Laredo, TX Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Laredo Code of Ordinances Sec. 28-233, part of Article IX (Public Right-of-Way Management), Division 8, requires any non-CTP right-of-way user, meaning any private party other than a certified telecommunications provider, to hold a minor encroachment license before installing a wire telecommunications system by boring, open-cut trenching, or aerial deployment in or over the public right-of-way. Building Development Services issues the license and sets its terms. Absent a separate agreement with the city, licensed wiring or conduit cannot exceed four and one-half inches in external diameter unless the department grants an exception on a showing of need, and a fiber optic conduit license runs for a five-year term with a five-year renewal option; the license itself cannot be transferred or assigned without city council approval.

50 per linear foot of encroachment for the first year after enactment, rising each year by the Consumer Price Index, and the license carries a separate $500 processing fee under Sec. 28-233(e). A dedicated city communications officer, per Sec. 28-234, fields public complaints about licensees' use of the right-of-way, audits licensee operations for compliance, and reports to the city manager and council. Because Division 8 sits inside the same Article IX enforcement structure as the article's general right-of-way permitting rules, a licensee that fails to secure required article permits faces the escalating fee-penalty schedule set out in Sec. 28-216, described below.