Easement Question(s)

[J Scott]

I'm working on purchasing a piece of land (with an old house) that I would use for some new construction. When looking at a land map of the property (and also looking at an old survey the owner had), it appears the piece of land I'm interested in is separated from the main road by another thin strip of land that is owned by a neighbor ("my" property is landlocked).

I searched about 50 years back through the deeds and couldn't find an easement, but it's possible it was granted even longer ago and it's there somewhere (the house on the lot was built in 1958 but the land has been transferred since 1912 or so). Or it's possible that there's never been a formal easement and everyone has just been okay with it.

I've found the owner of the strip of land sitting between "my" property and the main road, and it's actually a non-profit county organization that provides homeowner assistance (they bought the property next door in 2012 and this is part of that land).

I've already visited the county, and the planners there weren't very helpful (they seemed busy and basically told me they couldn't give me much info). I'm now trying to figure out the best next steps and I have some questions:

1. First, any suggestions on the best way to proceed in general?

2. Who would be the person to consult who could tell me if an easement is already in place? Obviously, I can keep digging through the old deeds, but it's possible I'm overlooking it. Would this be an attorney, a surveyor a civil engineer? Where should I start?

3. If I were to approach the owner of the strip of land and get them to agree to an easement, would that automatically give me the right to build a driveway for access? Or would the construction of a driveway require special permission over and above an easement?

4. Obviously, I could probably argue that I have an easement by prescription (it's been used so long that it's now part of the property), but I imagine getting this legally documented and enforced would be time consuming and perhaps costly. Any insight into this process and if it's worth going down before talking to the owner of the strip of land?