Can I dig?

[DiverDann]

Alright, here's one for the permission experts,

I pass a construction site every day on my way to work. The county is tearing out some land and putting in a paved bike path. But they've cleared a lot of the land on both sides of the path and left a lot of fresh exposed dirt on either side. It's right on a main road and exposed but it might be neat to swing the coil over the fresh dirt before they grass seed it or sod it. The thing is the bike path winds through private properties (not sure how they got permission to install it, maybe those parts are county land?) I'm sure they're going to lay sidewalks down on the exposed dirt any day now. So I'd want to get out there soonish.

So is it possible for me to swing it without getting permission from the foreman/county (99% sure they'd deny me)? If it's considered "curb" or sidewalk is it public property? Should I wait until they quit for the day and head over this evening and do a little digging? Assuming I fill my holes no one would know I'd been there except all the drivers passing by.

Thanks.

 

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[G.I.B.]

Here in Florida it can be a Felony to trespass on a construction site.

Every state and city has different laws. So hard to say what yours are. Do you have a picture of the area?

And governments can have domain and easements over private property. So many possibilities...

 

[DiverDann]

It's on a rural road right across from my alma mater. No fences, no signage, no caution tape or anything. Just wide open patches of dirt and the asphalt path in between. The path is just about as wide as a single car, but it definitely not a road. It looks to be a patch for the college students to get to and from the shopping area and it winds next to and behind several houses.

 

[Sandman]

I'd say just go for it. If someone complains just act stupid. Fill your holes and carry out all your trash. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Do not waste your time. Go for it. Good hunting and good luck.

 

[USMC Reaper]

Hit it

 

[Deft Tones]

Just do it and have fun. If they've packed the soil in prep for asphalt or other topping, don't dig those areas and jack up their work so nobody will complain.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

diver-dann, I answer you on the other forum. Here's the gist of it cut and pasted here:

Some oldtown demolition/scrape sites can be very lucrative. Eg.: sidewalk tearouts, old-town bldg teardowns, park turf scrape, etc..... To start with: There is a "right of way" for roads, paths, etc..... The edge of pavement most likely isn't "where private property starts". So I would remove "private property" from the list of concerns here, as I highly doubt that that's a factor here. There's 2 gamuts of answer: Those that say "help yourself", to those that say get permission, inquire, etc....

So to expand on the 2 gamuts/views:

A) Ask the county or the builders. Otherwise it's "sneaking around". Especially (gasp) if there orange cones around it, or ribbon. Or .... worse yet.... a temp. fencing. But heck, even with no fence or signs at all: We *still* shouldn't "assume". Thus it's our duty to go ask the powers-that-be, lest we "give a bad name to our hobby". Otherwise you could "be arrested" , machine confiscated, etc.... Eh ?

Then the county planning/building dept. will maybe need to put this decision in front of the council members at next month's council meeting for a vote. Then they'd maybe need to run the decision past the county legal counsel, have you sign "hold harmless agreements", and so forth, and so on.

Or....

B) Help yourself after 5pm. And odds are, no one cares less. Esp, as you say, there's no fence and it's county (public) property.

Guess which persuasion I'm of ?

 

[G.I.B.]

Yeah, given the circumstances and location, I say go get it....

 

[jeff of pa]

here when they build bike Paths across Private Property.
They Request permission from the Landowners for the right to do it.
I'm sure use is then Narrowed to use of the Path for Bikes only.
(perhaps Hikers & Joggers may get away with using it, Even Children walking
may be ignored.) But some land owners may Go postal on a digger.
If it's your or neighboring Borough, city,Township,county Property you should Know
already how Laid back they are, Or it least someone semi-official who you can ask their opinion.
But best advice I can give you is on Public Property, you can probably get away with a believable "Ooops Sorry !" if you get approached by an Arse on an authority kick .
But Privately owned by a Citizen Taxpayer ? You better hope for a sense of Humor

 

[SD51]

In the '90s, I got one of my fishing buddies to buy a detector. I asked him if he knew of any good sites to find silver coins and he said a friend of his just started construction on a site where they were eyeballing silver coins after grading off the grass and some top soil. My friend got us written permission to detect it and we hustled over and started detecting. My first find was a Barber quarter. There were Mercs everywhere. I even pulled out a 14K gold ring with a semi-precious stone.

As usual, there was no shortage of trash but I taught him to pick up all the trash and carry it out. After about an hour of hunting in this incredible site, a police car pulls in and two officers get out and they weren't happy. They give us the third degree about trespassing on private property and my friend shows them the written permission slip with the construction site owners signature. The police checked the name with the name on the construction sign and realized we had permission.

Now they were friendly and asked to see what we found. I pulled out a handful of old pull tabs and bottle caps. The officers look at each other like I was nuts and they quickly left. My friend asks me why I didn't show them the coins and I said because they would be back here tomorrow with their own detectors. Just my opinion, it's always good to have permission.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... Just my opinion, it's always good to have permission.

Well, if the site is private property, sure. What type site was your turf-scrape on ? And was it fenced and/or posted ? If so, then that might have a different flavor than the scenario the OP posts here.

Because as the OP observes: If he DOES try to take that route (no matter how innocuous the site may be), he could end up with an arbitrary "no" (ie.: the "safe answer").

 

[RobRieman]

Probably a bike path on an old railroad right of away. We have a ton of them around me. Found some good foundations on the path too.

 

[Liu21]

Get a orange safety vest, head over at 5pm dig till you drop...

 

[foiler]

I've hunted construction sites for 50 years, never had a problem. Always hunted them after hours when no one was around. On a few occasions I've had a foreman cruise by checking on the equipment parked on site. Always said to them, "as long as I'm here no one is going to mess with your stuff". Your appearance and attitude go a long way in defusing potential problems.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

....Always said to them, "as long as I'm here no one is going to mess with your stuff"......

Ha, this happened on a San Francisco park scrape job a few years ago. A local md'r somehow presented himself as "their eyes and ears", and joked that he was "deputized as their security gaurd". He had carte-blanche for the place thereafter Because there's a lot of construction site theft going on nowadays.

But this is a double-edged sword though: Because of the recyclable metal theft, equipment theft, etc... it often cause MORE fences and MORE 'no's' (just as the easy "safe" answer).

The situation my friend found himself in, was when a foreman had returned after hours to fetch something, and bumped into my friend. My friend is super smooth though, and promptly got the guy to look the other way and/or deputize him as security