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Question for those of you that know something about private property rights...
Verizon is coming through the neighborhood, rolling out FTTP (fiber-optic to the premises, AKA "FIOS"). Apparently my front yard was the primary work zone yesterday. I came home to find a flower/mulch bed dug up and some shrubs displaced. In their place was a 6' tall piece of orange plastic conduit sticking straight up into the air and 3 other very large holes.
No biggie, the contractor did leave a note saying that they would clean up after finishing.
Sure enough, I came home today to find the holes patched with sod, shrubs replanted (albeit missing mulch) and a rather strange oddity... a box planted in my front lawn.
I know planting a box with an exposed top is common practice for this type of install, but usually it's placed in the right-of-way (the area between the sidewalk and the street). But in this case, it is in the corner of my front lawn and well inside the property line. I find this irritating because there is an drainage basin easement next to my property on that side that this could have easily been planted in, had it been moved just a few feet. Or they could have routed the cable under the sidewalk and planted it where it's supposed to go, in the right of way.
So, here's my question... am I within my rights to demand that the contractor move it? I think they have 'eminent domain' rights to go onto my property, but I didn't think they could leave something exposed like that without my permission. Additionally, if I ask them to move it and they refused, could I be held liable for damages if I relocate their box to the street on my own? It is my property after all and it's not like they asked.
Just curious if anyone has any experience in this area. It truly ticks me off that even with some of the highest property taxes in the state, these jokers have any right to walk onto my property, damage landscaping and can do it even though I'm not a customer of Verizon.
Verizon is coming through the neighborhood, rolling out FTTP (fiber-optic to the premises, AKA "FIOS"). Apparently my front yard was the primary work zone yesterday. I came home to find a flower/mulch bed dug up and some shrubs displaced. In their place was a 6' tall piece of orange plastic conduit sticking straight up into the air and 3 other very large holes.
No biggie, the contractor did leave a note saying that they would clean up after finishing.
Sure enough, I came home today to find the holes patched with sod, shrubs replanted (albeit missing mulch) and a rather strange oddity... a box planted in my front lawn.
I know planting a box with an exposed top is common practice for this type of install, but usually it's placed in the right-of-way (the area between the sidewalk and the street). But in this case, it is in the corner of my front lawn and well inside the property line. I find this irritating because there is an drainage basin easement next to my property on that side that this could have easily been planted in, had it been moved just a few feet. Or they could have routed the cable under the sidewalk and planted it where it's supposed to go, in the right of way.
So, here's my question... am I within my rights to demand that the contractor move it? I think they have 'eminent domain' rights to go onto my property, but I didn't think they could leave something exposed like that without my permission. Additionally, if I ask them to move it and they refused, could I be held liable for damages if I relocate their box to the street on my own? It is my property after all and it's not like they asked.
Just curious if anyone has any experience in this area. It truly ticks me off that even with some of the highest property taxes in the state, these jokers have any right to walk onto my property, damage landscaping and can do it even though I'm not a customer of Verizon.