Chatham County, GA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

These obstruction rules sit inside the same peddler and solicitor ordinance that licenses transient and local peddlers, street barkers, and solicitors for charitable, religious, or subscription causes (Code Ch. 16, Art. IV). Sec. 16-314(2) bars a peddler or solicitor from standing or sitting in or near the entrance to a house or business, or anywhere that would disrupt or impede pedestrian or vehicle traffic. Sec. 16-314(3) goes further on the roadway itself: no peddler or solicitor may offer to sell or solicit inside a vehicular traffic lane, and none may run a roadblock, defined as a complete or partial obstruction directed at vehicle traffic.

Enforcement is not left to complaint alone: Sec. 16-314(4) gives any Chatham County Police Department officer the authority to order a peddler or solicitor out of an area the officer determines has become congested enough to create a public hazard or inconvenience, and Sec. 16-314(9) lets an officer direct on-the-spot correction of any violation. These are peddler-specific rules built for sidewalk and street selling, not a general anti-clutter ordinance for planters, sandwich boards, or sidewalk cafe furniture; those situations sit outside this article.