Sunny Drafting & Design
A client called us last spring, confused and a little frustrated. She'd received a city notice saying her planned deck would encroach on a public right-of-way — and her contractor hadn't flagged it at all. Situations like that come up more often than most people expect, and understanding right of way easement site plan California requirements from the start can save real time and money. At Sunny Drafting & Design, we include easement research in every site plan and property survey we prepare, because what the public legally has access to matters just as much as what's above grade.
Bay Area properties carry a lot of history. Old utility corridors, neighborhood access paths, drainage easements from decades-old subdivisions — most of it invisible until a permit gets flagged or a neighbor raises a concern. Getting ahead of easements before design starts is one of the smartest moves any homeowner or developer can make.
In this guide, our team walks through what right-of-way and public easements actually are, how they show up on site plans, what kinds exist in California, and how to find them before breaking ground. Anyone planning a remodel, ADU, or room addition in the Bay Area will find this useful reading.
Contents
- How Right-of-Way Easements Show Up in Real Bay Area Projects
- The Upside and Downside of Easements for Property Owners
- Common Misconceptions About Right-of-Way and Easements
- Types of Easements: A Side-by-Side Comparison
- How to Find a Right of Way Easement on a Site Plan in California
- When Easements Directly Affect ADUs and Room Additions
- Documents and Resources for Researching Easements in California
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Next Steps
How Right-of-Way Easements Show Up in Real Bay Area Projects
Our team has seen right-of-way and easement issues come up at almost every stage of a project — from early site analysis all the way through final plan check. Here are the most common real-world scenarios we encounter across the Bay Area.
The Sidewalk Strip Nobody Owns (But Everybody Uses)
One of the most frequent surprises for homeowners: a strip of land sitting between the recorded property line and the street curb that technically belongs to the private parcel — but is encumbered by the public right-of-way. In most Bay Area cities, this strip runs somewhere between 10 and 15 feet wide. No fences, structures, or raised planters belong in that zone without a separate city encroachment permit.
- Trees planted in this strip are sometimes owned by the city, sometimes by the homeowner — rules vary by municipality
- Underground utilities — gas lines, electric conduit, cable, and water mains — typically run through this exact corridor
- Any work within this zone requires separate review from the public works department, independent of the building permit
- Driveways crossing this strip need a curb cut permit in most Bay Area cities
- Raised grade or hardscape within the ROW can trigger drainage review from public works
Utility Easements Behind Rear Fences
A large share of Bay Area residential lots have a 5- to 10-foot utility easement running along the rear property line. Most homeowners don't know it's there until they try to build an ADU or add a detached structure.
- The easement stays active even if no utility lines are currently running through the corridor
- Structures built within the easement area can be required to be relocated or demolished at the owner's expense
- Easements can sometimes be relocated — but that process takes months and requires formal approval from the city and the utility company
- Even landscaping features like raised garden beds or concrete footings can trigger an easement violation
Our team caught one of these in Santa Clara before a client submitted permit drawings. The proposed ADU footprint overlapped the rear easement by two feet. We shifted the design early and saved the client several months of correction notices and back-and-forth with the city.
The Upside and Downside of Easements for Property Owners
Not all easements are a burden. Some serve a real purpose, and a few actually benefit the property owner. It's worth understanding both sides before making any assumptions.
Where Easements Help
- Access easements let a neighboring property cross adjacent land — but the legal right can work both ways, and shared arrangements often reduce costs for everyone involved
- Shared driveway easements cut down on the cost of maintaining two separate paved surfaces
- Conservation easements can reduce property taxes in certain California counties when landowners agree to preserve open space
- Utility easements mean repair costs for underground infrastructure typically fall on the utility company, not the property owner
- Solar access easements protect a homeowner's right to sunlight — increasingly valuable as more Bay Area homes add rooftop panels
Where Easements Create Problems
- Buildable area shrinks — sometimes significantly on smaller urban lots
- Structures placed in easement zones may need to be relocated or demolished at the owner's expense
- Some easements complicate title insurance and slow down property closings
- Permanent easements can't be extinguished without a court process or formal written agreement with all affected parties
- Fence placement, landscaping, and grade changes can all be restricted within easement corridors
The takeaway from our experience: an easement isn't necessarily a dealbreaker, but ignoring one during the design phase almost always is.
Common Misconceptions About Right-of-Way and Easements
Our team hears the same misunderstandings come up in client conversations regularly. Here are the ones that cause the most real-world confusion — and the most expensive surprises.
Myth: Long-Term Use Means Ownership
This is one of the most persistent misconceptions. Adverse possession — claiming ownership through long-term, continuous use — is very difficult to establish in California, and it doesn't apply to public right-of-way at all. Most people are surprised to learn that fences, driveways, or landscaping placed on a public ROW strip for decades create no ownership rights whatsoever. The city can require removal at any time.
