Somerville, MA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

" The provision traces back to the 1963 Code (former § 12-12) and sits in Chapter 12's Article I general streets and sidewalks provisions, alongside the vehicles-on-sidewalks rule in section 12-7 and the temporary-obstructions rule in section 12-12. The five-minute clock only starts once a police officer has affirmatively told a person to move along; the statute does not set a blanket time limit on standing or sitting on a sidewalk absent that direction. Separately, the statute reaches willful or negligent obstruction of foot traffic and group loitering even without a prior police directive, covering both an individual blocking a doorway or crosswalk approach and a group camped out on a sidewalk corner.

Because the loitering ban sits in the streets and sidewalks chapter rather than the criminal code, enforcement runs through the municipal fine schedule rather than a criminal loitering charge, though a person who refuses to leave after notice can also face criminal trespass exposure under separate state law if the property involved is not a public way.