Sacramento, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing official
- City Manager or designee
- Minimum sidewalk clearance
- 4 feet for pedestrians and vehicles
- Entrance sit/lie buffer
- 4 feet from building entrance
- Civil penalty range
- $250 to $25,000 per day
- Criminal charge
- Misdemeanor
- Adopting ordinance
- Ord. 2022-0023 § 2
Summary
Sacramento City Code § 12.24.020 bars anyone from obstructing a public sidewalk after the city manager orders them to move, including sitting or lying within four feet of a building entrance, blocking vehicle passage, or narrowing the walkway to under four feet of clearance. The city manager can act immediately, without a prior order, whenever there is an immediate threat to public health or safety.
No person, after first being ordered to move by the city manager and being offered a location to stand, sit, lie, or place an object that is not in violation of the provisions of this code, shall stand, sit, lie, or place an object on any portion of a sidewalk within four feet of the entrance to a building in a manner that blocks the entrance or prevents free ingress or egress into or from the building. However, the city manager may enforce this subsection without first issuing an order to move and offering an alternative location to stand, sit, lie, or place an object, in the event of an immediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare.
Full Breakdown
010) and then layers several obstruction rules. 020(A) bars erecting or maintaining signs, posts, structures or other obstructions on a sidewalk; the city manager may remove them eight hours after notifying the owner, or immediately without notice if there is an immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare. Subsection (B) prohibits obstructing a sidewalk, after the city manager has ordered a person to move and offered an alternate location, in a way that leaves less than four feet of width for pedestrians or vehicles, blocks a vehicle's lawful passage, or forces another person or driver to take evasive action.
Subsection (C) separately bars any business from hindering pedestrian passage on the sidewalk or blocking its own entrance. Subsection (D) is the city's sit-lie rule: once the city manager has ordered a person to move and offered a location to stand, sit, lie, or place an object, that person may not stand, sit, lie, or place an object within four feet of a building entrance in a manner that blocks entry or exit. As with subsection (B), the city manager may enforce this immediately, without a prior order, if there is an immediate threat to public health, safety, or welfare.
Subsection (E) exempts merchants and their delivery personnel using the sidewalk in front of their own premises to receive or deliver goods. 28, declares violations a public nuisance, and makes each day of a continuing violation a separate offense.
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter 12.24 is a misdemeanor and a declared public nuisance under § 12.24.070. The city can pursue civil penalties of not less than $250 nor more than $25,000 per day the violation continues, on top of criminal sanctions and administrative penalties available under Chapter 1.28, and all remedies are cumulative so the city isn't limited to just one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Sacramento make someone move for sitting on a sidewalk?
How close to a doorway can a person sit or lie in Sacramento?
What penalties apply to Sacramento's sidewalk obstruction ordinance?
Are store owners allowed to block the sidewalk with merchandise?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sacramento
California rules heatmap·Compare Sacramento to another location·View the California homelessness & encampment rules overview
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Sit-Lie Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Sacramento County handle sit-lie rules.