Hercules, CA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

811 sits in Article 8's "Miscellaneous Rules" and covers skateboards, roller skates, coasters and other toy vehicles as a single category. Subsection (a) draws a citywide line around commercially zoned property: no one may ride or propel any of these devices on a street or on the sidewalk fronting, abutting or adjoining land zoned "C" Commercial, regardless of speed or time of day. Outside that commercial-frontage zone, subsection (b) still requires riders to stay upright; riding in a prone, crouching or other low-profile position is unlawful anywhere except at the dedicated Hercules Skate Park.

At the Skate Park itself, subsection (c) flips the analysis: riding without a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads that are the proper size is the violation, so protective gear is mandatory there even though upright posture is not required. Subsection (d) gives the City Manager or a designee broad discretionary power beyond the ordinance's own text: they may prohibit skateboards, roller skates, coasters and toy vehicles entirely on any publicly owned street, park, sidewalk or property, and with the property owner's consent, on private property too, whenever the use would interfere with traffic, create a safety hazard, or otherwise interfere with public convenience, and they enforce that prohibition simply by posting a sign.

The ordinance was adopted in 1986 under Ordinance 234 and amended in 2000 under Ordinance 356 and again under Ordinance 383, which added the current helmet-and-pad language for the Skate Park.