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Man who won’t be ‘bullied’ by Comcast holds up neighborhood internet upgrade Login/Join 
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I bet this guy is popular with the neighbors. Any legal rights here?

LAFAYETTE, Colo. — A backyard dispute is keeping residents of one Colorado neighborhood from getting an internet upgrade.

Lafayette resident Andrew O'Connor is refusing to allow Comcast access to his backyard to install fiber optic cables unless he gets paid. O'Connor said Comcast workers were unprofessional when the company first approached him several months ago to install the upgrade. Since then, Comcast told O'Connor's neighbors he's the reason they aren't seeing faster speeds.

O'Connor now says he wants much more than an apology: He wants cold hard cash.

According to O'Connor, Comcast was given exclusive rights by city officials to install fiber optic cables in Lafayette, Colorado. He does not want the company on his private property and said he is blocking workers on principle.

"It’s about a big corporation bullying people and trying to run over people," O'Connor said.

In a statement, Comcast said: "We have an existing franchise agreement with the City [sic] that gives us clear authority to access valid rights of way and easements to maintain or upgrade our infrastructure to ensure our customers’ broadband and communications services are not negatively impacted. We are working directly with the City [sic] to enforce those rights, and to educate this resident so we can complete our work in the area."

LINK: https://wgntv.com/2018/10/27/m...od-internet-upgrade/
 
Posts: 17175 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
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I'm not a lawyer, but if the utility company has an easement, or the city has an easement and the utility company is under contract with the city, I don't see how he can legally bar them from accessing the area.

But I guess he can still be a pain in the butt and drag his feet until a court orders him to let them in. He'll probably be on the hook for legal fees and some fines or damages, though.
 
Posts: 32426 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Tinker Sailor Soldier Pie
Picture of Balzé Halzé
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You know what? Good for him.


~Alan

Acta Non Verba
NRA Life Member (Patron)
God, Family, Guns, Country

Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan

"Once there was only dark. If you ask me, light is winning." ~Rust Cohle
 
Posts: 30297 | Location: Elv. 7,000 feet, Utah | Registered: October 29, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Not as lean, not as mean,
Still a Marine
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If there was an easement and equipment already there, I can see Comcast's point.
Based on the limited information and the holdup, I'm guessing there is not existing equipment, and agree with the guy standing his ground.




I shall respect you until you open your mouth, from that point on, you must earn it yourself.
 
Posts: 3352 | Location: Southern Maine | Registered: February 10, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unapologetic Old
School Curmudgeon
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No easement = fuck off




Don't weep for the stupid, or you will be crying all day
 
Posts: 10719 | Location: TN | Registered: December 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
No, not like
Bill Clinton
Picture of BigSwede
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quote:
internet upgrade.



Fuck comcast. There is nothing about them that would be an upgrade. I wouldn't let them on my property either



 
Posts: 5301 | Location: GA | Registered: September 23, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
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I actually like Comcast, because they've been a good ISP to me. That being said: If Comcast approached me for access with an attitude, which is what it sounds like happened here, I'd likely react the same way.

quote:
Originally posted by BigSwede:
Fuck comcast. There is nothing about them that would be an upgrade.

Sounds like you've had bad experiences with Comcast, so I can understand your attitude, but replacing coax with fiber is definitely an upgrade.

Truth of the matter is ISP experiences vary widely with region, and, sometimes, even locale w/in a region. As I noted, above: I've had very good luck with Comcast. Others: Not so much.

Which reminds me: They're offering to up me to 75Gb/s. I wonder what that's about?



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My SSID is Comcast Sucks


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Posts: 8318 | Location: 18 miles long, 6 Miles at Sea | Registered: January 22, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Tinker Sailor Soldier Pie
Picture of Balzé Halzé
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quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I actually like Comcast, because they've been a good ISP to me.


So you're the one! Smile


~Alan

Acta Non Verba
NRA Life Member (Patron)
God, Family, Guns, Country

Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan

"Once there was only dark. If you ask me, light is winning." ~Rust Cohle
 
Posts: 30297 | Location: Elv. 7,000 feet, Utah | Registered: October 29, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Lighten up and laugh
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I can't blame him, but it sounds like there is an easement.
 
Posts: 7934 | Registered: September 29, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
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quote:
Originally posted by Ackks:

I can't blame him, but it sounds like there is an easement.
That's what Comcast wants you to think, but is it true?



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30544 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Get Off My Lawn
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quote:
Originally posted by Ackks:
I can't blame him, but it sounds like there is an easement.


If there is one, they would have done the work already, unless the owner is using a shotgun to keep them out. But it does not sound like it.

I'm with the others; if no easement exists, screw Comcast, make 'em pay for being assholes in the first place.



