Yep... And some are professional “occupiers”. I have had some pretty slick operators “occupy” my business.
And local public right of way, easement, and “set back” codes facilitate it. Sometimes right up to the front door of your business.
Yet they force you to pay for that sidewalk when they put it in, and still pay property taxes on it.
That is unbelievable. In the one I saw, I didn’t see how people could get to the place without walking a gauntlet.
If there was a passage on the sidewalk, it had to be a very thin one.
And I wouldn’t do it for a gallon of milk. It looked unpleasant at best, and unsafe at worst. I would go somewhere else.