Home Ownership (misc.consumers.house)

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????

Hi,

We want to buy a 20 acre lot in AZ which was recently redefined from 2
adjoining 40 acre lots with an easement that was dedicated as public
access by the original developers back in 1982.

There are only two roads one on the Western boundary and the other on
the Southern and that is probably why the new developer has redefined
it to provide access to all four 20-acre lots from the existing road.

The problem as I see it is this developer has not done anything about
recording the removal of the easement and at some time in the future
someone could say "I want to use the public easement." and we will
have traffic driving between our house and the clothes line!

Obviously the realtors and developer don't give a **** about what
might happen in the future they just want the money and no
responsibility. Currently there are no roads or tracks where the two
easements are shown in the first sketch BUT they exist in the
recorder's office.

OK, the question:
How do I go about having that section of easement rescinded from
public access?

Try copying this into Notepad so you can see the issue...
This is how the 2 x 40 acres were

+-------+E+-------+ E
| |A| | A
R | 40 |S| 40 | S
O | ACRES |E| ACRES | E
A | |M| | M
D | |E| | E
| |N| | N
| |T| | T
+-------+ +-------+
ROAD

The developer now has them like this...
+-----------------+ E
| 20 acres 1 | A
R +-----------------+ S
O | 20 acres 2 | E
A +-----------------+ M
D | 20 acres 3 | E
+-----------------+ N
| 20 acres 4 | T
+-----------------+
ROAD



--

Kind regards,
Jenny and her tribe of survivors.
  #3   Report Post  
Skeeter
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????

It is probably possible to do but you would have to go to the public body
that has jurisdction over the easement and apply to them to abandon or abate
the easement.. This would require public notice, public hearings and would
prolly fail if anyone could come up with a decent reason why they objected
to it. If you could rally all the people who might be have an interest/be
affected and get them to sign a waiver this would improve your odds. You
definitely would be wise to have a lawyer represent and advise you on this
as it can be tricky to navigate these waters.
If this isn't important enough to you to pony up the cheese for a lawyer
then:
If you think the easement is of no concern to anyone and that no one will
care about its abandonment then you could try to go to the governmental body
that has jurisdiction over it and seek to have it lifted without legal help.
If the governing body is the county then you would go to the county council.
Call your elected councilmen who represents your district. If it is the
state, you would do best to contact your state representative/assemblymen or
whatever else they call it out there and seek their help. Thats what they
are there for.
Good luck.
skeeter

ps Be careful when taking advice from someone who signs off as "skeeter"!
; )


wrote in message
...
Hi,

We want to buy a 20 acre lot in AZ which was recently redefined from 2
adjoining 40 acre lots with an easement that was dedicated as public
access by the original developers back in 1982.

There are only two roads one on the Western boundary and the other on
the Southern and that is probably why the new developer has redefined
it to provide access to all four 20-acre lots from the existing road.

The problem as I see it is this developer has not done anything about
recording the removal of the easement and at some time in the future
someone could say "I want to use the public easement." and we will
have traffic driving between our house and the clothes line!

Obviously the realtors and developer don't give a **** about what
might happen in the future they just want the money and no
responsibility. Currently there are no roads or tracks where the two
easements are shown in the first sketch BUT they exist in the
recorder's office.

OK, the question:
How do I go about having that section of easement rescinded from
public access?

Try copying this into Notepad so you can see the issue...
This is how the 2 x 40 acres were

+-------+E+-------+ E
| |A| | A
R | 40 |S| 40 | S
O | ACRES |E| ACRES | E
A | |M| | M
D | |E| | E
| |N| | N
| |T| | T
+-------+ +-------+
ROAD

The developer now has them like this...
+-----------------+ E
| 20 acres 1 | A
R +-----------------+ S
O | 20 acres 2 | E
A +-----------------+ M
D | 20 acres 3 | E
+-----------------+ N
| 20 acres 4 | T
+-----------------+
ROAD



--

Kind regards,
Jenny and her tribe of survivors.



  #4   Report Post  
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 22:44:12 -0500, "Skeeter"
wrote:

Thanks Skeeter, that is what I wanted to hear. I had no idea what
might be involved but had suspected much along the lines of what you
have outlined.

vbg I will heed you "ps" but thanks very much for taking the time
for a complete and useful answer.


