Opinion ID: 1582132
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Description of Ingress and Egress.

Text: SMB also asserts that the notice is deficient because, while it described the easement itself, it did not specify the location or extent of the ingress and egress requested by Iowa-Illinois. Iowa-Illinois requested condemnation of the easement together with the permanent and perpetual right of ingress and egress to and from said property for the purpose of constructing, operating and maintaining said transmission line and associated wires and equipment incident to the operation and maintenance of said transmission line. The location of the ingress and egress route was not specified. The ingress and egress right which Iowa-Illinois seeks is known as a secondary easement, an incident to its easement for the transmission line itself. As one authority explains: The right to enter upon the servient tenement for the purpose of repairing or renewing an artificial structure, constituting an easement, is called a secondary easement, a mere incident of the easement that passes by express or implied grant, or is acquired by prescription. The owner of the dominant estate may enter on the servient tenement, and there do any act necessary for the proper user of the easement. This secondary easement can be exercised only when necessary, and in such a reasonable manner as not to needlessly increase the burden upon the servient tenement. The grant of the easement carries with it by implication whatever incidental right is necessary to its beneficial enjoyment, provided the grantor has power to bestow it. Thompson, Real Property § 428, at 706 (1961). See also 25 Am.Jur.2d Easements and Licenses § 86, at 492-93 (1966): In order that the owner of the easement may perform the duty of keeping it in repair, he has the right to enter the servient estate at all reasonable times to effect the necessary repairs and maintenance. . . of the easement. Such right is an incident of the easement, and is sometimes called a secondary easement. See generally Nixon v. Welch, 238 Iowa 34, 40-43, 24 N.W.2d 476, 479-80 (1947) (implied easement to enter land subject to waterway easement for purposes of maintaining flowage); Bina v. Bina, 213 Iowa 432, 437, 239 N.W. 68, 70 (1931) (right to enter to maintain the private right of way). This secondary easement right may be obtained as an incident to an easement acquired by eminent domain, as well as one obtained by conveyance. The right of way for a transmission line includes the right to maintain and service the line. Every reason of public policy in favor of ways of necessity for ingress and egress over the grantor's lands where he has conveyed inaccessible lands to another applied to a right acquired by eminent domain. 3 Nichols, The Law of Eminent Domain § 11.204, at 11-24, 25 (3rd ed. Sackman 1981). See also Moore v. Indiana and Michigan Electric Co., 229 Ind. 309, 314, 95 N.E.2d 210, 212 (1950) (right of way for transmission line includes right of ingress and egress; principle applies whether required by condemnation or grant). In Iowa, this common-law principle is recognized in Iowa Code section 478.17: Individuals or corporations operating such transmission lines shall have reasonable access to the same for the purpose of constructing, reconstructing, enlarging, repairing, or locating the poles, wires, or construction and other devices used in or upon such line, but shall pay to the owner of such lands and of crops thereon all damages to said lands or crops caused by entering, using, and occupying said lands for said purposes. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the execution of an agreement between the person or company owning or operating such line and the owner of said land or crops with reference to the use thereof. Because of the uncertainty of future requirements of ingress and egress, particularly as to the locations where the secondary easement may be necessary, it is also been referred to as an unlocated easement. See 26 Am.Jur.2d Eminent Domain § 138, at 803 (1966) (A transmission company may acquire by condemnation an unlocated or secondary easement of ingress and egress over land for the purposes of construction and maintenance of this transmission line on such land.) Accord Virginia Electric and Power Co. v. Webb, 196 Va. 555, 563, 84 S.E.2d 735, 741 (1954). There is authority to support a claim for damages, in the condemnation proceedings, for diminution of value in the remaining land due to the existence of a secondary easement. See Draker, 191 Iowa at 1383-84, 182 N.W. at 899 ([T]he probability of the occurrence of damage [by entry to maintain an easement] in the future affects the market value of the property and may be taken into consideration by the jury in arriving at its [condemnation] verdict.). SMB did not, however, challenge the amount of condemnation damages. In fact, it did not even appear in the proceedings to assert a claim for such damages. It merely boycotted the proceedings, contending the lack of legal description rendered the notice of condemnation void. The issue, therefore, is not whether SMB was entitled to damages for this secondary easement, but simply whether the notice of condemnation was defective for failing to describe it. In other words, was the condemnation notice adequate to comply with the requirement that it describe the particular land or portion thereof sought to be condemned under Iowa Code § 472.9? The general rule is that the ingress and egress routes need not be described in condemnation proceedings: When, as usually happens, only part of a particular parcel of land is sought to be taken, it is not necessary to describe the entire parcel, but only that part of it which is required for the particular use. Neither is it necessary to describe property which will be damaged if the proposed improvement is constructed. .... Where a right of way is sought to be acquired it is essential that the courses and distances be accurately set forth and the termini fixed with definiteness and certainty. However, where an accurately described easement is set forth, the description of ingress and egress to the easement sought does not readily admit of detailed description. The location of such a right would of necessity vary from time to time, from season to season, and be subject to change depending upon the exigencies then existing. 6 Nichols, supra § 26.112, at 26-60, 61. In Otter Tail Power Company v. Malme, 92 N.W.2d 514 (N.D.1958), this precise issue was raised; the location of the proposed transmission line was specifically described, but the ingress and egress routes were not. The court noted the practical problems in requiring a description of the ingress and egress rights discussed in Nichols. It also relied upon the principle of the secondary easement and concluded it was not a separate and distinct interest required to be sought through condemnation but a natural incident to the easement itself. Therefore, the court reasoned, the utility company acquired the rights of ingress and egress despite the fact they were not described. There are serious practical problems in adopting SMB's argument that Iowa-Illinois must describe the ingress and egress routes to be used. A utility looking to the future in attempting to assess its needs for access would either have to condemn enough routes to guarantee access to all points on the easement, condemn specific access routes as they became necessary, or use a combination of these alternatives. The first would obviously be cost prohibitive and would encumber large numbers of tracks which might never be needed for access. The second alternative would also be unworkable, in view of the need to make immediate repairs, particularly on an electric transmission line. Failure of the notice to describe the secondary easement did not render the proceedings void, and SMB is bound by them. Of course, any future use of the secondary easement must be reasonable, and will entitle the owner to recovery for damages resulting. Iowa Code § 478.17.