17 AAC 10.011. Types of encroachments authorized

(a) The department may issue at no cost an encroachment permit for use of a highway right-of-way by a municipality, state agency, or federal agency, subject to any conditions imposed under 17 AAC 10.014, if the municipality or agency is not acting in a business capacity. The permit will be issued on a form that the department prescribes. Permitted uses include

(1) flags of states or nations;

(2) decorative banners; and

(3) signs, without logos or names of sponsors, that are intended to inform motorists that they are entering a municipality, community, or state.

(b) The department may issue an encroachment permit for the use of a highway right-of-way by a private person, or by a government agency acting in a business capacity, to an owner or lessee of land contiguous to the highway right-of-way where the owner or lessee's primary activity occurs, if the use complies with the requirements of 17 AAC 10.012, and the use is allowed under (c) of this section. The department may impose permit conditions under 17 AAC 10.014. An encroachment permit issued under this subsection is valid for a term of no more than five years for a specific use. The department may renew the permit for additional subsequent terms of no more than five years each. The permit will be issued on a form that the department prescribes. A permit applicant must pay a $200 nonrefundable application fee. In addition, the permittee must pay economic rent established under 17 AAC 10.013, or $100 annually, for the use of the land, whichever amount is greater. A permittee must pay a nonrefundable $100 reapplication fee each time the permittee files a request to renew the permit. Upon renewal of the permit, the permittee must pay economic rent, as established under 17 AAC 10.013 as of the date of extension, or $100 annually, whichever amount is greater. The department may revoke an encroachment permit before the end of its term, after notice issued to the permittee at least 30 days before the date of revocation. The issuance of a permit under AS 19.25, or this chapter does not entitle the permittee to a payment of just compensation or relocation benefits under AS 34.60, if a permit is revoked or a request for renewal is denied.

(1) any permanent structure located partially or completely in the right-of-way;

(2) water and sewer facilities that the department has not permitted under 17 AAC 15;

(3) a tank of any size;

(4) fueling facilities;

(5) repealed 3/1/2002;

(6) a use not in the best interest of the state; and

(7) a land use on a highway right-of-way that allows development on contiguous land that would not otherwise be possible without the use of the highway right-of-way.

(d) The land area described in the encroachment permit may not be used to meet minimum requirements for a contiguous land use under applicable municipal land use standards or under regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Conservation. The contiguous land use must meet those minimum requirements without regard to the land contained within the encroachment permit. The use of the land described in the encroachment permit must be an accessory use to the contiguous land use.

(e) After the completion of construction of a highway, the department may, subject to 17 AAC 10.014, issue at no cost an encroachment permit in the form of a beautification permit to a government agency, a municipality, an individual, or a non-profit organization to allow planting of trees, shrubs, grasses, or flowers, and any structures necessary to support the plants, that do not endanger motorists, bicyclists, or pedestrians within the highway right-of-way. A beautification permit will be issued on a form that the department prescribes. The department may attach to a beautification permit any condition that is necessary to protect the integrity and safety of a highway's design, and to protect the traveling public or the persons planting trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers within the highway right-of-way. The department may remove trees, shrubs, grasses, or flowers planted in a highway right-of-way, or structures supporting the plants, under a beautification permit that become a hazard to the traveling public, interfere with a highway's maintenance or operation, interfere with construction on a highway, or threaten to damage a highway embankment.

(f) The department may issue an encroachment permit on a form it prescribes, at no cost to a government agency for the installation in highway rest stops or pullouts of commemorative plaques, historical or interpretive markers, and informational signs. The plagues, markers, and signs may be permitted only if they cannot be read from the highway.

(g) The provisions of this section do not apply to driveway permits issued under 17 AAC 10.020, utility permits issued under 17 AAC 15, or the installation of mail boxes, including newspaper boxes, within a highway right-of-way.

(h) The department may issue under (b) of this section an encroachment permit for an existing structure or a portion of that structure or for existing water or sewer facilities for which the department has not issued a utility permit issued under 17 AAC 15, if

(1) the encroachment does not present a risk to the health or safety of the public;

(2) the construction of the encroachment occurred in good faith; and

(3) the denial of the permit would create a hardship for the owner of the encroachment.

History: Eff. 4/20/2000, Register 154; am 3/1/2002, Register 161

Authority: AS 19.05.020

AS 19.05.070

AS 19.25.200

AS 44.42.030

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