Riverside County, CA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit issuer
- County Director of Transportation
- Governs
- Unincorporated county highway rights-of-way only
- Permit status
- Revocable, subordinate to county's rights
- Removal cost
- Borne by permittee, not county
Summary
Riverside County requires a permit from the director of transportation before building any driveway, fence, sign, or structure within a county highway right-of-way in the unincorporated area.
No person, firm, corporation, public utility company, public agency or district, or political subdivision, shall make any excavation or backfill in, or construct, install, operate, or maintain any improvement, structure, or encroachment in, on, over, or under, any county-maintained highway or county highway without first obtaining from the director of transportation a permit; and maintaining continuous compliance with the terms and conditions of such permit.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 84 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 12.08 of the Riverside County Code bars anyone from excavating, constructing, installing, operating, or maintaining a driveway, private road, fence, sign, pole, pipeline, or other structure within a county highway right-of-way without a permit from the director of transportation. On county highways, permits go only to public utilities, agencies with easement rights, or applicants the director finds serve the public interest without harming the highway. Permits are revocable, subordinate to the county's prior right to the right-of-way, and the permittee must relocate or remove the encroachment at its own expense when the director requires it. This applies only in unincorporated Riverside County -- Riverside, Temecula, Palm Desert, and the county's other incorporated cities issue their own encroachment permits.
Violations & Fines
Building or maintaining an encroachment in a county highway right-of-way without a permit lets the director of transportation order removal or relocation at the encroachment owner's expense, plus recovery of any county costs incurred.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to build a driveway onto a county road?
Does this rule apply inside the City of Riverside?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Riverside County
California rules heatmap·Compare Riverside County to another location·View the California sidewalk & pedestrian rules overview
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