Looking to buy shooting land. Talk to me about pipeline easements...

[JR777]

So we sold our land and are now looking for something more local. Purpose is investment, shooting, hunting, and potentially a place to go if things get too sporty in the city.

We found a great 20 acre lot in Logan county that's only about a ten minute drive from the city.

Well, the title and survey work were just completed, and it has blanket pipeline easements on it. We knew there were several pipelines on the property, but we just assumed the easements were marked with clear boundaries.

So I was wondering if any of you folks could tell me about this issue. I figure a lot of you guys are rural and might have dealt with this in the past. We're going to talk with our realtor's real estate attorney, but I was hoping someone might give me a little sneak peak into what we might be dealing with here.

Does a blanket easement mean that the gas company could simply bulldoze any structure on the property to put in a new line? It's important to us to have a build site on the property, because we might want to move there someday, put a house on it for rental, etc. Plus they're charging us 10k an acre, which is real estate prices, not pasture land prices. It's not worth that if we can't build on it.

 

[druryj]

I'd do exactly what you said: Consult an attorney.

 

[JR777]

I'd do exactly what you said: Consult an attorney.

Yea but also hoping to get input from people who have dealt with it themselves. As you know, attorney time is spendy, so I want to know what questions I need to ask him before I'm on the clock.

 

[Aries]

Not an attorney, but pretty sure you can't build on an easement. Bulldoze it? Probably not, probably just sue you and make you tear it down or move it.

 

[cowadle]

consult an attorney. but with a blanket easement you own the surface but the ownership is second to the underground easement. go to the courthouse and get a copy of the easement if it was filed. basically you need permission to do anything on the surface from the owner of the easement and there may be certain obligations. now free advice part-----keep looking

what iff??? they decide to build a compressor of switching station on your surface? the setback to buildings homes etc is 200 feet? 100 feet? have the damages already been settled by the previous owner? just hypothetical things that happen.

 

[magna19]

So we sold our land and are now looking for something more local. Purpose is investment, shooting, hunting, and potentially a place to go if things get too sporty in the city.

We found a great 20 acre lot in Logan county that's only about a ten minute drive from the city.

Well, the title and survey work were just completed, and it has blanket pipeline easements on it. We knew there were several pipelines on the property, but we just assumed the easements were marked with clear boundaries.

So I was wondering if any of you folks could tell me about this issue. I figure a lot of you guys are rural and might have dealt with this in the past. We're going to talk with our realtor's real estate attorney, but I was hoping someone might give me a little sneak peak into what we might be dealing with here.

Does a blanket easement mean that the gas company could simply bulldoze any structure on the property to put in a new line? It's important to us to have a build site on the property, because we might want to move there someday, put a house on it for rental, etc. Plus they're charging us 10k an acre, which is real estate prices, not pasture land prices. It's not worth that if we can't build on it.

I would want to read all the easements and boundaries of an existing pipeline contract. One wanted to run across my land and after reading the contract I told them what they offered wouldn't be enough. I showed the gas company where to move it across the neighbors so they wouldn't have to come across mine and they did. The contract wanted to increase the amount of land for too many other reasons.

 

[JR777]

I would want to read all the easements and boundaries of an existing pipeline contract. One wanted to run across my land and after reading the contract I told them what they offered wouldn't be enough. I showed the gas company where to move it across the neighbors so they wouldn't have to come across mine and they did. The contract wanted to increase the amount of land for too many other reasons.

Unfortunately these are easements that are already in place, and probably have been for many decades.

 

[magna19]

Yes they may be in place already but I would look them up and read them if possible.

 

[trekrok]

Unfortunately these are easements that are already in place, and probably have been for many decades.

As others have said, you need to pull the actual easements and read them or have an attorney look at them. I'd think that on most of the pipeline easements, even if they gave blanket access across the land to construct them, they'd reduce to some width along the pipeline after they were done. IE reserving 20' either side of the pipeline, or similar.

 

[cowadle]

almost all of the pipeline easements i negotiated in the last 10 years included the word perpetuity. in the description. the wind turbine contracts are similar except lasted 99 years. if it is under a wind lease and you plan to develop or hunt you should get a real good understanding of your rights on the land. get the legal description and go to the courthouse to see what has been recorded then get copies and understand them real good.