"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
 
Posts: 16612 | Location: Texas | Registered: May 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
principle of
Due Process
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I wonder why the lines are going in private property via easements rather than underground in public streets and roads.

Ultimately, they can condemn an easement, like might be done for other utilities.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
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quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
I wonder why the lines are going in private property via easements rather than underground in public streets and roads.

In both of the neighbourhoods in which I grew up, and the one to which my mother moved, later, all the utilities ran on poles that ran along the fence lines separating properties that abutted each other along the backs of the property lines.

Where I live now my property has two easements: One that extends 25' either side of the center line of the roadway, which means it runs about 15' or so into my front yard, and another that runs along the property line between me and a neighbour on one side.

The one up front would not require they enter my property, other than the easement, to work. The one that runs along the property line pretty much would. (I don't recall how wide that easement is, but not wide enough for heavy equipment.)



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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When I worked for a municipal utility, we had people put up fences on our easements. We would first ask them to either put up a gate that we could access or take down the fence. The majority of the time the people didn't realize they had an easement since they couldn't see the water or sewer line (but they should know). Only once did we go to court to have a fence taken down and a above ground pool moved so we could replace a sewer main. The yard was big and they could have moved it but wanted money from us to do it. We won, had the Real Estate agent testify in court that he made them aware of the easement when they bought their home.


Living the Dream
 
Posts: 4011 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: December 06, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
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quote:
Originally posted by oddball:
quote:
Originally posted by Ackks:
I can't blame him, but it sounds like there is an easement.


If there is one, they would have done the work already, unless the owner is using a shotgun to keep them out. But it does not sound like it.

I'm with the others; if no easement exists, screw Comcast, make 'em pay for being assholes in the first place.
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I'm not a lawyer, but if the utility company has an easement, or the city has an easement and the utility company is under contract with the city, I don't see how he can legally bar them from accessing the area.

But I guess he can still be a pain in the butt and drag his feet until a court orders him to let them in. He'll probably be on the hook for legal fees and some fines or damages, though.
quote:
Originally posted by Gibb:
If there was an easement and equipment already there, I can see Comcast's point.
Based on the limited information and the holdup, I'm guessing there is not existing equipment, and agree with the guy standing his ground.
Y'all are assuming that Comcast already has an easement (article just said Internet upgrade) and if they do y'all are assuming they have multiple line rights. If whoever granted the original easement was smart they would not have granted multiple line rights.

Here is what I mean:
  • If the original internet through the neighborhood is somebody else's then Comcast needs to get their own easement
  • If the original internet through the neighborhood is Comcasts AND is old fashioned cable AND Comcast has multiple line rights then they could lay the fiber optic cable. They owe for damages.
  • If the original internet through the neighborhood is Comcasts AND is old fashioned cable AND Comcast lacks multiple line rights then Comcast either needs to get their own easement OR they could be dicks by removing the old cable (i.e. entire neighborhood loses internet) and install fiber optic cable in the exact old location.

    The above is how it works in oil & gas. We must be very specific in our easements to build roads, power lines, gas lines, fiber optic cable, and pipelines when we develop a field. Landowners have become much more sophisticated and multiple line rights are harder to get.

    As with any profession, there is a typically small percentage of bad apples and landmen are no exception. Most are likable people, but I've met a few that would give politicians the moral highground.



    Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

    DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
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    Posts: 23098 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Ya'll can muddy the water all you want with your Internet legal advice , but at the end of the day Comcast is going to bury that fiber eventually .
     
    Posts: 3969 | Location: Down in Louisiana . | Registered: February 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    posted Hide Post
    quote:
    Originally posted by JALLEN:
    I wonder why the lines are going in private property via easements rather than underground in public streets and roads.

    It's not unusual at all for residential developments to have electricity , phone , cable , buried across the rear of the properties .
     
    Posts: 3969 | Location: Down in Louisiana . | Registered: February 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    Picture of maladat
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    quote:
    Originally posted by selogic:
    quote:
    Originally posted by JALLEN:
    I wonder why the lines are going in private property via easements rather than underground in public streets and roads.

    It's not unusual at all for residential developments to have electricity , phone , cable , buried across the rear of the properties .


    Around here, basically none of it's buried, it's all on telephone poles that run along the property lines lengthwise down the middle of each block.

    Even without the added complication of doing it under a road, burying cable is about 10 times as expensive as running it on telephone poles - and harder to upgrade, maintain, and repair.
     
    Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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    quote:
    Ya'll can muddy the water all you want with your Internet legal advice , but at the end of the day Comcast is going to bury that fiber eventually .


    The Comcast folks may have had a similar attitude with that guy and that is what pissed him off. If you have enough money, you can fight these things. Brett Farve who is not known for his intellecutal ability instituted suit regarding burial of fiber optic cable on his property without compensation.
     
    Posts: 17175 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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