Do You Know Your Property Ownership Rights and Limits Along Our Roads? Homeowners often assume their property lines along our roads go right up to the pavement edge. That is NOT correct. And it could lead to a visit from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), informing you that you must remove those beautiful shrubs you planted at the corner of your driveway, or that your basketball goal located near the street must come down. There is a popular misconception that you own the land all the way to the edge of the pavement. The truth is that the state actually owns a fairly significant strip of your front yard. (But if it makes you feel better, you do get to fertilize it, mow it, rake leaves from it, etc.!) This strip is known as the "right-of-way", and anything placed on that land (other than mail boxes, utility boxes, street signs, fire hydrants, etc.) is considered illegal. The NCDOT can require you to remove any plantings, structures, or equipment deemed to not comply with its regulations. The state owned right-of-way in Springdale Estates is typically 60 feet wide, or 30 feet to each side of the pavement's centerline. Our pavement is typically 20 feet wide, so this means that, measured from the pavement's centerline, the state owns the 10 feet of asphalt over to the edge of your lawn, PLUS the next approximately 20 feet into your yard. Note that in cul-de-sacs, due to wider pavement, the right-of-way may not extend nearly so far into your lawn. (NCDOT or a registered land surveyor should be contacted for accurate right-of-way measurements in these unique cul-de-sac situations.) So before you plant those new shrubs, construct a wall, build entry markers at the end of your driveway, place stones along the road's edge, or do most anything near the pavement, take a few minutes and measure 30 feet from the center of the road into your yard, to be sure your new project is located behind that state owned right-of-way. [NOTE: SEA's Architectural Committee does not make a practice of monitoring neighborhood properties to assure compliance with NCDOT right-of-way requirements. This article's purpose is simply to alert our property owners regarding NCDOT's residential right-of way regulations and the possible ramifications of non-compliance.] Questions or concerns? Contact the Architectural Committee.