Berwyn, IL Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Section 666.07(B) is Berwyn's sidewalk obstruction rule, and it applies to any person, not to a named group. Two things trigger the first sentence: the person was first warned by a police officer, or a no loitering sign or signs have been posted. Without one of those two triggers, the first sentence does not reach the conduct.

The covered locations are broad: any public or quasi-public sidewalk, street, curb, cross-walk, walkway area or mall, plus that portion of private property utilized for public use. The conduct standard is not sitting or lying down by itself. The person must loiter, stand, sit or lie in a way that hinders or obstructs unreasonably the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles. Because the test is unreasonable hindrance, what counts is the effect on passage, not the posture.

The second sentence stands alone and carries no warning or sign precondition in its text: no person may block, obstruct or prevent free access to the entrance to any building open to the public. That sentence protects access to any building the public is invited into.

Section 666.07(C) supplies the definition of PUBLIC PLACE for the section. It covers streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, automobiles whether moving or not, buildings open to the general public, and the doorways and entrances to buildings or dwellings and the grounds enclosing them. The Berwyn Police Department gives the warning and enforces the section. Loitering or prowling under alarming circumstances is a different offense, covered in § 666.07(A) and described on the Berwyn loitering page.