Cathedral City, CA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Chapter 11.50 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code states its purpose as ensuring the safety of all persons using public property. Two prohibitions carry the weight. Section 11.50.035 bans riding, using or operating any bicycle, skateboard, roller skates, roller blades or scooter over any public lawn within the city, which the chapter defines as any landscaped area that is publicly maintained. No sign is needed for that ban. Section 11.50.030 covers public sidewalks, public pedestrian walkways and public parking areas, but only inside a non-residential zone where the city has posted signs prohibiting the activity. A public parking area includes the driveways and alleyways used to reach it, and a public pedestrian walkway is a paved area closed to vehicular traffic.

The chapter defines a skateboard as a board of any material that a person can ride, with wheels used for moving or propulsion, and a scooter as a board with a handle and wheels. Section 11.50.040 separately prohibits a rider on any of these devices from attaching to a moving car, truck, motorcycle, golf cart or other motorized vehicle.

Section 11.50.050 exempts four groups: tricycles, wheelchairs and other wheeled devices operated by the disabled; tricycles ridden by children under the age of five; devices whose primary purpose is carrying infants, small children or goods; and devices operated by an employee of the city or any other public agency acting within the course and scope of employment. Because § 11.50.030 turns on posted signs, a sidewalk in a non-residential zone without a sign is outside that section, while the public lawn ban in § 11.50.035 applies citywide.