Myth: The Title Report Catches Everything
Not always. Title reports list recorded easements, but prescriptive easements — rights established through continuous, open, and uninterrupted use rather than a recorded document — may not appear in a title search at all. A physical boundary survey combined with careful site plan review is the only reliable way to catch those.
Pro tip: Always request a preliminary title report and a boundary survey before finalizing any design — title reports miss prescriptive easements, and surveys alone miss ones that are recorded but not yet physically marked on the ground.
Myth: Easements Only Affect Large or Commercial Projects
Residential properties are just as affected — often more so. We've worked on 6,000-square-foot residential lots in Oakland and San Jose where a combination of setbacks, easements, and right-of-way reduced the buildable footprint to well under half the total parcel area. The smaller the lot, the bigger the proportional impact of each encumbered strip.
Types of Easements: A Side-by-Side Comparison
California recognizes several distinct categories of easements. Understanding the differences is important for anyone making decisions about property use, renovation, or development.
| Easement Type | Who Holds the Right | Common Examples | Buildable Within? | Typically Recorded? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Right-of-Way | City or county | Sidewalk strip, street widening, bike lanes | No | Usually |
| Utility Easement | Utility company or municipality | Power lines, water/sewer mains, gas lines | Restricted | Usually |
| Drainage Easement | Adjacent owner or city | Swales, storm drain corridors, detention areas | Restricted | Often |
| Access Easement | Neighboring property owner | Shared driveways, pedestrian paths, gate access | Restricted | Usually |
| Prescriptive Easement | Anyone who established continuous use | Informal foot paths, long-used crossing points | Restricted | Rarely |
| Conservation Easement | Land trust or government agency | Open space buffers, creek corridors, wetlands | No | Yes |
Which Type Affects Site Plans Most
In our experience, utility easements and public right-of-way appear most frequently on residential site plans across the Bay Area. Drainage easements are the third most common — and our team covers how those appear on permit drawings in detail in our post on how drainage and grading are shown on a residential site plan.
How to Find a Right of Way Easement on a Site Plan in California
This is where the practical research happens. A complete right of way easement site plan California review draws from several overlapping sources — no single document gives the full picture on its own.
Start With the Preliminary Title Report
The preliminary title report (the "prelim") lists all recorded easements against the parcel — identified by type, book, and page number of county recording. This is the foundation of any easement research and the first document our team requests before starting a site plan.
- The prelim is ordered through a title company, usually for a nominal fee
- Each easement exception lists the original recording date, grantor, and width
- The full text of each easement can be pulled from county recorder records for additional detail
Pull the Assessor's Parcel Map
County assessor maps show the rough boundaries of the parcel and often indicate right-of-way strips. Most Bay Area counties maintain GIS portals with this data available online at no cost:
- Alameda County: gis.acgov.org
- Santa Clara County: sccgov.org (GIS portal)
- San Mateo County: smcgov.org/planning
- Contra Costa County: countyofcontracosta.us parcel viewer
- Marin County: marincounty.org/depts/pw/gis
Request an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey
For a definitive answer, an ALTA/NSPS land title survey combines the title report with a physical boundary survey performed to national minimum standards. It identifies all easements, right-of-way lines, encroachments, and improvements on a parcel in one document. Most lenders require one for commercial transactions, but it's also the right tool for any complex residential project where the buildable area is in question.
Check City GIS and Utility Maps
Most Bay Area cities maintain online GIS portals showing known utility corridors and right-of-way boundaries. These aren't always perfectly current for older neighborhoods, but they give a useful visual starting point — especially for identifying potential conflicts before spending money on a full survey.
Once all recorded easements are identified, a licensed drafter should show every one of them on the site plan as dashed or hatched zones with labels, widths, and recording references. Our team outlines what different jurisdictions expect to see on submitted drawings in our post on site plan requirements for ADU permits across Bay Area cities.
When Easements Directly Affect ADUs and Room Additions
This is where abstract easement concepts get very real, very fast. Our team works through easement conflicts on ADU and addition projects on a regular basis, and the pattern is remarkably consistent.
ADUs and the Rear Easement Problem
ADUs (accessory dwelling units — also called in-law units or granny flats) are most often proposed in the rear portion of a lot, right where utility easements tend to run. A rear utility easement of even 5 feet can eliminate an otherwise compliant ADU footprint, especially on narrow urban lots where every foot of depth matters.
