Easement Right of Way License Application

An easement gives someone the right to use land for one defined purpose. If you want to put part of a city easement or right-of-way to private use, you will need a license, and those requests go to the city's Right-of-Way & Property Management Division.

Step 1. Review Requirements

Before the city can issue an easement or right-of-way license, your request needs to include each of the items below.

• A completed application that the applicant has signed in front of a notary. Print every name, mailing address, phone number, fax number and email address clearly so staff can move the request along without delay.
• A sketch or written description of the area you want to license, labeled "Exhibit A" and attached to the application. The final license agreement will also need a metes and bounds legal description prepared by a licensed surveyor.
• Insurance, when the city asks for it. The licensee may have to carry Comprehensive General Liability coverage at its own expense with a combined single limit of at least $1,000,000. The policy must list the City as an additional insured with no conditions or limits attached, promise the City 30 days' written notice before it is canceled or changed, and carry an endorsement in which the insurer gives up any right to recover from the City, including through subrogation.
• Signatures from the utility companies named on "Exhibit B." The applicant routes the application to each company and collects the signature of an authorized representative before turning it in to the City. Faxed signatures are fine.
• A short statement on the application form explaining why the license is needed, what kind of easement or right-of-way you want to use privately, and any present or past uses of that strip of land that you know of.
• A copy of your recorded deed for the property next to the easement. Staff use it to confirm ownership and to get the exact name or names for the license agreement, which the City Council must approve.

Step 2. Apply Online

File your request for a "Right of Way License Agreement" in the city's online permit portal. New users register with a working email address, and setting up an account takes roughly five minutes.

What happens next?

When an application is complete and nobody raises an objection, it typically goes to the City Council for a vote six to eight weeks after it is filed.

Application Fees

• The application fee for an easement or right-of-way license is $125.
• Once the license is approved, a fee for the first year may be due, set according to what the licensed area is worth on the market. In some cases the city instead collects a single lump-sum payment when the applicant signs the license.
• You submit the application and pay the fees in the same online portal.

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