Southampton, NY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Town Code Chapter 287, Article IV, § 287-16 prohibits doing or causing to be done any act or thing that creates a condition, in, within or upon any highway, street, road, sidewalk, sidepath, passway or other public way of the Town of Southampton, or maintained by it, that is dangerous to the health, safety or welfare of people using it, impairs the public's use of it, or obstructs or tends to obstruct or render it dangerous for passage. This obstruction ban sits alongside § 287-15, which separately bars disturbing, breaking, marring, injuring, removing or defacing the surface of the same public ways without the Town Superintendent of Highways' written consent and a bond, and § 287-17, which bans operating, driving, propelling or towing anything fitted with metal lugs, teeth or discs on these public ways, though it exempts carbon, ceramic or tungsten studded tires used without willful damage.

Enforcement runs through § 287-19: each 24-hour calendar day, or part of one, that an obstruction or other violation of Article IV continues counts as a separate violation, so a blocked sidewalk left in place for a week can generate seven counts. The base penalty, as amended in 1990, is a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 30 days, or both, per violation. Beyond the fine and jail time, § 287-20 preserves the Town's separate right to bring an action for damages or penalties through the Superintendent of Highways, so criminal penalties under § 287-19 do not foreclose a civil claim for the cost of clearing or repairing the obstruction.