- Mona City will look for ways to resolve problem with construction of fence
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Easements and rights-of-way on their property are causing some heartburn for two Mona residents who just want to build a fence to keep the neighbor's dogs out.
"We have a right-of-way and utility easements on one side of the property," said Evan Davies, who with his wife, Vicky, were explaining a drawing of their property to Mona City Council members.
The couple lives at 95 E. 380 N. and are located next to Rick Carlton, county commissioner. The two properties have a roadway between the two properties which is not used.
In fact, said E. Davies, the walkway that was not finished was no longer needed. He said they, as a couple, wondered if they could install a chain link fence.
On the one side, the property belongs to Brady Lynn. The road that is to go there leads to a city street. At one time, E. Davis said, Lynn had planned a future subdivision.
The right-of-way, located on property that now belonged to Noel Lance, would take 15-feet on that side and 5-feet on the Davies side.
V. Davies said that Lynn had told them that the city could put a fence on each side, one fence against the Lynn property and another fence against the Davies property to keep that right-of-way open.
The city also does need to retain the utilities easement.
"You cannot block off a city access," said Jeff Hearty, council member.
E. Davies said that he was told that he and V. Davies had to keep the walkway open. However, he thought the city could get rid of the walkway because the school district had changed the place where bus students were picked up and left off. The walkway was no longer needed. He said that Carlton did take care of the walkway located next to his property because it was in grass and he mowed it.
However, the path that also lead to a store was not needed for that purpose either since that establishment was not open anymore.
An easement is an agreed-upon use of land by a party other than the landowner. This can include access to natural resources on the land, development of necessary utility pipelines or construction and maintenance of a water storage facility.
Rights-of-way differ greatly from easements because they do not allow other parties to use the land, but simply pass through. A right of way allows others to travel on private property to get to a different destination. For example, a deed with a right of way may permit individuals to travel on a driveway, through a back yard or on another area of property.
Typically, rights-of-way are issued to allow access to an adjoining property.
Lynn Ingram, city planning commission chairman, said that the planned walkway had been there for many years. When Kay Country Subdivision was designed in 1982, the walkway had been set aside.
"It has been there a long time," said Lynn.
"It hasn't been used for a long time," said E. Davies.
V. Davies said that she and her husband would like to build a no climb fence and were thinking of a pipe fence. They also hoped that a chain link fence would let the city have access. The property owners could roll back the fence when the city needed access to the utilities.
The fence would keep the neighboring horses on the other side of that fence.
The walkway is 197-feet by 10-feet wide. The easement is 10-feet wide and is not a walkway.
"The city needs 10-feet to get a rig in to work on the utilities," said Jonathan Jones, council member. "You realize that the poles cannot be cemented in because whatever you would build there you would be responsible to remove at your expense if the access was needed."
This had been something that had been dealt with in the past, said Katrina Long, council member. It would be the city's responsibility to take care of the fenced property that would still be city property.
Ingram said that the person who mowed the city park, located nearby, could mow the walkway. The city could not really allow anyone to build anything on that property.
V. Davies said that they would have to pull in 5-feet on their property in order to build the fence.
An easement is a non-possessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B. In this case, the city has a right to the use of the property for the better good of the community.
Since the item was not on the agenda, the Davies were asked to return to the council. In the meantime, the council will consider the problem and will try to determine what should be done.
The Davies were also directed to meet with the city planning commission to see what, if anything, might be done to resolve the problem. |
