Chesapeake, VA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

The permit sits in the same right-of-way article that governs street cuts and utility work. Sec. 1(a) lets the director of development and permits, or a designee, approve privately owned "entryway structures" and "ornamental features" in the right-of-way, defined in subsection (c) as guardhouses and similar roofed structures marking a subdivision, shopping center or industrial park entrance, and decorative devices such as monuments, statues, gardens, walls, trellises and benches; signs are excluded and handled separately under the zoning ordinance. Approval turns on seven criteria: submitted plans and elevations reviewed at the director's discretion with input from the director of planning on quality and aesthetics, proof the owner can finance construction and upkeep, a cash bond or surety sized to cover removal if the structure overstays its permit, an agreement to relocate or remove the feature on the city's request and to indemnify the city for related damages, an obligation to maintain the surrounding right-of-way vegetation, a bar on encroaching into utility or public-service easements without written consent, and a finding that the feature will not impede traffic, hinder visibility or interfere with right-of-way maintenance.

Subsection (b) lets the director of public works or director of development and permits remove any unlawfully placed structure, hold it, and mail notice to the owner giving a chance to reclaim it after paying removal and storage costs; unclaimed items may be disposed of. The section was rewritten in full by Ord. No. 03-O-034 on April 8, 2003, and most recently amended by Ord. No. 23-O-101 on October 24, 2023.