[Adopted as §§ 19-39 through 19-47 of
the 1965 Code]
A.
No person shall place, erect or cause to be placed
or erected within any sidewalk or street any fixture or structure
unless a permit issued by the Commissioner of Public Works in the
case of City ways, or by the Department of Public Works of the commonwealth
in the case of state highways, authorizing such placing or erection
has been granted and is in effect.
B.
No person, other than one employed directly or indirectly
by this City or by the commonwealth and while in the performance of
necessary public duties, shall at any time place or leave on any sidewalk
or street any article, material or merchandise, or park a vehicle
or cart on any sidewalk or street for the purpose of displaying merchandise,
unless a permit issued by the Commissioner of Public Works in the
case of City ways, or by the Department of Public Works in the case
of state highways, authorizing the use of the sidewalk or street has
been granted and is in effect, except as may be necessary for the
reasonable and expeditions loading or unloading of any such article,
material, merchandise, cart or vehicle; provided, however, that such
property shall never be left so as to obstruct the free passage of
pedestrians or vehicular travel.
C.
Any such fixture, structure or property as referred
to in this section which has been erected, placed or left illegally
in any street or sidewalk may be moved by or under the direction of
an officer and at the owner's expense.
D.
The board or officer issuing permits for such use
of sidewalks or streets as described in this section may, in his or
her discretion, when occasion justifies, demand a suitable cash deposit,
surety bond or insurance indemnity policy to save the City or the
commonwealth harmless from all liability of any nature whatsoever
caused directly or indirectly by such use of the sidewalk or street.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
No person shall erect in any street any staging
for building purposes or occupy any portion of a street with lumber
or other material for use in the erection, repair, alteration or removal
of any building, or place in any street any material or goods, wares
or merchandise or any coal, dirt, rubbish or obstruction of any kind,
without a written license from the Commissioner; and any such licensee
shall comply with the requirements and conditions imposed by the Commissioner.
A.
No person shall put up, erect or maintain over any
part of any street any awning or other projection or obstruction supported
wholly or partly by posts or by rods or otherwise unless the same
is safely made, fixed, supported and maintained so as in no wise to
incommode travelers and so that the lowest part thereof shall be at
least nine feet above the sidewalk or street, and if stationary and
built over a sidewalk, shall not extend over its outer edge; provided
that canvas awnings hung from a building may be erected at a height
of not less than 7 1/2 feet from the sidewalk to the lowest part of
the canvas. Any supporting posts or rods shall be of wrought iron
not less than two nor more than three inches in diameter; and if such
projection is covered with wood, tin or other permanent covering,
such covering shall be made and kept watertight.
B.
No person shall erect or maintain any portico or porch,
any bay window or other window, showboard, show bill, poster, banner,
lantern or any other projection or obstruction over any part of any
street without the consent of the Council.
A.
[1] No person shall place or keep any table, stall, booth,
structure or erection in any street for the sale or exposure for sale
of any goods, wares or merchandise.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection A, which prohibited all persons except newsboys selling newspapers from selling any articles on the street or sidewalk without a permit, was repealed 6-5-2012 by Ord. No. 112-2012. This ordinance also redesignated former Subsections B through G as Subsections A through F, respectively.
B.
No one operating or managing a yard, lot or other
area for the sale or lease of automobiles shall park, or permit any
vehicles to be parked, so as to project onto or over the public way
or sidewalk.
[Added 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 223-98]
C.
Physical barrier.
[Added 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 223-98]
(1)
Any lot, yard or area used for the display of vehicles
for sale or lease which abuts any sidewalk shall have a chain, row
of posts, fencing, a berm or some other physical barrier located along
the property line of sufficient height and distance from the sidewalk
to prevent any vehicle from encroaching on the sidewalk. Before installing
of the barrier, a site plan showing the location of the barrier must
be approved by the Building Commissioner. The Building Commissioner
may waive the requirement of installing a physical barrier if in his
or her judgment a physical barrier would create a safety hazard or
would create an unreasonable hardship because of the size or configuration
of the lot. Any time the Building Commissioner waives this requirement,
he or she shall require the owner or manager to paint a line or otherwise
mark the line beyond which cars cannot be parked.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014]
(2)
All persons who begin to operate a yard, lot or other area for the sale or lease of automobiles after the effective date of this article, shall be in compliance with Subsections B and C when they begin to operate. All other persons or lots subject to this subsection shall have until July 1, 1999, to install the required barrier.
