Maintenance
Easements
A stormwater maintenance
easement is a legal contract that conveys the right to use the property of another
for the access and maintenance of a Stormwater Treatment Practice (STP). The easement
is a real property interest recorded in the land deed, but legal title to the
underlying land is retained by the property owner for all other purposes. Maintenance
easements allow access to a "land-locked" piece of property, and may be specifically
described by a physical boundary or by a purpose (sometimes called a "floating
easement"). Governments, municipalities and public utilities use easements to
establish access, restrictions and rights to property and an easement may be used
when the landowners' rights require clarification and formal agreements are necessary
between public and private parties.
Stormwater management easements
are typically worded to permit access to a facility for life. Easement area
access is often specific for maintenance by a local municipal agency and does
not convey access to the general public. The easement agreement usually prohibits
the modification of the easement area by the property owner to avoid interference
with access, and in some cases the property owner may grant the right to remove
vegetation as necessary to maintain the use of the easement.
Samples of easements are
provided below. Documents in .pdf format require the Adobe Acrobat reader, which
you can download
for free here.