City of Bellingham Municipal Code

13.14.010 - RIGHT-OF-WAY USE PERMIT REQUIRED

A. A right-of-way use permit is required for any use of an alley or street right-of-way that substantially interferes with the free use, by the public, of City rights-of-way. Such a permit is required whether or not the street or alley has been built or improved in the right-of-way.

B. A permit is not required for:

1. Street construction projects undertaken by the city pursuant to a contract between the City and its contractor;

2. Activities licensed by street obstruction licenses and open air vendor's licenses;

3. Displays of merchandise and portable advertising signs, placed by an abutting business, conforming with applicable City policies;

4. The planting or maintenance of decorative vegetation within a right-of-way, including street trees as they may be regulated by law; provided, that vegetation in a right-of-way is subject to removal at any time by order of the City Public Works Director, without liability for damages to the person owning the vegetation; and

5. Those uses which the Public Works Director finds to be of a minor nature, for which a permit is not justified.