Bylaw Language help

Hello,
I am in a new association and trying to get things sorted out. We the board were under the impression the homeowners are responsible for taking care of their own easements. After reading the bylaws I am now confused at who should be responsible. Please ready the bylaws in quotations and give me your opinion please.

"Each owner shall grant such easements upon his lot as necessary to serve the property for water sewer telephone, gas , electricity, and other utilities and the erection and maintenance of necessary poles and other equipment, wires and conduits, sewer and water lines on above or below the ground any lot provided however, no owner shall be required to grant any easement which would interfere with the use and enjoyment of his lot or residence. and any easement granted hereby shall impose on the grantee of said easement the obligation to A. maintain said easement so that the use thereof will not interfere with the use and enjoyment of any lot or residence.
b. repair and restore that portion of any lot upon which the easement is located to its original condition or as near possible to its original condition.
So now is this saying the easements around the subdivision are the responsibility of the homeowner?

John, all owners are responsible for their lot. The statement requires the owner to grant easements so that utility companies can install facilities. The ownership plats I have viewed all show easements on them - usually the front and back of the lot and in some cases on a side of the lot. Keep in mind that if you plant bushes, trees, ect. in an easement the ulitity company may have to remove those obstructions when doing maintenance.

I can't tell you if the buffer zone you describe is owned land granted an easement, or common area owned by the HOA. It SOUNDS like common area owned by the HOA, in which case, the HOA is responsible for it.

However, a quick check of the plat maps, tax records, or title/deed should clear it up. property boundaries are defined there well enough to tell.

as to your original question, the wording regarding easement you quoted simply means that on an owner's property, an easement is granted for necessary utility work. However, anyone using that easement must do so minimally, only as needed, not do anything to majorly destroy the value of the property, and return the property they use to normal as reasonably as they can.

ie, if the power company needs to replace a pole, they can access the property, dig out the pole, replace it, but they must fix any plants or lawn they damage, clean up the mess, remove the dirt they dug, and return the property to normal/like they found it.

John, if the 15' buffer is outside of property line then it is not the homeowners responsibility. It may be a common area which is the responsibility of the HOA. Or if it is not within the limits of the association it would be owned by some government agency.