New Britain, CT Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Sec. 21-16(a) bars placing or maintaining any building material on a street without a building permit from the department of public works, covering the common construction-site practice of stockpiling lumber, brick, or fill along the curb. Subsection (b) attaches conditions to any permit granted: the permittee must keep a safe, convenient passage open around or over the material for public travel and free of refuse and debris; must let water flow freely in the street gutters; must light the stored material every night from sunset to sunrise with battery-powered devices, since gasoline, kerosene, or other flammable lamps are expressly barred; and must assume all responsibility for, and hold the city harmless from, any damage caused by failing to meet those conditions.

Subsection (c) limits each permit's life to one month from its issue date, though the department of public works may approve successive one-month extensions once the chief of police certifies in writing that the storage isn't causing unreasonable interference with traffic. The section, sourced from 1970 Code Sec. 20-24 and amended by ordinance No. 26824-1 in 2002, cross-references Chapter 7's building regulations, tying the street-storage permit to whatever building permit is driving the construction in the first place. It sits in the same article as Sec.

21-15's general street-obstruction permit and bond, but Sec. 21-16 is the specific rule for construction-material staging rather than fences, bridges, or drain fills, and it requires a building permit rather than the Sec. 21-15 bond.