Winter Haven, FL Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Sec. 15-42 sets the baseline rule for private work in the public right-of-way: only an authorized city employee may build, repair, move or remove a structure on, in or under a street, including the adjacent right-of-way, without first getting a permit from the City Manager. Sec. 15-43 layers a companion rule specifically for breaking, cutting, undermining or otherwise injuring a paved or hard-surfaced street, highway or sidewalk, requiring a City Manager permit that spells out exactly what injury to the surface the work will cause, and the permit issues only once the applicant has met every requirement of the division.

Before either permit issues, Sec. 15-44 requires a competent engineer, at the City Manager's direction, to estimate the full cost of repairing the injury the work is expected to cause, and the applicant must deposit that estimated amount in cash or another approved form of financial security with the city auditor and clerk before the permit is granted. Once the permitted work is done, Sec. 15-45 has the City Manager arrange for the street, highway or sidewalk to be repaired in a first-class manner and pay for that repair out of the applicant's deposit.

A franchised quasi-public corporation, such as a utility, gets its own track under Sec. 15-46: it can secure a standing permit to break or cut paved streets for necessary repairs to its own facilities, but a nighttime emergency repair requires a bond covering the future deposit, to be posted the next time city offices are open.