[Derived from Secs. 4, 5, 5-A, 9, 32, 51 and 52 of Ch. IV
of the Charter and Ordinances, 1974]
A.
When any bridge or viaduct within the City shall be deemed by the
Commissioner of Public Works to be unsafe for traffic or unsafe for
full traffic, he is authorized to close such structure to traffic,
wholly or partially, and he shall post in a conspicuous place upon
such a structure a notice of such total or partial closing to traffic,
which notice, if a partial closing, shall clearly indicate the reason
for and the extent of such limitation.
B.
Upon such closing, the Commissioner of Public Works shall immediately,
in writing, notify the Commissioner of Police of his action; and if
the closing is partial, the notice shall state specifically the reason
traffic is limited or restricted and to what extent; and the Commissioner
of Police shall enforce the closing or partial closing of such bridge
or structure.
C.
No person shall pass over or drive any vehicle over any bridge or
structure, so closed, in violation of a notice posted as provided
herein.
The Mayor is hereby authorized to close to traffic temporarily
any public place or street, or any part thereof, for such time as
he deems necessary, whenever, on account of a public celebration,
large assemblages of people, peculiar conditions or an emergency,
public safety or convenience will be promoted thereby. The Commissioner
of Police is charged with the duty of enforcing such closing upon
the Mayor's direction.
Reviewing stands and other temporary structures may be placed
upon parts of streets or public places closed, as herein provided,
with the consent of the Mayor and under conditions prescribed by him;
provided, however, that such consent may at any time be modified or
revoked by the Common Council.
[Added 7-21-1998, effective 8-6-1998]
Notwithstanding provisions of this chapter regarding encroachments
on streets or the Special Events Ordinance[2] to the contrary, the issuance of a permit for the temporary
closing of streets for a block party involving fewer than 3,000 spectators
or participants shall not be conditioned upon the requester providing
to the City insurance, a bond or other indemnification of the City.
A.
Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall use any part of a
public highway or any public place for the deposit or temporary storage
of any building, paving or sewer materials or any other materials
unless for the immediate transfer of the same to or from premises
adjacent to such temporary storage place. No such materials shall
be allowed to remain on such highway or place longer than sundown
of the same day; provided, however, that the Commissioner of Public
Works may issue a permit to any owner, contractor or person doing
work on any premises, in case there is not sufficient space on said
premises to deposit said materials, to use for temporary storage purposes
not more than 1/3 of the roadway of any highway in front of said premises
and a portion or all of the sidewalk space in front of said premises
as the Commissioner of Public Works shall deem necessary.
B.
It is further provided that the Commissioner of Public Works may issue a permit to any owner, contractor or person doing work on any premises or in the highway adjacent thereto, in case the proper performance of such work requires the use of a portion or all of the sidewalk space or a portion of the roadway up to 1/3 of the width thereof in front of said premises, to use such portion or portions of the public highway for the construction of a temporary shed, overhead structure, sidewalk, fence, barrier or protective structure as the Commissioner of Public Works shall deem necessary. Such shed, structure, fence, etc., shall be promptly removed by and at the expense of the permittee when said work is finished or said temporary structure is no longer necessary. Any permit issued by the Commissioner of Public Works pursuant to this section shall be for a period not to exceed 30 days, except that the Commissioner of Public Works may renew the same in his discretion. The fee for any such permit shall be fixed at the rate as provided in Chapter 175, Fees. No permit fee, however, shall be less than the minimum fee as provided in Chapter 175, Fees. The renewal fee shall be at the same rate. In the case, however, of work done by any sidewalk or roofing contractor in the regular course of his business, the Commissioner of Public Works may, in his discretion and upon payment of an annual fee as provided in Chapter 175, Fees, issue in lieu of such monthly permit an annual permit for the temporary storage of construction materials in any highway, in accordance with this section. Said contractor§ s permit shall expire on March 31 of each year following its issuance.
C.
Any person holding any permit under this section shall not occupy
with construction material or structures any portion of any highway
for any of the foregoing purposes other than as permitted by the Commissioner
of Public Works in accordance with this section.
D.
