Colusa County, CA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

070, Driveways and Access Roads Standards, sets out how those driveways must be built. Subsection F is explicit: driveways entering a public road or street shall comply with all requirements of an Encroachment Permit issued by the Department of Public Works. The same section folds a full design package around that permit requirement: driveways must enter the fronting public road as close to a right angle, or radial line on a curve, as the terrain allows; they must be built so stormwater from the roadway does not drain down the driveway and stormwater from the private lot does not drain onto the roadway except through the ditch or gutter line; sight distance has to be adequate for a 15-mile-per-hour design speed; driveways should run parallel to elevation contours rather than cut across them where feasible; and the maximum driveway grade should be 15 percent.

Subsection G closes the loop, requiring that driveways and access roads comply with the requirements of the Colusa County Department of Public Works generally, meaning the department's own encroachment permit standards, not just the Zoning Code's design list, govern final approval. Because the trigger for this chapter is average natural slope rather than zoning district, the encroachment permit requirement reaches new driveways in the foothill communities and rural fringes of the county, including areas near Stonyford, Lodoga, and the hillside portions outside Arbuckle and Maxwell, wherever a parcel's slope exceeds 15 percent.