New Bedford, MA

New Bedford bars playing portable radios, tape players, or other electronically amplified sound devices in public spaces above 70 decibels at 15 feet. Sec. 17-17 covers buses, bus…

New Bedford prohibits blowing car horns from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. except in emergencies, and bans commercial-establishment noise that disturbs sleep in residential neighborhoods between…

New Bedford declares a dog that habitually howls, yelps or barks enough to disturb a considerable number of neighbors a public nuisance, and after three complaints in a calendar year…

New Bedford bars motor vehicle radios or sound systems from creating unnecessary noise for anyone other than the driver and passengers of that vehicle. Sec. 17-17(c) sets the rule…

Massachusetts regulates aircraft noise statewide through 740 CMR 24.00, the Logan Airport Noise Abatement rule enforced by the Massachusetts Port Authority. It bars new, noisier…

New Bedford restricts residential beehives to Residence A or B zoning districts, requires a 15-foot buffer of unbuilt land around every hive, and mandates a flyway barrier at least six…

New Bedford has no breed ban; instead an animal control officer can declare any individual dog dangerous or vicious based on its behavior, triggering mandatory spay/neuter…

New Bedford has no blanket spay/neuter law, but once the animal control officer formally deems a dog "dangerous or vicious" (Sec. 4-29) or "potentially dangerous" (Sec. 4-29.1), the…

New Bedford caps backyard poultry and animals at one head per 1,000 square feet of net lot area under the zoning ordinance, bars hoofed farm animals outright, and separately makes it…

New Bedford bars dogs from any street or public place unless restrained on a chain or leash no longer than seven feet, and separately makes it unlawful to let a dog run at large or…

New Bedford defines any household keeping more than three dogs over three months old as a kennel, and the city won't even issue a kennel license for five or more dogs in a…

Massachusetts prohibits private possession of most exotic and wild animals statewide. MassWildlife regulates permits, and the list of prohibited species is uniform across the…

New Bedford caps grass, bushes, and weeds along sidewalks and street frontage at three inches under Code of Ordinances § 22-18. Owners get 72 hours after written notice from a city…

New Bedford has no stand-alone tree-cutting permit for private land, but any project large enough to require Site Plan Review must be designed to minimize removal of trees six inches…

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 87 establishes statewide rules governing the trimming, pruning, and care of public shade trees, requiring a tree warden's authorization for cutting…

The Massachusetts Water Management Act and related MassDEP drought regulations authorize statewide outdoor watering limits during declared drought conditions, applying uniformly across…

New Bedford bans leaving a boat trailer, utility trailer, or camper unattended on a public way or city property under § 23-22, unless it stays hitched to a vehicle ready to be towed…

New Bedford makes it unlawful to leave any vehicle in a street or public place so it obstructs travel, once the driver has been asked to move it by someone who needs to use that street…

New Bedford bars open-air parking in front of a home in residential districts, with a narrow exception for a driveway leading to a garage beneath the dwelling. Citywide, driveways must…

New Bedford makes it unlawful to abandon a motor vehicle on any highway, or, if publicly visible, on private property, under section 12-48. Police may authorize towing after 48 hours…

New Bedford bans parking any vehicle needing more than a Class D license, plus every tow truck, within residence zones AA, A, B, and C under § 23-23. The ban reaches private driveways…

New Bedford lets commercial vehicles sit in a metered space without feeding the meter for up to thirty minutes, but only to load or unload. Once that half hour is up, the driver owes…

New Bedford and Fall River ban on-street overnight parking during declared winter snow emergencies. Taunton has no blanket overnight ban but enforces posted signs. All three permit…

Massachusetts adopts statewide EV-readiness requirements under the State Building Code (780 CMR) and Stretch Energy Code, mandating that new construction include EV-ready parking…

Massachusetts caps what a tow company can charge you after a nonconsensual tow. Under 220 CMR 272.03(1) the maximum charge for towing a passenger automobile up to five miles is $132.00…

New Bedford caps a storage shed at 200 square feet, 12 feet tall, with no plumbing or heating and a foundation no deeper than 10 inches. Placed behind the dwelling in the rear yard, a…

New Bedford lets owners of single-family homes add one accessory dwelling unit by special permit from the Board of Appeals under Zoning Section 2340. The unit must stay inside the…

Garage conversions throughout Bristol County require building permits and must comply with local zoning ordinances and 780 CMR building code. Conversions to living space must meet…

New Bedford requires anyone running a family day care in a residential district to hold a Certificate of Approval from the Commissioner of Buildings before opening. First-time…

