Right of way, easement

[Benhameen]

Anyone in here have first hand knowledge of what the right of way/easement laws are?

Long story short, I have a small power line running thru my property. I believe it also supplies cable tv, as well. I personally do not receive any services from either company.

My complaint, they trimmed the trees that haven't been trimmed in the ten years I have lived here and left a huge mess. They didn't clean up anything. One of the trees was a thorn tree, now I have a pile the size of my tractor, full of thorns, to clean up. Lastly, they basically scalped a really nice oak tree that I have been manicuring for the last few years, they trimmed it bare, it's basically a 40' trunk with a few small branches left on it.

A buddy of mine works for a water department in a city. He said they have to take before and after pics, they have to return the property to the way they found it or better.

Should they have cleaned up their mess?

 

[lsmurphy]

I've never seen them leave a mess.

In rural areas they may chip out on the ground but their purpose is to clear lines and make the poles and lines accessible to utility companies, so why would they cut and then leave obstructions?

As for the oak, if it encroaches on or grows in the right of way they have the right to cut it.

Post pics, what you consider a 'mess' others may not.

 

[Benhameen]

I'll post a pic once I get to work.

If they would have used a wood chipper I would have zero problem with it. Also, why not cut the oak tree down instead leaving a 40' tree that's going to die and potentially fall into the line.

 

[cryptobrian]

I'd just call them and ask them to send someone out to walk it with you. I recently had a similar experience ... though they were nice enough to call ahead of the work and post a flyer on my door to make sure I knew they were about to do trimming. When they were done there was some mess and some damage where their large trucks had used our driveway to access the line, turned off of it and left large ruts. They came out and fixed everything up, filled the hole, planted seed, etc. They might not have been required to do it, but a friendly conversation took care of it nonetheless.

 

[olthumpa]

Right of way easements can and do vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and form granted easement to granted easement. You need to get a copy of the original easement agreement.

 

[Lil Foot]

My one experience in this area was as follows: When one of Arizona's power companies was placing power poles in the area where my cabin is to bring electricity in, I was contacted by them for permission to remove an oak tree that was near, but not on, the right-of-way. The tree was almost 40' tall, about 24" at the base & very full & healthy. I told them I would grant them permission if they would give me the timeframe (within a week) when they would cut down the tree, so that I could be sure to get my firewood from my tree. They flatly refused to give me a timeframe, so I flatly refused to give them permission- we discussed this several times, and they finally dropped it. I assumed they would just move the pole across the street. The next time I went to the land, my tree was cut down, & every scrap of wood was gone. The power company got a court order of "Eminent Domain" to cut down the tree, (I was never notified by them or the court) then cut my tree down & loaded it on the company trucks & drove away. They of course denied this, but I have to sworn, notarized statements from two neighbors who witnessed it. A company official told me to drop it.... if I took it to court, they had 5 employees who would contradict my two neighbors, & I would lose. On the advice of a lawyer, I dropped it. Sometimes I really hate people..... things would not have turned out this way in "Bill's World", but what are you gonna do?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Utility companies almost always win in any easement disputes.
The laws vary from state to state.
Utility companies can do just about anything they feel is necessary to keep the lines/pipes/access safe and functional.
Try calling them and asking them to come clean up the mess, most companies will do it, they like to keep people happy.

 

[hodge]

I'd just call them and ask them to send someone out to walk it with you. I recently had a similar experience ... though they were nice enough to call ahead of the work and post a flyer on my door to make sure I knew they were about to do trimming. When they were done there was some mess and some damage where their large trucks had used our driveway to access the line, turned off of it and left large ruts. They came out and fixed everything up, filled the hole, planted seed, etc. They might not have been required to do it, but a friendly conversation took care of it nonetheless.

That's what I would do- call them, explain the situation, and ask for a representative to walk the work area with you. Be polite and patient- they deal with people all the time who show their behind, so being polite opens all kinds of doors. It will be pretty hard to dispute their responsibility when he/she is standing there looking at the mess.

 

[skeets]

Or you could just push the stuff all together and light it up and when it burns through the lines ,,oh well you were just cleaning up their mess,,OPPPS

 

[Benhameen]

That's what I would do- call them, explain the situation, and ask for a representative to walk the work area with you. Be polite and patient- they deal with people all the time who show their behind, so being polite opens all kinds of doors. It will be pretty hard to dispute their responsibility when he/she is standing there looking at the mess.

That's what I plan to do if its not cleaned up today when I get home.

I deal with people for a living so I'm not going to be that guy unless it comes to that.

I tried to post pics this morning but it was not working out and I ran out of time, ill try from my phone later.

Thanks for the responses...

 

[Benhameen]

Most of this is on my uncles side of the property. Before you could drive a tractor or jeep thru there no problem. It was a clear path that has been there for years.

I'll post another with my mess.

 

[Benhameen]

Here is part of my mess and the oak tree they should have just cut down.

 

[bandaidmd]

Wow, you have every reason to be pissed off. That's a freakin mess.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[BAP]

Before you do anything rash, I would take the advice of others and contact a local line rep of the utility company, to request they come out and look at it. The utility, if like around here, does not do there own tree work. They hire a tree company to do it. If the tree people there are like the ones that work for the power company here, then there was never a bunch of lazier people than them. The utility company may not even be aware there is a problem with sloppy work until you tell them. They have been doing the lines on my road this summer, and the tree company sent a rep around ahead of the cutting crew, to speak with the landowners to make sure they were agreeable to the trimming that needed to be done. However, they had several crews working in town this summer and every time I drove by one, the guys were sitting in the truck smoking or playing on their cell phones. I would suspect the utility would work to make you happy. They also wouldn't want all that dead wood under the lines that could potentially burn.

 

[lsmurphy]

You are right, that's a mess.


And in your pic........they are to prune correctly and not leave the tree itself a mess.


Throw a fit!

 

[Benhameen]

Before you do anything rash, I would take the advice of others and contact a local line rep of the utility company, to request they come out and look at it. The utility, if like around here, does not do there own tree work. They hire a tree company to do it. If the tree people there are like the ones that work for the power company here, then there was never a bunch of lazier people than them. The utility company may not even be aware there is a problem with sloppy work until you tell them. They have been doing the lines on my road this summer, and the tree company sent a rep around ahead of the cutting crew, to speak with the landowners to make sure they were agreeable to the trimming that needed to be done. However, they had several crews working in town this summer and every time I drove by one, the guys were sitting in the truck smoking or playing on their cell phones. I would suspect the utility would work to make you happy. They also wouldn't want all that dead wood under the lines that could potentially burn.

I'm not going to do anything rash, I'm going to speak with me uncle first, he actually uses their service both personably and as a business owner.

Yes, they farm out the trimming, I've seen a number of different companies doing the work in the area.

I'll keep you posted...

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

WOW... they butchered that tree! If the utility companies did that here some one would get shot!

I have a huge cotton wood that hangs over my line that feeds my house, I talked with them about removing it, they said that they would rather wait until it falls naturally and not blight my property.

 

[Benhameen]

Funny, speaking of cottonwoods, here 2 that a certainly dead and twice the size of the rest of the trees and they didn't touch it.

 

[skeets]

Yup that's a mess alright, but look on the bright side,, The beagles and bunnies are gona love it,,

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Here's looking up my line that feeds our house.
The trees around the lines are 3+ times taller than the poles.
and these aren't my big trees either.