Easements Explained: The Invisible Lines That Shrink Your Buildable Lot
Data version: Q2 2026 · Last updated 2026-06-09
TL;DR. Utility, access, drainage, and conservation easements quietly remove buildable area from a parcel. Here is how to find them, how to read them, and what they do to your build envelope.
Summary
An easement is a legal right for someone else to use part of your land for a specific purpose. You still own the dirt, but you usually cannot build a permanent structure on it. The four easements that matter most: utility easements (power, water, gas, telecom — typically 10-30 ft strips, no permanent foundations), access/ingress-egress easements (shared driveways, landlocked-parcel access), drainage easements (municipality or HOA stormwater paths — build over one and you inherit flooding liability), and conservation easements (land trusts or the state — often permanently remove development rights). Easements live in three documents, none of which is the zoning map: the title commitment (Schedule B-II exceptions), the recorded plat ("10' P.U.E." callouts), and the ALTA survey. Order of operations for the real build envelope: gross lot, minus setbacks, minus structure-prohibiting easements, minus floodway/wetland buffers — commonly leaving 40-60% of the gross lot on a typical suburban parcel. Some easements can be relocated or vacated with the holder's agreement and municipal sign-off, but it is a months-long legal process. A Buildability™ report shows the parcel with zoning and constraint layers in one view so you can sanity-check the envelope before ordering a survey.
About Buildability™
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