Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Blumenfield introduced a motion to repeal a law that prohibits children from playing on sidewalks.
The city’s current municipal code reads: “No person shall play ball or any game of sport with a ball or football or throw, cast, shoot or discharge any stone, pellet, bullet, arrow or any other missile, in, over, across, along or upon any street or sidewalk or in any public park, except on those portions of said park set apart for such purposes.” The policy was adopted to address “public hazards.”
“In the City of Los Angeles, it is a crime, punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to 6 months in jail, for a parent to play catch with their child on the sidewalk in front of their house, or for children to play a pickup game of football or kick a soccer ball around on any quiet residential street or even in many public parks,” Blumenfield wrote in the motion, calling the law “uncommonly silly.”
“The serious activities listed in this code section, such as firing a weapon or shooting arrows, are already prohibited by other laws, including LAMC sections 55.00 and 55.06,” he added.
The motion was sent to the Public Safety Committee.
Other public hazard policies under the Los Angeles code include materials placed on window sills, plants that may impede public sidewalks, sprinklers that may dampen sidewalks, specific uses of bicycles, skateboards, and roller skates, and other activities considered hazardous by the city.
