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

Fontana Municipal Code Sec. 16-5 defines "obstructs pedestrian or vehicular traffic" broadly to cover walking, standing, sitting, lying, or placing an object in a way that blocks passage by another person or a vehicle, or requires them to take evasive action to avoid physical contact. The offense applies in any "public place," which the section defines to include alleys, bridges, driveways, parking lots, parks, plazas, sidewalks, and streets open to the general public, plus doorways and building entrances. A person is guilty of pedestrian interference if he or she intentionally obstructs pedestrian or vehicular traffic in one of those places.

The ordinance expressly exempts two categories: conduct protected by the constitutional right to picket or legally protest, and activity authorized under a special event permit issued pursuant to Sec. 17-5. Because the section targets blockage rather than the act of sitting itself, a person resting on a sidewalk without impeding anyone else is not violating this provision. The Fontana Police Department enforces the section citywide, and it was adopted by Ord. No. 1064 in 1992. No specific penalty is written into Sec. 16-5 itself, so enforcement falls back to the citywide default penalty clause at Sec. 1-7, which lets the city attorney or district attorney charge the offense as either a misdemeanor or an infraction depending on the circumstances.