Inquiry of the Week (6/15/98)

Question:

Does a city or county own the property consisting of a public right-of-way?

Answer:

Many people have a misconception about this. Generally, a right-of-way is only an easement for public travel, and the city or county within which the right-of-way is located does not have fee title to the property. In most cases a local government does not actually have title to the right-of-way. The abutting property owners usually have title to the property to the center line of a street or right-of-way. Upon vacation of a street, the public easement is extinguished and the abutting property owners regain unencumbered title to the center of the street.

Although a city or county does not generally own the property underlying a right-of-way, it controls and regulates, by virtue of the easement for public travel, what occurs within the right-of-way. The primary use of a right-of-way is for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. However, a city or county may allow sEcondary uses of the right-of-way which are not inconsistent or do not interfere with the use of the right-of-way for public travel and which do not unreasonably interfere with the rights of the abutting property owners. Typical sEcondary uses allowed in a right-of-way include public or private utility lines.