When Donna Hartl and her husband bought a vacant lot in Brooksville, Florida, they thought they had found the perfect location for their dream home. Located between Islewood Drive and Richbarn Road, the $17,500 property seemed like a good idea.
“We really wanted to have privacy, not to be out in the world,” Donna Hartl told News Channel 8 reporters. “We just felt that this was the perfect match.”
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But as they prepared to build, the couple ran into an obstacle: a decades-old Duke Energy easement prohibits construction on their new property because of restrictions that adjacent homes can be built on a new transmission line. Now, they have
Mr. Hartl says he did his best. They worked with Hernando County officials and hired an architect to draw up plans for their home. County records confirmed that the land was designated for residential or agricultural use.
“I was getting the green light on everything,” Hartl told reporters. “My property was being shown on the GIS map in the district, I went back, what I could and could not do. I could bring an organized house, a caravan, or I could live with the same family.”
But their plans came to a screeching halt when a neighbor told them that Duke Energy had a lease on the property. At first, county officials insisted he could still build. However, some research uncovered a 1955 document in public records that created a utility easement prohibiting construction within 100 feet of a pole in any way.
What was the result? Almost the entire site is untenable for construction, leaving only a small 600-square-foot corner that cannot accommodate even a modest home due to septic and well requirements. When Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken asked Duke if they wanted to buy the site since they were the only company that could use it, they sent a statement, which said, in summary:
“These solutions and their limitations are in place to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees, while protecting any existing or future equipment located within these facilities to deliver safe, reliable energy. It is important to understand, Duke Energy Florida does not participate in the sale of real estate that may involve our exemption.”