Before you buy
Does My Land Have Legal Access?
Title and survey professionals establish the right. The design team then checks the road.
The short answer
Before a subdivision goes further, legal access and physical access both have to be confirmed. Title and survey professionals establish legal access. The design team then checks whether the route can carry construction traffic, everyday use, and emergency vehicles. An existing road may lack the rights, width, grades, or improvements the development needs. The work is in Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, and southern San Bernardino County, including the Inland Empire. Call (760) 271-1081.
Legal access and physical access
Recorded access rights have to support the proposed development: the location, the type of use, and how much use. Public access, or a private easement, has to cover construction, operation, maintenance, and emergency access.
A road that may be too narrow, too steep, or missing the rights is part of the first look on can my land be developed.
An access right is not a utility right
Easements can reserve access, utilities, drainage, irrigation, or other uses. The recorded terms and the location have to be reviewed before buildings, roads, or other improvements are placed. A right to cross another property does not include the right to install sewer, water, storm drain, or other utilities.
Easements on older agricultural land
Older agricultural land may have irrigation, flume, pipeline, or access easements that cross several parcels. Those rights can be hard to move because more than one party benefits from them. Finding them early helps prevent a major design change later.
When title professionals should answer
Unclear ownership, conflicting property descriptions, missing easement documents, liens, access exceptions, and encroachments go to title professionals and legal counsel. Important questions should get a written answer. The review goes past the parcel being bought. Off-site access routes, utility connections, and easements may cross other properties, and those rights need their own check.
That review is part of a feasibility study before a purchase.
Slope easements beside the road
Road work can need cut-and-fill slopes outside the right-of-way. Those areas may need permanent grading or slope easements from neighboring owners. That can add cost and uncertainty.
Two access routes
Subdivisions may require two separate access routes, depending on the project and the requirements that apply. Confirm that early with the reviewing agencies and the fire authority. How that second route affects the layout is on residential subdivision development. The approvals around that requirement are on residential land entitlements.
Frequently asked questions
Does my land have legal access for a subdivision?
Title and survey professionals establish legal access. Physical access has to be confirmed too. The route has to support construction traffic, everyday use, and emergency vehicles. An existing road may lack the rights, width, grades, or improvements the development needs.
Does an access easement include utilities?
A right to cross another property does not include the right to install sewer, water, storm drain, or other utilities. Public access or a private easement has to cover construction, operation, maintenance, and emergency access.
What easements show up on older agricultural land?
Older agricultural land may have irrigation, flume, pipeline, or access easements that cross several parcels. Those rights can be hard to move because more than one party benefits from them.
When should title professionals answer an access question?
Unclear ownership, conflicting descriptions, missing easement documents, liens, access exceptions, and encroachments go to title professionals and legal counsel. Off-site access routes and utility routes need their own check.
Do subdivisions need two access routes?
Subdivisions may require two separate access routes, depending on the project and the requirements that apply. Confirm that with the reviewing agencies and the fire authority.
Related pages
- Can My Land Be Developed?
See whether land you own, or may buy, can be developed, including access, utilities, slopes, shape, and cost.
- Land Development Feasibility Study
Screen a site before purchase: permitted use, access, utilities, drainage, soils, environmental concerns, expected approvals, and total development costs.
- Residential Land Development
Subdivisions of 50 to 200 lots, with finished lots released in the order the builder needs them.
Want the access checked?
Call (760) 271-1081 or email brian@landdevspec.net.