Tuscaloosa, AL Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

Sec. 21-9, unchanged in substance since the 1962 Code (§ 29-3) and last amended by Ord. No. 9627 on June 3, 2025, reaches goods, merchandise, lumber, fuel, or "any other article or obstruction whatsoever" left on a street or sidewalk, plus any act restricting free access anywhere in the city. The only exemptions are temporary blocking for safety, construction, or renovation done under supervision of the appropriate city official and in accordance with city regulations, or signs and nonpermanent structures for which the city council or an appropriate city official has issued a permit.

The section closes a loophole businesses used to argue: a revenue-department business license by itself never functions as a permit to obstruct. Related sections in the same article sharpen the picture. Sec. 1 requires a right-of-way permit from the city engineer before installing a bollard and chain or other barrier on a sidewalk or grassy right-of-way, and any such barrier remains city property the city can order removed at the permittee's expense. Sec. 21-13 goes further for permanent obstructions, declaring it a public nuisance to build, erect, or maintain any house, building, or permanent structure in or on a public street, and Sec.

21-14 gives the offender five days to remove it after notice from the governing body or a police officer before a misdemeanor charge attaches, with each day of continued occupancy a separate offense under Sec. 21-15. Sec. 21-17 similarly bars cloth or temporary signs over a sidewalk or street unless the governing body adopts a resolution permitting one for a public purpose. None of these sections carry their own fine schedule, so enforcement runs through the citywide general penalty provision.