Salinas, CA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 21-55(a), titled "Roller blades, roller skates, skateboards on public sidewalks or sidewalks in shopping centers, When prohibited," bars anyone riding roller blades, roller skates, a coaster, skateboard, toy vehicle, or similar device from using a public sidewalk adjoining a street named in subsection (b), or a sidewalk in any shopping center, once appropriate signs giving notice of the prohibition have been painted on or posted along those sidewalks.

Subsection (b) names the streets covered in Oldtown Salinas: the public sidewalks adjoining Monterey, Main, and Salinas Streets between Market Street on the north and Winham/Clay Streets on the south, with Monterey Street forming the eastern boundary and Salinas Street the western boundary. Outside those named blocks, and outside any signed shopping center, Section 21-55 does not reach ordinary sidewalk skateboarding.

Subsection (c) defines "shopping center" for purposes of the ban as a group of two or more commercial establishments with a clearly definable perimeter, developed on a continuous area of land, planned and developed as a single unit, and providing shared on-site parking, landscaping, and signage. Because the prohibition is sign-triggered rather than automatic, a rider is only in violation where posted or painted notice actually exists along the sidewalk in question. The section was adopted by Ordinance No. 1663 (NCS), Section 1, and amended by Ordinance No. 2303 (NCS), Section 1. Section 21-100(a) classifies a Section 21-55 violation as an infraction, keeping enforcement at the citation level rather than misdemeanor prosecution.