New Bedford allows home occupations by right under Zoning Section 2510 as long as the business stays wholly inside the house, uses no more than 30 percent of the residence's floor…

An as-of-right home occupation in New Bedford cannot have any sign at all, under Zoning Section 2515. The rule also bars exterior displays, outdoor storage of business materials, and…

An as-of-right home occupation in New Bedford cannot bring clients, customers, pupils, or salespeople onto the property at all, and any traffic it generates cannot exceed what a…

Massachusetts Residential Kitchen Operator program under 105 CMR 590 requires registration with local Board of Health. Permitted non-potentially hazardous foods only. Bristol County…

Massachusetts has no microenterprise home kitchen permit and no home restaurant category. The one route to serving cooked meals out of a private kitchen is the bed-and-breakfast branch…

Any New Bedford pool deeper than 24 inches, or an aboveground pool four feet or more deep, must be fully enclosed by a fence at least four feet high under Zoning Section 2338. Every…

New Bedford bans barbed wire fencing in every residential zone, and on any property line touching a residential zone, unless it starts at least eight feet above grade. Zoning Section…

On a corner lot in a New Bedford residence district, Zoning Section 2740 caps fences, walls, and structures at three and a half feet inside the sight-triangle formed by the two…

Massachusetts law makes neighbors jointly responsible for partition fences on a shared property line, and New Bedford implements that system locally: the mayor appoints two or more…

New Bedford does not require a permit to build an ordinary residential fence, except within the city's Floodplain Overlay District. Section 4478 of the Code of Ordinances requires a…

New Bedford prohibits burning garbage, refuse, or any substance offensive when burned anywhere in the city under section 12-46, including by the city itself, with the sole exception of…

All consumer fireworks including sparklers are illegal throughout Massachusetts under MGL Ch. 148 §39. This applies to all of Bristol County. Only licensed professionals may conduct…

Massachusetts requires a state fire marshal license and local fire chief permit to store flammable gases including propane above specified threshold quantities.

Massachusetts bans any open-air fire statewide unless the local forest warden or fire chief issues a permit good for no more than two days. Violators face a fine up to $500 plus the…

Massachusetts STR law MGL ch. 64G §15 requires hosts to carry minimum $1,000,000 liability insurance. Platform-provided coverage (Airbnb AirCover, Vrbo) satisfies requirement if it…

STR parking requirements in Bristol County are governed by individual town zoning ordinances and parking regulations. Each municipality sets its own off-street parking requirements…

Massachusetts imposes a statewide 5.7% room occupancy excise on short-term rentals, plus optional local and community impact fees collected uniformly through DOR.

New Bedford bans willfully or negligently blocking the free passage of pedestrians on any sidewalk. Sec. 17-9 of the city code applies citywide and is enforced by police, who can cite…

New Bedford puts sidewalk repair costs on the city, not the abutting owner. Code of Ordinances § 22-35(8) caps the city engineer's fee-assessment authority to installing brand-new…

Anyone wanting to place signs, awnings, marquees, phone booths, or vending machines that project onto a New Bedford street or sidewalk needs a City Council permit under § 22-70. The…

Permitted food trucks in New Bedford may only operate in four designated location categories, each with its own permitted hours, plus outside those zones on private property in common…

New Bedford requires every mobile food truck to hold an individual health department permit before operating anywhere in the city, public or private property alike. The annual fee is…

New Bedford requires every food truck to hold an individual $600 annual permit from the health department under section 15-72, stay at least 300 feet from any food establishment, and…

A New Bedford restaurant needs an outdoor cafe permit from the department of inspectional services before placing tables and chairs on the public right-of-way, and the license is…

New Bedford bars any parade or procession from occupying a street to the exclusion of other travelers unless the chief of police issues a written permit first. Section 23-14 lets the…

New Bedford bans drinking or carrying open alcohol on any public way, sidewalk, or in a vehicle on a public way. Sec. 17-10 covers open cans, bottles, and containers with broken seals…

New Bedford bars groups from gathering on streets or sidewalks in a way that blocks passage, and separately bans loitering that manifests intent to buy, sell, or use controlled…

New Bedford's litter-control ordinance bans dumping litter, garbage, or debris on streets, sidewalks, vacant lots, and private property. Section 12-47 makes any violation of the…

New Bedford picks up yard waste and brush curbside only during the seasons the city sets, and only in approved containers, under Code of Ordinances § 16-74(j)-(k). Yard waste goes in…

