Utility easements are designated parcels of land that give utility companies the right to access private property for the good of the community. For example, a utility company may have the right to trim a tree in your backyard if it’s interfering with telephone lines.

The trial court ruled for the landowners and entered an order that established the easement as 30 feet wide. The trial court also found that the 30 foot easement was the width that was reasonably necessary for the operation, use and maintenance of the transmission line.

Utility easements generally allow only employees of the utility company or municipality to access the property. Even then, they may only do so for the purpose of servicing the utility lines.

Remember that your deed permits utility companies to access it whenever needed so that they can take you to court—they can ask the judge for an injunction to stop you from blocking entry onto your property—for violating the easement.

Yes, you can build on a property easement, even a utility easement. The dominant estate owning the easement may need to access the easement. 1 Anything, from a house addition down to fences, shrubs, and children’s playsets might need to be removed in this event.

Clearance distances

An easement is a “nonpossessory” property interest that allows the holder of the easement to have a right of way or use property that they do not own or possess. An easement doesn’t allow the easement holder to occupy the land or to exclude others from the land unless they interfere with the easement holder’s use.

Easement law is a body of law encompassing any legal requirements associated with an easement, which grants one party the right to use another party’s real property for a particular purpose. For example, an electric company may have a license allowing it to place electric poles and wiring on a homeowner’s land.

If it is a utility easement reserved for the power companies, your neighbors cannot park there and use it as their own. Moreover, unless it is a public easement, your neighbor has no right to park on your property…

This is how Texas Agricultural Land Trust explains a conservation easement: “A conservation easement is the legal glue that binds a property owner’s good intentions to the land in perpetuity. Donors of conservation easements retain title to their property. They grant conservation easements to protect their land from inappropriate development.

An easement is a grant of a right to use all or a portion of the real property of another. For example, your property may be subject to easements for water lines, sewer lines, electric lines, gas lines, or you may have an easement to use someone else’s driveway.