Redding, CA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

010 declares it a nuisance and unlawful for anyone to place an obstruction of any kind in a public street, alley, parkway, sidewalk or pedestrian mall, or to authorize or permit one to be placed there. The code carves out specific exceptions rather than banning private use outright: merchants without alley access get two hours to load or unload goods on a sidewalk as long as a five-foot path stays clear for pedestrians, and buildings being moved may temporarily block a street or alley. Beyond those narrow exceptions, anyone who wants to place potted shrubs or plants, clocks, drinking fountains or public telephones on a public parkway or sidewalk must first get a written permit from the director of transportation and engineering.

Temporary obstructions elsewhere in the right-of-way also require an encroachment permit from that same director, while temporary obstructions specifically within the city's pedestrian mall are permitted through the city clerk's office instead. News racks are exempted outright provided they are in daily use and do not block pedestrian traffic. 010 separately requires anyone building a sidewalk, curb, gutter or crosswalk, or doing grading or paving work in a public place, to first obtain a construction permit from the superintendent of streets, with the application, transferability and appeal procedures for that permit spelled out in the sections that follow it.

010(A), and the city's superintendent of streets can remove a noncompliant obstruction after giving the owner one hour's verbal notice, charging the removal costs back to the owner and, if unpaid, selling the seized material at public auction after five days' posted notice.