Apple Valley, MN Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Section 96.06 of the Apple Valley Code of Ordinances (Dakota County, Minnesota) covers both obstructions and excavations. An obstruction is defined as placing, storing or maintaining any building, structure or object. An excavation is any digging into, removal from or disturbance of the ground surface of the right-of-way. Without a permit issued by the city, either activity is a public nuisance, and the city decides whether to grant the written permit in its sole discretion, so there is no as-of-right approval.

The permit fee is set in Chapter 35 of the code and applies to permits for excavation within a vehicular traffic roadway area, including curb or gutter systems, or within any pedestrian circulation system, including any sidewalk or pathway. Utility owners are carved out: obstructions and excavations by a person or entity owning or controlling a utility service facility in the right-of-way are regulated elsewhere in the code, in Chapter 97 on right-of-way management.

The code lists several exemptions. A lawfully registered motor vehicle under M.S. Chapter 168 parked in the roadway portion of the right-of-way, or on the part of a driveway within the right-of-way, does not need a permit as long as it is not blocking any portion of a sidewalk or trail. Mobile food units selling from the vehicle do not count as a lawfully registered motor vehicle for this exemption. Excavations in the boulevard for installing mailboxes or irrigation systems and planting trees are also outside the section. Obstructions in the boulevard used to watch the 4th of July parade are exempt from 9:00 a.m. on July 3 to 4:00 p.m. on July 4.

Related sections in the same chapter set fixed rules for specific items. Media vending boxes may not sit on or in any sidewalk or pathway surface in the Ring Route area, and Ring Route customer mailboxes must stand on private property at the edge of the sidewalk.