City Right of Way Agent Greatly Misrepresented Project To Gain Construction Access

[Burt L.]

I have a Colorado fourplex and met with both a city ROW agent and the project engineer at the property as they need to replace a 60 year old street drainage pipe that runs along the easement at the east edge of the property. To do that they need to remove my 6 ft fencing on that edge and will replace it, which isn’t in question. A larger storage building (10X 12 tall barn style) is in the easement and I was told they would move it and move it back, at their cost.

The access to the two rear units will be obstructed and damaged by the heavy equipment and the tenants will be upset and don't have another place to park their 4 cars. It may effect lease renewals.  The Construction Agreement says they have access for 6 months and can extend up to 12 months. I was told when we met at the property that I would receive monetary compensation. I was told they would have a surveyor place surveyor pins that show where the property line is but there still are none. As its a metes and bounds area, the best quote I’ve received to have it surveyed myself is $4K.

Most importantly, the property backs to a city greenbelt and homeless people will camp out there and scare the daylights out of my tenants. A creek runs through it and so I extended my north fencing up to that creek and there is still old fencing there, where it has been done before. The ROW agent said he would give me a revocable license agreement to continue this use but that if they ever need to do work back there that I wouldn’t receive compensation as it is their property. I had the sense to record the conversation with himself and the project engineer and the audio quality is quite good.

When I received the Construction Agreement they want me to sign, none of this is included. There is no compensation, I am responsible for moving the storage building, there is no mention of repairing my asphalt driveway, and most importantly they state the north fencing will be taken down and not replaced as it is encroaching on their property. He had specifically said he’s okay with the north fencing and knows its to keep the homeless campers out, and who the police are very slow to remove.

I have absolutely no intention of signing this document though know they will have some recourse to enforce the easement if need be. As said, I have the entire meeting on audio tape. I”m sure the ROW agent is evaluated/promoted on how much he can get done for the city at the lowest cost. To stand on a person’s property and blatantly misrepresent to gain access is most agitating. At first he wanted to do an informal Letter of Agreement, but I declined.

I have an appointment with a land attorney late this week and now will be getting a significant legal bill out of all this as it will turn into much more than the cost of a consultation.

What might BP Nation be able to suggest in this situation. I suspect I’m not the first person the ROW agent has sought to take advantage of. He acted like a used-care salesman - trying to be my best friend at the meeting. My apologies for the length of this!

[Chris Seveney]

Quote from @Burt L.:

I have a Colorado fourplex and met with both a city ROW agent and the project engineer at the property as they need to replace a 60 year old street drainage pipe that runs along the easement at the east edge of the property. To do that they need to remove my 6 ft fencing on that edge and will replace it, which isn’t in question. A larger storage building (10X 12 tall barn style) is in the easement and I was told they would move it and move it back, at their cost.

The access to the two rear units will be obstructed and damaged by the heavy equipment and the tenants will be upset and don't have another place to park their 4 cars. It may effect lease renewals.  The Construction Agreement says they have access for 6 months and can extend up to 12 months. I was told when we met at the property that I would receive monetary compensation. I was told they would have a surveyor place surveyor pins that show where the property line is but there still are none. As its a metes and bounds area, the best quote I’ve received to have it surveyed myself is $4K.

Most importantly, the property backs to a city greenbelt and homeless people will camp out there and scare the daylights out of my tenants. A creek runs through it and so I extended my north fencing up to that creek and there is still old fencing there, where it has been done before. The ROW agent said he would give me a revocable license agreement to continue this use but that if they ever need to do work back there that I wouldn’t receive compensation as it is their property. I had the sense to record the conversation with himself and the project engineer and the audio quality is quite good.

When I received the Construction Agreement they want me to sign, none of this is included. There is no compensation, I am responsible for moving the storage building, there is no mention of repairing my asphalt driveway, and most importantly they state the north fencing will be taken down and not replaced as it is encroaching on their property. He had specifically said he’s okay with the north fencing and knows its to keep the homeless campers out, and who the police are very slow to remove.

I have absolutely no intention of signing this document though know they will have some recourse to enforce the easement if need be. As said, I have the entire meeting on audio tape. I”m sure the ROW agent is evaluated/promoted on how much he can get done for the city at the lowest cost. To stand on a person’s property and blatantly misrepresent to gain access is most agitating. At first he wanted to do an informal Letter of Agreement, but I declined.

I have an appointment with a land attorney late this week and now will be getting a significant legal bill out of all this as it will turn into much more than the cost of a consultation.

What might BP Nation be able to suggest in this situation. I suspect I’m not the first person the ROW agent has sought to take advantage of. He acted like a used-care salesman - trying to be my best friend at the meeting. My apologies for the length of this!

 As a former planning board member as well as having done a lot of development both residentially and commercially - I agree with JD. If their is a public easement and there are temporary structures within this easement - the city can come in and remove them. While its frustrating as you were told something different, it does not overwrite existing laws

I live in a street that has an easement for the first 15 ft of driveway and we have had several neighbords put in gated entry and brick walls which is in the easement. If the city ever wants to add sidewalks or run utilities underground, those homeowners will be out of luck.

PS: I have never seen a juridisction pay to remove items in an easement or compensated owners for performing work in an easement. The only thing I have seen is if it blocks their ability to access their property they would need to provide access