Washington County, MN Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Under Sec. 09, Subd. 1(e) of Ordinance No. 188, the county's Right of Way Management Ordinance, a Right of Way Permit is required before a person may effect a temporary or permanent impact or alteration to County right of way, including but not limited to excavating, grading, removal of vegetation, and placement of utilities, utility service connections, signing, structures, or temporary obstructions. That single permit is the umbrella the ordinance uses for private encroachments; the Engineer can additionally require an Excavation/Grading Permit, a Landscaping Permit, and/or an Obstruction Permit for the same project depending on what the work involves.

Applicants must first register with the County under Sec. 06 before any permit issues, and applications go to the Engineer under Sec. 10 with a completed form, scaled drawings, and payment of permit fees, estimated restoration costs, and other management costs. Fees are set by the County Board to recover management, degradation, mapping, and obstruction costs (Sec. 12, Subd. 1), and the Engineer may impose reasonable conditions on issuance to protect the right of way's current and future use (Sec. 11, Subd. 2). Because the ordinance regulates "County Road right of way" specifically, it reaches unincorporated townships and county road corridors; incorporated cities such as Woodbury and Stillwater issue their own private-use or encroachment permits for city streets and sidewalks under their own codes.

A permit denial, revocation, or disputed fee can be appealed in writing to the County Board, which must act at its next regular meeting (Sec. 31).