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Ohio Law: What Is An Easement?

An area of eminent domain law that is often overlooked but affects a great number of people is the easement.  Almost every eminent domain case includes and easement of some kind, and a fair amountof eminent domain cases involve only the taking of an easement.  The following paragraphs will provide some basic information about easements in Ohio.

So, what is an easement?  An easement is a property interest that grants the right to use the land of another.  There are two parties involved.  The grantor is the property owner that gives the easement, and the grantee is the other person that receives the benefit of the easement. However, the grantee of an easement is not given all of the property rights tied to the land, and therefore, an easement does not amount to full ownership.  An easement gives the grantee the right to use the property for a certain purpose, but ownership remains with the grantor.

A good example is a utility easement.  A utility company needs to run its pipes, lines, etc. under or on other people’s property in order to serve its customers.  Instead of buying all of the necessary land, utility companies negotiate easement agreements with landowners.  This allows them to run their pipes, lines, etc. without needing to own massive amounts of property.  These utility easements tend to last for a very long time, if not for perpituity, due to the costly nature of installing and providing utilities.

However, not all easements leave as lasting a mark as utility easements.  An easement can be as simple as an agreement to allow another person to drive across your property to access theirs.  This type of easement is for a very limited purpose and does not require the alteration of the property invovled.  It also might only last for a limited period of time.