Ask an Orange County Land Use Lawyer about Preservation Easements

September 5, 2017

Developers may find themselves confronting numerous issues as they prepare for a new project. One of those issues may relate to preservation easements. If you are a developer and you want to smooth the way for a new project, you should discuss it with an experienced Orange County land use lawyer. Doing so may make it possible to deal more effectively with a preservation easement or other related issues.

 Preservation easements most often arise when a developer is working on a project that is in or near a historical building. Essentially, state or local law has declared that a certain structure has historical value. This means that making changes to that structure or the area around it may only be possible after gaining approval from various concerned parties which is rarely an easy process. Everyone from local government officials to the city’s preservation society is likely to have an opinion about the proposed project, and most of them are capable of finding a means to protest, alter, or otherwise delay the proceedings.

 These concerns can sometimes be resolved with a few letters or some informal meetings. However, these situations also can become contentious. Lawsuits have been filed over modernization plans, and those are the kinds of headaches that most developers would prefer to avoid. 

Working closely with an Orange County land use lawyer is one of the best ways to minimize these difficulties. When the attorney is involved in the early planning stages of the project, he or she can research the land and the structures on and around it to determine the existence of any preservation easements. This may make it possible for the planning to proceed around the easement so that it will not materially affect the project. If the easement will be affected by the project, then it may be possible to start contacting concerned parties early on to see what sorts of changes are acceptable to them, thereby heading off litigation or other contentious meetings.

Contact the Orange County land use lawyers at FitzGerald Yap Kreditor at (949) 788-8900 today to learn more about land use and preservation easements. With careful planning, it is possible to successfully work with preservation easements so that they don’t delay a project.