[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting
of the Town of Lexington 4-3-1967 by Art. 83 as Art. XXIV of the 1967 Bylaws. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
A police officer may divert either vehicles or pedestrians
when necessary to avoid congestion or when necessary for public safety
or convenience, and no person having charge of a vehicle shall refuse
or neglect to drive, stop, place or park the same as directed by a
police officer.
B.
No person shall drive any vehicle upon or over any
hose pipe while the same is laid by public authority for use in any
street or public place in a Town unless otherwise directed by some
person in charge.
C.
No person without proper permit shall drive or conduct
any vehicle in such a condition, or so constructed, or so loaded as
to be likely to cause delay in traffic or accident or injury to persons
or to property.
A.
No person shall, in any street or public place, wash
or clean any animal or vehicle, or shake or clean any mat or carpet.
B.
No owner, tenant or other person having control of
any building or premises shall permit a gate, door, blind or shutter
thereof to swing open across any part of a street or sidewalk so as
to obstruct or interfere with the use thereof.
C.
No person shall without a proper permit obstruct the
free, open and convenient use, by the public for travel, of any sidewalk,
street or public parking lot by occupying the same with goods, wares,
merchandise or other chattels, or by using the same as a place of
resort, amusement, recreation or business.
D.
Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall use
or operate on any sidewalk or independent bicycle path any motorized
vehicle, except a wheelchair, maintenance vehicle, or a police or
fire emergency or patrol vehicle.
[Amended 4-10-1972 ATM by Art. 90; 4-4-1979 ATM by Art. 54; 5-3-1993 ATM by Art.
33]
(1)
Non-motorized bicycles may be ridden on independent
bicycle paths, designated by the Select Board and marked as bike paths
or bike routes. When necessary in the interest of public safety, non-motorized
bicycles may be ridden on sidewalks, except within business districts
and within such other areas as may be designated by the Select Board.
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
E.
No person, except Town employees duly authorized to
do so, shall excavate, dig up or otherwise open or occupy any portion
of a street or public place, except in accordance with a permit therefor
from the Select Board. The Town Manager shall designate a board or
officer of the Town to issue permits to excavate trenches, other than
those permitted under the first sentence herein, pursuant to and as
regulated by Chapter 82A of the Massachusetts General Laws, as amended,
and under 520 CMR 14.00.
[Amended 3-19-2008 ATM by Art. 31; 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
F.
No person shall, in connection with the erection,
alteration or repair of any building, place any materials or rubbish
on any street or public place without first obtaining a written permit
from the Select Board; such permit shall not run more than 60 days
and shall be on such conditions as the Select Board may require, including
furnishing such security, by bond or otherwise, for the observance
and performance of the conditions and for the protection of the Town,
as the Select Board may require, and especially in every case upon
condition that during the whole of every night, from sunset in the
evening until sunrise in the morning, lights shall be so placed as
effectually to secure all travelers from liability to injury. Such
permit may be renewed at the discretion of the Select Board.
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
G.
No person shall coast, ski or skate on any street
or public place except on such as are designated by the Select Board
or on public playgrounds.
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
A.
No owner or agent having charge of any building or
lot of land abutting on a sidewalk within all commercial and industrial
districts as defined in § 135-2 of the Zoning By-Law of
the Town of Lexington shall place or permit or suffer to remain for
more than four hours between sunrise and sunset any snow or ice upon
such sidewalks which impedes the orderly flow or safety of pedestrian
traffic upon such sidewalks, unless such ice is made even and covered
with sand or some like material to prevent slipping.
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48]
B.
No person shall lay, throw, or place or cause to be
placed any ice or snow on that portion of any street or sidewalk within
the Town which has been cleared or plowed for travel.
C.
No owner of a building abutting upon or adjacent to
the line of any street, or his agent having care thereof, shall cause,
pump, permit or suffer water from the roof of such building or from
the building itself to discharge upon or flow across the sidewalk
or public way adjacent to such building in such a way as to affect
the public safety.