Every permittee shall, during the period between sunset and sunrise,
display a sufficient number of red lights on such material or structures.
In case any person violates or disobeys the direction of the Commissioner
of Public Works with reference to such materials or structures, he
shall forfeit all rights and privileges under said permit, and the
Commissioner of Public Works shall cause such materials to be removed
to the premises upon which the same are intended to be used and any
temporary structures that may have been erected to be taken down and
stored on the premises aforesaid. The Commissioner of Public Works
shall report to the Common Council the expense of such removal of
materials and taking down of temporary structures, and the Common
Council shall direct that such expense be assessed upon the premises
to which said materials were removed. The Commissioner of Public Works
may, at his option, cause such materials to be removed to some suitable
place of storage from whence the materials may be redeemed only upon
payment to the Treasurer of the cost of such removal and storage.
E.
In cases where any public improvement is about to be or is being
made in any public highway, the contractor or person having control
and charge of such improvement may deposit material thereon in such
manner and for such time as may be required or permitted by the Commissioner
of Public Works.
No person engaged in the garage business or in the business
of repairing, manufacturing or selling automobiles or parts thereof
or supplies therefor, or any business affecting in any manner automobiles
or vehicles, shall, except as otherwise expressly provided for by
law or ordinance, use any part of any street or other public place
for the storing, exhibiting, repairing or otherwise caring for automobiles
or vehicles.
The Commissioner of Public Works, with the written approval
of the Mayor, is hereby authorized to designate from time to time
streets or parts of streets in the City as § play streets§ to
be devoted during designated hours of the day to use by children for
playing of safe, innocent and wholesome games. Such designation shall
be in writing, describing the streets or parts of streets to be used
for such purposes and the hours of the day when it is to be so used,
and such designation shall become effective one month after such written
designation is filed with he Common Council.
A.
Such designation of play streets shall be subject to the following
conditions:
(1)
The neighborhood must not have a readily available playground.
(2)
The street to be designated a play street must not be a main thoroughfare
and must not be much used for vehicular traffic. This is to be determined
by the Commissioner of Public Works with the consent of the Mayor
and the Commissioner of Police.
(3)
A block club or similar group, through its designated leader, shall
first petition the Commissioner of Public Works for use of the street
as a play street.
(4)
The block club or comparable group, through its designated leader,
must state the proposed days and hours to be used and that supervision
is available from the neighborhood along with the names of such supervisory
personnel.
(5)
The block club or comparable group, through its designated leader,
must indicate with signatures that a majority of the residents agree
with the request.
(6)
The records containing the designation of a street as a play street
and containing the written approval of the Mayor and the Commissioner
of Police shall be filed in the City Clerk§ s office. Such
records shall be available for examination by the public.
(7)
No play street shall incorporate more than one City block.
B.
The Mayor or the Commissioner of Police or the Commissioner of Fire
or the police precinct Captain may, without prior notice, immediately
rescind a play street designation by a written document to that effect
filed in the City Clerk§ s office.
A.
During the hours any play street is in use for recreational purposes as described in § 413-39, the roadway thereof shall be closed to vehicular traffic by removable barriers placed at each end of the section of the street so used. The barriers must be erected by the Department of Public Works and must be built with material that allows for ease of removal in the event that the street is needed for emergency vehicles; the barriers must be so situated as to allow property owners use of the street for access purposes.
B.
Each removable barrier must have a sign legible for a distance of
at least 100 feet which states substantially the following: § PLAY
STREET; Temporarily Closed to Traffic; Department of Public Works§
C.
The Commissioner of Public Works shall inform the Commissioners of
Police and Fire of the schedule of play streets on a weekly basis.
D.
Supervision of activities designated in § 413-39 shall be the responsibility of the block club president or his designated supervisory representative. Should such supervision not be adequate in the opinion of the Mayor or the Commissioner of Public Works or Commissioner of Police, such play street designation shall cease immediately upon the filing in the City Clerk§ s office of a written statement to that effect by either the Mayor, the Commissioner of Public Works or the Commissioner of Police.
E.
Emergency vehicles must be allowed the use of the right-of-way in
the designated area at all times.
