Utility-related items in front yards

[sonnguyen]

We have an OpenBand "vault" access in our front yard that we were never notified about at any time. It's a concrete panel about 2ft x 1ft and located several feet from our mailbox. The reason we haven't dealt with it until now is because we've had much bigger issues with Van Metre concerning the construction of our house.

Are they allowed to put these vault accesses and related utility items (like the big green things--are these electrical transformers?) without telling us first?

I spoke with OpenBand and they said that I needed to check with Van Metre. Van Metre pointed the finger at the developer. Somewhere along the line, I was directed to the HOA. It's like a big mess of finger-pointing. OpenBand says the developer knew about the access vault locations long before any land was being dug up. I have no idea who to contact about this issue. I just want to know what the rules are concerning utility boxes, vault accesses, etc.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[vacliff]

Sonnguyen-
Hello again! As far as utilty boxes on your property. Phone boxes, cable boxes, electric utility boxes, and fire hydrants are all located on homeowners lots throughout the community. There is nothing you can do about it. When I chose the lot I am on, I looked at the developer's plans for the lots and specifically selected one that did NOT have the big green electric box. All these things are located on the plats for the streets, but I had to ask for it.

As far as the Openband boxes, my guess is they are treated like any other utility and cannot be moved. I would also guess that if you saw the developer's plat for your lot, it would have indicated it.

As far as who is responsible, it would have been known and located there by Openband and the developer. The HOA is not responsible, nor is your builder. Whether your salesperson knew it was there and chose not to disclose it, I can't say.
Cliff

[mlfrank]

I'm not sure it will make you feel any better to hear this, but when we signed our contract in January (Southern Walk SF), the salesperson made an effort to point out that while it doesn't look like there are any of those boxes on our lot, they can not promise that there won't be some put there once they build - no matter what the plat/drawings indicate. They did say that is there is a green utility box on your lot they will landscape around it.

We too tried to pick a lot without those items, but since the builder makes no promises, we are just hoping for the best.