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Thumb of Michigan | This is for MICHIGAN. I don't know how other states do things like this- but reading the responses, I'm not sure if the right parties are being contacted. Too much partial info maybe.
In Michigan, the chain of command and backed by either state or federal statues as it were for ROW is :
1. Rail roads.
2. Roads and highways.
3. Drainage district/ Drain commissioner.
4. Utilities.
Oddly enough, any time a utility of any kind is involved, utilities seem to enter the discussions convinced that they're somewhere up above Rail Roads in terms of position in this ROW thing. And they aren't. Even if they say they are.
So, again in Michigan, the utility is in someone else's ROW if its placed in a road, drain, or RR ROW. They're there because one (or all in combination) of those entities granted the use of the ROW. In this case, it sounds as if the utility is in a road ROW. So, if this were in Michigan, and the utility paralleled the road and was in the road row, the road commission would be a very good place to begin the discussion on things like clearances under the wire.
The other thing that is not confusing but yet still always gets described incorrectly is road ROW. Again, in Michigan, the state statute gave 66' of ROW "ON THE SECTION LINE" for roads and drains. What happened in a lot of places is that the drain starts on one side of the 66' ROW, and was dug with the spoils providing fill for the road to be built. So, there's absolutely no way for the road ROW to start in the center of the road. The road isn't in the center of the ROW. I've seen very, very few times where the section line monuments are in the center of any road. Its also quite common for issues arising because someone did something based on measuring from the center of a road. In Michigan, property taxes are not supposed to be assessed on both drain and road ROW, so thats maybe the second most quoted incorrect statement. No one pays taxes to the center of the road.
Anyway, not knowing at all how the ROWs are granted in the OP's state, I'd be asking more questions to someone other than the company wanting to string new wire as to what they need to do to make you safe and happy. I have a driveway in one location right now that has a communication cable way lower than the utility lines are. Doesn't make a lot of difference to me now, not bringing anything very tall into that drive. But if it does become an issue, if the utility won't raise it, the road commission would be my next stop. The road commission of course wouldn't fix the problem, they'd make the call to get it fixed usually. | |
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Combine Access and Utility Poles
