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Springfield board asks staff to draft changes allowing limited sidewalk displays, with ADA safeguards
Summary
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen directed staff to return with a proposed ordinance allowing limited sidewalk encroachments—café seating, A-frame signs, merchandise racks and planters—modeled on Murfreesboro, Nashville and Franklin rules and explicitly preserving ADA clearance.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to have city staff draft a proposed amendment to the municipal code that would allow limited sidewalk encroachments such as café seating, A-frame sandwich signs, small merchandise displays and planters, while requiring full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The proposal followed a staff presentation comparing regional municipal codes and city discussion about enforcement and sidewalk width. The board’s directive asks staff to mirror provisions used by Murfreesboro, Nashville and Franklin and to add planters and flowers; the motion passed 6 to 1.
Staff told the board that only three Middle Tennessee cities the staff surveyed permit sidewalk encroachments in a limited way, and that most nearby codes (Clarksville, Columbia, Dickson, Gallatin, Lebanon) mirror Springfield’s current prohibition. A staff member summarized the principal operational concerns: “the only concerns that we have would be ambiguity,” and recommended avoiding vague terms and explicitly preserving ADA clearance, saying “the ADA clearance could not be encroached upon.”
Board members raised practical issues: sidewalk widths vary downtown and some blocks have only roughly 30–36 inches of clear path, which would prevent placing signs or racks in those locations. Members asked staff to include clear metrics for permitted items and to identify who would enforce the rule change—code enforcement, police or another office.
One alderman suggested a one-year pilot to test effects before making a permanent code change; board discussion acknowledged that any ordinance must explicitly protect ADA access and set enforceable standards for size, placement and permitted items.
With consensus to proceed, staff will draft specific ordinance language for a future meeting and return with a proposed amendment that incorporates the cited regional examples and the board’s direction on planters and ADA compliance.
The change would alter a long-standing municipal provision that staff said dates to a mid-1990s municipal code update and currently disallows sidewalk encroachments except where private property extends to the curb.
