Mount Prospect, IL Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Section 9.302 of the Village Code starts from a flat prohibition: no person, firm or corporation can erect, construct, cause, create or maintain an obstruction or encroachment on any street, alley, sidewalk, other public right of way or public property, unless section 9.302 itself, a special permit under section 14.311, or another provision of the code authorizes it.

Subsection F is the permit rule. No street, alley, parkway or other public property can be obstructed without a special permit first secured from the director of community development. The fee is set in appendix A, division II. The permit is not valid for more than ninety (90) days after issuance, and the director can approve one renewal of an additional thirty (30) days for an added fee from the same appendix. When the use ends, the permit amount is deducted from the deposit and the difference is returned. A separate permit fee applies to opening a street, sidewalk or alley to connect sewer, water, gas or electric piping.

Subsection D covers building work. An excavation in a street, parkway or alley, or storage of building materials on a street or alley, requires a street obstruction permit from the director of community development, and the permit ends when the building is complete. Materials cannot block a fire hydrant, water valve or manhole or the natural drainage, and no more than one-half of the street width in front of the property can be obstructed, at the discretion of the director of public works. Permit holders must maintain lighted warning lanterns and barricades every night. Mixing mortar or concrete on a sidewalk or street pavement is banned.

Subsection B allows U.S. postal service approved mailboxes in the right of way, with the front face twelve inches from the back of the curb, or twenty-four inches from the pavement where there is no curb, and the bottom of the box forty-eight inches above grade. Subsection A bans encroachments in the state-improved rights of way of Golf Road, Illinois Route 83, Euclid Avenue and others named there.