In 2016, City Ordinance § 9.2.112 “Sitting or Lying Down in Commercial Districts,” came into effect.
The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), in conjunction with the Colorado Springs City Attorney’s Office, presented a boundary expansion proposal which was granted. The Downtown Commercial District covered by this ordinance was renamed to the ‘Central Commercial District’. The Central Commercial District now covers areas from Cache La Poudre to East Cheyenne Road, with varying east and west boundaries. View maps outlining the changes. There were no changes to the Old Colorado City Commercial District.
The purpose of this ordinance is to prohibit any sitting, kneeling, reclining, or lying down on the surface of any public right-of-way (ROW), and to prohibit any objects from being placed on the surface of the ROW (i.e. – tents, etc.). The ordinance is in effect 7:00AM to 10:00PM daily, and from 10:00PM to 3:00AM on Friday and Saturday nights. Examples of public rights-of-way include streets, sidewalks, trails, paths, alleys, parkways, curbs, medians, traffic islands, and any other publicly owned property intended or used for pedestrian, recreational or vehicular travel. Affirmative defenses for this ordinance include medical emergency, disability requiring the use of wheelchair or walker, commercial establishments in the ROW pursuant to any issued permit or license, permitted parades or special events, objects intended for sitting furnished by the city or other public agency (i.e. – benches, etc.), and transit stops.
The expanded boundaries went into effect on 02/21/2022. CSPD will conduct a 60-day educational grace period and officers will not issue any citations for § 9.2.112 in the expanded areas for a period of 60 days. Officers will issue warnings in the expanded boundary areas. The grace period concludes on 04/21/2022, after which officers may issue citations for violations in the expanded boundary areas on 04/22/2022.
CSPD considers this as a tool to help keeping the ROW free for pedestrian and vehicular traffic. CSPD is dedicated to ensuring any person contacted for this violation receives information on available resources in the community.