--

Kind regards,
Jenny and her tribe of survivors.
  #6   Report Post  
v
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????

On 13 Nov 2003 07:15:11 -0800, someone wrote:

However, it should not be a problem to
have the zoning board alter it.


That is a doubtful proposition as phrased.

Odds are a "zoning board" has NO authority to "alter" somebody else's
easement. Now, in my area, a "planning board" might conceivably
require somebody to establish an easment on their property, in order
for that someobdy to obtain an approval from said board, and sure if
the zoning board has that power in your area then them to.

What a "board" like this can do, is tell an applicant property owner
that an easement is required (or must be modified) in order for that
owner to get something from that board. But one person can't just go
to a "board" and have the board 'alter' an easement effecting other
properties and parties. If the beneficial owners want it altered, a
"board" might approve of that as being legal, but that is not the same
as the board altering it.

The biggest Q is, who would the beneficial owners of this easement be.
It is probably not the "zoning board".

-v.
  #7   Report Post  
ameijers
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????


"v" wrote in message
...
On 13 Nov 2003 07:15:11 -0800, someone wrote:

However, it should not be a problem to
have the zoning board alter it.


That is a doubtful proposition as phrased.

Odds are a "zoning board" has NO authority to "alter" somebody else's
easement. Now, in my area, a "planning board" might conceivably
require somebody to establish an easment on their property, in order
for that someobdy to obtain an approval from said board, and sure if
the zoning board has that power in your area then them to.

What a "board" like this can do, is tell an applicant property owner
that an easement is required (or must be modified) in order for that
owner to get something from that board. But one person can't just go
to a "board" and have the board 'alter' an easement effecting other
properties and parties. If the beneficial owners want it altered, a
"board" might approve of that as being legal, but that is not the same
as the board altering it.

The biggest Q is, who would the beneficial owners of this easement be.
It is probably not the "zoning board".

Uhh, not to be nitpicky, V., but I think OP described a street easment that
never actually got built out, on a subdivide that never sold, and got
replatted into a more appealing format. A pretty common thing to see in the
plat books. Lots of big dreams from years ago that never quite gelled. It
might not be the zoning board, more likely a city or county council, but
some unit of government probably does have the authority to vacate an
abandoned street or easment back to the abutting owners. In the states I've
lived in, small streets usually are on easments, and only major roads or
highways have actual public ownership of the dirt underneath. Housekeeping
changes like this are usually written up by the property owner or their
lawyer in conjunction with whoever keeps the plat books, and rubber-stamped
by whatever elected or appointed board has the legal authority.

aem sends....

  #8   Report Post  
Bill Seurer
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????

ameijers wrote:

Housekeeping
changes like this are usually written up by the property owner or their
lawyer in conjunction with whoever keeps the plat books, and rubber-stamped
by whatever elected or appointed board has the legal authority.


In this case the developer ought to be the one to do it. They had the
land re-platted and should have done it in the first place.

If I were the OP I'd be really interested in the property but tell the
developer no deal unless the easement situation is cleared up. If you
know any of the other people looking at the properties get them to do
the same. We had a sort of similar situation in our development and
several of the people looking at lots got together and played hard ball
with the developer until they straightened things out.

  #9   Report Post  
v
 
Posts: n/a
Default Rescind public easement, is it possible???????

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 04:08:42 GMT, someone wrote:


Uhh, not to be nitpicky, V., but I think OP described a street easment that
never actually got built out, on a subdivide that never sold, and got
replatted into a more appealing format. A pretty common thing to see in the
plat books....

Yes, it may very well be. But the procedure to 'fix' this is indeed a
nitpicky thing. You said (in the snipped part) that there may be
'some' unit of government that can agree to extinguish an unbuilt
paper street. I AGREE. But that is NOT usually a "zoning board". He
has to go to the right place to get it done, that is what I said, the
Q is to find who "owns" the easement, more likely a Board of
Supervisors or County Commission or Township Select Board or whatever
it is in his area.

The "owner" of the easement has to agree to give it up.

That is what I was saying.

-v.
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Nice write up about LEDs Gunner Metalworking 242 June 13th 04 05:10 PM
OT- I thought Bush on imigration was evil? Gunner Metalworking 551 March 8th 04 12:48 AM
OT - Gunner Quote Cliff Huprich Metalworking 183 January 27th 04 10:20 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:27 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"