New Berlin, WI Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Section 230-5 of the New Berlin Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful for any person to encroach upon, obstruct, or encumber a street, alley, sidewalk, public ground, or land dedicated to public use, and it extends that ban to letting an encroachment remain on the public way adjoining a person's own property. The rule reaches both physical structures and temporary clutter left in the right-of-way. Five exceptions in Subsection B narrow the ban: building-mounted signs or clocks that project no more than six feet and clear ten feet above the walk, awnings that clear seven feet, utility encroachments the City has separately authorized under § 230-7, building materials placed in the right-of-way on conditions the City Engineer sets, who can require barricades or lights, and goods or merchandise being loaded or unloaded that extend no more than three feet onto the sidewalk and sit there no longer than three hours.

Anything outside those five categories, from a parked trailer to a fence post set in the public way, falls under the general prohibition. Because the exceptions are enumerated rather than illustrative, a property owner cannot rely on informal custom, such as leaving a for-sale sign or a planter on the sidewalk indefinitely, to avoid violating the section. Violations of Chapter 230 carry the penalty set in § 230-12, which routes back to the general forfeiture schedule in Chapter 1, § 1-18 of the Code.