Right-of-Way Encroachment Meeting
Charlotte County Public Works is holding a community outreach meeting to discuss Right-of-Way encroachment on Don Pedro and Knight Islands. The meeting takes place at Charlotte County Fire & EMS Station 10, 101 Gasparilla Way, Placida, Florida.
What is a Right-of-Way?
A road is where you drive, paved or unpaved, and is usually about 20’ wide. A “right-of-way” is the land area controlled by the County that the road is positioned in. For example, N. Gulf Blvd. is a 66’ wide area, with a 20’ road in the middle of it. This leaves approx. 20’ on each side of the road, which is referred to as the right-of-way (or “shoulder”). Private property lines stop at the road ROW.
Drive around the Island roads and you will see many examples of ROW encroachments: landscaping that juts into the road, trees and shrubs that have extended into the ROW, hardscaping such as boulders, planters and other yard enhancements that are set into the ROWs.
The Bare Facts:
ROWs are County-owned, and there is an ordinance that states that any activity in the ROW requires a permit. Any activity without a permit is prohibited. It’s the law.
That said, the ordinance provides a protocol that a homeowner may follow to obtain a variance for activity in the ROW abutting their property.
Why is Right-of-Way (ROW) encroachment an issue?
Two main reasons:
- Safety, specifically on N. Gulf Blvd. As the only paved road on the Island with the highest speed limit, the hard road puts pedestrians, cyclists and others at risk. Where there is no open ROW, there is simply nowhere to go.
- Beach Parking. As part of the funding agreement for beach renourishment, the County must provide public access and adjoining parking in the ROW to get to the beach.
A 10’ clear area in the shoulder of the road would eliminate the issue.
So, what makes this complicated?
ROW encroachment has always been a complaint-driven code enforcement issue, limited to a specific violation in a specific location. The most recent examples of deliberate obstructions in the ROWs have been beachfront property owners discouraging parking in front of their homes.
Complaint-driven enforcement had worked until the County stopped, due to property owners’ finger-pointing at other encroachments. This led the County to develop three alternatives: 1. to continue with the complaint driven enforcement, or 2. there will be no enforcement, or 3. the entire ROW will be cleared on all roads.
Here is the suggested solution from the R&B Advisory Committee:
- Enforce the current individual code violation complaints, giving the first priority to removing non-permitted hardscaping on the road shoulder of N. Gulf Blvd only. Other recommendations by the MSTU would occur after this first phase of operation.
- Pursuing all violations within every ROW island-wide is unrealistic. However, the
R&B Advisory Board will develop a priority system to address other specific violations of the ROW ordinance. - A change to the code that is island-specific may be considered as part of the future island neighborhood plan or by a stand-alone change initiated by the County.
The County has arranged for a town hall meeting on Monday August 18, 2025, to see how the community would like to address encroachments. This allows us an opportunity to find an alternative path, such as the R&B committee suggestions, that will provide a solution.
NOTE: A letter from the R&B Committee Chair to the county to address road right-of-way encroachments, available here, gives a good background for this issue, along with the proposed solutions.
