[HISTORY: Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Townsend 4-3-1893 by Art. 18. Amendments noted where applicable.]
No person shall pasture any cattle, or other animals, with or without a keeper, in any of the streets of the Town.
No person shall tie or fasten any horse, cattle or team to any of the trees planted or reserved for shade or ornament in any public highway, street, or public lands in the Town or to any structure put up for the protection of such trees; or, except for necessary repairs drive into such trees or structures any nails, spikes, hooks or staples or affix any signboards thereto.
No owner or person for the time having the care or use of any horse or any other beast of burden shall ride, drive or permit the same to go at a faster rate than 10 miles an hour in any street or public highway of the Town, except in case of sickness, death, accident or fire.
No person shall place or cause to be placed in any public street or way of the Town any rubbish, ashes or garbage except for the purpose of immediate removal therefrom.
No person shall make any marks or post any bills upon any wall, fence, post, tree, bridge or other structure within the limits of any street or public highway in said Town, without having first obtained permission in writing from the Selectmen.
No person shall make any bonfires in any of the streets, public highways or public lands or commons of the Town.
No person shall coast, course or slide down, in or along any of the sidewalks, streets or public ways of the Town, except at such places and under such restrictions and regulations as the Selectmen shall first designate and specify in writing.
No person shall play at ball, or throw balls, stones, sticks, or other missiles within any of the streets or public ways of the Town, or do the same in any of the public grounds of the Town without permission of the Selectmen first obtained in writing, but this section shall not apply to any of the grounds connected with any of the school buildings of said Town.
No person shall fire or discharge any gun, pistol or firearms, or set fire to any material know as fireworks, or throw any such lighted fireworks, in, into or across any of the streets, public ways or sidewalks of the Town.
Any person violating any of the provisions of the preceding sections of this chapter shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $20 for each and every offense, to be recovered by complaint before any trial justice or district court in the County of Middlesex having jurisdiction.
It shall be the duty of the Selectmen, constables and police officers to prosecute, and any person injured may prosecute, any violations of any of the preceding sections of this chapter, by complaint as hereinbefore mentioned; providing, however, that all prosecutions shall be commenced within one month from the date of such violation.
All penalties recovered for violation of any of the preceding sections of this chapter shall be paid into the treasury of the Town, to be applied to such as the Town from time to time shall direct.
[Added 3-2-1964 ATM by Art. 26; amended 5-7-2013 ATM by Art. 27]
Except in case of emergency, no Town way, or other way, which the Town of Townsend is, by law, obligated to maintain and keep in repair shall be dug up, no opening made therein for any purpose, nor shall any material be dumped or placed thereon, or removed therefrom, or changed, without the written permit from a majority of the Board of Selectmen or its designee and then only in accordance with the Board's regulations, and the work shall be done under supervision of the Superintendent of Highways, and the entire expense of replacing and resurfacing the highway at the same level and in as good condition as before, with materials equal in specifications to those removed, shall be paid by the person or persons to whom the permit was given, or by whom the work was done. The Board of Selectmen or its designee may require a bond to guarantee the faithful and satisfactory performance of the work and payment for any damage to any such way caused by or resulting from the operations authorized by such permit. The amount of the bond shall be determined by the Selectmen or its designee, not to exceed the estimated cost of the work and any possible damage.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 112-14, Unregistered motor vehicles, added 3-16-1966 ATM by Art. 27, as amended 5-4-1987 ATM by Art. 70; 10-21-2003 STM by Art. 32; and 12-20-2018 STM by Art. 26, was repealed 12-14-2021 STM by Art. 9. For current provisions, see Ch. 128, Unregistered Motor Vehicles.
[Added 7-27-1965 STM by Art. 3]
No person shall be or remain in any doorway or upon any stairs, doorstep, portico, or other projection, from any house or building, or upon any wall or fence on or near any street or public place, after having been requested by the owner or occupant of the premises or by any police officer to remove therefrom. Any person violating this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1 nor more than $20, to be recovered by complaint before any trial justice in the County of Middlesex or any other court having jurisdiction.