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48]
D.
Every owner of a building abutting upon or any part
of which stands within 15 feet of the line of any public street, the
roof of which building pitches or slopes towards the street, shall
fit or provide such roof with snow barriers or guards sufficient to
effectually prevent the sliding of snow and ice from such building
into any part of the street.
E.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface
drainage, uncontaminated cooling water, or unpolluted industrial process
waters to any sanitary sewer.
[Added 4-12-1978 ATM by Art. 57]
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48]
Any vehicle on any way in the Town interfering
with the work of removing or plowing snow or removing ice from the
way may be removed by or under the direction of the Director of Public
Works to a public garage or any convenient place. The Director of
Public Works shall, within a reasonable time, notify the Chief of
Police of the removal of any such vehicle and of the place to which
it has been removed, and the Chief of Police shall give like notice
to the registered owner of the vehicle. The owner before being permitted
to remove the vehicle shall establish his right so to do and pay to
the Town or to the keeper of the place of storage the cost of removal,
and any storage charges resulting therefrom.
A.
No person shall post or affix in any manner, paint,
print or write, or cause to be painted, printed or written any notice,
advertisement, bill, picture, drawing or writing upon any tree, post,
pole, fence, wall or building unless he has previously obtained the
consent of the person having possession of such tree, post, pole,
fence, wall or building. Such signs must conform to the sign regulations
set forth in the Zoning By-Law of the Town.
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48]
B.
No person, unless required by law so to do, shall,
without a permit from the Select Board, post or affix in any manner,
paint, print, write or cause to be painted, printed or written any
notice, advertisement, bill, picture, drawing, or writing upon any
curbstone, sidewalk, tree, pole, post or hydrant in any street or
public place, or upon any walk or fence or upon or in any public building.
Such signs must conform to the sign regulations set forth in the Zoning
By-Law of the Town.
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48; 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
C.
No person shall, in any street or public place, carry
and display, for advertising purposes, any show card, placard, or
sign, except in accordance with a permit so to do from the Select
Board.
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
No person shall break, deface or move any official
sign post, signaling or traffic device, warning barrier, lantern or
other light placed or located in any street or public place for the
information or direction of traffic or the protection of the public.
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48]
Streets shall be called and known by the names
given them respectively until such names shall be changed by vote
of the Town Meeting.
A.
No person, without lawful authority so to do, shall
throw, sweep, place, or drop and suffer to remain on any street or
public place any papers, ashes, earth, garbage, rubbish, litter, manure,
refuse or any noxious liquid or solid substance, or any glass, nails,
tacks, scrap iron or similar articles.
B.
No person, unless having the authority so to do, shall
dump or deposit any ashes, rubbish, refuse, offal or decayed animal
or vegetable matter on any public or private land contrary to the
rules and regulations of the Select Board.
[Amended 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
C.
No person shall throw, dump or cause to be deposited
in any brook, stream, watercourse or drainage facility within the
Town any trash, rubbish, debris, refuse or other material such as
grass clippings, brush, tree limbs or similar items which will obstruct
or impede the free flow of water. The penalty for violation of this
bylaw shall be $100 for each offense.
[Added 4-4-1979 ATM by Art. 55]
No person shall pollute any drinking fountain,
trough or basin set up or established in any street or public place
or public building in this town, for the use of man or beast, or unnecessarily
waste or use the water thereof.
[Amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art. 48]
A.
No person shall behave or conduct himself on the Battle
Green otherwise than in a quiet and orderly manner in keeping with
a respectful regard and reverence for the memory of the patriotic
service and sacrifice there so nobly rendered.
B.
No person shall engage or take part in any game, sport,
picnic or performance on the Battle Green unless:
C.
No person shall climb upon, deface, mutilate, or otherwise
injure any tree, shrubbery, monument, boulder, fence, seat, or structure
on the Battle Green.
No person without authority so to do shall climb
any tree or injure any trees, flowers or plantings or shrubbery in
any street or public place, and no person shall permit or suffer any
animal under his care to injure any such trees, flowers, plantings
or shrubbery.
