Bloomfield, NJ Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 497-39 of the Bloomfield Township Code has two separate prohibitions. Subsection A is a permission rule: no person shall encumber or obstruct any street or public place in the Township with any article or thing whatsoever without having first obtained permission from the Building Inspector. The wording covers any article or thing, so a dumpster, pile of materials, display or equipment left in a street or public place needs that permission whether or not it blocks traffic in practice.

Subsection B is an outright ban with no permission route. No person shall throw, put or place, or cause or permit to be thrown, put or placed, into, upon or within any public street or place any substance, matter or thing whereby the safe, free or unobstructed use of the street or place by the public is in any way impeded or interfered with. The phrase cause or permit reaches a property owner or contractor whose crew leaves material in the road, not only the person who physically puts it there.

Other sections in Chapter 497 deal with specific obstructions. Owners and tenants must clear gutter obstructions, including pipes, bridges, stones, rocks and wood, within 30 days after notice from the Township Engineer, and the Township can do the work and charge the cost as a lien added to the property's taxes (§§ 497-12 to 497-14). Section 497-44 forbids throwing rubbish, refuse or other matter into or upon the sidewalks, gutters or streets, and § 497-45 requires loads carted over streets to be securely confined, with scattering treated as presumptive evidence of failure to comply. Signs, porches, sheds and awnings over a street fall under § 497-41. Any permit or license for an object in, under, upon or across a street or sidewalk can be suspended or revoked by the Council at its pleasure under § 497-1.