Steps our team takes before finalizing any ADU layout:
- Pull the preliminary title report for all recorded easements on the parcel
- Mark every easement boundary on the base site plan at scale
- Identify whether any portion of the proposed footprint overlaps an easement zone
- If there's an overlap, explore footprint shifts, reduced square footage, or formal encroachment agreements with the utility company
- Confirm directly with the utility whether the easement corridor contains active infrastructure or is currently vacant
Room Additions and Side-Yard Easements
Side-yard easements — often granted to neighboring properties for access or drainage — can limit the width of a room addition in ways that setback rules alone don't explain. Most people assume side-yard restrictions are purely a zoning matter, but an easement is a separate legal constraint that runs with the land regardless of current zoning rules or recent ordinance changes.
Plan checkers at Bay Area building departments look for easement notation on every submitted site plan. If a site plan doesn't show known easements, the submission typically comes back with a correction notice — which adds weeks to the review cycle. Getting easements right on the front end is one of the most reliable ways to keep a permit timeline on track.
Documents and Resources for Researching Easements in California
Anyone doing their own preliminary research before hiring professionals will want to build a specific document package. Starting organized saves time and prevents duplicate work.
Key Documents to Gather
- Preliminary title report — the foundation; lists all recorded easements with recording references
- Grant deed — sometimes lists easements and restrictions not separately captured in the title report
- Subdivision map or tract map — shows original easements established when the neighborhood was first platted, often going back 60 to 100 years
- City or county parcel map — available through the assessor's office or online GIS portal
- Utility as-built drawings — show actual locations of buried infrastructure; available from utility companies on written request
- CC&Rs (conditions, covenants, and restrictions) — relevant for HOA communities where private easements between lots may exist outside the title report
Professional Help Worth Getting
Most homeowners and investors can do solid preliminary research using free online county portals. But when a project moves toward permit submittal, professional involvement adds real value and reduces risk:
- Licensed land surveyor — for boundary verification and ALTA/NSPS survey work; the only professional who can physically locate easement lines in the field
- Title company — for a thorough title commitment that lists all exceptions and encumbrances in detail
- Real estate attorney — for easement disputes, encroachment agreements, or formal easement extinguishment proceedings
- Architectural drafting studio — to ensure all identified easements appear correctly on permit-ready drawings, with notation that satisfies plan check requirements
Our team at Sunny Drafting & Design regularly coordinates with surveyors and title companies as part of site plan preparation. Getting all parties aligned before permit submittal consistently prevents correction notices and keeps projects moving on schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
A right-of-way is a specific type of easement that grants the right to travel across or use a strip of land — typically for roads, sidewalks, or utility corridors. An easement is the broader legal term for any non-ownership interest in someone else's property. All rights-of-way are easements, but not all easements are rights-of-way.
Generally no — not without a formal encroachment agreement signed by the easement holder. Structures built within an easement zone can be required to be removed at the property owner's expense if the easement holder ever needs access. Some easement holders will grant written permission for certain improvements, but that permission typically doesn't transfer automatically when the property is sold.
Utility easements in California commonly run 5 to 10 feet wide for residential parcels, though they can be considerably wider for high-voltage transmission lines or major trunk water mains. The exact width is spelled out in the recorded easement document. Our team always checks the original recording rather than relying solely on the assessor's map, since map widths can be approximate.
Yes. Recorded easements "run with the land," meaning they stay in effect regardless of who holds title to the property. A new owner takes the parcel subject to all existing easements. This is one reason why reviewing the preliminary title report before any purchase or design decision is so important — surprises after closing are much harder to deal with.
Right-of-way is typically shown as a dashed line or hatched zone pulled back from the street-facing property line, labeled with the ROW width and the name of the street or public corridor. All easements on a permit-ready California site plan should show the type, width, beneficiary, and recording reference. Plan checkers at Bay Area building departments look for this notation during intake review.
Yes, but it's not a simple process. Easements can be extinguished by written agreement between all parties, by court order, or in some cases through abandonment if the easement holder stops using the corridor for an extended period. Public right-of-way can sometimes be vacated through a formal city or county street vacation process. A real estate attorney is the right resource for anyone exploring easement removal options.
Next Steps
- Request a preliminary title report from a title company before starting any design work — it's the fastest way to identify all recorded easements on the parcel.
- Pull the county assessor's parcel map or GIS viewer for the property to get a visual sense of right-of-way boundaries and known utility corridors in the area.
- Mark every identified easement on a base site plan before sharing the drawing with any contractor or designer — this prevents costly footprint redesigns later in the process.
- Contact the relevant utility company directly if a proposed structure comes within 5 feet of a known utility easement, to confirm what infrastructure is actually buried and whether any encroachment agreement is possible.
- Work with a licensed architectural drafter to ensure permit-ready drawings accurately show all easements, right-of-way lines, widths, and notation required by the local jurisdiction's plan check standards.
