CA Raw Land - Neighbor Water Meter on Property Line

CA Raw Land - Neighbor Water Meter on Property Line

Keegan JonesPro Member
San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 9 posts · 3 votes

Hello all,

We are considering purchasing a parcel of raw land here in San Diego County (Mission Valley area for anyone who is familiar with the area) and developing a triplex on the property; however, the neighbor's water meter is directly on the property line--let me explain. 


The neighbor had a water meter installed on the side of their house which butts-up with the property line between the prospective plot of land and their land. Additionally, they cut a small hole in the fence so SDG&E (the utility company here) can read the meter from the empty lot. I am not sure yet if the fence belongs to the neighbor or to the current land owners, since the entire property is already fenced in.


I am half-tempted to purchase the land, close the hole in the fence, and tell the neighbor to figure it out, since they knowingly put the meter on the property line without consulting the adjacent landowner, i.e. the seller of the land, but, saner minds have prevailed and I would rather not come into a property and start strong-arming the neighbors.  I just want to see what the great community of BP has to say about this? Do you think this would be an issue in the future? I don't want schedule a time every month for SDG&E to come check the meter for the neighbor's water bill. What ways can I turn this into a success? 

This will be the first raw land development project we do, so any input is greatly appreciated,

Thank you!

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Investor · Clairemont, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y

I do land development engineering in SD, and I doubt you have much of any recourse here on the water meter. The meter is within the public ROW, so while it is at a projection of your PL, it isn't actually on your property. Also this scenario isn't all that uncommon depending on the age of the property and who installed the meter (private vs public install). My guess is you are most likely going to have to come to a resolution that very well may involve you paying for a relocation if you in fact actually need it relocated. When these scenarios come up it is usually best to try and identify a way to leave the meter in place and install your improvements so as not to impact that facility. Again it's not your property so it is generally not a big deal. 

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  • Investor · Statewide, MO · Member since 2011 · 814 posts · 425 votes
    4y

    How big is the hole? 

    You'd indicated this is your first development. Have you ever build a home or triplex before? 

    I wouldn't go to war with the neighbors. It's a great way to add a countless headaches while you build. And then even more when you manage the triplex for the next however many years. 

    Is the water meter a dual meter? If so, it would be half yours. You might try and use this minor issue as leverage against the buyer. In reality, I would not be bothered by this arrangement based on what has been presented, which understandably is a little bit limited. 

  • Investor · Clairemont, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    I do land development engineering in SD, and I doubt you have much of any recourse here on the water meter. The meter is within the public ROW, so while it is at a projection of your PL, it isn't actually on your property. Also this scenario isn't all that uncommon depending on the age of the property and who installed the meter (private vs public install). My guess is you are most likely going to have to come to a resolution that very well may involve you paying for a relocation if you in fact actually need it relocated. When these scenarios come up it is usually best to try and identify a way to leave the meter in place and install your improvements so as not to impact that facility. Again it's not your property so it is generally not a big deal. 

  • Keegan JonesPro Member
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 9 posts · 3 votes
    4y

    Thank you for the responses, and great ones at that!

    @Ed O. 

    - We have not built any developments before and only have experience working with GCs and sub-contractors. We are still very much in the nascent stages of this process and experience. Luckily, we have a couple of very close contacts, who have done much larger developments, will be advising/coaching along the way.

    - Yeah, we are trying to avoid headaches rather than create them. 

    - Good question about the dual meter: it is, however, I am going to confirm today if the adjacent property is a duplex (which I am pretty sure it is) and if that is a separate meter for the second unit. 


    The property was previously under escrow but fell out because the last buyer "didn't want to deal with the headache of the water meter." I use quotations there because that is what the listing agent told us.

    @Matt Devincenzo Thank you for your expert opinion. I guess it would be a matter of easement for access. What solutions--creative or apparent--have you seen to solve this problem? I understand each situation will dictate the measures taken. 

    @Matt Devincenzo

  • Investor · Clairemont, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    4y

    The specific site condition could change my answer, but generally there may not be anything specific that needs to be done. There isn't a need for an easement because the water meter is in the City owned public Right of Way (ROW). So as long as the water lines enter the parcel on their side of the lot line, then there is no physical encroachment onto your lot. Generally the ROW is 10' from the face of curb to your property line that runs parallel to the street. This entire 10 wide strip is physically owned by the City of San Diego...the dimensions can vary (the example below is an 18' dimension), and the conditions may not be exact, but if the meter is within this area then it isn't encroaching on your lot at all. It is encroaching past your frontage which if I processed a permit to install the service the City wouldn't normally allow, but as an existing condition there isn't any specific issue allowing it to remain.

    Generally it's not likely that any of your proposed improvements would be immediately adjacent to that PL anyway, so leaving it in place likely presents almost no impact to your proposed development. 

    If the lines do physically cross the PL onto your lot, based on your description it sounds like it would be very easy to simply shift the water lines offsite so they aren't on your lot anymore...With this I mean to shift the water line after the meter all the way to their building not relocate the actual meter itself. Below is a site I had a similar issue...difference being my client owned both parcels, but you can see we left the existing meter and installed a new meter both in front of one parcel. Another site we installed a new meter for the existing residence and used the 'encroaching meter' for our new build (basically switched the meter addressing). And in another location we did have the water lines encroaching and recorded an easement on the adjacent parcel. So a lot of ways to skin this cat, it just depends on the site specifics and the proposed development impact.

  • Keegan JonesPro Member
    OP
    San Diego, CA · Member since 2020 · 9 posts · 3 votes
    4y

    @Matt Devincenzo I am speechless! You, my friend, are one of the many reasons the BP community is so awesome! Thank you for taking the time to explain this and providing the example. I owe you a beer or two! 

    Maybe I am just making a mountain out of a molehill here and it is not even an issue. 

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