Mebane, NC Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Mebane UDO Section 4-3(D) treats right-of-way and easement encroachments separately from setback encroachments in Section 4-3(C). Utility easements are the one exception where a private owner may place a fence without a foundation without a separate right-of-way agreement, since the easement already exists for the utility lines, boxes, structures, and substation buildings it serves. Anywhere the encroachment sits within a public street right-of-way itself, item four requires an executed encroachment agreement signed by all parties before anything is built, whether the jurisdiction belongs to the City of Mebane or to the North Carolina Department of Transportation on a state-maintained street.

Drainage maintenance and utility easements get their own rule for water-related improvements such as boat docks, covered separately under item two of the same section. If a utility provider later needs to repair or replace its lines and damages a private encroachment structure in the process, Section 4-3(D)(3) puts the cost of repairing or replacing that structure on the person who owns it, not the utility. The same Article 4 dimensional standards also require that no fence, wall, shrub, or tree placed near a right-of-way obstruct the horizontal or vertical sight distance at an intersection. These provisions were last amended June 3, 2024 in the city's Total UDO compilation, current through June 1, 2026.