It depends on how the lines are drawn. If you want to plow a road through existing houses today, it gets condemned -- taken by the government, lock, stock and b

It depends on how the lines are drawn. If you want to plow a road through existing houses today, it gets condemned -- taken by the government, lock, stock and barrel. In a new subdivision, they'll often deed the streets over to the city. But sometimes, especially in the old days, the city just got a "right of way," not title to the land. And in that case, the owner could do anything it wanted, so long as it preserves the right of way. So if the city had a right of way to a sidewalk, it doesn't matter what you do under the sidewalk. Here's an interesting discussion about right of way edges that appears to use Washington (State) law.[0] [0] http://mrsc.org/Home/Stay-Informed/MRSC-Insight/November-2017/Understanding-Municipal-Rights-of-Way-From-Center.aspx http://mrsc.org/Home/Stay-Informed/MRSC-Insight/November-201...