(Title and Section amended by Ord. No. 187,127, Eff. 9/3/21.)
(a) No person shall obstruct a street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way:
(1) by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, in a manner that impedes passage, as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Pub. L, No. 101-336, 104 Stat. 328 (1990), as amended from time to time;
(2) by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, within ten feet of any operational or utilizable driveway or loading dock;
(3) by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, within five feet of any operational or utilizable building entrance or exit;
(4) by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, within two feet of any fire hydrant, fire plug, or other fire department connection;
(5) by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, within the public right-of-way in a manner that obstructs or unreasonably interferes with the use of the right-of-way for any activity for which the City has issued a permit.
(b) No person shall obstruct any portion of any street or other public right-of-way open to use by motor vehicles, or any portion of a bike lane, bike path, or other public right-of-way open to use by bicycles, by sitting, lying, or sleeping, or by storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, anywhere within the street, bike lane, bike path, or other public right-of-way, as specified.
(c) Except as limited by Subsection (d), no person shall:
(1) sit, lie, sleep, or store, use, maintain, or place personal property, in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way within the distance stated on the posted signage (up to a maximum of 500 feet) of a property designated as a sensitive use. For a property to be designated as a “sensitive use”, the property must be a Public Park, or Public Library, as those terms are defined in Section 105.01 of this Code; (Amended by Ord. No. 187,586, Eff. 9/18/22.)
(2) sit, lie, sleep, or store, use, maintain, or place personal property, in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way within the distance stated on the posted signage (up to a maximum of 500 feet) of a designated overpass, underpass, freeway ramp, tunnel, bridge, pedestrian bridge, subway, wash, spreading ground, or active railway, where the City Council determines, in the designating resolution, that the public health, safety, or welfare is served by the prohibition, including, without limitation, by finding that sleeping or lodging within the stated proximity to the designated area is unhealthy, unsafe, or incompatible with safe passage;
(3) sit, lie, sleep, or store, use, maintain, or place personal property, in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way, within the distance stated on the posted signage (up to a maximum of 1,000 feet) of a designated facility, opened after January 1, 2018, that provides shelter, safe sleeping, or safe parking to homeless persons, or that serves as a homeless services navigation center;
(4) sit, lie, sleep, or store, use, maintain, or place personal property, in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way that has been posted with signage prohibiting sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property. In order to designate a section of street, sidewalk, or other public right-of-way as prohibited under this subdivision, the City Council shall determine, in a designating resolution and based on specific documentation, that the circumstances of continued sitting, sleeping, lying, storing personal property, or otherwise obstructing the public right-of-way at that location poses a particular and ongoing threat to public health or safety. Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to: (i) the death or serious bodily injury of any person at the location due to a hazardous condition; (ii) repeated serious or violent crimes, including human trafficking, at the location; or (iii) the occurrence of fires that resulted in a fire department response to the location. For each such location, a prohibition pursuant to this subdivision shall be effective for a period of time specified in the resolution, but not to exceed one year.
(d) No person shall be found to be in violation of any prohibition set forth in Subsection (c), unless and until: (i) the City Council has taken action, by resolution, to designate a specified area or areas for enforcement against sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, or otherwise obstructing the public right- of-way; (ii) the City has posted signage at the designated area or areas set forth in the resolution, with such signage including reference to any required findings adopted in the resolution, and giving notice of the date after which no sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing, using, maintaining, or placing personal property, or otherwise obstructing the public right-of-way will be allowed; and (iii) at least 14 calendar days have passed from the date on which the signage is posted at the designated area or areas.
(e) No person shall sit, lie, sleep, or store, use, maintain, or place personal property, in or upon any street, sidewalk, or other public property within 500 feet of a School or Day Care Center as those terms are defined in Section 105.01 of this Code. A violation of this subsection is governed by Section 41.18(f) of this Code. (Added by Ord. No. 187,586, Eff. 9/18/22.)
(f) Violations of this section involving a person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs a City employee from enforcing this section or who willfully refuses to comply after being requested to do so by an authorized City employee shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) Section 11.00. All other violations of this section shall be enforceable only as infractions pursuant to LAMC 11.00(m) or issuance of a citation pursuant to City’s Administrative Citation Enforcement Program pursuant to LAMC Section 11.2.01 et seq.