[Ord. No. 152]
No person, except an officer of the law in performance of his
duties, shall enter upon or use the premises of another or any public
property or public way with the intention or for the purpose of peeping
into the doors or windows of a house or other building or of spying
in any manner upon any person therein.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 34, § 1; Ord. No. 195, § 1, 9-13-1973; Ord. No. 270, § 1, 11-12-1976; Ord. No. 692, § 1, 3-25-1992]
No person shall deposit, cast or throw in or into any river,
brook or watercourse in the City, or the bed thereof, or on or onto
the banks adjacent thereto, or onto City park land or any other public
land, any refuse, ashes, garage, offal or any junked or any discarded
article. Whoever violates this section shall pay a fine of $300.
[Ord. No. 742, § 1, 1-11-1994; Ord.
No. 1024, § I, 2-23-2009]
No person shall place, permit to be placed, or otherwise install
moorings, floats, or rafts held by bottom anchor or any ramps associated
therewith located within any submerged lands lying below the high-water
mark of any great pond or nontidal river or stream on which public
funds have been expended for stream clearance, channel improvement,
or any form of flood control either upstream or downstream within
the river basin, except for any stream which is not normally navigable
during any season by any vessel including canoe, kayak, raft, or rowboat,
or any filled lands lying below the natural high-water mark of great
ponds; except that such person shall have obtained a permit from the
Harbormaster. Said permit shall be issued by the Harbormaster only
after written application and payment of a permit fee of $50 for moorings
occupying less than 2,000 square feet of water surface and $200 for
moorings occupying or delineating greater than 2,000 square feet of
water surface.
Such permit may not authorize the placement of moorings, floats,
or rafts held by piling or other means not bottom-anchored. Nor shall
such permit be issued for any bottom-anchored mooring or arrangement
of floats or buoys that, in and of itself, occupies or delineates
more than 2,000 square feet of water surface area or constitutes a
marina, except that a public hearing shall have been held with notice
published, at the expense of the applicant, at least seven days in
advance of the hearing, and the Harbormaster has set forth the reasons
for issuing such a permit in a written statement which includes findings
to the effect that the project will serve a public purpose and will
not unreasonably interfere with the public rights of navigation, fishing,
and fowling.
Such permit shall be valid only until the end of the calendar
year in which issued and shall not be transferable to another person,
except to a person within the immediate family of the permittee upon
approval of the Harbormaster.
[Ord. No. 717, § 1, 9-9-1992]
Any person possessing, managing, or controlling property, including
nonnavigable rivers and streams, shall keep such property clean and
free from garbage, refuse, rubbish, litter, trash, or debris. Persons
liable under this section shall include owners, tenants, lessees,
agents, and occupants.
The Commissioner of Public Health/Director of Municipal Inspections shall enforce this section by giving written notice to an offender by certified or registered mail. Said notice shall order the person to remove the offending rubbish or debris. Seven days thereafter, the commissioner may impose a fine pursuant to chapter 4 1/2.
For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
Means bits and pieces of rubbish or litter, including but
not limited to rubble and bits of stone, wood, or glass.
Means the animal, vegetable, or other organic waste resulting
from the handling, preparing, cooking, or consumption of food.
Means useless, unwanted, or discarded solid, liquid, or contained
gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, or household
activities that is abandoned by being disposed of or is stored pending
disposal.
Means combustible and noncombustible waste material, except
garbage, and includes but is not limited to, such materials as paper,
rags, cartons, boxes, wood, rubber, leather, tree branches, yard trimmings,
grass clippings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery,
dust, and the residue from the burning of wood, coal, and other combustible
material. "Litter" means small bits or scraps of rubbish scattered
about in disorder.
Means worthless, unwanted, or broken items which have been
discarded or abandoned or are being stored pending disposal.
[R. O. 1949, ch. 33, § 2; Ord. No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994]
Subject to and under the authority of section 303 of chapter
94 of the General Laws, prepared wood, slabs, and edgings for fuel,
when sold by the load, shall be sold after measurement by a public
or sworn measurer of wood or bark. The measurer shall give to the
owner or seller a certificate showing the number of cubic feet, which
certificate or a duplicate thereof shall be given to the purchaser
by the owner or seller on delivery of the wood, slabs or edgings.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 29]
No auctioneer shall hold a sale upon any sidewalk or other thoroughfare
in the city so as to obstruct or prevent the free and convenient use
of the same by travelers thereon.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 21]
No person shall discharge any gun, pistol or other firearm in
any street, highway, public square or common in the city; provided,
however, that this section shall not apply to the use of such weapons
in the lawful defense of the person, family or property of any one,
or in the performance of any duty required by law.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 25]
No person shall behave himself in a rude or disorderly manner
in any street, lane, alley or other public place in the city.
