Monterey, CA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Section 22-16 sits in Chapter 22's Offenses/Nuisances article and creates two distinct violations. The first applies when two or more people gather in a manner that obstructs free passage on any street, sidewalk, alley, public way, or place the public uses to move from place to place; a Monterey police officer can order the group to move on or disperse, and refusing or failing to comply with that order is itself unlawful, independent of the original obstruction. The second applies to a single person: standing, sitting, lingering, idling or loitering on any street, alley, sidewalk, park or public place, or at the entrance or exit of a business, whether on foot or in a vehicle, in a manner that obstructs or hinders the free passage of others or hinders people entering or leaving a business.

The section defines 'business establishment' broadly to include any retail store, food market, theater, restaurant, drive-in restaurant, gas station, bar, hotel or motel, or any other establishment open to the public and providing goods or services, which covers most storefronts along Alvarado Street, Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf. The ordinance does not criminalize mere presence in a public place; the obstruction or hindrance of others' passage is the operative element, and a police officer's dispersal order is required before a refusal-to-disperse charge can attach. 06.