Lexington, KY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 17-21 of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ord. No. 198-95 on September 7, 1995 and amended by Ord. No. 174-2001, splits the prohibition into two clauses. The first bars erecting any building, structure, fence or wall on public right-of-way in any manner whatsoever. The second bars obstructing any portion of the right-of-way by placing or depositing vehicles, barrels, boxes, shelves, stands, merchandise, cross-ties, concrete blocks, spikes, basketball goals, or decorative tree wells, a list broad enough to cover everything from a parked trailer to a planter built into the sidewalk.

Both clauses exempt only what sections 17-22 and 17-23 separately authorize: a right-of-way blockage permit for construction material staging (division of engineering for sidewalk-line blockages, division of traffic engineering for street blockages) and brief loading or unloading that clears the sidewalk as soon as reasonably possible. Nothing else, a display rack, an unpermitted food stand, a homeowner's stored equipment, is excused. Enforcement runs through section 17-24, which sets the fine for violating 17-21, 17-22 or 17-23 at not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, with each day the obstruction remains treated as a separate offense, so a week-long blockage can multiply into several hundred dollars in exposure.