Hanover County, VA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 17-5(b) folds sidewalk and street obstruction into the county's loitering statute rather than treating it as a stand-alone encroachment rule. Subsection (b)(1) makes it unlawful to loiter, loaf, wander, stand or remain idle, alone or with others, in a public place so as to obstruct any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or other public place or building by hindering, impeding, or tending to hinder or impede the free and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians. Subsection (b)(2) reaches further, covering any act or thing on a public street, highway or sidewalk that obstructs or interferes with the free and uninterrupted use of property, or with any business lawfully conducted in or upon or facing such a public way, preventing free ingress, egress and regress.

Neither subsection requires proof of intent to block traffic; the conduct itself, if it hinders passage or a fronting business, is enough. Subsection (c) gives the enforcement mechanism its teeth: when a person causes or commits either condition, a law-enforcement officer must order the person to stop and to move on or disperse, and only a failure or refusal to obey that order completes the violation under subsection (d).