[Added 11-5-1973 STM by Art. 5]
No person shall drink any alcoholic beverages as defined in MGL c. 138, § 1 while on, in or upon any public way or upon any way to which the public has a right of access, or any public common, park or playground, or any place to which members of the public have access as invitees or licensees, or any private land or place, without consent of the owner, or person in control of such public or private land or place. All alcoholic beverages being used in violation of this by-law 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. Whoever violates this by-law shall be punished by a fine of not more than $50.
[Added 11-5-1973 STM by Art. 6]
No person shall saunter or loiter in a street in such manner as to obstruct travelers, but nothing in this section shall be construed to curtail, abridge, or limit the right of opportunity of any person to exercise the right of peaceful persuasion guaranteed by MGL c. 149, § 24 or to curtail, abridge or limit the intendment of any statute of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Whoever violates any portion of this by-law shall be punished by a fine of not more than $50 for each offense.
[Added 5-15-1996 ATM by Art. 10]
A. 
No person, other than an employee in the service of the Town of Townsend or an employee in the service of an independent contractor acting for the Town, shall pile, push, plow or blow and then leave snow or ice onto or across a public way or sidewalk which is plowed and/or sanded by the Town or deposit snow in such a way as to obstruct the operation of any fire hydrant. Whoever is proven to be in violation of this by-law shall be punished by fine of not more than $50.
B. 
The Highway Department, for the purpose of ensuring the free flow of traffic or for the purpose of snow and ice control operations on a public way, may, by its own employees or with such other assistance as it may require, and at the owner's expense, remove or cause to be removed to the nearest convenient place any vehicle interfering with such traffic or such operation. Said Department shall keep records of the registration number of each vehicle so removed and of the place to which it was removed.
[Added 5-4-1999 ATM by Art. 27]
The Highway Department, upon approval of the Board of Selectmen, for the purpose of ensuring public safety on private ways, may make temporary repairs to the roadway surface and/or draining structures from private ways that have been open to the public use for a period of five years or more as of April 1, 1999. The Town or its agents, servants or employees shall not be liable for any damages caused by such temporary repairs. Before such temporary repairs are made, all abutters with property fronting on the section(s) of road to be repaired must submit a petition to the Board of Selectmen specifying the reason for the specific repairs requested and the reason that the repairs are necessary for the public safety. The Board shall submit the petition to the Highway Superintendent for his comments and recommendations. The Board shall consider the petition at a regularly scheduled meeting within 30 days of receipt of the petition. In considering the petition for temporary repairs, the Board shall determine whether the repairs may be made within the operating budget of the Highway Department during that fiscal year or whether the repairs would require a betterment assessment. If the Board determines that the repairs would require a betterment assessment, then it shall notify the petitioners that a betterment will be assessed at the estimated costs of the work to be performed and that the written consent of all petitioners shall be required to perform the work and accept the betterment. No such repairs, in excess of the operating budget for the fiscal year, shall be performed without the written consent of the petitioners to pay the betterment assessment.
[Added 5-7-2002 ATM by Art. 20]
A winter parking ban will be in effect from November 30 until April 1 of each year prohibiting the parking of motor vehicles on any public way between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. for the purpose of insuring public safety. Vehicles in violation will be ticketed by the Police Department, which will carry a fifteen-dollar fine. Those vehicles directly hampering snow removal will be ticketed and towed at the expense of the owner.
[Added 6-2-2009 ATM by Art. 19]
No person shall consume marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol as defined by General Laws Chapter 94C, Section 1, while on, in or upon any public way or upon any way which the public has the right of access, or upon any public common, park, playground, school ground, public building, or public land owned or under the control of the Town of Townsend. This bylaw may be enforced through any lawful means in law or in equity, including but not limited to noncriminal disposition in accordance with the provisions of MGL c. 40, § 21D and § 1-1 of the Townsend Code, Article II. The fine for violation of this bylaw shall be $300. Any penalty imposed under this bylaw shall be in addition to any civil penalty imposed under MGL. c. 94C, § 32L.