(a) A person commits an offense if, without legal privilege or authority to do so, the person recklessly:
(1) Obstructs a highway, street, sidewalk, railway, waterway, elevator, aisle, hallway, entrance, or exit to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access, or any other place used for the passage of persons, vehicles, or conveyances, regardless of the means of creating the obstruction and whether the obstruction arises from the person's acts alone of from the person's acts and the acts of others; or
(2) Disobeys a reasonable request or order to move issued by a person the actor knows to be or is informed is, a peace officer or a person with the authority to control the use of the premises when the request/order is made in order to prevent the obstruction of a highway or any of the areas mentioned in subsection (1).
(b) For purposes of this section, "obstruct" means to render impassable or to render passage unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous.
(c) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. When a person has been previously convicted of a violation of section 649.04, or any substantially similar statute or municipal ordinance, the offense of obstructing a city right of way is a misdemeanor of the third degree.
(Ord. 01-19. Passed 4-9-19.)