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Easements

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sjeakins

Junior Member
State of Virginia.

I own a dominant lot with a deeded ROW easement over a servient lot. The servient lot owner gave an easement to the (Cooperative) utilitly company to place a 48" x 48" x 24" high junction box within the easement, which they did pursuant to the granted easement. The servient lot owner did this in order to tie into an existing electrical conduit under the ROW, avoiding contribution for a legal easement to any of the nearby existing transformers.

Can I sue to have the easement vacated? Or what would be my best course of action?
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
I presume you want to vacate the power company easement, not your own.
Does the easement grant you exclusive use?
Does the new use interfere with the purpose of your easement?
 

sjeakins

Junior Member
It depends on what you mean by preventing me to use the easement. I can use the part that doesn't have the junction box. My easement is the standard ROW, ingress egress over the entire portion of it and the junction box is an obstruction. So it prevents me from using the easement where the junction box is located.

Correct, I want to vacate the power company easement and force the servient land owner to properly place the junction box.

And yes, the new easement is in direct conflict with the purpose of my easement.

Thanks
 

sjeakins

Junior Member
I can only use part of the easement as intended. There's enough room to get by the junction box if that's what you're asking.

And PS, it is not an exclusive easement. It's a private road shared by 3 lots.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
There's enough room to get by the junction box if that's what you're asking.
.


a court may not see it as materially restricting your use of the easement. I have no idea how big the easement is and how restrictive the placement of the box is.

so your options are:

take your thousands of dollars and sue and maybe win or live with it.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
If there's no exclusive use given him to the easement, then the yardstick for any action is much harder. It has to show that the action by the serviant tenement made it impossible or seriously impractical for the easement purpose. Having to drive around the box isn't going to cut it and frankly, and frankly, the fact that it's a utility involved makes it even harder.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
If there's no exclusive use given him to the easement, then the yardstick for any action is much harder. It has to show that the action by the serviant tenement made it impossible or seriously impractical for the easement purpose. Having to drive around the box isn't going to cut it and frankly, and frankly, the fact that it's a utility involved makes it even harder.
Absolutely agreed!!

If the OP had been not so resistant to provide some dimensions, it might have looked different but all he wanted to state was "it's in the easement". So, all I can suggest is he take his money and sue and see what happens.
 

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