What do surface rights allow an owner to do?

Surface rights specifically grant the owner the ability to access and utilize the surface area of a parcel of real property. This means the owner has the right to use the land for various purposes, such as building structures, cultivating crops, or conducting other activities that directly take place on the surface.

In contrast, the other options refer to different aspects of property rights that surface rights do not encompass. For instance, controlling mineral rights beneath the property usually requires separate legal provisions and ownership rights that may not be included with surface rights. Likewise, air rights pertain to the space above the surface, which are also distinct from surface rights. Employing tenants for agricultural use could be a function of surface rights but is not a direct definition of what surface rights allow. Overall, option A is the most accurate representation of the function of surface rights in property law.