Gastonia, NC Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

City Code § 7-2 prohibits obstructing passage on a public sidewalk by displaying goods or merchandise for sale unless the seller holds a temporary sidewalk sales permit issued by the administrator, or has an encroachment agreement executed under § 7-11 for sidewalk dining, § 7-12 for sidewalk merchandising, or § 8-400 for street vendors. The administrator may authorize a temporary sidewalk sales permit only after finding that the sale will run no more than three consecutive days, will operate during daylight hours only with any obstructions cleared away at night, and that the permit combined with any other permits issued to the same or other applicants for the same location will not add up to more than ten total days of sidewalk obstruction in any 365-day period.

The sidewalk may only be partially obstructed, in a manner that does not seriously inconvenience the public or threaten public safety. Once a permit issues, violating any of these conditions, or any other condition attached to the permit, invalidates the permit outright and exposes the operator to prosecution. The section works alongside § 7-1's broader right-of-way encroachment rule and the more specific longer-term permits for sidewalk dining, sidewalk merchandising and street vending, so a business running a longer-term sidewalk display needs one of those other agreements rather than a short-term sales permit.