Caldwell, ID Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Caldwell City Code § 10-08-08-4 generally prohibits fencing within the Downtown City Center and Downtown Central Business districts, allowing it only for screening parking lots, outdoor dining areas, trash enclosures, outdoor service and equipment areas, and construction sites under the section's own standards. Subsection (2)(F), Fences in Rights of Way, goes further: there can be no fencing in or on a public right-of-way, or a future public right-of-way, unless the city approves it for outdoor dining purposes or otherwise through an encroachment permit or license agreement.

That clause makes clear an encroachment permit, separate from the outdoor dining permit, is the mechanism for putting a private structure in the downtown right-of-way for any other purpose. Nonconforming fences already in place may stay if kept in good repair and safe condition, but they cannot be replaced except with code-compliant materials. Beyond downtown fencing, Caldwell also runs a broader right-of-way permit under § 12-17-05: any owner or developer doing on- or off-site improvement work, such as street, sidewalk, curb and gutter, sewer, or water line construction, must get Engineering Department approval, submit engineer-stamped plans, a traffic control plan, and proof of at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance naming the city as an additional insured before any work begins in a public right-of-way.