Rights of Way

I got a very interesting question to a complicated issue a few weeks ago about rights of way. At this point, the way I understand our city’s right-of-way is – at least on our residential streets – the area essentially 20-25 feet from the center of the street up into our yard. So if you measured 20-25 feet (depending on how the area was platted) from the center of your street up into your lawn, the area within is a city right-of-way. It is considered our property in that we must maintain it although we do not pay property taxes on that land.

Usually the issue of rights-of-way arises when landscaping on your property needs maintenance. The bottom line is that we as homeowners must maintain the trees and shrubs on our property that are next to sidewalks and the roadway. Things that would obstruct the sidewalk for walkers or be dangerous to bicyclers, like a low-hanging branches or overgrown shrubs need to be cut back by the homeowner. Likewise, if a shrub at a corner or intersection gets too wide or tall and obstructs the view of traffic making it difficult or dangerous to turn, you must cut the shrub or tree back so that drivers can see traffic.

Although we’ve got maintain trees and shrubs, we must have permission from the city to completely remove a shrub or cut down a tree.