Put the Legos away?

One of the nice things about Legos is they let you build a house anywhere you want. Conservation easements, however, do not.

That's a relatively standard and straightforward part of many easements. But people don't always take the standard and straightforward path. For example, U.S. Tax Court recently determined you cannot deduct the value of a conservation easement that permits the landowner to build 11 residences with extra amenities such as pool and pool house, sheds, garage, gazebo, utilities, tennis court, roads and fences for each house within a two-acre area that could go anywhere on 500 conserved acres.

Even the land trust's prior review of location, general consistency with the stated conservation purposes and some other review criteria was insufficient for the Tax Court judge to declare that all the structures were consistent with a perpetual conservation easement. So put the Legos away. When it comes to land covered by conservation easements, you really can't build a house anywhere you want. And you can't build dozens of additional structures like picnic pavilions, service roads, docks, wildlife blinds and stands, water courses and walkways anywhere and of any size. Land conservation requires significant limitations on structures in scope, scale and location.

As the recent Tax Court case illustrates, building rights can sometimes be a tricky thing for land trusts, landowners and conservation easements to navigate. Questions about permitted extent, use, size and location abound. The Land Trust Alliance is working in court to bring clarity to the situation. In the meantime, though, please know we have some practical advice for concerned parties. You can access that guidance as part of our Practical Pointers series.

Maybe think of that resource as instructions for your Lego set. Because once you get it built, you're going to want to let it stand for a while.