Chicopee, MA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

The rule sits in Chapter 243 (Streets and Sidewalks), Article V (Use of Highways) of the Code of the City of Chicopee, adopted by the Chicopee City Council. Subsection A reaches "any article or thing whatsoever" placed in or on a public way, street, sidewalk, footwalk or crosswalk. The test is practical, not technical: the item is barred if it interferes with the convenient use of the space by any person traveling there. Nothing in the text sets a minimum clear width or a time allowance, so a planter, a display, a pile of lumber or a parked piece of equipment all fall under the same sentence once they get in a pedestrian's way.

Subsection B fixes the penalty at $300. That figure was added by Ord. No. 00-13 on 2-15-2000 and amended by Ord. No. 00-31 on 3-21-2000. It displaces the general penalty in § 243-44, which is $50 plus a like penalty for every day an offense is repeated or continued, because that section applies only where a different penalty is not specially provided.

Section 243-44 also names who enforces Chapter 243 in the City of Chicopee: the Superintendent of Public Works, the Chicopee Police Department, the Building Department, the Health Department and the Fire Department, or any of their designees, each with authority to issue citations.

Several neighboring sections cover specific kinds of obstruction. Section 243-26 requires a license from the City Council or the Superintendent of Streets before anyone puts staging, materials or rubbish on a public sidewalk. Section 243-39 bars sand, small stones, rubbish and handbills in the street and gives 24 hours to clear them, with a $50 fine plus cleanup cost. Section 243-40 bars nails, tacks and broken glass at $50 per offense. Section 243-32 bars letting a building shed water onto a sidewalk, at $50.