La Mesa, CA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Chapter 10.52, enacted by Ordinance 2662 in December 1995 to keep La Mesa's public streets and areas readily accessible and available to residents and the public at large, reaches beyond camping to cover simple loitering that blocks passage. Section 10.52.070 makes it unlawful to stand or sit on any crosswalk, sidewalk, public street, highway, public park, arcade, shopping center or other property open to the public so as to obstruct free passage, or to hinder, molest or annoy any person passing by, or to block the entrance to any public hall, building or park.

The section sits alongside the chapter's camping ban, Section 10.52.030, and its ban on storing personal property in public places, Section 10.52.040, so an officer responding to a blocked sidewalk or entrance can cite obstruction separately from any camping-related charge. Because the section covers any other property opened or dedicated to public use or to which the public is invited, it extends to privately owned spaces such as shopping centers, for example Grossmont Center, when those spaces are open to the public. La Mesa Police Department officers enforce the section, and a violation is subject to the citywide general penalty clause, Section 1.01.080, which makes an ordinary code violation an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $250, unless the same conduct is separately charged as a misdemeanor under another provision.

Because Section 10.52.070 does not appear among the sections elevated to misdemeanor status by Section 1.01.130, an obstruction charge alone remains an infraction rather than a misdemeanor.