Fort Collins, CO Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 17-128(b)(1) covers physical encroachments on the public right-of-way: it prohibits obstructing a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, building entrance, elevator, aisle, stairway or hallway used for public passage, and separately prohibits obstructing pedestrian access to fixtures the public relies on, naming benches, pedestrian signal buttons, trash cans and water fountains. The obstruction can arise from one person's acts alone or in combination with others, so a group leaving equipment, merchandise, or a stopped vehicle across a sidewalk is covered as much as an individual.

Subsection (b)(2) makes it a distinct violation to disobey a reasonable order to move issued by a peace officer, firefighter, or a person with authority over the premises, when the order is given to prevent obstruction or to protect public safety near a fire, riot or other hazard. Subsection (c) defines "obstruct" broadly, to render a passage impassable or unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous, a standard applied case by case rather than by fixed distance, except where Subsection (c) also folds in the specific 20-foot sit-lie rule near business entrances found elsewhere in the Section. Because Section 17-128 carries no stated fine of its own, enforcement runs through the Chapter 1 general penalty in Section 1-15.