New Bedford's Department of Facilities and Fleet Management sets and publicizes a regular schedule for solid waste and recyclables collection under Code of Ordinances § 16-76(a)…

New Bedford requires every customer to separate recyclables from solid waste before collection under Code of Ordinances § 16-77, using materials the director designates for the City of…

Any containerized roll-off unit over five cubic yards placed on a New Bedford public way requires a permit from the commissioner of public infrastructure under Code of Ordinances §…

New Bedford requires trash and recycling containers to sit at the rear or side of the building between collection days, never in the front yard, under Code of Ordinances §…

New Bedford residents may set bulky items such as furniture, mattresses, white goods and CRTs curbside only on the collection day the director schedules or designates, per Code of…

New Bedford's city council licenses pawnbrokers and can revoke a license at pleasure under section 15-33, which also requires every licensee to file a $5,000 bond with the city clerk…

New Bedford requires any motor vehicle repair shop, auto body shop, or towing service to hold a license from the licensing board under section 15-69, backed by a $325 application fee…

New Bedford allows adult entertainment establishments only by special permit from the City Council, and only within Business, Mixed Use, Business Planned, Industrial A, B or C, or…

New Bedford requires a Zoning Board of Appeals special permit for any body art establishment, bars them from residential districts entirely, sets a 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. closure, and…

New Bedford limits junk, old-metals, and secondhand-article dealer licenses under section 15-38 to applicants who have lived in the city, or an adjoining town, for at least six months…

Massachusetts heavily restricts vape retail under M.G.L. c. 270 § 28, banning flavored vape products statewide and limiting flavored nicotine vape sales to licensed adult-only smoking…

New Bedford Code of Ordinances § 22-15 gives every abutting owner or occupant a strict clock to clear sidewalk snow: four hours after daytime snowfall stops, or by 11:00 a.m. the next…

New Bedford bars any owner from creating or maintaining a nuisance on their property, defining "nuisance" to include dilapidated, burned or dangerous structures, hazardous vegetation…

Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton require vacant lot owners to mow (grass under 8-12 inches), remove trash, and secure the site. Vacant property registration required. Municipal…

New Bedford's residence districts require a 15-foot front yard, a 30-foot rear yard behind the dwelling, and side yards of 10 feet on one side and 12 feet on the other. Rear yards grow…

New Bedford caps building footprint at 30% of the lot in its RA, RB, RC, RAA and MUB residential districts, rising to 40% on corner lots, 50% in the Planned Business, Industrial A/B/C…

New Bedford's Zoning Ordinance caps residential building height at 45 feet in the RA and RB districts, 60 feet in RC, and 35 feet in RAA, with a bonus up to 60 feet for religious…

New Bedford's Floodplain Overlay District covers every FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area in the city and requires a permit for any development within it, from new buildings to…

New Bedford outlaws letting any parked motor vehicle idle for more than ten consecutive minutes. Emergency vehicles responding to calls, utility crews working on utility facilities…

In New Bedford's unnumbered A flood zones, subdivisions or developments larger than 50 lots or 5 acres, whichever is less, must supply base flood elevation data. Along undesignated…

New Bedford bars anyone from altering land within the city without first obtaining a stormwater management permit (SMP) under Code of Ordinances § 16-134(a). The commissioner of the…

New Bedford requires phased developments that must file a Development Impact Statement to describe exactly how construction will control erosion and sedimentation, naming methods such…

Massachusetts regulates all tidelands and coastal development statewide under Chapter 91 (MGL c.91) and 310 CMR 9.00, requiring state licenses for structures and fill in tidelands…

New Bedford confines marijuana establishments and medical marijuana treatment centers to Industrial Districts A, B and C. None may open within 500 feet of a school, licensed daycare…

New Bedford's Zoning Ordinance restricts marijuana establishments and medical marijuana treatment centers to Industrial Districts A, B and C, and none may operate without a special…

Adults 21+ in Bristol County can grow up to 6 cannabis plants (12 per household) under MGL c. 94G §7. Plants must be enclosed and not visible from public areas.

