Santa Clarita, CA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Chapter 13.18 of the Santa Clarita Municipal Code, Excavations and Encroachments, governs any private excavation, facility, or encroachment placed in a City highway. Section 13.18.010 applies the chapter to permits for making excavations and for placing, constructing, testing, repairing, changing, monitoring, removing, or abandoning facilities or encroachments in a highway. Under Section 13.18.030, each applicant must file a plat with the permit application showing the highways involved and the exact location and dimensions of the proposed excavation, facility, or encroachment, plus any other details the Director requires; the Director can waive the plat only for service-connection excavations or trouble-location repairs.

The code also protects new pavement: Section 13.18.035 bars new encroachments in a City street for five years after new construction or a rehabilitation/overlay, and for two years after a slurry seal, except in emergencies at the City Engineer's discretion; any approved encroachment in that window must meet the City's expanded pavement repair requirements. For true emergencies, Section 13.18.130 lets a person make an excavation necessary to preserve life or property before a permit issues, so long as the permit application follows by the next business day. Section 13.18.120 requires every applicant to sign a statement agreeing to remove or relocate the facility, at the applicant's cost, if it later interferes with the public's use of the highway, unless the applicant holds an easement senior to the highway easement. Utility undergrounding is addressed in Section 13.18.140, and Section 13.18.150 lets the Director impose additional site-specific requirements to prevent conflicts with other permit holders.