[Added 4-8-1974 ATM by Art. 37; amended 5-3-1982 ATM by Art.
48]
A.
A camping vehicle occupied as an accessory use in
a residence district as defined by the Zoning By-Law:
(1)
Shall not be operated to deposit waste or water onto
the grounds;
(2)
Shall conform to the appropriate yard requirements
of the Zoning By-Law except where the unit is located on a driveway;
and
(3)
Shall not be occupied for more than five consecutive
nights unless specifically approved by the Board of Appeals.
B.
No charge or fee may be imposed for the parking of
such a camping vehicle.
[Added 3-21-2011 ATM by Art. 27; 3-27-2019 ATM by Art. 34]
A.
Purpose. In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40,
§ 6N, the Select Board may authorize temporary repairs of
private ways in the Town as provided in this section. The making of
any such temporary repairs to private ways, no matter how often or
to what extent, does not constitute an acceptance by the Town of such
ways as public ways, nor does it constitute a way being "maintained
and used as a public way" under the Massachusetts Subdivision Control
Law.
B.
Type and extent of repairs. Repairs shall be limited to grading,
patching, and the layering of gravel to establish a uniform grade,
make drainage repairs, accommodate the Town's emergency vehicles or
otherwise protect or repair the Town's infrastructure.
C.
Public necessity. There shall be a finding of public necessity for
said repairs by the Select Board in consultation with the Director
of Public Works.
D.
Petition process. The Select Board may make a determination of the
need for said repairs and may authorize the making of said repairs
with or without a petition of the abutters to said private way. However,
the Select Board will not entertain a petition from the abutters unless:
(a) it is signed by 51% of the abutters along the private way to be
repaired, or (b) if a majority of abutters to the private way are
members of an association of landowners specific to said way and a
majority vote of that association's membership or board of directors
submits the petition.
E.
Scope of work. The scope of the repair work shall be determined by
the Director of Public Works, subject to approval by the Select Board.
F.
Betterments. Betterment charges may be assessed by the Select Board
on the abutter(s) of such way up to an amount equal to the cost of
such repairs. If betterments are to be assessed, they shall be assessed
upon each parcel of land benefiting from such repair by any method
as may be approved by the Select Board. Betterments shall be apportioned
over such a period as the Select Board deem appropriate, after considering
such matters as the estimated useful life of the proposed repairs
and the source of funds to be used for the same.
G.
Funding. Repairs funded under this section through betterments shall
be appropriated at any Special or Annual Town Meeting. The Select
Board members are authorized to seek contributions for a portion of
the cost of said repairs from abutters and the Select Board members
may, in their discretion, require a cash deposit from the abutters.
H.
Town's liability. The Town shall have no liability as a result of
any such repairs under MGL c. 40, § 6N(f). The Select Board
may also request arrangements to be made to further reduce or eliminate
potential liability risks to the Town arising from the repairs. Such
arrangements may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the
provision of insurance by repair contractors and/or by abutters or
associations of abutters insuring the Town's interests or the provision
of suitable indemnity agreement by abutters or by associations of
abutters. Moreover, this section or any repairs thereunder, do not
impose any duty or obligation on the Town to maintain or repair private
ways.
I.
Public use. There shall be a finding by the Select Board that the
private way to be repaired under this section shall have been opened
to public use for five years or more prior to the expenditure of funds
under this section and shall thereafter remain open to the public
for no less than the useful life of said repairs. The making of any
such repairs to private ways, no matter how often or to what extent,
does not constitute an acceptance by the Town of such ways as public
ways, nor does it constitute a way being "maintained and used as a
public way" under the Massachusetts Subdivision Control Law.
J.
The Select Board, or its designees, may promulgate, after public
notice and hearing, rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes
and intent of this bylaw. However, failure by the Select Board to
promulgate such rules and regulations shall not act to suspend or
invalidate the effect of this bylaw.
