Assuming he would be wiling to give you a fair price for the little slice of land, what’s the downside of you selling it to him? I know it’s unlikely he would give you a fair price, but several of us have suggested the sale as an option, and you have never said why it’s not a consideration.
It may have been a consideration initially, although it would be a headache to have our fence guy reconfigure the fence (four strands of heavy wire). But ever since my gf refused to run to the notary yesterday morning, he’s been bitching and complaining to our other neighbor’s about the situation. We’ve heard about it from the other neighbors because they dislike the guy.
He is a descendent of the woman who originally owned most of the property around us, and he thinks that means something.
I’d have your friend type up a formal letter saying something like ‘We (I/girlfriend) are declining to grant you the easement you’ve requested etc etc etc legal speak. All further communications about this matter must be directed to [attorney’s name]’.
Carbon copies all around.
See if that shuts him up.
WAG, he’ll hopefully just finish up what he’s doing and flip the house without gas and be gone before fall, maybe spring if the electric heat sucks.
He’s being a bully and now he’s boxed himself into a corner. He wants part of your property for free, he asked your girlfriend to, more or less, sign legal documents without looking at them, he’s bad mouthing you around town. Fuck him. Let him go ask for this easement from the other 6 people…or see how badly he really wants this gas line to come through your property.
Ah, yes. I know the type. They think their legacy residential status gives them some special privileges over the newer, “squatters”. My previous neighbor (long since deceased) was like that. I’ve lived here for 50 years, and I can do whatever the hell I want, blah, blah, blah…
The day I moved in to my house, he bitched because the moving truck was going to be partially parked in front of his house for a few hours (this is CA, and the houses are pretty close together). He felt he had the right to park in front of his house 24/7, and that no one else was ever allowed to do so. We weren’t blocking his driveway, just taking up part of “his” curb space. Of course, he and his son had something like 5 cars that they kept in the street at all times, even thought they had a 3-car garage on their property.
I guess a downside would be that, if he owned the land it soon wouldn’t just be for a gas pipe, he could start using it as another access road to his property. (I assume an easement has to be wide enough for vehicles to use it to service a pipe… )
Been a LONG time since I had property law, but your lawyer friend might help you identify the worst-case possibilities. If his property is “landlocked” by adjoining properties, he might be able to get a court to grant him an easement. IIRC, courts are hesitant to require that “interior” properties remain undevelopable. And they might see the reason for allowing the lower cost option across undeveloped land - your pasture.
Just saying, you might benefit from seeing how you can affirmatively resolve this in a manner that best satisfies you, rather than going through the expense of a lawsuit and possibly ending up with a result you like less. Might be worth avoiding the expense/time/headache if you could sell it at fair market value, including his bearing the costs of reconfiguring your fence.
You say you have 17ish acres, and it sounds as tho the area at issue is small. It might be worth selling an easement or the property if it would not materially reduce your enjoyment of the remaining 15-16+ acres.
Can’t he just get one of those big gas tanks and have it filled a couple times a year?
I’m sure he could, but propane costs two to three times as much as natural gas. Propane cost is much more volatile, as it tracks oil prices (since it’s made from petroleum), whereas natural gas is very plentiful and expected to remain pretty affordable. In terms of cost and operation, propane is more a substitute for an oil furnace than a natural gas furnace.
Not exactly, the utility company gets the easement, not the neighbor. How the easement affects the property values is an open question. Greater access to utilities could increase the property value of both for instance. Without specifics, we can’t access whether there is a gain/loss or if it is in face considerable.
I didn’t realize there was that big of a price difference, just knew it was more common to see on rural properties.
You do know the your neighbor dude has an alternative, right ?
He can always do Propane, and not bother you at all.
Neighbor needs to rent a ditch witch and start doing a gas trench up his own driveway.
I’m sure he knows that the utility company is the one which actually gets the easement. However the neighbor gains value because of it.
The OP does not gain any further access to that utility so their property is not positively affected.
We had an enjoyable evening with my attorney (friend) talking about the situation. We have a file of documents now, should we ever need to deal with the topic of easements again.
However we no longer need to worry about the current situation. My gf got a phone call yesterday from a woman in Florida who, it turns out, is another player in the current game. Unbeknownst to us, once the gas line crosses our little corner of land, it then needs to cross an even smaller corner of land that she owns. Her property is being rented out, and she absolutely despises the easement seeking neighbor.
We live in a rural Peyton Place. Apparently, if we agreed to the easement, our cooperation would be used to help pressure the Florida woman into agreement. But, she heard about what was going on from friends up here and she made some calls. So, it looks like the gas-less property will be flipped as an all electric home.
Thanks for all the input!
So, for whatever reason, gas service to the properties on that road does not originate from the road. There is no gas main going down the road! Each home has their gas coming from the back of the property. It’s very strange. We saw a map showing the gas lines.
My attorney thinks that the original farmland was divided up and built upon before the road was built.
There you have it.
Hence the reason the guy was pushing so hard so quickly. He had figured that he could walk all over you and use you to push the other woman. If it took too long, then she would find out and the plan would go to hell. Which is did.
What is the saying, that time wounds all heels?
Yeah, that’s been pointed out, already. Propane is more expensive than natural gas since it’s a petroleum product, and its price is tied to that of the price of oil. A cheapskate like kayaker’s neighbor most likely wouldn’t have even considered propane. It’s all moot, though, since the other neighbor put the 86 on the deal.
Glad it worked out, and glad you took the time to consider it. Extremely few things need to be done immediately.
did she say why? I mean, feel free to dish. 
glad to hear it all worked out.
They are in their mid 60s, and have known each other since they were kids. She said they were classmates all through school. She repeatedly hinted at “atrocious” things he has done and gotten away with, but did not relate any specifics.
I’ve known the guy for twelve years. I guess he’s mellowed with age. Other than his pushy attitude wrt the easement, I’ve always gotten along with him.
Aside:
Roughly eleven xmases ago I stopped at his house to give him mail that had been accidentally delivered to us. He was dressed in a really nice dark pinstripe suit. He looked really dapper.
I complimented his suit and asked him if he was going out to paint the town.
“I guess you hadn’t heard, my mother died.”:smack: