Jay NE Ohio - 9/4/2025 06:58
soilnotdirt - 9/4/2025 05:14
Why would they need an easement within the county ROW?
Simple explanation: Spectrum is not a public utility. They are a for profit business. I own the land and minerals under the road. The road ROW is an easement that current or previous owners granted to the township
(or county or state
) for a single purpose: use as a road.
Long explanation: In the early 1800's, President Jefferson granted federal lands to individuals for private use. No where in those grants were there any rights reserved for the federal, state or local government. As time went on, there arose needs for public and private interests for roads. The individuals that owned these lands were asked to sell
(or give
) right of way
(ROW
) agreements to the local, state, or federal governments. The landowners retained all other rights including minerals under said roads.
Here is a hypothetical: Lets say that I own a natural gas pipeline company. I want to build a 36" pipeline to transport natural gas from Ohio to Iowa. The gas will be used by the public or businesses eventually. Do I need a ROW agreement from landowners or can I just follow the road right of ways with no compensation to anyone? I promise to eventually fix any damages I do during construction and fix any damage done when I do maintenance in the future. Is a promise good enough or should there be some recorded agreement that states who is responsible for the damages? Do you want a 36" gas pipeline running 50 feet from your house with no compensation to you? No permission needed from the landowner?
edited to add: in my example, you could also change that to CO2 pipeline. There are a lot of people that believe that a CO2 pipeline would benefit the whole world, so we should just allow any business to build one through our neighborhood as long as they stay in the roadway????????
Spectrum wants to lay cable in the road ROW but no easement?
