Wauwatosa, WI Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

42, Encroachments, governs any private use of city-owned land, rights-of-way or easements, which covers the parkway strips and public right-of-way where sidewalks and driveway approaches sit. 010 flatly bars any person, firm or corporation from encroaching on city land, right-of-way or easement without authorization from the common council, tracing to Ordinance O-76-17 of 1976. 020, describing the proposed encroachment. A nonrefundable fee set by the city's fee schedule is due to the city treasurer when the encroachment involves a retaining wall or any structure that itself requires a building permit; the board can waive that fee only where it finds unusual or extraordinary circumstances justify it, a waiver added by Ordinance O-96-1 in 1996.

030 requires the property owner to sign an encroachment agreement, drafted by the city attorney, which still needs final approval from the common council after the board of public works makes its recommendation. 040 requires the city clerk to record that encroachment agreement in the Milwaukee County register of deeds' office, tying the authorization to the land itself rather than to the current owner personally. 050 gives the city the right to remove it and, where the encroachment can reasonably be traced to the property owner or tenant, to place the removal cost as a lien against the abutting property, on top of any other remedy the city has.