Does Paradise Valley require a permit to dig in the right-of-way?

Subsection (A) sets the permit rule:

1. 1Unless the code or another law says otherwise, no person, political subdivision or utility may perform any work on, over or under the right-of-way of a public road, street or alley without a Town permit. The right-of-way includes the air space above the surface and the area below it, for roads, streets, sidewalks, recreation paths and other public ways.
2. 2Each permit is limited to a specific site and a duration. Public utilities may get annual permits.
3. 3Continuing or permanent use, work or encroachment in a right-of-way, road, street, alley, drainageway or easement is unlawful without an encroachment permit from the Town Engineer.
4. 4A permit becomes void automatically if work does not begin within 90 days of issuance, unless the permit states a different period. It cannot be sold, transferred or assigned without Town approval, and it may be revocable or conditional.

Subsection (B) says permit and plan check fees are those in the Town's fee schedule, and that they reimburse the Town for permit and inspection activities.

Subsection (C) sets the construction standards. Anyone who excavates, bores or removes pavement, sidewalk, path, curb or gutter in the right-of-way must comply with Sec. 5-10-2, which adopts the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Uniform Standard Specifications and Details. When work is finished, it must be called in to Public Works within 24 hours for inspection. All installation must follow Town-approved plans.

• Right-of-way: the public strip for a road, street or alley, including the space above and below it. A trench under a street is in the right-of-way even though nothing shows on the surface.
• Encroachment permit: the Town Engineer's permit for something that stays in the right-of-way, or in a drainageway or easement, on a continuing basis. A one-time trench is a right-of-way permit; a permanent structure needs the encroachment permit.
• Void in 90 days: a permit that sits unused is dead. Ask for a different period in the permit if your schedule needs one.

Contractors, utilities, owners and anyone else whose work touches the right-of-way. That includes a sewer connection, a water service repair and a line replaced by trenchless methods that pass under a street. The sewer connection permit is a separate step, and the sewer permit page covers it.

A restaurant on a Town street. The lateral fails under the frontage road. The contractor gets a right-of-way permit for the trench, builds to the MAG standards adopted in Sec. 5-10-2, and calls in the finished work within 24 hours.

A utility contractor with a rolling schedule. The permit says 90 days. Delays push the start past that date, so the permit is void and the contractor must ask for a new one.

The edge case: the permanent fixture. A private drain outlet that is going to stay in a drainageway is a continuing use, not a one-time job, so it needs the Town Engineer's encroachment permit as well.

1. 1Have your contractor confirm whether the work crosses the property line into the right-of-way.
2. 2Ask the Town for the current right-of-way permit application and the fee line in the fee schedule.
3. 3Schedule the work to start inside the 90 days or ask for a longer period in the permit.
4. 4Build to the MAG standard specifications and details that Sec. 5-10-2 adopts, including the pavement work.
5. 5Call Public Works for inspection within 24 hours of finishing.

• "A sewer permit covers the street." The right-of-way permit is its own permit.
• "Boring does not count because nothing is dug up." The code covers work under the right-of-way.
• "A permit is good until we use it." It is void after 90 days without a start, unless the permit states otherwise.

This page summarizes the code. The adopted text on Municode governs.