Huntington Park, CA Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Chapter 14 of Title 4 of the Huntington Park Municipal Code regulates solicitation in private parking areas inside the City of Huntington Park, Los Angeles County, California. The chapter does not use the words panhandling or aggressive. It sets no distance rule and defines no aggressive conduct. Instead the City Council wrote a time, place and manner rule, and § 4-14.01 states that the regulations are content neutral and are meant to protect public health and safety.

Section 4-14.03(a) bars any person from soliciting or attempting to solicit employment, business, or contributions of money or other property from a location within a private parking area. The definition in § 4-14.02 covers any request, offer, enticement or other action, including an act or gesture, that announces the availability of employment, the sale of goods, or a request for a contribution. A solicitation is complete when made, whether or not a transaction occurs or money changes hands. A private parking area is privately owned property designed or used primarily for parking that adjoins a commercial establishment or any property in a non-residential zone, and it includes driveways, setbacks and landscaped portions. Soliciting to perform work or business for the owner or lawful tenants of the premises is exempt. Because the definition covers only privately owned property, the chapter does not reach public sidewalks or streets.

The ban applies only when two things have happened under § 4-14.03(b). First, the owner or person in lawful possession must establish a written policy that provides areas for lawful solicitation which are accessible to the public and do not interfere with normal business operations. Nothing in the section requires a property owner to permit solicitations. Second, the owner must post a conspicuous notice at each entrance, at least 18 by 24 inches with lettering at least one inch high, not exceeding six square feet in total area. The notice must say, in substantially this form, that it is a misdemeanor to engage in the solicitation of employment, business, or contribution of money or other property in areas of this private parking lot. The chapter was adopted as Ord. 648-NS, effective January 3, 2001, and amended by Ord. 751-NS, effective July 20, 2005.