Any New Bedford project big enough to trigger Site Plan Review, generally 2,000 square feet of new commercial space or four or more residential units, must be designed to minimize…

New development inside New Bedford's Kings Highway transit-oriented overlay district must meet Illuminating Engineering Society of North America design guidelines for outdoor lighting…

New Bedford's Zoning Ordinance marks "Agricultural Use (Exempt)", farming on parcels over five acres that qualifies under M.G.L. c. 40A, § 3, as a permitted, by-right use in every one…

Massachusetts protects farms from nuisance lawsuits under M.G.L. c. 243 § 6: a farm operating more than one year using generally accepted agricultural practices cannot be found a…

New Bedford prohibits the construction of any new off-premise sign, including billboards, electronic signs, digital billboards and CEVMS, anywhere in the city, and the city will not…

New Bedford's Zoning Ordinance defines "sign" broadly enough to reach electric displays in windows and doors, but expressly excludes a temporary display inside a window that covers no…

Political signs allowed on private property in Bristol County under First Amendment and Reed v. Town of Gilbert. MGL ch. 54 and local sign codes impose reasonable time/place/manner…

New Bedford imposes a 4% local excise tax on the rent charged for any room in a hotel, motel, lodging house, or bed and breakfast establishment in the city. Stays renting for less than…

New Bedford requires properties that use a private trash hauler instead of city collection to keep waste in receptacles that are flytight, rodent resistant, nonflammable and…

New Bedford requires anyone conducting door-to-door sales to obtain a license from the city clerk under section 15-52.1, granted only to applicants 18 or older who pass a CORI check…

Several Bristol County municipalities maintain no-knock lists. Posted 'No Soliciting' signs must be honored by permitted commercial canvassers. Political and religious canvassing…

New Bedford prohibits distributing single-use plastic bags under 4 mils thick at retail establishments with 10,000+ square feet of space, or chains with two or more locations totaling…

New Bedford's traffic ordinance bars motorized scooters from every sidewalk, park, playground, school, and any place the public reaches as an invitee or licensee, confining them to…

Massachusetts treats a golf cart and a low-speed vehicle as different machines with different rights. A true golf cart may be driven on a public way only under one narrow carve-out in…

No building in New Bedford may be constructed, reconstructed, altered, repaired, removed, demolished or have its use changed, and no code-regulated equipment installed, without first…

New Bedford allows data centers by right in its Mixed Use Business, Industrial A, B and C, and Waterfront Industrial districts, but bars them from every residential district…

Massachusetts MGL ch. 184 §23C limits private restrictions on solar energy systems. HOAs and condo associations may impose reasonable aesthetic conditions but cannot effectively…

Solar installations in Bristol County require building and electrical permits under 780 CMR and 527 CMR. Massachusetts SMART program and net metering apply. MGL ch. 40A §3 limits…

Heritage and specimen trees in Bristol County receive enhanced protection under local bylaws and MGL c. 87. Historic districts and conservation land have added restrictions.

Massachusetts has no statewide omnibus drone statute, so recreational flying follows federal FAA rules. But across the roughly 450,000 acres the Department of Conservation and…

Massachusetts sets a statewide minimum wage of $15.00 per hour under MGL Chapter 151, and generally preempts cities from adopting higher local minimum wages.

Massachusetts provides paid family and medical leave through the PFML program under MGL Chapter 175M, plus paid sick time under the Earned Sick Time Law for most employees.

Massachusetts requires a License to Carry under MGL Chapter 140 Section 131 to carry concealed handguns, with applications processed by local police chiefs subject to suitability…

Massachusetts requires a valid License to Carry under MGL Chapter 140 Section 131 to transport loaded handguns in a vehicle, with strict storage rules applying to long guns and…

Beyond frost depth and snow load, the Massachusetts design criteria table sets weathering, termite risk, ice barrier, flood and air freezing index values that apply to every home built…

Massachusetts sets one frost line depth for the whole state: 48 inches. Footings must bear below that depth anywhere in the Commonwealth, and cities and towns do not set their own…

Massachusetts publishes a ground snow load for every one of its 351 cities and towns in a single state table, ranging from 25 psf on the Cape and Islands to 60 psf in the hill towns.

Massachusetts lists a minimum flat roof snow load for every city and town, and requires designers to use whichever is larger: that listed floor or the load calculated from the local…

The Expanded Gaming Act divides Massachusetts into three casino license regions and caps category 1 licenses at one per region. A resort casino can open only in a city or town that…

Massachusetts law bans commercial gambling but carves out G.L. c. 271 § 7A for nonprofit raffles and bazaars: veterans', religious, fraternal, educational, and civic groups that have…

Massachusetts bans gaming for money only in a public conveyance or public place, or in a private place where the player is trespassing. G.L. c. 271, § 2 does not reach cards, dice, or…

Massachusetts legalized sports wagering under G.L. c. 23N, with retail betting live January 31, 2023 and mobile apps following March 10, 2023. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission…

