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Posted: 7/30/2019 7:50:54 PM EDT
I have some huge power lines that run over part of my back yard 75 ft from the ground. Guy comes out from tree removal service contracted by the power company. He says they'll have to remove some of my trees and vegetation in my backyard. The trees range from 4 ft to 12 ft. I fail to see why they need to be removed as it'll take at least 25 years for them to get anywhere near the power lines. I live off a highway and I have a neighbor so it provides a little privacy. I asked the guy if he had any of the regulations with him so I could read them over to see if they are within the "law" but he said he didn't have any with him and he could have his boss drop off a pamphlet. I bought the house last year but this house has been here longer than the power lines in the backyard. Do I have any rights or do I just let the man come in and cut down my shit?
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Better check up on easement ordinances/laws. But they defiantly should be talking to you before doing ANY damn chopping down of trees.
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Sounds like a costly legal battle that i'm betting you'd lose.
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The lines run through a right-of-way. The legal description of the right of way describes what they are allowed to do.
I would be shocked if you could prevent them from trimming the trees. |
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Do you want power? Probably let the guys do their job
Plant some shiet on your property line that blocks stuff better |
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You probably will not come out ahead. Depending on the tension (voltage) of the lines, the trees do not need to make contact to be a problem.
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Maintaining the easement.
Before it goes from (it would take 25 years to grow this big) to (but why cut it down the tree is 25 years old). Can you tell I do easement entitlements. |
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My guess is they can do what they want.
Around here, the power company just cuts/trims whatever they want. They don’t even talk to the owners. |
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You have a survey of the property? If not get one and see where your property lines are and any utility easements.
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Quoted:
Maintaining the easement. Before it goes from (it would take 25 years to grow this big) to (but why cut it down the tree is 25 years old). Can you tell I do easement entitlements. View Quote |
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Maybe they don't want to be sued if they accidentally light your backyard on fire (like the CA power company that started the wildfires)?
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I would encourage OP to go full retard here. Put up no trespassing signs, gates, chain yourself to the trees, demand restitution, spend tons of money on lawyers.
And get it on video for our entertainment. ![]() |
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Yeah.... you won't win. Not a battle and not the war, they have all the legal access and ability to keep the trees out of their ROW.
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A.) You can fight it. You will lose and your trees will be cut down.
B.) If you play nice they may not just leave massive piles of brush and shit on your property because they only have to cut it, not dispose of it. C.) If you ask nicely their forestry group may be able to hook you up with some slow growth vegetation to act as a buffer. D.) While it may seem like they were asking for your permission, you were just being informed of what was going to happen. ![]() |
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Quoted: Ok so they are taking away from my property value by removing trees. Would it not be fair for them to replace them with some damn lilacs or something lower growing View Quote Sounds like he's sending his supervisor by - you should talk to him about compensation. At the very least you're getting some free yard cleanup. |
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Quoted:
Around here, the power company just cuts/trims whatever they want. They don’t even talk to the owners. View Quote Wish the phone company would trim one of our trees that's growing up into the phone lines, but I guess they don't give a shit. Same tree has a branch rubbing the power drop to the house, told the power company about it and they just put a sleeve on the drop instead of trimming the tree ![]() |
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After what happened here last year with trees fucking up the power lines, don't expect you can win.
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Just replace it with bamboo.
They cut it down it will keep coming back. |
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Be thankfull they want to cut the trees down. This morning I had four sets of cherry pickers along a 14 mile stretch of road TRIMMING trees near the lines. They will be back every year. And if there is enough wind to down any of those trees, the power will go out anyway.
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Look at your title policy for the easement. It should be under the Exceptions section. That should give you a reference to take to the County Clerk or recorder to get a copy. Read the language in the easement. It should spell out what rights each party has.
If this is a transmission corridor, then the power company will probably have the right to keep the ground under the easement clear so they can access the power lines for maintenance or repair. |
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Quoted:
The lines run through a right-of-way. The legal description of the right of way describes what they are allowed to do. I would be shocked if you could prevent them from trimming the trees. View Quote Cutting down 4' trees seems like they might have an easement for a full on travel corridor to maintain the powerlines by moving equipment through there. The long and the short of it is, no, this is not the hill you want to die on. This is the hill that is owned by the power company's legal team and they'll let you look at it and walk across it, but it's not really your hill. |
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The utility has a right to control and remove incompatible vegetation for a safe and reliable grid. Incompatible meaning capable of ever causing a problem, not necessarily an immediate problem.
Did you not know the conditions that go along with the right of way when you bought? Don't be that tree hugger (in the wire zone). |
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I was talking with a friend that runs a small utility. Some federal agency is fining them $100,000 for letting a tree get within 4 feet of a 210,000 volt transmission line. They self reported the issue and took care of it immediately.
He said this enforcement is a result of that blackout in the Northeast a few years back. In general if it's within the right of way they can cut or kill as needed to avoid outages. Op's best bet is determine where the boundary is and plant outside their right of way. |
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Quoted:
I would encourage OP to go full retard here. Put up no trespassing signs, gates, chain yourself to the trees, demand restitution, spend tons of money on lawyers. And get it on video for our entertainment. ![]() View Quote |
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Im guessing there is a utility easement and a previous owner planted the trees within the easement. When you bought the place you got a survey right? An easement should have been pretty clear. I would say you are lucky they are giving you a notice.
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Right-of-way easement probably states X wide from ground to sky. We’ve been in this business for 60 years and this is how all the easements Ive ever seen are written.
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DTE did that to me, I called and ripped their asses to not touch anything. Never heard from again.
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Our local power company can and will cut down and/or trim any tree that's in the way of their lines.
However I've had them.come to the house out of courtesy and talk about what they're doing. Even give me options. And they will provide vouchers for certain types of trees. Types that won't grow as tall, etc. I doubt any Court will allow your trees to interfere with power distribution to hundreds or even thousands of people down the line. |
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They likely have an easement that says they can, federal over site pushing for them to do it and insurance companies on there side. You ain’t winning. And just because they didn’t catch it before doesn’t mean it was ok. Your best bet is to play mr nice guy and hope for minimal trimming cause you played nice.
In the old days, if the utilities didn’t know about it, they were generally off the hook for not cutting down the trees. Ask PG&E how that strategy worked out ![]() |
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I don’t see why they have to cut them down, usually trimming them away from the lines is enough. Unless they are blocking access to service the poles/lines, in which case if it’s on an easement you’re screwed. Worth a shot to ask for something else to be planted but don’t count on it.
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They aren't your trees.
They are on an easement or UROW Utility Right Of Way. They can chop them all they want since they are their trees. |
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In my younger days I used to trim/remove trees for a company contracted by the power company. As others have said the power company has an easement. You might be able to talk nicely to someone and get a year or two more out of them but I doubt it but being nice goes a long ways. The longer the trees are allowed to be there the bigger pain it is to remove them.
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I'll check if there is an easement. I know the power lines have the right of way but if there's no easement then what?
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Quoted:
Lol....power co’s have ways of handling guys like you. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes |
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Bet there is an easement.
If your tree interferes with the easement (tree falls on the power line), you pay for the damages. It's why I didn't grant the power company an easement on my land.d |
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OP, look on this as an opportunity to establish trees in "safe" areas.
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They have an easement if way for the line. Find out how wide it is. Usually they frown upon you planting trees under the lines.
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