§ 29-6. Right-of-way obstruction.  


Latest version.
  • (a)

    The right-of-way is held by the parish primarily for the purpose of pedestrian and vehicular passage and for the parish's provision of essential public safety services, including police, fire and emergency medical response services, and public health services, including sanitary sewer, water and storm drainage. The purpose of this section is to provide standards in order to maintain the safety and the visual character of the parish's right-of-way.

    (b)

    It shall be unlawful for any person to place or cause to be placed any type of obstruction on or within proximity of any parish right-of-way except for the following:

    (1)

    A pole mounted curbside mailbox provided it is in the roadside portion of the right-of-way and:

    a.

    It conforms to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Postal Service for construction and installation as well as to standards established in this section; and

    b.

    It is erected contiguous to the privately owned property which it serves, unless prior written approval is obtained from the department of public works; and

    c.

    It is not erected in such a manner as to obstruct a free and clear vision of passing motorists and is not closer than twenty-five (25) feet from an intersection, measured from the nearest right-of-way line of the intersecting street, or fifteen (15) feet from the entrance of a driveway; and

    d.

    It is not designed or installed, by reason of the position, shape or color, to interfere with, obstruct the view of, or be confused with any authorized traffic control device; and

    e.

    It does not have any attachments, not required or permitted by United States Postal regulations, which would constitute a prohibited sign under section 32-1; and

    f.

    The bottom of the mailbox is at an elevation forty-two (42) inches from the top of curb or forty-eight (48) inches from the surface of the roadway if there is no curb, and lateral placement of the mailbox is six (6) inches to eight (8) inches from the face of the curb or eight (8) to twelve (12) inches behind the edge of roadway without a curb; and

    g.

    It is installed on a breakaway support post; a breakaway support means a supporting post which shall be no larger than a four-inch by four-inch wood post, four and one-half (4½) inch diameter wood post or a metal post with a strength no greater than a two-inch diameter schedule 40 steel pipe and which is buried no more than twenty-four (24) inches deep. Such a support post shall not be set in concrete unless specifically designed as a breakaway support system as defined in "A Guide for Erecting Mailboxes on Highways" published by ASHTO, May 24, 1984.

    (2)

    Decorative piping subject to the following conditions:

    a.

    All pipes shall be positioned at a minimum distance of ten (10) feet apart; and

    b.

    The pipes shall not be attached or connected to each other in any manner whatsoever, all pipes must be capped, and no concrete shall be permitted except below ground level; and

    c.

    The diameter of the pipe shall not exceed three (3) inches at the base and shall not exceed four (4) feet in height from ground level with a minimum height of three and one-half (3½) feet, with a gauge or wall thickness not to exceed .216 inches and not to weigh more than seven and one-half (7.5) pounds per linear foot; and

    d.

    All pipes shall be located a minimum of three (3) feet from all driveways and two (2) feet from all sidewalks, back of curbs and/or street edges; and

    e.

    The pipes shall not have any attachments which would constitute a prohibited sign under section 32-1; and

    f.

    None shall be placed in the right-of-way of any interstate (freeway), arterial streets, and collector streets as referenced by the Jefferson Parish Thoroughfare Plan unless specifically excepted by the department of public works. Any exceptions shall be based on a written uniform set of criteria established by the department of public works, which will be made available upon request. In addition, the decorative piping shall meet the requirements of a. through d. of this subsection as listed above.

    (3)

    Plants and shrubs subject to the following:

    a.

    None shall be placed in the right-of-way of any interstate (freeway), arterial streets, and collector streets as referenced by the Jefferson Parish Thoroughfare Plan unless specifically approved by the parish council and the department of public works or shown on a site plan approved by the parish in accordance with the procedures of this Code.

    b.

    All plants and shrubs shall be placed in such a manner as to avoid obstruction of traffic control devices, and shall be placed to provide a window of view between two and one-half (2½) feet from the surface of the roadway at its edge and seven (7) feet, so as not to obstruct the view of vehicular or pedestrian traffic. In addition all plants and shrubs shall be placed in such a manner as to avoid interference with any public utility, facility, or infrastructure.

    (4)

    Detached signs in accordance with Chapter 32 of this Code.

    (5)

    The owner of private non-residential property that abuts the parish right-of-way may request to establish or expand the use of parish right-of-way for parking in excess of that required by Chapter 40 in accordance with the following:

    a.

    Lease. All requests to locate parking in parish rights-of-way shall be predicated on the provision of a lease of right-of-way agreement between the property owner or lessee and the parish.

    1.

    The property owner or lessee shall apply to the parish attorney's office for a lease of parish right-of-way for the parking specifying a minimum lease area to satisfy the requested parking and landscaping required to screen the parking. If the proposed parking abuts a site zoned CPZ, MUCD, or any other district requiring site plan review, the request for parking in the right-of-way shall follow the procedures of the subject site plan review district.

