Street Department – Encroachment

An encroachment is any excavation, digging, paving, landscaping, and construction of an improvement or placement of personal property within an easement or right of way. Encroachments include, but are not limited to, fences, sidewalks, driveways, mailboxes, newspaper boxes, utility boxes and poles, trees, shrubs, grass, sprinklers and other landscaping improvements.

Right of way means any property owned by or dedicated to the City for the purposes of providing City services and general circulation to the public. Such rights of way include, but are not limited to, the following: public streets and the space between those streets and private property lines, alleys and sidewalks.

An easement is any right created by grant, reservation, agreement, prescription or necessary implication in favor of the City to use the land of another, including but not limited to easements for vehicular access and utilities.

The only items approved to be in a right of way or easement are: 1) driveway, 2) drainage, 3) grass, and 4) gravel.

Some items that are not permitted in a right of way or easement are: 1) berms, 2) shrubs, 3) trees, 4) landscaping, 5) walls, 6) fences, and 7) large rocks.

City crews, such as emergency responders, police, and snow removal, must have access to public streets and areas. It also poses a danger to the general public. All persons doing work in the City rights of way must obtain an Encroachment Permit prior to starting any project. The company or person signing the permit is responsible for all clean up of the right of way after the project is completed. All projects done in the right of way must have a final inspection done before the City will sign off on the Encroachment Permit or before any certificate of occupancy is issued.

It varies, because street rights of way vary. If a street right of way is 60 feet wide, an approximate measurement to the property line is 18 feet from the edge of the pavement. This 18 feet belongs to the City. If a street right of way is 80 feet wide, the approximate measurement is 28 feet from the edge of the pavement. This 28 feet belongs to the City. If a street right of way measures 100 feet wide, the approximate measurement is 38 feet from the edge of the pavement. This 38 feet belongs to the City. Call the Public Works Department at 208-788-9830, ext. 1, to get general information on your street right of way. However, the most accurate way to find your property line is to have it professionally surveyed to locate the property pins.