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

400, 'Conduct on public property,' last amended by Ordinance 7548 in 2021. Subsection A prohibits obstructing or interfering with pedestrian or vehicular traffic on a public way, by standing, sitting, lying, or with equipment or property, but only 'after having been notified by a law enforcement officer' that the person is in violation. Subsection B is more specific: no person, again after notice from an officer, shall sit or lie down upon a public sidewalk or sidewalk curb, or upon a blanket, chair, stool, or other object placed on the sidewalk.

Subsection C lists seven exceptions that make clear the rule is not a blanket sit-lie ban: people watching a permitted parade or festival from the curb; people using benches or seating the City has authorized; conduct covered by a City permit; conduct on privately owned public-facing property with the owner's permission; sitting or lying due to a medical emergency; wheelchair users; and people using chairs or stools with permitted display devices. , excusing medical emergencies and First Amendment activity. 400(I) makes a violation a misdemeanor or infraction chargeable at the City Attorney's discretion, and the notice-first structure in subsections A and B means a first-time sit or lie typically draws a warning before any citation issues.