    2.

    To apply for the lease of parish right-of-way, the property owner or lessee shall submit all documents, reports, surveys, drawings, and fees required by the parish to effectuate the lease and depict essential information including, but not limited to:

    (a)

    Dimensions of parking stalls and travel aisles

    (b)

    Dimensions of landscaping to satisfy screening requirements

    (c)

    Field location of all utilities (horizontal and vertical depth), and location of clear vision areas.

    3.

    The parish attorney's office shall submit the lease application to the land use review technical committee (LURTC) for review and recommendations, and upon elimination of any safety, public utility, or pedestrian access concerns shall forward these findings to the parish council for consideration of the lease approval.

    4.

    As part of the lease agreement, the property owner or lessee shall sign a hold harmless agreement regarding liability for the parking and its removal for public improvements and maintenance of the right-of-way and public utilities within the right-of-way.

    5.

    The council resolution concurrently shall approve the installation of the parking and the lease of the right-of-way in accordance with section 2-877 and section 2-877.1 of this Code. If the property owner or lessee has an existing lease for the right-of-way in place prior to the approval of the parking, the council resolution shall approve the installation of the parking and an amendment to the existing lease for the placement of the parking in the right-of-way.

    6.

    Notwithstanding the provisions of section 2-877 of this Code, all rental paid to the parish pursuant to leases provided for herein shall be deposited into an account for the council district in which the right-of-way is located, dedicated to parish rights-of-way improvements, beautification, and related work in that district, less direct expenses provided by the parish to implement and maintain said leases.

    b.

    Criteria. All requests to locate parking in parish rights-of-way shall be predicated upon the proposed parking meeting the following:

    1.

    The proposed parking in the parish right-of-way is not required parking for the use on the abutting private property as determined by parking regulations established in Chapter 40.

    2.

    The proposed parking in the parish right-of-way is screened by a hedge, wall, earth berm, or other durable landscape barrier a minimum of two (2) feet in height between the remainder of the right-of-way and the parking area to screen the vehicular use area. If the barrier consists of nonliving material, one (1) vine or shrub shall be planted every ten (10) feet and abutting the barrier.

    3.

    The proposed parking in the parish right-of-way does not result in the removal of any required landscaping previously approved as part of site plan review.

    4.

    If an approved site plan exists, the site plan must be amended to show the parking and screening.

    (6)

    Any object placed within the right-of-way which is in any way associated with a public utility or parish agency, including but not limited to parish equipment.

    (c)

    Any object or material placed within the right-of-way in contravention of subsection (b) shall be done so at the risk of the owner, shall deemed abandoned and may be removed by the department of public works at the expense of the owner.

    (d)

    Any object placed within the right-of-way pursuant to subsections (b)(1) through (6) above shall be done so at the risk of the owner, who shall be fully responsible for the maintenance of same and shall not be due any compensation for the destruction or removal of said object by the Parish of Jefferson for any public reason whatsoever. Except in emergency situations, the Parish of Jefferson will give notice within ten (10) days of the removal or destruction by the parish of any object placed within the right-of-way pursuant to subsections (b)(1) through (6) above which is deemed to be an obstruction by the department of public works.

    (e)

    Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this section, the department of public works may permit the placement of curbside mailboxes, decorative piping, plants, shrubs, or other similar structures which do not meet the requirements of this section or within the proximity of a parish right-of- way, provided that the person placing or causing placement of any such obstruction executes a "hold-harmless" agreement with the parish, which agreement shall be in a form prescribed by the parish attorney and which shall include at a minimum an assumption by the person placing or causing the placing of the obstruction of all risks and damages which may result from said placement; and an agreement by the person placing or causing the placement of the obstruction to allow the parish to remove the obstruction at any time and for any reason without notice to said person. Permits granted under the provision of this section shall not be transferable. Any person owning property adjacent to a parish right-of-way having thereon an obstruction which does not meet the requirements of section 29-6(b) herein shall obtain a permit for said obstruction under this subsection or shall remove said obstruction. The department of public works shall not be required to issue a permit for an otherwise illegal obstruction on a parish right-of-way to the owner of the adjacent property, even if the department had issued such a permit to the previous property owner.

    (f)

    Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be punished as set forth in section 1-10 of this Code.

(Code 1961, § 12-28.1; Ord. No. 18741, § 1, 4-28-93; Ord. No. 19116, § 1, 6-22-94; Ord. No. 19785, § 1, 8-14-96; Ord. No. 22801, § 2, 7-19-06; Ord. No. 23233, § 3, 1-23-08; Ord. No. 23292, § 40, 5-7-08; Ord. No. 23671, § 4, 10-14-09; Ord. No. 24955 , § 1, 6-10-15)