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OFFICE OF TIIE CITY ATTORNEY OPINION N0. 74-31 SUBJECT: Location of Diail Boxes REQUESTED BY: City Council OPINION BY: James A. Withers, City Attorney BY: Richard E. Lay, Deputy QUESTION: May City residents legally place their mail bOXP_S within the public right-of-way area without the City's consent in res- ponse to a request or directive from postal authorities? ANSWER: The only existing case law is to the effect that the U.S. Postal Service has exclusive control over the regulation of mail box location on streets used for the delivery of mail. Possible arguments could be deve- loped to challenge this authority but the likelihood of success is not high. A. The Public' Right-of-Way The acquisition by a city of land for street purposes, whether by dedication, condemnation, or grant, creates in the city a right in the nature of an easement over the land acquired which is held in trust for the public and which is generally referred to as the public right-of-way. The City may or may not also acquire the fee interest in such land, but, even if the City owns the fee, the public easement in the. use of the land for street purposes remains a separate and distinct interest. The public easement is not limited to that portion of the land actually paved or improved for use by vehicular traffic. It extends to the full width of the land acquired for street purposes, including unimproved portions. People v. Henderson, 194 P2d 91 (Ct. of App., 1948), Carlton v. Pacific Coast Gasoline Co. 242 P. 2d 391 (Ct. of App., 1952 It includes sidewalks and the plots (parkways) between the sidewalk and the curb. 10 McQuillan, Munici al Cor orations, sections 30.03, 30.05. B. Encroachments In discussing public and private uses of the public right-of-way, a distinction should be made between the terms "encroachment" and "obstruction." Courts may tend to confuse -89-