Public Conduct in Somerville, MA (2026)
7 verified public conduct rules for Somerville, Massachusetts, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Skateboarding Rules
Somerville bans skateboarding, along with baseball and football, on all city-owned property inside a mapped zone bounded by Walnut Street, Highland Avenue, School Street and the B&M railroad tracks. Police enforce it with escalating fines under Sec. 12-46 of the Code of Ordinances.
Somerville Skateboard Ban Zone
Significant RestrictionsSomerville Code of Ordinances Sec. 12-46
A person may not play baseball, football, or any other games, or operate a skateboard at any time on all property owned, maintained, and controlled by the city located within the following area: the intersection of Walnut Street and Highland Avenue, heading south easterly on Highland Avenue to the intersection of School Street and Highland Avenue, turning north easterly down School Street to th...
Loud Party Ordinance
Somerville can fine a property owner, host, or attendee after police respond to a 'gathering constituting a public nuisance,' meaning excessive noise, traffic, underage drinking, or fighting, with liability escalating for property owners after a second response within a year.
Somerville Loud Unruly Gathering Ordinance
Significant RestrictionsSomerville Code of Ordinances § 9-97(a), (b)
In order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the inhabitants of the City of Somerville, this section shall permit the city to impose penalties on property owners and other responsible persons for the nuisances and harm caused by loud and/or unruly gatherings on private property... Public nuisance means a gathering of persons on any premises in a manner that creates a substantial distu...
Loitering Rules
Somerville bars sauntering or loitering on a sidewalk for more than five minutes after a police officer directs a person to move on, obstructing foot travelers' free passage, or congregating with others to loaf on a sidewalk, street or other public place.
Somerville Sidewalk Loitering Rules
Some RestrictionsSomerville, MA Code of Ordinances § 12-11
Sec. 12-11. Loitering on sidewalks. No person shall saunter or loiter for more than five minutes upon a sidewalk in any street after being directed by a police officer to move on, nor shall any person willfully or negligently obstruct the free passage of foot travelers on such sidewalk, nor shall any person congregate with others and loaf upon any such sidewalk or in any street or other public ...
Outdoor Smoking Restrictions
Somerville bans smoking tobacco products within 50 feet of scheduled events, monuments, and all school grounds, playgrounds, parks, and tot-lots on city property. City Code Sec. 6-3 defines smoking to include vaping and e-cigarettes, not just lit tobacco.
Somerville Park Smoking Ban
Significant RestrictionsSomerville, MA Code of Ordinances Sec. 6-3
Smoking tobacco products by any person shall be unlawful within 50 feet of any person who participates, attends, assembles, or congregates at any scheduled athletic event, scheduled artistic event, scheduled special event, scheduled performance, scheduled festival, scheduled musical event, or scheduled concert in a public park under the control of the city. Smoking tobacco products by any perso...
Jaywalking
Somerville pedestrians must cross within a marked crosswalk whenever one exists within 300 feet, per Traffic Commission Regulations Section 12-1. Step off anywhere else and the pedestrian, not the driver, must yield to every vehicle on the roadway under Section 12-5. The Somerville Police Department enforces the rule, and violators are punished under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 18A.
Somerville Jaywalking and Mid-Block Crossing Rules
Some RestrictionsSomerville Traffic Commission Regulations, Appendix E, Art. XII, Sec. 12-1 and Sec. 12-5
Pedestrians shall obey the directions of police officers directing traffic and whenever there is an officer directing traffic, a traffic control signal or a marked crosswalk within three hundred (300) feet of a pedestrian, no such pedestrian shall cross a way or roadway except within the limits of the marked crosswalk and as hereinafter provided in these regulations. ... Every pedestrian crossi...
Public Marijuana Use
Somerville bans giving, selling, delivering, or consuming marijuana or THC in parks, playgrounds, school grounds, pools, skating rinks, and public housing common areas, and extends the ban to within 50 feet of those places under Sec. 9-3 of the city code.
Somerville Public Marijuana Use Ban
Significant RestrictionsSomerville Code of Ordinances § 9-3(a), (c)
No person shall give, sell, deliver or consume marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol in a public park, playground, rest area, school grounds, recreational area, swimming pool, skating rink, or in the common areas of city housing authority projects, and further, no person shall consume marijuana within 50 feet of the aforementioned public places. ... Any person violating any provision of this sectio...
Public Alcohol Use
Somerville bars drinking or carrying an open alcohol container in any park, playground, school ground, pool, skating rink, or public housing common area, and on any city street unless a licensed vendor's outdoor seating or a permitted street event covers the drink.
Somerville Open Container Alcohol Ban
Significant RestrictionsSomerville Code of Ordinances § 9-1(a), (b)
No person shall give, sell, deliver, have in his or her possession either in an open or unopened container, or consume any alcoholic beverage in a public park, playground, rest area, school grounds, recreational area, swimming pool or skating rink located within the city. ... No person shall give, sell, deliver or consume any alcoholic beverage, including but not limited to beer and wine, on an...