Lakewood, WA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

LMC 12.04.050(A) states that City right-of-way cannot be blocked, occupied, privately improved or used for access or other purposes unless a permit has been issued. Subsection B requires a right-of-way permit before anyone grades, stockpiles material, alters, constructs, repairs, removes, excavates, places, obstructs, damages or disturbs any structure, utility, facility or improvement in the right-of-way, or undertakes any activity that interferes with the public's free use of it. The City Engineer may grant an annual right-of-way permit for certain recurring activities under subsection (B)(1). Permits convey no vested private right or ownership interest, and every permit must state on its face that the right-of-way remains open to public use except where safety requires a closure, per subsection D.

LMC 12.06.030 backs the permit requirement with a nuisance declaration: any object placed in the right-of-way without the City Engineer's written permission is illegal and a public nuisance, with a narrow carve-out for mailboxes and attached newspaper boxes set as far from the roadway as possible and approved by the City Engineer. The adjoining property owner or the person who placed the object is responsible for removing it and repairing the right-of-way within 48 hours of written notice; the City can remove it at the violator's expense after that window, or immediately without notice if it poses a threat of physical harm.