Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
September 27, 2019

At a recent City Commission meeting, some residents in the vicinity of a school voiced concerns about the use of the City right-of-way and the impact upon their property. The challenges associated with City rights-of-way are not unique to Fernandina Beach. Since some property owners may not be familiar with what a right-of-way is, let me offer a brief overview.

The right-of-way is government property. The governing authority responsible for the street (State, County, City) also controls and manages the right-of-way. The most common use of a right-of-way is a street or road. In Fernandina Beach, rights-of-way also provide ground for many of the beach accesses. What frequently leads to confusion, is not being familiar with how wide a right-of-way is.

In most instances, the right-of-way extends beyond the edge of pavement or the back of the curb. Throughout the City, the actual width of the right-of-way varies, sometimes along the same street. The most common right-of-way width is sixty feet, although some areas are as narrow as thirty feet; others, as wide as eighty feet.

Since the road pavement may not be centered in the right-of-way, determining the edge of the right-of-way can be difficult to casually determine. If you do know how wide the wide of way is, you can use the center of the road and measure half the right-of-way away from the centerline to approximate the edge of the right-of-way (and also the edge of private property which abuts the right-of-way).

Another rough estimating technique is to observe the location of sidewalks, utility poles, and water and wastewater valves. Those facilities are typically placed close to the edge of the right-of-way, but within the right-of-way since government agencies and staff often need access to those facilities without having to enter or cross private property. The only verification of the right-of-way line is through a professional survey.

As indicated earlier, most people are unaware as to how expansive the right-of-way is. It is commonly assumed that a homeowner’s property extends all the way to the edge of the pavement. Most property owners maintain that property as if it were theirs, planting trees and cutting grass. Technically, though, it is not their property, and that is how many issues develop.

It is common throughout the City for property owners to place obstructions (some minimal, some extensive) in the right-of-way to discourage the use of the right-of-way for parking. Some residents have placed ornamental landscaping or brick pavers within the right-of-way. Another significant example the private use of the public right-of-way is during the annual Shrimp Festival- some property owners, especially in the downtown area, charge parking fees to park on public property.

As with most issues, the problems begin to arise when someone (private or government) pushes the boundaries of previously accepted inconsistencies. The City has never aggressively enforced right-of-way encroachments because, for the most part, we live in a well-behaved civil and respectful society (remember, for the most part). In my neighborhood, the streets are not curbed. A nearby neighbor has, in my opinion, tastefully placed railroad ties, showing only an inch or two above the surface, along the edge of the road. I see those railroad ties every day and think nothing of that encroachment, and, to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever complained of his effort.

The challenge with government is consistency. If a different resident places or builds something more intrusive or, perhaps dangerous, in the right-of-way and is cited for the encroachment, the alleged offender will often point to other encroachments saying, “How come that is allowed?” Similar complaints are often received about recreational vehicle or boat parking when a violator is cited.

The neighbors near the school voiced the same concern: how come we can’t place obstacles to thwart parking in the right-of-way in front of our property, but the owners on S. Fletcher Avenue and other areas commonly encroach with impunity? Good question.

City staff is currently reviewing its right-of-way permit application- you can formally apply for an encroachment. A possible course of action is to retroactively seek an application from violators, at least to acknowledge that as property owners, they assume all liability for any incidents related to the encroachment.

This issue will take some time to resolve, and, not likely to the satisfaction of all, but as complaints about encroachments and the use of rights-of-way increase, it warrants renewed attention.