Control over improvements of ingress/egress easement

[scottz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Minnesota
I own an 20 acre property. My property has a 33ft ingress/egress and utility easement on the East border for the neighbors 20acre property. Both properties are currently zoned agricultural and are undeveloped.

Currently the easement has a non improved surface the neighbor and myself use to access our properties by vehicle. The neighbor is looking to build on his property and would like to put in a dirt road and run power.

As owner of the easement, can I prevent the property owner from improving the road surface on the easement?
If the neighbor would subdivide their property, would owners of both subdivided properties have access to the ingress/egress easement?

 

[154NH773]

As owner of the easement, can I prevent the property owner from improving the road surface on the easement?
If the neighbor would subdivide their property, would owners of both subdivided properties have access to the ingress/egress easement?

What someone can, or cannot, do as a dominant tenant on an easement depends largely upon what the granting language actually says. Other than that, it may be up to a court to decide what is legal and reasonable.

I would say that you "most probably" cannot prevent the neighbor from improving the roadway, however; if you are sharing costs you might be able to prevent overly extravagant improvements like paving and curbs, etc.

If you objected to a subdivision using the easement, you might be able to make a case that the easement was granted for one family (or single agriculture use) and additional homes would overburden the easement and/or affect you adversely. Again, that would be up to a court to decide, and courts are a crapshoot.

Although utility easements are sometimes inferred in an ingress and egress easement, it is not a given unless specifically stated. Once again a court may have to decide their rights if you deny utility access.