Collaborative Land Use Easements: Resolving Conflicts between New Residential Development and Existing Nuisances

This CLE webinar will discuss using collaborative land use easements (CLUEs) to resolve conflicts between developers, residential property owners, and non-residential property uses. The presenter will discuss best practices for negotiating easements that allow noise, dust, odor, vapor, vibration, and illumination to pass from the dominant property (the perceived nuisance) across the servient property (the proposed residential development).

Because land for new housing is scarce in many areas, developers are pushing their projects closer to existing industrial uses, such as factories, warehouses, sports fields, and cement plants. Noise, lighting, dust, and vibrations from the industrial properties can create conflict between the new residents and the existing owners. Housing developers will argue that residential owners would have no claims since the nuisance is preexisting, but the existing users know that conflicts are inevitable. One proactive solution to this conflict is utilizing a CLUE.

CLUEs are affirmative easements that allow the dominant property to pass the noise, dust, odor, and vibration across the easement (rather than allowing people, vehicles or other physical objects to pass over). CLUEs allow the developer, future residents, and the local government interests to be aligned. CLUEs are an innovative use of simple easements and are technically straightforward.

Listen as our expert panel discusses how the collaborative use of simple easements can allow new housing development to be approved, existing uses to be protected, and written rules of future engagement to be established.