What role do utilities have on your property ?
As a youngster, I recall traveling with my parents through the countryside. There were these white colored cylinders that resembled submarines. And in fact as I grew up as a kid, I used to go visit friends and family and play around the tank imagining it to be a submarine. Nowhere in my mind was what this object was really used for.
Utilities transform a blank piece of dirt into something that can be developed. They serve to create opportunity to use the land other then to grow local common vegetation. They add value to what you purchase.
Utilities come in two broad formats. One is those which the owner of the property develops on their own. And the second type are those developed by outside sources and are brought onto the property by easement. Last week, I wrote about easements. They create areas of land that can not be built upon because of something like a utility passes under or over it. Easements create a dedicated space for maintenance of the utility without disturbing the home or building on the parcel. We call those utilities “stubbed in”. Easements are not established from the point on the utility the property owner assumes responsibility for maintenance to a home or building.
Within each of those two broad formats, there are several different utilities that can come that way. Those include electricity, gas, water, sewer, phone, Internet and cable television. Electricity, gas and water services from outside sources usually flow through a metering device before they can be used so that the cost of those utilities becomes proportionate to the amount used.
Electricity which powers almost everything in our homes can come from a local utility company and can either be stubbed into the property by underground cable or overhead wires. Water, sewer and gas services from outside sources are typically brought in by underground means. Cable television, Internet and phone can either be overhead wires, or underground.
People refer to developing their own sources of utilities as “being off the grid”. For a variety of reasons, one or more utility may need to be created by the land owner. Typically when this occurs, permits will need to be taken out from the Department of Building Safety or other agencies to establish those. Electricity can be created from solar panels, windmills, or hydroelectric means. Sources of water usually come from wells dug deep into the earth. Owner provided sewer services come in the form of underground leaching fields and tanks. Gas services can be seen as above ground bottled gas containers like those I played around as a kid. And television, Internet and phone services can come from handheld devices or satellite dishes.
In order for parcels to have their own sources of water and sewer, those lots usually are not located within a city or town and have a sizable area. This is because local governing bodies have rules and regulations on how much distance these two items must be minimally separated by. There can also be rules on how far away they must be from property boundaries since being to close can altar what the neighbor can do on their property. More and more I have seen governments only approve of domestic use water wells if they are fitted with a meter. If the property owner exceeds the amount of water approved, then a fee is assessed. So, if you purchase a piece of ground that does not have utilities on or into it, research what the local governing body has to say about these items. Utilities have a significant cost to put them in place, whether they are stubbed in from outside sources or developed right on the property. But those costs usually add value to the property that exceeds the costs involved. I have known individuals who’s whole motivation to purchasing property was to develop utilities into or on the property and then sell it for a profit.
Purchasing property that already has utilities developed makes that property easier to use. And if your dream is to have a new custom home, then that dream is faster to see happen.
Gary Miller
Principal and Architectural Designer,
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC
*Next week the subject will be about drainage and its importance.