[Ord. No. 210, § 1, 1-17-1974; Ord.
No. 566, § 1, 1-26-1987; Ord. No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994]
(a)
No person shall drink any alcoholic beverages as defined in Chapter
138, Section 1 of the Massachusetts General Laws while on, in or upon
any public way or upon any way to which the public has a right of
access, or any place to which members of the public have access such
as parks or playgrounds, or private land or place without consent
of the owner or person in control thereof. All alcoholic beverages
being used in violation of this section shall be seized and safely
held until final adjudication of the charge against the person or
persons arrested or summoned before the court, at which time they
shall be returned to the person entitled to lawful possession.
(b)
Whenever an unemancipated minor is convicted of violating Subsection (a) of this section, the custodial or guardian parent shall be subject to a fine as indicated in Chapter 4 1/2, § 4 1/2-2 All action taken under this Subsection (b) shall be deemed noncriminal and shall be conducted in accord with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 21D.
[Ord. No. 398, § 1, 5-13-1981]
It shall be unlawful for any person to use or possess glass
bottles and/or glass containers within the limit of lands under the
management of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
[Ord. No. 1031, § 1, 4-28-2009]
No person shall smoke, ingest, or otherwise use or consume marihuana
or tetrahydrocannabinol (as defined in MGL c. 94C, § 1,
as amended) while in or upon any street, sidewalk, public way, footway,
passageway, stairs, bridge, park, playground, beach, recreation area,
boat landing, public building, schoolhouse, school grounds, cemetery,
parking lot, or any area owned by or under the control of the City;
or in or upon any bus or other passenger conveyance operated by a
common carrier; or in any place accessible to the public.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 19]
No person shall expose for the purpose of gaming or any other
unlawful purpose, in or upon any street, lane, alley, public place
or common in the City, any table or device of any kind by or upon
which game of hazard or chance can be played.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 23; Ord. No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994; Ord. No. 1093, § I, 11-25-2014]
Subject to the provisions of Chapter 87 of the General Laws,
no person shall cut down, remove, injure or destroy any fruit, shade
or other tree growing or being in any public street, lane, alley,
common or other public ground in the City, without permission of the
Commissioner of Public Services. No person shall post any notice or
advertisement upon, or attach any sign to, any telegraph, telephone
or other post, designed for the support of electric or other wires,
located in any street, lane, alley, common or other public ground
in the City.
[Ord. No. 567, § 1, 1-26-1987; Ord.
No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994]
(a)
(1)
No person shall permit any branches, bushes, or impediments
to encroach upon or interfere with a public way, from any property
owned or controlled by said person.
(2)
The Commissioner of Public Services shall enforce this section
by giving written notice to an offender by certified or registered
mail. Said notice shall order the person to remove the encroaching
or interfering material.
[Ord. No. 1093, § II, 11-25-2014]
(3)
If the encroachment or interference is not removed within three days of the receipt of the notice, the person violating this section shall be subject to a fine as indicated in Chapter 4 1/2, § 4 1/2-2 for any one violation thereof. All action taken under this section shall be deemed noncriminal and shall be conducted in accord with Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 21D.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 22; Ord.
No. 1093, § V, 11-25-2014]
No person shall light or extinguish any City lamp maintained
in any street, square or public place in the City, except by permission
of the Commissioner of Public Services.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 28]
No person shall ring or cause to be rung any bell, or use or
cause to be used any horn or other instrument, or utter any boisterous
outcry, in any street in the city, to give notice of any business
or calling, or to call attention for the purpose of making sales of
any article unless thereto duly licensed by the mayor and city council;
provided, that any gong or bell to be used shall be of a different
tone and construction from the gongs or bells used by the fire department.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 31]
No person shall be present or remain upon the steps of, or any
projection from, any church, hotel, hall or public building, nor shall
any person be present or remain in any hall space or way leading thereto,
so as to incommode or obstruct the passage to and from such church,
hotel, hall, public building, hall space or way leading thereto, and
every person being so present or remaining shall immediately depart
therefrom after being so ordered by the chief of police or any officer
of the police department, or by the owner, agent or other person having
charge of such church, hotel, hall, public building, hall space or
way leading thereto.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 40]
No papers shall be cried or sold on the streets of the city
on the Lord's Day except between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:15
a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., and during those hours, not in
the immediate vicinity of any church edifice in which service at the
time is being held.
[R. O. 1947, ch. 24, § 42]
[Ord. No. 194, § 1, 9-13-1973]
All boats powered by any means other than hand powered or electric
powered motors are hereby prohibited on the Housatonic River, including
its backwaters or impounded waters, within the limits of the City
of Pittsfield.
