead and offer my first born. So what, if any restrictions, special instructions, can be included in a utility easement? Is there anything you would say or do, to get a "yes" from neighbor A? (They don't need money, they've got plenty).
My second question is....am I missing something with Jeremy and the easement we technically already have? I don't understand why he'd block us from cutting trees down just because Margies easement wasn't filed, if his intentions are to let us have the easement anyways, once the land is legally his?
I've got a link, but apparently, that's not allowed by new members, so I'm hoping this thread will post after several attempts. I will share the link later, if allowed.
..ours is parcel 9.01, neighbor A is parcel 9.02 and Jeremy/Margie is directly north at 6. Also, just some background, our land was originally separated and sold from 9.04 by original owner. Owner of 9.04 parcel has the pole coming in from the road, that can't be extended up the road to our parcel and we haven't asked him for an easement because it would have to come through his very gorgeous valley, or his very few trees would have to come out, and we're certain he wouldn't want that.
So first, we asked the closest neighbors, (we'll call them Neighbor A) who have a line at the back of their 10 acres, very far from their house, about 100 feet from our fence line. We've offered to have the line buried, access from our parcel so there would be no trucks coming in their land, etc and they won't budge. I FULLY understand this is their right, and they don't have to give us an easement. Although I think this is awful of them, that's simply because it will now cost us 10's of thousands to come in from miles away and we'll have to come in overhead instead of having the line buried (mainly because we have heavy limestone and a very large ridge that it will come down to get to our new house location). This will also mean cutting down acres and acres of beautiful trees.
Now moving onto the next neighbor, who singed an easement, granting the co-op authority to put the easement in to run the overhead line to our land. She (Margie) singed this about 2 months ago, and passed away about 2 weeks ago. The easement was notarized, and sent to the Co-op, but has not yet been recorded with the County. Margie had told my husband that she was willing her land to Jeremy, who has spoken to my husband several times and knows the plan. He even stated "Whatever we have to do to get you power". So we moved ahead with hiring an arborist crew to come take out the 30' of tree line (for acres!) needed to bring the power line through. They're set up to come this Sunday, so my husband texts Jeremy yesterday to find out what he wants done with the trees we're going to be cutting down on his land; sold, stacked, etc. and Jeremy responds by saying "I'm not sure we can start yet because that easement wasn't filed before Margie died and the property is now in the courts, so I'll need to talk to my lawyer to see if we can do anything before it's released to me". Now, I've done enough research to know the easement doesn't even HAVE to be filed, and that it runs with the land, not the owner. So technically, there's nothing he can do at this point. BUT, we can't make him understand that by Sunday if he doesn't want to, we don't want a bad relationship with him, and we also have to access his land through locked gates because of cattle, to cut the trees.
So, this is where I reach my limit with this easement crap. I'm beyond upset that it's so difficult and I just wish the first neighbor would give us the easement for an underground line, which would literally only be about 800 feet, vs acres of trees lost and overhead line coming through. My first question is, can a utility easement be written so that the co-op has to access neighbor A's easement from our land, and we will repair the barbed wire fence and any other damage, each and any time (at onset and any repair or maint) at our own expense?? I ask, because I'm going to go back to neighbor A and beg, plead and offer my first born. So what, if any restrictions, special instructions, can be included in a utility easement? Is there anything you would say or do, to get a "yes" from neighbor A? (They don't need money, they've got plenty).
My second question is....am I missing something with Jeremy and the easement we technically already have? I don't understand why he'd block us from cutting trees down just because Margies easement wasn't filed, if his intentions are to let us have the easement anyways, once the land is legally his?
I've got a link, but apparently, that's not allowed by new members, so I'm hoping this thread will post after several attempts. I will share the link later, if allowed.
..ours is parcel 9.01, neighbor A is parcel 9.02 and Jeremy/Margie is directly north at 6. Also, just some background, our land was originally separated and sold from 9.04 by original owner. Owner of 9.04 parcel has the pole coming in from the road, that can't be extended up the road to our parcel and we haven't asked him for an easement because it would have to come through his very gorgeous valley, or his very few trees would have to come out, and we're certain he wouldn't want that.