D.
F.
Whoever violates any provision of Subsection B, C or D may in the discretion of the Building Commissioner be penalized by a noncriminal complaint filed in the District Court pursuant to the provisions of MGL c. 40, § 21D. For the purposes of such noncriminal enforcement the penalty to apply in the event of a violation shall be as follows: $25 for the first offense; $50 for the second offense; $100 for the third offense; and $200 for the fourth and each subsequent offense. Each day on which a violation exists shall be deemed a separate offense.
[Added 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 223-98]
[Amended 7-27-1989 by Ord. No. 307-89; 7-18-2000 by Ord. No. 265-00; 12-1-2015 by Ord. No. 220-2015]
No person or City department shall dig up or
make any excavation in any part of any street or sidewalk without
a written permit from the Commissioner of Public Works. Work under
such permit must be done in accordance with the requirements of the
Commissioner, and upon completion thereof, the permittee shall restore
the surface to a condition satisfactory to the Commissioner or his
or her designee as determined and governed by the current City of
Fitchburg Department of Public Works Trench Restoration Policy. An
application fee of $250 and an inspection fee of $100 shall be paid
to the City with each application. Said fee shall include all related
inspections. Licensed public utilities, however, shall not be required
to pay an inspection fee.
[Amended 7-27-1989 by Ord. No. 307-89; 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014; 12-1-2015 by Ord. No. 220-2015]
The Commissioner of Public Works may require
any person to whom he or she may grant a permit to do work in any
street or to obstruct any street in any manner to provide a cash security
in the sum of $5,000 cash to be held by the City Treasurer for three
years in order to comply strictly with the terms of the permit. Three
years after the completion of the last permit work, a permittee may
request the Department of Public Works release the security. If all
permit obligations have been met, the security will be returned in
its entirety. The permittee shall provide a certificate of liability
insurance of $1,000,000 to indemnify the City from all loss, cost
or expense that it may suffer in any way whatever by reason of such
work or obstruction. Such permittee shall be held responsible for
any damages that may result from such work or obstruction within three
years after its termination. The permittee, upon issuance of permit,
agrees to indemnify and save the City harmless against all claims
for damage or injuries to persons or property and against all costs,
suits, and losses arising from defects in the public way due to such
work. Licensed public utilities, however, shall not be required to
file a cash security but are held responsible for three years, unless
otherwise required by the Department of Public Utilities.
[Amended 6-3-2014 by Ord. No. 100-2014; 12-1-2015 by Ord. No. 220-2015]
Should any portion of a street require repaving
or resurfacing within three years after it has been disturbed by excavation,
the Commissioner of Public Works shall notify, in writing, by mail,
postage prepaid, and/or e-mail, the party to whom the permit for such
excavation or disturbance was granted, to forthwith make such repairs
as he or she may deem necessary. If such party shall fail to make
such repairs within three working days after the sending of such notice
to his or her last known address, the Commissioner may then make such
necessary repairs, and the expense thereof shall be deducted, upon
the request of the DPW Commissioner, from the cash security of $5,000
deposited by the permittee with the City Treasurer. All sums received
by the City Treasurer for work done or materials furnished under the
authority of this section shall be placed to the credit of the Department
of Public Works and used as a part of its appropriation.
No person shall make any permanent excavation
under the surface of a sidewalk or street or a permanent opening in
the same except in accordance with a written permit from and under
the direction of, and in accordance with plans approved by, the Commissioner
of Public Works.
[Added 9-18-2007 by Ord. No. 195-07[1]]
No person, except the City, shall plant any
tree or shrub within five feet of the edge of any existing or proposed
public street or sidewalk, without a written permit from the Commissioner
of Public Works.
