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

16 of the Miramar Land Development Code, in the Chapter 3 subdivision-processes article, opens with a blanket rule: encroachments such as fences, walls, sheds, signs and landscaping are barred from any platted public utility easement adjacent to a roadway right-of-way, whether that right-of-way is private or public. The section then gives the city manager or a designee discretion to issue a revocable license agreement letting a property owner encroach into a platted utility easement, or any other easement reserved for utility or traffic-control purposes, but only when three conditions are all met.

First, the city must determine the encroachment on the utility easement is de minimis in nature. Second, the encroachment has to be the result of a structure or house that was permitted or approved and that met the setback requirements in force when that permit was issued, so the section targets existing improvements caught inside an easement rather than new construction seeking a shortcut around setbacks. Third, every utility holding rights to the affected easement must consent in writing before the license issues. 16 states plainly that neither the city nor the utility owes the property owner or occupant any liability, repair or replacement for what gets torn out.

The provision traces to Ordinance No. 17-07, § 6, adopted November 14, 2016, and carried forward through the code's later supplements including Ordinance No. 20-08. Property owners who discover an existing fence or shed sitting inside a utility easement should apply to the city manager's office rather than assume the improvement is grandfathered in; without the written license and utility sign-off, the structure remains an unauthorized encroachment subject to removal at the owner's own expense.