This section shall not apply to authorized gasoline powered
boats that are used for authorized work projects such as river cleanups,
rescue or conservation investigations, emergency purposes or other
duly authorized projects.
The conservation commission of the City of Pittsfield shall
be empowered, in addition to any other lawful agencies or persons,
to bring a complaint for a violation of this section.
No person shall be prosecuted for any offense against any of
the provisions of this section unless a complaint for the same shall
have been instituted and commenced within six months from the time
when such offense was committed.
[Ord. No. 280, § 1, 5-13-1977; Ord.
No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994]
No motor vehicle, as the same is defined in General Laws (Ter. Ed.) Chapter 90, Section 1, which is unregistered for more than a year, or any parts or portions thereof, shall be allowed to stand on any lot or parcel which is located in a residential zone, as the same is shown on the zoning map of the City of Pittsfield, as amended. All such unregistered vehicles may stand on such land provided that they are garaged or screened or covered with a nontransparent cover of a material, size and style typically used to cover or protect automobiles so as not to be visible by the general public or any abuttors to the said lot or parcel. Any person who fails to remove, screen or garage said vehicles within four weeks after being duly notified in writing by the building inspection department of such violation shall be subject to a fine as indicated in chapter 4 1/2, section 4 1/2-2.
[Ord. No. 277, § 1, 4-22-1977; Ord.
No. 971, §§ I, II, 11-9-2005; Ord. No. 1245, § I, 12-14-2021]
(a)
No person shall operate a recreational or snow vehicle, as the same
are defined MGL c. 90B, § 20, (Ter. Ed.); 323 CMR 3.03(3)
Distance from Residences. No person shall operate a snow vehicle or
recreational vehicle within 150 feet of an occupied residence without
the permission of the owner, their agent or lessee of such residence,
except in cases of emergency, when directly departing or returning
to such residence or when operating on the property of another for
which permission has been granted. Permission may be given to an individual,
club, association or other organization.
(b)
No person shall operate a recreational or snow vehicle, as the same
are defined MGL c. 90B, § 20, (Ter. Ed.), on City ways,
nor on the plowed snowbanks of such ways, nor upon any other public
way, except to cross a way or to gain access to an area where such
vehicles may be operated as provided in MGL c. 90B, § 25.
(c)
No person shall operate a recreational vehicle, as the same is defined in MGL c. 90B, § 20, (Ter. Ed) within the lands under the management of either the Department of Parks and Recreation or any other municipal department, except that such operation shall be allowed during the winter months on certain bodies of water that are defined by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as "great ponds." For the purpose of this Subsection (c), "winter months" shall be defined as the months of December through and including February.
[Ord. No. 409, § 1, 10-29-1981; Ord. No. 751, § 1, 6-15-1994]
(a)
Electric fences prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to
erect, install or maintain any electrically charged fence within the
City, except that the Building Inspector may issue a permit for an
electrically charged fence to retain farm animals for agricultural
purposes upon proof that the fence will not be hazardous to life.
(b)
Barbed wire fencing prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person
to erect, construct or maintain any barbed wire fencing within the
City except:
(1)
Three courses of barbed wire may be installed above the top
line of a six-foot (1.83 meters) chain link fence located in a district
zoned for industrial purposes or on property used for industrial purposes
under a valid nonconforming use.
(2)
Barbed wire fences which comply with state statutes may be erected,
constructed and maintained on premises zoned for agricultural uses.
(c)
Fences creating safety hazards prohibited. It shall be unlawful for
any person to erect, install or maintain a fence which obscures clear
view of traffic at intersections or driveways or which creates a safety
hazard to pedestrians or vehicular traffic.
(d)
Permits. It shall be unlawful for any person to install, erect, construct,
relocate or alter a fence within the City without first obtaining
a permit therefor from the Building Inspector. No permit shall be
issued if the Building Inspector determines that the proposed fence
does not meet any of the requirements of this section. A sketch or
design of the proposed fence, including a description of materials
to be used and specification of height, shall be submitted with the
application for a permit.
[Ord. No. 445, § 1, 3-11-1983]
(a)
MECHANICAL AND ELECTRONIC GAMES AND OTHER GAMES
PERSON
SCHOOL
Definitions. As used in this section, the following words shall have
the following respective meanings:
Shall mean any machine, apparatus, device or mechanism which
may be operated or played upon by the placing or depositing therein
of any coin, check, slug, ball or any other article or device or by
paying therefor either in advance of or after use, involving in its
use either skill or chance, including, but not limited to, pinball
machines, electronic video games, automatic amusement devices (as
defined in MGL c. 140, § 177A) or any other similar machine
or device.
