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

UDC § 124-48(b) sets minimum standards for right-of-way utilization across unincorporated Sarasota County and applies to right-of-way inside incorporated municipalities that the County's roadway system designates for Right-of-Way Use Permit purposes. requires a Right-of-Way Use Permit application for all work within the County right-of-way, describing the ordinance as based on the County's proprietary interest in safeguarding public use of the right-of-way. lists specific permit categories: backing-out parking facilities, which require the applicant to submit a legal instrument holding the County harmless for any lost parking spaces; bus stop benches and public bus shelters; signs that extend or hang over a sidewalk or pedestrian way, which cannot hang lower than eight feet above the surface and cannot extend over a public street right-of-way without a permit; off-site community signs on arterial or collector road frontage, reviewed against the Florida DOT 'Green Book'; subdivision entry signs; special event signs tied to a Temporary Use Permit; culvert permits for residential access driveways in County rights-of-way with open drainage; tree removal or installation permits under the County's Trees Code, Chapter 54, Article XVIII; and Distributed Antennae System facilities, which also answer to Chapter 118, Article IV.

Paragraph (b)(2) exempts County capital improvement projects (except utility construction), routine public-utility maintenance operations (though an approved Temporary Traffic Control Plan is still required for any lane or sidewalk closure), activity on a private road or street, and activity already authorized through subdivision or site development plan approval, other than utility-related construction.