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

Section 20-9, titled 'Loitering as to obstruct passage,' prohibits one or more persons from standing singly or in a group, alone or near each other, on any sidewalk or on land used for a sidewalk or street in a manner that obstructs or impedes public travel, but only after a constable or police officer has already asked the person or group to move on. The trigger is the officer's request: the ordinance does not criminalize simply standing on a sidewalk, it criminalizes remaining in a way that blocks passage after being told to disperse.

This section sits in Chapter 20, Article I, alongside the city's other right-of-way conduct rules: § 20-6 bars gates or doors swinging over a street or sidewalk, § 20-7 bars driving or riding a vehicle, horse or bicycle on a sidewalk except at a driveway entrance, and § 20-12 separately bars auctioneers and most sidewalk vendors, other than newsboys selling papers, from obstructing pedestrian travel while selling. Together these sections give the police department several distinct tools depending on what is actually blocking the sidewalk, whether it is a person, a vehicle, a fixture or a vendor's stand, rather than one catch-all obstruction rule.