A contractor came down my street in Brentwood yesterday marking the gas lines at every house. He said the city is about to put a sidewalk in. I'm good with having a sidewalk installed, but my house has landscaping in the right of way (it was there when we moved in) all the way up to the curb. I assume they'll just plow it down if I don't move it myself. There's also a sprinkler head or two that would probably be in the path of where the sidewalk will be. That probably needs to be moved, too, right?

Anyone have prior experience with this?

This is a post that was on the Brentwood listserv.

Quote:

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What you are asking about is the City Right-of-Way (ROW) between the
street and your front property line. The real question is where does
your property stop and the ROW begin.

Usually your property line is 25 feet from the front wall of your house,
not counting small front porches. This distance is known as the front
yard setback, and it is required. You are not allowed to put structures
(like carports) in the front yard setback. There are also side and rear
yard setbacks, typically 5 feet.

The precise way to find your front property line is to refer to the
survey you got as part of purchasing your house. It will show you the
distance from your house to your property line.

Even though you do not technically own it, you are required to maintain
the ROW that is adjacent to your property. The ROW is where they put
utility poles, cable boxes, fire hydrants, street signs, etc., and, of
course, sidewalks.

If they wanted to put a sidewalk on your property, then they would have
to negotiate an easement with you and pay you for it. Since the
sidewalks will be going on City property (the ROW), they do not need an
easement.

I hope that clears things up.

Cheers,

(I was a Code Officer for a while...)


Thu May 18, 2017 8:21 am (PDT) . Posted by:

We live on the 1400 block of Alguno Rd and were just told by the gas
utility that a sidewalk will be installed in our front yard. Is anyone
else being told this on their street? Does anyone know how far into our
yards the city or utility easements are?

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Here is link to proposed sidewalks.
http://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=02eecf190f5241f19f92492d63ba5ce2%20

Yes, they will tear up your landscape and your irrigation as well. It sucks, but very rarely will they do you any favors in this department. I'd cap your heads and close off your irrigation zones out there until they are done and then you can adjust your system. They are more than likely going to damage it quite a bit.

Thanks y'all. I guess I'd better figure out a way to transplant the plants I want to keep. Oh, and Potcake, I may or may not be married to the person who sent that initial email. Ha.

I did remove the names just in case.

99% of time on residential street the R.O.Wis 9 ' 6" from back of curb.
Other posters are correct. The right of way is city property.

Just an update: Spoke to the guy from the city who's in charge of the sidewalk project. He said the plants will be dug up unless we move them (as expected). The city will, however, move the sprinkler heads, so that's something. He said it's too much of a hassle to get every homeowner to move the sprinklers in time on their own, so they have a contractor who does it before the sidewalk goes in.

That's great to hear. Good on them for taking care of that.