Roanoke, VA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

City Code § 30-9 lets the city manager issue permits or licenses authorizing sidewalk and driveway encroachments, meaning structures built by a property owner that extend into a public street or alley right-of-way. The permit runs to the owner of the encroachment and passes to that owner's grantees, assignees or successors in interest, so a buyer of the property inherits both the benefit of an existing encroachment permit and its conditions. The city manager can only authorize an encroachment if it is built so that it does not create an obstruction or safety hazard for motor vehicles or pedestrians, meaning an encroachment that blocks sightlines or narrows a sidewalk below a safe width is not eligible regardless of how the applicant designs it.

Every permit or license issued under this section is revocable at the pleasure of the city, meaning the city manager can pull it without cause, and issuance is conditioned on the applicant's agreement to indemnify and hold the city, its officers, employees and agents harmless from claims for injuries or property damage arising from the encroachment. The city manager can also require the applicant and any successors to carry general public liability insurance naming the city as an additional insured, in whatever policy limits the city manager considers appropriate for that particular encroachment. Critically, none of this relieves the encroachment's owner of ordinary negligence liability: § 30-9 specifically states that authorization by the city manager does not excuse the owner from responsibility for their own negligence connected to the encroachment.