Do you need a right-of-way permit for plumbing work in a Mesa street or alley? City Code 9-1-2

Subsection (A) makes it unlawful for anyone to grade, pave, fill or level a street or alley within the right-of-way or public easements, to construct, alter or repair pavement, sidewalks, curbs, driveways, gutters, landscaping, "sewers, water mains, or other structures" there, or "to make therein any excavation or in any manner disturb or obstruct the same" without a Right-of-Way Permit. The rest of the section sets the process:

• Apply (B). Submit an application and engineering plans to the Development and Sustainability Director. The City Engineer reviews them and approves the permit if they meet the chapter and the right-of-way improvement standards.
• Inspection (C, D). All work is subject to the City Engineer's inspection and must follow the permit's terms and the right-of-way improvement standards.
• Proof on site (E). The permittee must show the permit, with a description of the work and construction limits, on demand.
• Revocation (F). The City Engineer may revoke a permit if the right-of-way is needed for a city project, if the permittee breaks the terms, or if delays show a lack of diligence. In that case the city can restore the area after 15 days written notice and bill the permittee its documented costs.
• Arizona 811 and records (G, H). Permittees must belong to the Arizona Location Service and keep accurate record drawings of their facilities.

Related sections add three duties. Under 9-1-3, the permittee gives the Engineering Department 24 hours notice of starting, leaves the area safe, and keeps signal lights and barricades working. Under 9-1-4, the permit is not issued until all fees in the Schedule of Fees and Charges are paid. Under 9-1-8, the City Engineer can issue a written Stop Work Order for work contrary to the chapter or presenting a health or safety threat, and continuing after one is subject to penalties.

Title 8 adds a sewer-specific rule in 8-4-4. It is unlawful to dig up a street or alley to connect to the sewer without a permit from the City Engineer, to leave it unrestored after having a permit, or to tamper with sewer equipment.

• Right-of-way. Land the public uses for streets, alleys and utilities.
• Public easement. A strip on private land where the city or a utility holds rights. 9-1-2 covers these along with streets.
• Permittee. The person or business holding the permit.
• Right-of-way improvement standards. The city's technical standards for work in the public way. The section refers to them without reproducing them.

Anyone opening the public way, including a plumber tapping the sewer, an owner repairing a lateral under the alley, or a contractor replacing a water service. It does not cover work entirely on private property, which follows the plumbing permit. Who pays for a broken section is a separate question, answered in 8-4-8 and the Valley sewer ownership comparison.

A restaurant needs a new sewer tap. The plumber applies for the right-of-way permit with engineering plans, gives the city 24 hours notice, and keeps barricades and lights working. The city inspects the work. The restoration of the street is part of the permit terms.

A collapsed lateral in the alley. The break is off-property. Under 8-4-8(F), Water Resources makes the repair of the off-property section after a stoppage, so the owner is not the one digging that stretch. The owner still handles permits for work on the on-property pipe.

The edge case. A crew opens the street to reach a leak, and the project runs weeks. The City Engineer finds a lack of diligence. The permit can be revoked and the city can restore the street after 15 days notice at the permittee's cost.

1. 1Decide whether any part of the work is in the street, alley or a public easement. If so, plan the right-of-way permit.
2. 2Have engineering plans ready. The application goes to the Development and Sustainability Director, and Mesa runs its permit applications through the Mesa E-Permit portal. Permit questions go to Development Services at 480-644-4273, the number on the city's Right of Way Management Group page.
3. 3Pay the fees in the city's schedule before the permit issues.
4. 4Confirm Arizona 811 participation and keep record drawings.
5. 5Give 24 hours notice, and keep the permit at the site.

• "The plumbing permit covers the street." It does not.
• "An alley is private." 9-1-2 covers streets and alleys.
• "We can start and paper it later." Starting before the permit adds a separate unauthorized construction fee under 9-1-9. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor under 9-1-11, with a fine up to $2,500, up to six months in jail, or both, and each day of violation is a separate offense.
• "Any tap into the sewer only needs one permit." The sewer connection permit and the right-of-way permit are separate approvals.