Easements
What an easement can and can't take away
Access, utility and drainage rights each read differently. Where to find them in a title report, and which to ask about before you bid.
Fiorella Vannucci6 min read
Real estate and land use · Napa County
Read what the land allows before you sign
Fiorella Vannucci advises buyers, sellers and landlords on easements, zoning and use permits, so the property you are paying for can be used the way you plan.
Recorded
A shared-driveway easement, signed before closingPermitted
A second dwelling on a hillside lotCleared
An old lien that stood in the way of a saleWithdrawn
A county notice over a barn with a permit
Sample matters, shown to illustrate the work. Every parcel, permit and title is different; past results don't guarantee a similar outcome.
Where permits are decided
Napa County and its five cities
- County of Napa
- City of Napa
- American Canyon
- Yountville
- St. Helena
- Calistoga
On the record
What I say, and the matter that shows it
- Easements · Sample matter
An easement is only as good as its recording.
A buyer of ten acres was told the neighbor's driveway crossing was always allowed. No paper said so. A written access easement was recorded before closing, and the title policy listed it.
- Zoning · Sample matter
Zoning gets read before the offer, not after.
A buyer wanted visitors at a three-acre vineyard. The parcel allowed a home and vines, not public tastings. She learned that in week one and renegotiated the price for the use she could have.
- Boundaries · Sample matter
A survey and a deed should tell one story.
A seller's fence stood six feet past the recorded line. A boundary agreement, signed by both owners and recorded, closed the gap before the house was listed.
- Permits · Sample matter
A permit follows the land, so I check it.
A seller's pool house had no final inspection on file. The permit was closed out before the listing, and the buyer's lender never raised it.
Verdicts
How three matters ended, and what each depended on
Permitted
A second dwelling on a hillside lot
The use permit came through after one hearing, with the access-road condition we had raised in writing weeks before.
2025 · Sample matter
Permits depend on the parcel, the county and what neighbors say at the hearing.
Recorded
A shared well and driveway across ten acres
Three owners signed one agreement on upkeep and cost-sharing. It now sits in the county's records, and the lender's title policy lists it.
2024 · Sample matter
Every owner has to sign; this one took four months.
$22,500
A price credit after a boundary survey
The survey showed the driveway ran partly over a neighbor's lot. The seller credited the buyer while an easement was drafted.
2025 · Sample matter
Gross credit, before the fee. The survey was the buyer's own cost.
Sample matters, shown to illustrate the work; the places, parties and figures are invented. Past results don't guarantee a similar outcome, and every parcel, permit and title is different.
Insights
Notes from the permit counter
Zoning“Zoned agricultural” is where the question starts
A zoning label lists what's allowed, what needs a permit and what's off the table. What to ask the planning counter before an offer.
Fiorella Vannucci5 min read
Send the parcel and what you hope to do with it
Send the address or parcel number, the contract if there is one, and the use you have in mind. I read it and write back with what I see and what the work would cost.