[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. 
Noncompliance; violations and penalties.
[Added 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 223-98]
(1) 
Any person subject to the provisions of Subsection C who fails to install the barrier by the date required shall be on violation of this section and shall be fined $300 per day of noncompliance.
(2) 
If any vehicle protrudes into the public sidewalks from any lot, yard or area subject to Subsection B, the licensee and the owner or manager shall be in violation of this section and shall be fined $300 per day of noncompliance.
E. 
The Building Commissioner and Police Department shall enforce the provisions of Subsections B, C and D.
[Added 6-2-1998 by Ord. No. 223-98]
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was originally enrolled to add § 157-50; however, in order to correct a scrivener's error, the ordinance was added as § 157-49.1.