Fort Collins, CO Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Restricted zone
- Within 20 feet of a business entrance
- Applies during
- Posted business hours, or 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Enacted
- Ord. No. 100, 2017, 8-15-17
- Maximum penalty
- $2,650 fine or 180 days jail
- Enforcing agency
- Fort Collins Police Services
- Key exception
- Persons age 13 or under exempt
Summary
Fort Collins Municipal Code Section 17-128 makes it unlawful to obstruct a sidewalk or entrance, and defines unreasonably inconvenient obstruction to include sitting, kneeling or lying within 20 feet of any business entrance during that business's hours. Eight exceptions cover disability, medical emergency, permitted events, transit stops and children age 13 or under.
(c)For purposes of this Section, the term obstruct shall mean to render impassable or to render passage unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous. The term unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous as defined in Subsection (a) shall include, but not be limited to, sitting, kneeling, or lying within twenty (20) feet of the entrance to any business establishment during the business hours of that establishment, whether or not a particular person's passageway has, in fact, been impeded.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 155 | Transitional Land Use Code (for project before May 17, 2024): Supplement 61 | Traffic Code: Supplement 27).
Full Breakdown
Section 17-128(c) defines "obstruct" to mean rendering a passageway impassable or unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous, and expressly folds sitting, kneeling or lying within twenty feet of a business entrance into that definition, whether or not anyone's path was actually blocked. if no hours are posted. Subsection (d) carves out eight exceptions: people using a wheelchair or walker for a disability, anyone sitting or lying due to a medical emergency, participants in a permitted parade, festival or rally, riders waiting in a bus stop zone, people using a chair the City or Downtown Development Authority supplied, anyone age 13 or under, licensed vendors and commercial operators, and City or DDA employees acting within their duties.
The ordinance, first adopted in 2003 and amended by Ordinance No. 100, 2017 to add the sit-lie language, sits in Article VII of Chapter 17, Offenses Against the Public Peace, alongside the separate general obstruction ban in Subsection (b). Because Section 17-128 does not itself designate a lesser classification, a violation defaults to an unclassified misdemeanor under the Chapter 1 general penalty schedule.
Violations & Fines
Section 17-128 does not set its own fine, so violations fall under Section 1-15(a)'s unclassified misdemeanor penalty: a fine up to $2,650, imprisonment up to 180 days, or both, in Fort Collins Municipal Court. Fort Collins Police Services issue the citation; each day of continued obstruction can be charged as a separate offense under Section 1-15(a)'s continuing-violation clause.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sit on the sidewalk anywhere in Fort Collins?
Does the sit-lie rule apply to people with disabilities?
What happens if I refuse to move when a business owner points out the rule?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Collins
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