Shall mean any corporation, association, syndicate, joint
stock company, partnership, club, society, or individual.
Shall mean any educational institution, public, private,
secular or parochial, which offers instruction of high school grade
or below and which is accredited by the State Department of Education.
(b)
Hours of operation for minors under 16 years of age. No owner, operator,
employee thereof or person in charge shall allow any minor under 16
years of age to play or use any such mechanical, electronic game or
other games during any time while such minor's school is in session.
(c)
Compliance with other law. Neither this section nor any provision
therein contained shall authorize or permit or be construed as authorizing
or permitting the keeping, maintaining, possession, using or operating
in the City of Pittsfield of any contrivance or device otherwise prohibited
by law.
(d)
Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause, or phrase of this section or any part thereof is
for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid or ineffective
by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judicial decision shall
not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining portions
of this section or any part thereof. The city council hereby declares
that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph,
sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that
any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences,
clauses, or phrases be declared unconstitutional or invalid or ineffective.
(e)
Public nuisance. A violation of any provision of this section, or
any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of
the provisions of this section shall and is hereby deemed and declared
to be a public nuisance and may be abated by the city as such.
[Ord. No. 674, § 11, 5-29-1991]
(a)
As used in this section, "loitering" shall mean remaining idle in
essentially one location and shall include the concepts of spending
time idly, loafing or walking about aimlessly, and shall also include
the colloquial expression "hanging around".
(b)
No person shall loiter in a public building owned by the City of
Pittsfield or its agencies in such manner as to:
(1)
Create or cause to be created any disturbance or annoyance to
the comfort and repose of any person;
(2)
Obstruct the free passage of persons;
(3)
Create or cause to be created a danger of a breach of the peace;
or
(4)
Obstruct, molest, or interfere with any person lawfully in any
public building owned by the City of Pittsfield or its agencies.
|
This paragraph shall include the making of unsolicited remarks
of an offensive, disgusting or insulting nature or which are calculated
to annoy or disturb the person to whom, or in whose hearing they are
made.
|
(c)
Whenever the presence of any person in any public building owned by the City of Pittsfield or its agencies is causing any of the conditions enumerated in subsection (b), any police officer may order that person to leave that place. Any person who shall refuse to leave after being ordered to do so by a police officer shall be guilty of a violation of that section.
[Ord. No. 829, § I, 6-30-1997]
(a)
Purpose.
(1)
It is the purpose and intent of this section to enable the city
council to provide standards which will protect its citizen's health,
safety and welfare and which will preserve peace and order by prohibiting
loitering for the purpose of engaging in drug-related activities contrary
to any provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 94C, section 1 et seq., known
as the Massachusetts Controlled Substances Act, as now enacted or
hereafter amended or transferred.
(2)
It is also the purpose and intent of the city council to assist
law enforcement personnel to minimize the impact which drug sales
have on the quality of life, overall sense of feeling of safety and
security of its citizens, and economic stability, because the sale
of controlled substances not only depreciates the value of property
upon which the activity occurs, but also depreciates the value of
adjacent and surrounding properties, and adversely affects a local
community's image, business, development, and housing costs.
(3)
It is not the purpose and intent of the city council in enacting
the ordinance from which this section is derived to prohibit any conduct
which is constitutionally protected.
(b)
LOITER
PUBLIC PLACE
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms will have
the following meanings:
Shall mean remaining idle in essentially one location and
shall include the concept of spending time idly; to be dilatory; to
be slow in moving; to delay; to linger; to lag behind; to stay; to
saunter; to stand around, and shall also include the colloquial expression
"hanging around."
Mean any place to which the general public has access and
a right to resort for business, entertainment, or other lawful purpose,
but does not necessarily mean a place devoted solely to the uses of
the public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of any
store, shop, restaurant, tavern or other place of business and also
public grounds, areas or parks.
(c)
Manifesting the purpose of illegally using, possessing or selling
controlled substances.
(1)
It shall be unlawful for any person to loiter in a public place
in a manner and under circumstances manifesting the purpose of illegally
using, possessing, transferring or selling any controlled substance
in violation of any provision of M.G.L. Chapter 94C, section 1 et
seq., known as the Massachusetts Controlled Substances Act, as now
enacted or hereafter amended or transferred. Among the circumstances
which may be considered in determining whether such a purpose is manifested
are:
a.
The person is a known illegal user, possessor or seller of controlled
substances, or the person is at a location frequented by persons who
illegally use, possess, transfer or sell controlled substances; and
b.
