Maple Grove, MN Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Section 28-23(a) opens with "No person shall" and applies to every street, alley, lane, ditch, gutter, sidewalk and "other public place" inside the corporate limits of Maple Grove. The list of prohibited items is broad: a building, a structure, building materials, wood, dirt, any other material or substance, and "other impediment whatever." Making an excavation or opening in any of those places is covered the same way. A pile of lumber on a boulevard, a stockpile of dirt against the curb and a trench across a public walk all need the permit first.

The permit itself is the obstruction permit described in article IV of Chapter 28, the public right-of-way management article (§§ 28-77 through 28-108). Section 28-87(a) says no person can obstruct or excavate any right-of-way, or install or place anything in it, without the appropriate right-of-way permit. An obstruction permit covers hindering free and open passage over a specified portion of the right-of-way by placing equipment there, for the extent and duration stated in the permit. If you already hold a valid excavation permit for the same project, a separate obstruction permit is not required.

Section 28-23(b) sets the minimum content of the application: it must specify the portion of the sidewalk, street or other public ground to be used and the period for which that ground will be used. Under § 28-88 the city treats an application as complete only with a completed form and attachments, scaled drawings showing the location and area of the project, and payment of the permit fees and costs due. A major project also needs fully engineered plans subject to the city engineer's approval, and the applicant must list the contractors and subcontractors doing the work.

Fees are set under § 28-90 to recover city costs from the city fee schedule, right-of-way degradation and management costs, and § 28-90(b) says no permit issues until all fees are paid. Once issued, the permit must be displayed or available at the work site at all times (§ 28-87(e)). Work cannot run past the permit dates unless a supplementary application is filed before the original permit expires and a new permit or extension is granted (§ 28-87(c)).