Santa Clarita, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Sit-Lie Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Applies in
- commercial zones citywide
- Enforcement
- warning required before citation
- Covers
- sidewalks, curbs, doorways, benches
- Exceptions
- disability, medical emergency, permitted vendors
- Adopted / amended
- Ord. 18-8 (2018); Ord. 22-6 (2022)
Summary
Santa Clarita bars sitting or lying on public sidewalks, curbs, doorways, and shared benches in commercial zones under Municipal Code § 14.06.088, plus blocking pedestrian or vehicular traffic anywhere in a park or public place. No citation issues on a first encounter: an Enforcement Officer must warn the person first. Exceptions cover disability, medical emergencies, permitted vendors, demonstrations, and constitutionally protected activity like leafleting.
A. No person may sit or lie down upon a public sidewalk, street, maintained landscape area, curb, staircase, biking or walking path, or in doorways and entrances to buildings, or upon a blanket, sleeping bag, cardboard box, chair, stool, or any other object placed upon a public sidewalk, street, maintained landscaped area, curb, staircase, biking or walking path, or in doorways and entrances to buildings in any commercial zone... C. No person may intentionally sit or lie down and obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic in a park or public place. D. No person will be cited under this section unless the person engages in conduct prohibited by this section, after having been notified by the City Manager or Enforcement Officer that the conduct violates this section.
Full Breakdown
088, bars a person from sitting or lying down on a public sidewalk, street, maintained landscape area, curb, staircase, biking or walking path, or in doorways and building entrances within any commercial zone, and extends the ban to sitting or lying on a blanket, sleeping bag, cardboard box, chair, or stool placed on those surfaces. The section separately bars occupying a public bench or shared seating facility in a way that blocks other users from sitting there at the same time, and bars intentionally obstructing pedestrian or vehicular traffic in any park or public place.
Enforcement is not immediate: subsection (D) requires the City Manager or an Enforcement Officer to first notify a person that their conduct violates the section before any citation can issue, so a first-time warning precedes enforcement action. or California Constitution, such as picketing, leafleting, or voter registration. The ordinance was adopted by Ordinance 18-8 on June 26, 2018, and last amended by Ordinance 22-6 on May 10, 2022.
Violations & Fines
No citation may issue on a first encounter: § 14.06.088(D) requires the City Manager or an Enforcement Officer to notify the person that the conduct violates the section before enforcement follows. After that notice, continued or repeat conduct is enforced as a Municipal Code violation subject to the citation and prosecution procedures set out in Title 1 of the code, the same track used for other park and public-place violations in Chapter 14.06.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be cited immediately for sitting on a Santa Clarita sidewalk?
Does the sit-lie rule apply to people with disabilities?
What about street vendors or protesters sitting on the sidewalk?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Clarita
California rules heatmap·Compare Santa Clarita to another location·View the California homelessness & encampment rules overview
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Sit-Lie Rules in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle sit-lie rules.