It is important to know if you have an alley or an easement. Garden District has both.
It is also important when calling 911 to know whether you have an easement or an alley behind your home. An alley is wide enough for a vehicle to drive down and is a public thorough fare. The easements are generally 12 feet wide and are supposed to be accessible to utilities, but are legally private property. (Hence, why you are responsible for keeping them weed free.)
You have the legal right to tell a trespasser to leave if it is an easement. When calling 911, it is important to be firm about which you are talking about. Often the 911 operators do not know the legal difference between alleys and easements and tell you that you cannot prevent anyone from walking there because it is public right of way. Easements are private property and if it is not a neighbor or utilities personnel, then they do not have the legal right to be there and they are trespassing. With alleys, people can travel through, but if they try to access your yard, are looking over walls, seem unduly interested in people's yards, etc, then CALL 911.
Whether an alley or an easement, posting a No Trespassing sign on your rear fence or wall is helpful. You should also have your house number posted or painted at the rear of your property so that if police need to conduct a search they know where they are.
Gating easements would remove many "secret" highways and hiding places for thieves, transients, drug users, and even coyotes throughout our neighborhood. Many burglars access homes from behind and even stash stolen goods in the easements and alleys. GDNA residents frequently report signs of people living, doing drugs, drinking, stashing stolen goods, casing homes out for burglaries,accessing homes from the rear where they are less likely to be seen, etc. in the easements and alleys.
The neighborhood association has approached the City, various utilities, and police for many, many years about how to legally gate and lock our easements and alleys and not block access to utility personnel. What we are told tends to change with who we are talking to, but below are some "take aways" from our conversations. The following information applies to EASEMENTS only. As I said, alleys are different because they are public right of ways.
Wouldn't it be cheaper to chip in a few dollars with the rest of your neighbors to gate the easement rather than, if you are burglarized, to buy all new laptops, TVs, ipods, etc. and try to regain peace of mind in your own home?
It is also important when calling 911 to know whether you have an easement or an alley behind your home. An alley is wide enough for a vehicle to drive down and is a public thorough fare. The easements are generally 12 feet wide and are supposed to be accessible to utilities, but are legally private property. (Hence, why you are responsible for keeping them weed free.)
You have the legal right to tell a trespasser to leave if it is an easement. When calling 911, it is important to be firm about which you are talking about. Often the 911 operators do not know the legal difference between alleys and easements and tell you that you cannot prevent anyone from walking there because it is public right of way. Easements are private property and if it is not a neighbor or utilities personnel, then they do not have the legal right to be there and they are trespassing. With alleys, people can travel through, but if they try to access your yard, are looking over walls, seem unduly interested in people's yards, etc, then CALL 911.
Whether an alley or an easement, posting a No Trespassing sign on your rear fence or wall is helpful. You should also have your house number posted or painted at the rear of your property so that if police need to conduct a search they know where they are.
Gating easements would remove many "secret" highways and hiding places for thieves, transients, drug users, and even coyotes throughout our neighborhood. Many burglars access homes from behind and even stash stolen goods in the easements and alleys. GDNA residents frequently report signs of people living, doing drugs, drinking, stashing stolen goods, casing homes out for burglaries,accessing homes from the rear where they are less likely to be seen, etc. in the easements and alleys.
The neighborhood association has approached the City, various utilities, and police for many, many years about how to legally gate and lock our easements and alleys and not block access to utility personnel. What we are told tends to change with who we are talking to, but below are some "take aways" from our conversations. The following information applies to EASEMENTS only. As I said, alleys are different because they are public right of ways.
- The easements are private property. You own the easement up to the half way point. You have the right to gate the easement.
- Utilities and neighbors need to have access to the easement. No one else does.
- Access for utilities does not mean that they need to be able to drive a vehicle down your easement. Their personnel need to be able to walk in. That said, if the utility needed to drive a vehicle in, they have the right to dismantle your gate, but they would be responsible for putting it back.
- If you decide to gate your easement, you must notify your neighbors. You do not need their permission. You need to inform them. (According to TPD)
- Gating an easement sends the message that the easement area is owned by residents, taken care of, and not a public thoroughfare or escape route.
- Gating your easement indicates that the residents care about security and. therefore, have probably taken steps to make sure their homes are more secure -- so it sends the message to bad guys, it's a waste of time to hit our street.
- Some residents have used chain link, some have used lighter weight, less expensive rolled fencing.
- An easement gated with chain link or other fencing is a deterrent, even if it is not locked.
- If you decide to lock your easement, you must make sure that all neighbors and the utilities have access. You must inform each utility company that you have gated and locked your easement. TPD suggests that you can get one of those word combination locks and give neighbors and utilities the combination.
- Gated easements without locks have been very effective in deterring criminals. Some residents have looped chain with a padlock attached so it looks locked from a distance. Others have put nuts and bolts so that it is time consuming to open.
Wouldn't it be cheaper to chip in a few dollars with the rest of your neighbors to gate the easement rather than, if you are burglarized, to buy all new laptops, TVs, ipods, etc. and try to regain peace of mind in your own home?
