Corona, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)

Corona Code of Ordinances § 10.56.060(C), titled "Obstructing pedestrian passage," provides: "No person, after first being warned by a law enforcement officer, shall loiter, stand, sit, lie, kneel, or sleep in or upon any public highway, street, alley, sidewalk, crosswalk, bridge, plaza, park, driveway, parking lot, or building open to the general public... in such a manner as to unreasonably obstruct or interfere with the free passage of any pedestrian." The section's stated purpose, in subsection (A), is to keep "public streets, public property and other areas readily accessible to the public" and to stop the "willful and intentional obstruction of such property."

The prohibition is conduct-based, not a blanket ban on sitting or sleeping outdoors: subsection (D) carves out anyone standing in line to conduct business, anyone distributing political or religious literature, anyone conducting a lawful business or with a lawful reason to be on the street or sidewalk, anyone sitting curbside to watch a permitted parade, and anyone using a bench or seating facility the city has provided or permitted. Enforcement also requires a prior warning: a law enforcement officer must first tell the person to move before a citation issues under this subsection.

Violations of the chapter, including subsection (C), are punished under § 10.56.060(F) as a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both, with the City Attorney, City Prosecutor, or District Attorney authorized to prosecute the offense as an infraction "in the interests of justice." The chapter was last amended by Ordinance 2619 in 2002.