Janesville, WI Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Section 34-61 lets any person who owns or occupies a building for business purposes place a canopy, marquee or awning over the sidewalk fronting that business, so long as it complies with the City's canopy and awning regulations and any other applicable Code provisions. Those technical standards live in Section 10-28. A canopy or marquee must clear at least ten feet between the sidewalk grade and the lowest point of the structure, and no part of it may extend past a point three feet short of the vertical plane rising from the curb; it must be built entirely of incombustible materials, hang from the building with no supports resting on the sidewalk, and drain toward the building so no water discharges onto the sidewalk.

An awning gets a shorter seven-foot clearance and a one-foot setback from the curb-line plane, and it may be hinged to swing back against the building or supported on poles fastened to the sidewalk; the owner, not the City, bears the cost of any damage to the awning from street or sidewalk maintenance, repair or snowplowing unless the City was negligent. Section 10-28(d) requires any such structure to be kept in a safe, secure and good state of repair at all times, and Section 10-28(e) makes the owner responsible for indemnifying the City against claims arising from installing, maintaining or removing it. The Building Inspector must approve the manner any sign or appendage is attached to a canopy or marquee under Section 10-28(b)(3).