No persons shall remain assembled on any sidewalk in front of any church, dwelling house, or other building so as to obstruct passage along the same, or to impede or annoy other persons.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Wenham as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 3-5-1945 (former Ch. V, §§ 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 12); amended 12-30-1963]
No person shall throw stones, snowballs, sticks or other missiles, kick a football, play at any game in which a ball is used, fly kites, or shoot with or use an air gun, bow and arrows, slingshots, or other similar devices on or across any public ways of this Town.
No person shall maliciously throw or drop any paper, paper container or other refuse on any public way in this Town.
No person shall maliciously throw or drop any flaming, smoldering or burning material from a vehicle of any kind on public ways in this Town.
The Director of Public Works shall be authorized to remove or cause to be removed to a convenient public garage any vehicle interfering with the removal or plowing of snow or ice, and the cost of such removal or storage charges, if any, resulting therefrom shall be paid by the owner of the vehicle.
No persons shall play, push or throw any snow or ice onto any street or sidewalk of the Town unless it is immediately removed therefrom.
[Adopted 5-9-1987 (former Ch. XV); amended 5-13-1989]
The Town of Wenham is authorized to make temporary repairs on private ways pursuant to MGL c. 40, § 6, in accordance with the following bylaw.
[Amended 5-1-2021 ATM by Art. 11]
The owners of land that abuts a private way open to continuous public use for 10 years or more may petition the Select Board, on a form to be provided by the Town, which must be signed by the owners of at least 80% of the parcels of land abutting such private way, to have the Town make temporary emergency or general repairs to such private way. If the Select Board determines that public necessity will be served thereby, it may authorize such repairs to be made by the Town, in accordance with the provisions of this bylaw, upon the condition that the petitioning abutters agree to indemnify and hold the Town harmless for claims for personal and property injury resulting from any repairs performed by the Town on or defects in such private way. A private way repaired pursuant to this bylaw shall continue to be open to public use.
[Amended 5-1-2021 ATM by Art. 11]
If upon receipt of an abutter's petition the Select Board determines that public safety or safe access by public service vehicles on the private way so requires, it may order that temporary emergency repairs be made to the private way at the Town's expense. Such temporary emergency repairs shall be limited to the filling and patching of holes in the surface of such private ways or the least expensive feasible correction to a defect in drainage which has caused a blockage of such private way.
The Town shall not be liable on account of any damage caused by temporary emergency repairs or general repairs performed by the Town pursuant to this bylaw. The Town shall post warning signs at the beginning of such private way that the Town is not responsible for any repairs to or defects in such way, and that members of the public use the same at their own risk.
A.
This bylaw does not confer any obligation or duty on the Town or its agents to either initially place or to thereafter maintain and repair said private ways so that they are reasonably safe and convenient for travel by being free from defects or want of repair.
B.
The making of such temporary repairs to private ways, no matter how often or to what extent, does not constitute an acceptance by the Town of such private ways as public ways, nor does it constitute a way being "maintained and used as a public way" under the Massachusetts Subdivision Control Law.[1]
C.
Any private way repaired under the provisions of this bylaw need not be brought up to full Town standards and may continue to remain a private way. Repaired private ways may be brought to Town Meeting for acceptance as a public way by completing the steps outlined in the Town’s street acceptance procedure, if any, adopted by the Select Board, which may be amended from time to time, or otherwise as allowed by law.
[Amended 5-1-2021 ATM by Art. 11]