Clearwater, FL Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

" Subsection (1) makes it unlawful to act violently toward another person, threaten another's property, use fighting words in public, violently interfere with someone's lawful occupation, or engage in lewd or lascivious conduct in a public place. Subsection (2), the obstruction clause, targets people who block pedestrian or vehicle movement: after a law enforcement officer has first issued a warning, no one may willfully obstruct the free and normal use of the Pinellas County Trail, a public or quasi-public sidewalk, curb, bicycle path, walking area, mall, or the portion of private property open for public use, where the obstruction endangers safe movement.

The same warning-first structure applies to blocking the entrance of a building open to the public. The warning requirement matters: police must tell a person to move before a citation is valid, distinguishing this from a strict-liability offense. 14 and was last amended by Ordinance No. 6060-96 on August 1, 1996. 00, imprisonment in the county jail for up to 60 days, or both, imposed by the Pinellas County Court. Chapter 21 cross-references parks and beaches regulation (ch. 22), streets and sidewalks (ch. 28), and traffic and motor vehicles (ch. 30), since obstruction commonly overlaps those areas.