Baytown, TX Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Sec. 122-2(a) bans encumbering or obstructing sidewalks, streets, alleys, and other public rights-of-way with any goods, wares, merchandise, buildings, or property of any description, real or personal, except as otherwise allowed in the same section. The ordinance puts removal power directly in the hands of the chief of police, stating it "shall be the duty of the chief of police to remove any such encumbrance, encroachment or obstruction," with no advance written notice period built into this particular subsection. A narrow carve-out in Sec. 122-2(b) protects legitimate short-term activity, letting people receiving, shipping, or handling property use the sidewalk or street temporarily as long as the use doesn't otherwise break an ordinance or law, and Sec.

122-2(c) provides the formal route to a longer storage use through a written city manager permit. The Code cross-references Texas Penal Code Sec. 03 (obstruction of a highway or passageway) and Transportation Code Secs. 051 as the state-law backdrop for the local rule. The ordinance dates to Ordinance No. 736, adopted January 14, 1965, carried forward as Code 1967 Secs. 26-1 through 26-3, and sits in chapter 122's Article I alongside the separate visibility-triangle obstruction rule in Sec. 122-3, which does give a ten-day notice-and-cure period for tree and structure sightline violations.