Massachusetts has no comprehensive HOA act. Condominium associations get a powerful statutory lien under M.G.L. c. 183A § 6 that carries a six-month super-priority over a first…

M.G.L. c. 183A, § 10(c) requires a Massachusetts condominium to keep a defined set of records up to date within the Commonwealth and to make them available for reasonable inspection by…

Massachusetts overrides some HOA and condo restrictions by statute. M.G.L. c. 184 § 23C voids deed covenants and condo-document provisions that forbid or unreasonably restrict solar…

Massachusetts gives owners an affirmative right to install electric vehicle supply equipment in their own unit or in a parking area they hold exclusive use of, and M.G.L. c. 183A, §…

Massachusetts gives a condominium's organization of unit owners express statutory power to levy fines, and attaches almost no conditions to it. M.G.L. c. 183A, § 10(b)(5) authorizes…

Massachusetts is not a UCIOA state, and its condominium lien rules sit in a home-grown statute, G.L. c. 183A, § 6. The lien attaches automatically when an assessment falls due and is…

Massachusetts runs the opposite way from states that cap association leasing bans. M.G.L. c. 64G, § 15 provides that nothing in the short-term rental chapter confers a right to lease…

The Massachusetts General Laws contain no sobriety checkpoint statute. A full-text search returns nothing for roadblock, roadblocks or sobriety checkpoint, and the single hit for…

Massachusetts has no statute granting a right to record police. It has G.L. c. 272, section 99, one of the strictest wiretap laws in the country, and the operative word in it is…

Massachusetts has no general stop-and-identify law reaching people on foot. The duty at G.L. c. 90, section 25 attaches only to a person operating or in charge of a motor vehicle, and…

Massachusetts has no clause saying lawful cannabis possession is not grounds for a search, unlike Michigan or Maryland. What it has instead is G.L. c. 276, section 1, which narrows…

For nonpayment of rent, Massachusetts requires a 14-day notice to quit under M.G.L. c. 186 § 11 (leases) or § 12 (tenancies at will). After the notice expires, the landlord must bring…

Massachusetts recognizes an implied warranty of habitability and gives tenants strong remedies. Under M.G.L. c. 111 § 127L, after certified code violations and proper notice, a tenant…

MGL Chapter 239 sets uniform statewide summary process eviction procedures for residential tenancies, establishing notice requirements, court process, and tenant defenses applicable in…

Massachusetts has no general statute requiring advance notice before a landlord enters. M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(a) instead limits when a lease may permit entry, to inspect, make…

Massachusetts strictly limits late fees. Under M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(c), no lease or rental agreement may impose any interest or penalty for late rent until the rent is at least 30…

To end a tenancy at will (month-to-month), Massachusetts requires written notice equal to one full rental period or 30 days, whichever is longer, under M.G.L. c. 186 § 12. Fixed-term…

Massachusetts prohibits rent control statewide. Voters abolished it through a 1994 ballot referendum codified as Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40P, the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition…

Massachusetts has one of the nation's strictest security deposit laws. A landlord may collect no more than one month's rent as a security deposit, must hold it in a separate…

Massachusetts requires 20 years of continuous adverse possession to claim title to land. Under M.G.L. c. 260 § 21, an action to recover land must be brought within 20 years after the…

Massachusetts requires purchasers of tobacco and vape products to be at least 21 years of age under MGL Chapter 270 Section 6, predating the 2019 federal Tobacco 21 law.

Massachusetts became the first state to ban all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes, under M.G.L. c. 270 § 28, effective June 1, 2020.

Massachusetts bars any vehicle from mounting or displaying a flashing, rotating or oscillating light in any direction except under G.L. c. 90, section 7E, and section 7E hands out red…

Massachusetts has no dash camera statute, but G.L. c. 90, section 13B expressly permits a device to be mounted on or affixed to a vehicle windshield, dashboard or centre console so…

Lane splitting is illegal in Massachusetts. G.L. c. 89, § 4A tells the operator of a motorcycle that he shall not pass any other motor vehicle within the same lane, and the ban carries…

Massachusetts bans plate covers by naming the device rather than by regulating tint or reflectivity. G.L. c. 90, § 6 says number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and…

Nothing in the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits a radar detector in a private car. A full-text search of the General Laws returns no hit at all for radar detector, speed measuring…

Massachusetts writes its studded tire rule as a ban on the warm half of the year rather than as a permission for winter. G.L. c. 90, § 16 makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle…

Massachusetts lets you put aftermarket film on the front side windows, the rear side windows and the rear window only if it transmits at least 35 per cent of visible light and reflects…