Pottstown, PA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Chapter 6, Part 5, Loitering, adopted by Ordinance 1888 in 1999, has two articles. Article A's general loitering standard, § 502, makes a person guilty of disorderly conduct if he 'shall remain idle in essentially one location in a public place with the intent to cause public inconvenience or alarm or to recklessly create a risk thereof' by doing any of seven listed things: fighting or threatening or violent behavior; creating a disturbance that interferes with others' comfort and repose; obstructing the free passage of pedestrians or vehicles; obstructing, molesting or interfering with anyone lawfully in a public place; making unsolicited offensive or insulting remarks; appearing manifestly under the influence of alcohol or drugs to a degree that endangers himself or others; or carrying a weapon like a pistol, dagger, razor or knuckles in a threatening manner.

Section 503 gives a police officer power to order a person causing any of those conditions to leave the public place if the officer reasonably judges it necessary for public peace and safety; refusing to leave after being ordered is itself a separate violation. Section 504 protects peaceful picketing, public speaking and lawful expression from the Part, and § 505 states the Part is meant to supplement, not replace, state disorderly conduct law. Article B, § 506, separately bans loitering for the specific purpose of prostitution, soliciting prostitution, or selling, manufacturing or possessing a controlled substance with intent to deliver, citing the underlying Pennsylvania statutes directly.