City right of ways

Ashley, An example of a city easement that might be included in the LEED boundary could be underground utilities or overhead wires that cross your site. The city reserves the right to access this easement and prohibits you from building on it, but the area may still be part of your landscaping or open space and thus would make sense to include in your LEED boundary. Projects sometimes include areas within the public right of way such as sidewalks, grass parking strips, etc. If those are being built as part of the project, you are expected to include them. Sometimes an existing sidewalk or ROW may included when this area contributes to credits such as open space, habitat, or heat island non-roof credits (street trees, pedestrian-oriented hardscape, pervious landscaping). The challenge is that any area that's included in the LEED boundary has to be addressed by all credits. Sometimes including parts of the ROW may help earn some credits but not others. The area might help with open space, but you'll have to include it in your stormwater management and light pollution boundary, and the project may not have control over the performance of those city systems. It may help to evaluate each scenario of the LEED boundary designation and the impact each has on credit compliance.