Sumter County, FL Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Section 20-87 sets the general permitting rule for private use of the county's road rights-of-way. Subsection (a)(1) requires a permit for the construction, installation or maintenance of any public utility, or any other facility, structure, driveway, pavement or object in the road right-of-way, unless the county itself builds or maintains it, which covers everything from a sidewalk encroachment to a mailbox, fence or landscaping feature placed inside the right-of-way line. Subsection (a)(2) assigns permit issuance to the Sumter County Public Works Department, and (a)(3) makes the applicant responsible for locating every other utility or facility already in the right-of-way and for protecting those facilities during the work.

Subsection (b) then splits permits into types: a utility location permit for gas, telephone, sewer and water lines, which discourages open cuts across paved county roads, requires county approval of any open-cut repair, and requires a traffic-control plan approved by Public Works before work starts, built to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices standard; and a separate driveway permit track for new or reconstructed driveway connections. The rule was adopted by Ordinance No. 2008-01, § 7 in January 2008 and amended by Ordinance No. 2008-20, § 1 later that same year.