Building Easement Inventory
Establish Easement Inventory
To ensure land use decisions are made with a full understanding of the potential impacts and opportunities presented by surrounding land uses.
An updated inventory ensures that the land management intentions of the property owner are recognized and respected.
The inventory can also be used to make land use decisions that minimize impact to natural areas and optimize placement of new construction or new designated open space and natural areas.
An updated inventory helps ensure that the work of previous land-use planners and board members is recorded and considered in further land-use decisions.
An updated inventory helps to avoid accidental development approvals on lands encumbered by conservation easements, which has happened in some communities in the past.
Established yearly Benchmark, Goal, Steps for completion Playbook
Creating an inventory can take 6 to 24 months or more to complete, depending on the number of easements, the inventory method used, and the volunteer, staff, or consulting resources available to complete the work.
Time requirements can also vary based on the condition of property records in the municipality and the availability of online deed records at the county level.
Municipal staff and/or volunteer time is needed to build an inventory and coordinate efforts with local land trusts and similar organizations.
Possibly allocating GIS resources to map easements if these resources are available through partner organizations.
Playbook Steps
Step 1: Plan the municipal role in developing the inventory.
Designate a municipal representative or team to lead/coordinate inventory efforts.
Identify county, land trust and other easement-holder partners operating in the municipality.
Engage the The Nebraska Environmental Trust.
Step 2: Compile the easement inventory list.
As part of the planning effort, compile an easement inventory by identifying and locating existing easements and compiling the easement agreements. It is likely that one or more of the partners you have engaged will have access to this information.
Step 3: Create a database can be used as a reference in local-level land use decision-making.
This database should include, at a minimum, the essential information from the easement agreements, including the location (block, lot, address, x,y coordinates, etc.); restrictions on each parcel; the type of easement (conservation, agricultural, historical, trail, etc.); owner’s name and contact information, and size of the easement, especially if it covers only a part of a property. Should the municipality intend to map its inventory using GIS, the database should be designed so as to easily translate into the mapping program. Having photographs of initial conditions on the property can help with monitoring and evaluation in the future.
Depending on the role each municipality plays in easement monitoring and evaluation, it may be worth making note of easements that may require special attention or should be prioritized due to the type of easement or its location.
Step 4: Work with program partners to ensure the routine database updates.
Resources
is web-enabled map that shows the relative ecological importance of every parcel of land in the state. This could be a useful resource in identifying and prioritizing conservation lands.
is a similar web-enabled map that targets agricultural lands in the state for preservation based on a number of factors including current status, vulnerability, present threats, and stability.
The Nebraska Environmental Trust A statewide environmental land trust, whose mission is to provide landowners with information and tools to permanently protect natural, historic and scenic resources in Nebraska.