Village of Grafton, WI Chapter 11.20 Obstructions and Encroachments

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Grafton as Title 11, Ch. 11.20, of the 1979 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 11.20.010 Obstructions and encroachments prohibited.

No person shall encroach upon or in any way obstruct or occupy any street, alley, sidewalk, public grounds or land dedicated to public use, or any part thereof, by placing, storing, displaying, building, erecting or causing to be placed, stored, displayed, built or erected thereon any goods, wares, merchandise, material, substance, snow or ice, building, billboard, advertising sign, clock, pole or other obstruction or structure or suffer the same to remain thereon when placed or built as aforesaid except as provided by this chapter. No person, firm or corporation shall operate or cause to be operated any trucks, contractor's equipment of any kind or any other vehicle from any premises adjoining any street or highway within the Village, so as to enter upon such street or highway from such premises with the wheels, tires, lugs, cleats or other portions of the equipment containing earth, mud or other material, without providing proper means of cleaning up the street or highway and removing the earth, mud, dirt and other materials so deposited thereon.

§ 11.20.020 Exceptions.

The prohibition of § 11.20.010 shall not apply to signs or clocks attached to buildings which project not more than six feet from the face of such building and which do not extend below any point 10 feet above the sidewalk, street or alley, or to awnings which do not extend below any point seven feet above the sidewalk, street or alley; nor to public utility encroachments duly authorized by law; nor to goods, wares, merchandise or fixtures being loaded or unloaded which do not extend for a distance of more than three feet on the sidewalk from the curb of any street (provided that such goods, wares, merchandise or fixtures do not remain thereon for a period of more than two hours); nor to temporary encroachments or obstructions authorized by permit under §§ 11.20.030 through 11.20.070 of this chapter; nor to street or sidewalk openings and excavations permitted under Chapter 11.16 of this title.

§ 11.20.025 Private street banners.

[Amended by Ord. No. 005, Series 1996; Ord. No. 001, Series 2002; Ord. No. 008, Series 2011]

The Director of Public Works may erect or cause to be erected within the street right-of-way banners for the promotion of events or activities sponsored by private, not-for-profit organizations under the following conditions:

A. Pole-mounted banners and ground banners may be erected at First Avenue/WIS 60; Falls Road/Green Bay Road (near Lime Kiln Park); and Grafton Avenue/Washington Street.

B. There may be only one banner per site at any given time.

C. Banners shall be installed and removed by the Department of Public Works.

D. The materials and construction of banners shall be subject to rules to be determined by the Director of Public Works.

E. Banners shall be displayed no earlier than two weeks prior to the start of the event or activity being promoted. Requests for banners to be displayed longer than two weeks shall be subject to the approval of the Director of Public Works.

F. Banners from eligible organizations will be erected on a first-come, first-served basis; however, banners from Village-sponsored events will take precedence over all other organizations.

G. Banners shall not contain any commercial message, except the logo or name of commercial cosponsors, which may occupy not more than 20% of the surface area of a ground banner.

H. Banners promoting political candidates or parties, or political or legislative causes, activities or events shall not be displayed.

I. The Director of Public Works may remove banners which become damaged, unsightly, unsafe, or when severe weather is expected.

J. There shall be a fifty-dollar fee for the erection of banners.

§ 11.20.030 When street privilege permit required.

Permits for the use of the streets, alleys, sidewalks or other public ways of the Village for the purpose of moving any building or structure or for encumbering the same with building material or other articles necessary in and about the construction, erection, repair or removal of any building or structure may be granted to applicants by the Director of Public Works, provided such applicants have first obtained a building permit and have complied with the other requirements of this section and §§ 11.20.040 through 11.20.070.

§ 11.20.040 Street privilege permit; bond required.

No permit shall be issued under this chapter until the applicant executes and files with the Village Clerk a bond in an amount determined by the Director of Public Works, conditioned that the applicant will indemnify and save harmless the Village of and from all liability for accidents or damage caused by reason of the granting of the permit and will remove such encumbrance upon termination of the building or moving operations, will leave the vacated premises in a clean and sanitary condition, and will repair any and all damage to any street, alley, sidewalk or public property resulting from such building or moving operations.

§ 11.20.050 Fee.

[Amended by Ord. No. A-528-89, 1989]

The fee for a street privilege permit shall be $25.

§ 11.20.060 Conditions of occupancy.

The permission to occupy or obstruct the streets, alleys, sidewalks or public grounds is intended only for use in connection with the actual erection, alteration, repair, removal or moving of buildings or structures and shall be given upon the following terms and conditions and subject to revocation without notice for violation thereof:

A. Such temporary obstruction or occupancy shall cover not more than 1/3 of any street or alley;

B. Obstructions shall be sufficiently lighted at night so as to be in full view of the public from all directions;

C. Sidewalk traffic shall not be interrupted, but temporary sidewalks of not less than four feet in width, guarded by a closed fence at least four feet high on both sides, may be maintained during the period of occupancy;

D. The process of moving any building or structure shall be as continuous as possible until completed and, if ordered by the Director of Public Works, shall continue during any hours of the day or night;

E. No building or structure shall be allowed to remain overnight on any street crossing or intersection or so near thereto as to prevent easy access to any fire hydrant;

F. Buildings shall be moved only in accordance with the route prescribed by the Director of Public Works;

G. Upon termination of the work necessitating such obstruction, all parts of the streets, alleys, sidewalks and public grounds occupied under the permit shall be vacated, cleaned of all rubbish and obstructions, and placed in a safe condition for public travel at the expense of the permittee.

§ 11.20.070 Street privilege permit termination.

All permits issued under this chapter shall automatically terminate at the end of three months from the date of issuance unless an earlier termination date is specified thereon at the direction of the Director of Public Works.