Ad hoc Right-of-Way Committee asks attorneys to draft broader ordinance on sidewalk obstruction, storage and sitting

The Right-of-Way Use Committee, an ad hoc committee of the Banner Commission, met Oct. 3 to consider revising local rules that govern use of public rights of way, including when sitting or leaving property in a sidewalk, greenway or other public area should be treated as an unlawful obstruction.

Committee members directed the attorney''s office to prepare draft ordinance language that would expand the current obstruction rule, asked police and municipal court to confirm citation locations, and asked staff to return options for handling abandoned property at the next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 10.

The committee is considering a narrower enforcement standard and clearer definitions because the existing county obstruction ordinance (listed in staff materials as county ordinance 3-5-23) has produced few citations and is difficult to apply in practice.

"The core of our mission here today. And that really is the public rights of way and allowable uses," Mayor Kelly Gertz told the group as the discussion began. The mayor and staff framed the work as two related questions: when a person''s presence or posture in a public right of way creates a public-safety hazard, and when material left in a right of way should be treated as storage or abandoned property rather than a temporarily accompanied item.

Data presented by the police department highlighted the enforcement gap staff described. Deputy Chief Harrison Daniel said municipal-court records show 12 citations issued under county ordinance 3-5-23 between Jan. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30 (date range presented in the meeting materials); those cases included eight arrests that were associated with other criminal offenses. Daniel''s office also ran a…