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

Section 78-7(b) of the Revised Ordinances bars anyone other than a city or Commonwealth employee performing public duties from placing or leaving any article, material or merchandise in a Medford sidewalk, street or highway, or from parking a vehicle or cart there to display merchandise, unless a permit authorizing that use has been issued by the city council for city ways or by the state Department of Public Works for state highways. The ordinance carves out a narrow exception for the reasonable and expeditious loading or unloading of goods, but even then the property can never be left so as to obstruct the free passage of pedestrians or vehicular travel, the core standard the city applies to sidewalk cafe furniture, sandwich boards, delivery pallets and similar items left along Medford Square and other commercial strips.

Subsection (c) gives the city the power to move, or direct the moving of, any fixture, structure or property left illegally in a street, highway or sidewalk, and to charge the cost of that move to the owner. The section itself sets no dollar fine, so a violation defaults to the citywide general penalty in § 1-13: a fine of not more than $300.00 for each offense, with every day the obstruction continues counted as a separate offense, and the city retains the option of an injunction instead of or alongside the fine.

The rule dates to Revised Ordinances 1974, ch. 13, § 16, and remains in force unchanged in the current chapter 78 traffic and vehicles article.