The person repeatedly beckons to, stops, attempts to stop or
engage in conversation with passersby, whether such passersby are
on foot or in a motor vehicle, for the purpose of inducing, enticing,
soliciting or procuring another to illegally possess, transfer, or
buy any controlled substances; or
c.
The person repeatedly passes to or receives from passersby,
whether such passersby are on foot or in a motor vehicle, money, objects
or written material for the purpose of inducing, enticing, soliciting
or procuring another to illegally possess, transfer, or buy any controlled
substances.
(2)
The list of circumstances set forth in subsection (1) is not exclusive. The circumstances set forth in subsection (1) should be considered particularly salient if they occur in an area that is known for unlawful drug use and trafficking, or if they occur on or in premises that have been reported to law enforcement as a place suspected of unlawful drug activity. Any other relevant circumstances may be considered in determining whether a person has the requisite purpose and intent to commit the offense stated herein. Moreover, no one circumstance or combination of circumstances is in itself determinative of purpose and intent. Purpose and intent must be based on an evaluation of the particular circumstances of each case.
(3)
In order for there to be a violation of subsection (1), the person's affirmative language or conduct must be such as to demonstrate by its express or implied content or appearance a specific intent to induce, entice, solicit or procure another to illegally possess, transfer or buy a controlled substance, giving rise to immediate concern for public health, safety and welfare.
(4)
For the purpose of this section, a known illegal user, possessor,
or seller of controlled substances is a person who, within one year
previous to the date of arrest for violation of this section, has,
within knowledge of the arresting officer, been convicted of illegally
manufacturing, using, possessing, selling, purchasing, or delivering
any controlled substance.
(d)
Enforcement. The area of enforcement of the provisions of this part
shall be within the boundaries of the City. The provisions of this
section shall be enforced by members of all duly authorized law enforcement
agencies within the City.
(e)
Penalties.
(f)
Severability. It is declared to be the intent of the City Council
that, if any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion
of this section is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional
by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed
a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall
not affect the validity of the remainder of this section.
[Ord. No. 682, § 1, 10-10-1991; Ord. No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994]
No person other than judges of the Massachusetts Trial Court,
court employees, attorneys licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, local, county, state and federal law enforcement
officers and their agents, shall, in any building housing a courtroom
of the Massachusetts Trial Court, possess a gun, firearm, ammunition,
explosive or incendiary device.
[Ord. No. 774, § 1, 11-10-1994; Ord. No. 901, § 1, 9-10-2002]
(a)
GRAFFITI IMPLEMENT
PERSON
Definitions.
Shall mean any pressurized container designed to propel liquid,
any spray activator capable of being attached to an aerosol paint
container, a paint stick, etching tool, or other similar devices capable
of marking, injuring, marring, defacing, destroying or leaving a visible
mark on any natural or man-made surface.
Shall mean an individual, partnership, cooperative association,
private corporation, personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee
or any other legal entity.
(b)
Sale of graffiti implement to minors prohibited. It shall be unlawful
for any person, other than a parent or legal guardian, to sell, exchange,
give, loan, or otherwise furnish, or cause or permit to be exchanged,
given, loaned, or otherwise furnished, any graffiti implement that
is capable of defacing or destroying public property or the private
property of another to any person under the age of 18 years.
(c)
Purchase of graffiti implement by minors prohibited. It shall be
unlawful for any person under the age of 18 years to purchase a graffiti
implement that is capable of defacing or destroying public property
or the private property of another.
[Ord. No. 857, § 1, 6-8-1999]
(a)
In general.
(1)
It shall be unlawful for any person to focus, point or shine
a laser beam from a laser pointing device directly or indirectly on
another person or animal in such a manner as to harass, annoy, or
injure said person or animal.
(2)
It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of 18 years
to possess a laser pointing device. A person shall not be in violation
of this section if his or her possession of a laser pointing device
is necessary for his or her employment, trade or occupation and it
is necessary for the pointer to be carried on his or her person.
(3)
For the purpose of this section, the words "laser pointing device"
shall mean any device that emits light amplified by the stimulated
emission of radiation that is visible to the human eye.
(b)
Enforcement. The provisions of this section shall be enforced by
members of all duly authorized law enforcement agencies within the
City of Pittsfield.
[Ord. No. 718, § 1, 9-9-1992; Ord.
No. 777, § 1, 11-10-1994]
(b)
Each day in which any violation exists shall be deemed to constitute
a separate offense.
(c)
The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Police Department,
the Commissioner of Public Services or designee, or the Commissioner
of Public Health/Director of Municipal Inspections or designee.
Ord. No. 1093, § VI, 11-25-2014
