Easements

"Easement" means that portion of a lot or lots reserved for present or future use by a person or agency other than the legal owner(s) of said property(ies). The easement may be for use on, under, or above the lot or lots.

The land developer and the municipality that created the building lot allow certain areas of private property to be used for installing and maintaining public utilities or drainage. These are called Public Utility Easements (PUE) and are shown (usually as dotted lines) on subdivision plats.

The utilities that commonly have access to these easements are:

  • Rocky Mountain Power
  • CenturyLink
  • Enbridge Gas
  • Comcast
  • Google Fiber
  • South Davis Sewer District
  • Weber Basin
  • West Bountiful City

No main structures can be built over recorded easements. In residential zones (A-1, A-S, R-1-10, R-1-22), non-commercial structures and permanent accessory structures can be built over recorded easements if:

(A) the property owner submits to the city written permission from the easement holder; and (B) the property owner executes a recordable document, in a form approved by the city attorney, indicating that notwithstanding any permission granted, the structure may be subject to the superior interest of the easement holder and may be required to be relocated at the property owner’s expense to accommodate such interest.

    1. Location: Any structure in an easement area shall be located pursuant to the setbacks or other applicable requirements of this title.
    2. No Expansion of Legal Rights: Nothing in this section is intended to expand or restrict the rights or obligations of any party to any recorded easement.

If a need arises to reduce or vacate a public utility easement or drainage easement, the following process can be used:

Applicants will need to provide:

1) Utility releases from the companies listed above - please ask that they also send copies to [email protected];

2) Application to vacate easement with payment;

3) Electronic copy of map/plat clearly showing the easement;

Once the utility releases are received and payment has been submitted, the city will provide public notice of the application as required by state law (UCA 10-9a-208) 10 days before the city council holds a public hearing on the request.

Contact Tauna Sessions, Deputy City Recorder, at 801-292-4486 or [email protected] with any questions.