Attachment A: Neighboring Cities’ OSV Parking Regulations The following is a non-exhaustive list of the approaches some of our neighbor cities have taken to managing the impacts of inhabited Oversized Vehicles (OSVs).
San Jose
•“Oversized and Lived-In Vehicle Enforcement” (OLIVE) pilot program 1:
oThe program, funded by a $1.5 million budget addendum, is intended to help address the environmental and safety issues caused by oversized vehicles, including lived-in vehicles, parked on city streets. It directs City staff to:
▪Identify areas impacted by the parking of oversized and lived-in vehicles on city streets
▪Establish temporary tow-away zones to allow cleanup of impacted areas and encourage vehicles to relocate
▪Analyze the feasibility of installing permanent parking restrictions at select locations
o30 sites were identified in FY 2025 and up to 50 will be identified in FY 2026 for temporary tow-away parking restrictions (approximately one month in duration) to help facilitate the cleanup and street sweeping of the area and encourage people to move their vehicles out of the restricted zone. Vehicles that are not voluntarily moved from tow away zones will be subject to towing and impound. Based on the success of the temporary restrictions, up to 10 sites will be considered for permanent parking restrictions.
•Designated “no overnight parking” and “no large vehicle parking” zones. Towing authorized for violations.2
•Ban on vanlording and on living in vehicles, which went into effect in July 2025. 3 Services including safe parking, vehicle buy-back program, biowaste removal, and trash pickups for lived-in vehicles.4
San Mateo
•Prohibits parking oversize vehicles and detached trailers on residential streets throughout the city. 5
•Prohibits living in vehicles. 6 The City had not been enforcing this ordinance, which was originally passed in the 1990s, but recently began enforcing it again after a dedicated outreach period.7 Menlo Park
•Effective April 2025, OSVs may not park overnight (2-5 am) on any public street in the city. 8 •The City also recently updated its 72-hour ordinance and adopted ordinance language to implement AB 413 (state law that prohibits parking within defined distance of intersections).9 Fremont
•In late 2024, the Fremont City Council approved municipal code amendments that would:
oProhibit parking an OSV on any public street within 100 feet of a residential property line.10
oAmend the City’s 72-hour ordinance to clarify that “Any vehicle that has been parked or left standing in the same location or parking spot for seventy-two (72) consecutive hours must be moved at least one thousand (1,000) feet (approximately two-tenths (2/10) of a mile) from its current location and may not return to the same parking spot for at least twenty-four (24) hours after its departure.”11 oThe associated staff report 12 acknowledged that enforcement would be largely complaint-based. Staff estimated that substantially expanding parking enforcement beyond their current model would require several additional FTEs at a total ongoing expense of about $1.2 million plus additional one-time expenses for equipment and material.
Sunnyvale
•Sunnyvale plans to expand safe parking. At the end of 2024, the Council passed an ordinance 13 that would govern safe parking programs in the city. It also directed staff to pursue implementing a safe parking pilot program on public land and a general fund grant for nonprofit or faith-based organizations to provide safe parking on private land.14 San Francisco
•San Francisco recently imposed a citywide two-hour limit on OSV parking. Vehicles that have applied for and received a “refuge permit” are exempt from enforcement.15 To be eligible for a permit, applicants must:
oHave been living in a large vehicle in SF as of May 2025 (verified by City staff count) oBe actively engaging with City services for the unhoused oAgree to adhere to a “good neighbor policy”
oAllow Public Works to clear debris around the vehicle
oAgree to relinquish the vehicle (via City-run buy-back program or otherwise) and enter permanent housing or non-congregate interim housing if offered. •The City has budgeted $13 million for the program over two years. Enforcement is set to start November 1, 2025.
Cupertino
•City recently passed a first reading 16 of an ordinance that would ban overnight OSV parking throughout the city. Housed city residents would be eligible to apply for up to 20 permits a year that would allow them to park their OSVs on the street for up to 72 hours at a time. •The ordinance also bans renting out a vehicle for living or sleeping quarters in the public right of way.
•At the time this report was written, the ordinance had not yet taken effect. 1 https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/parking/vehicle- abatement/oversized-and-lived-in-vehicle-enforcement
2 https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:eab8cf93-9cc5-4caf-a89a-0358319167f0 3 https://library.municode.com/ca/san_jose/ordinances/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=1363727 4 https://www.sanjoseca.gov/residents/homelessness-hub/homelessness-hub-faqs 5 https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/2407/Oversized-Vehicle-Parking 6 https://law.cityofsanmateo.org/us/ca/cities/san-mateo/code/10.04.140#(a) 7 https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:9f595393-eae3-4d52-b18d- 88cb77eef4f0?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover
8 https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/MenloPark/html/MenloPark11/MenloPark1124.html#11.24.075 9 https://www.menlopark.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/1/agendas-and-minutes/city-council/2024- meetings/agendas/20241112/l1-20241112-cc-oversized-vehicle-and-parking-ord.pdf 10 https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/Fremont/#!/Fremont10/Fremont1005.html#10.05.555 11 https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/Fremont/#!/Fremont10/Fremont1005.html#10.05.550 12 https://fremontcityca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=1980&MediaPosition=&ID=5 285&CssClass=
13 https://ecode360.com/46385883
14 https://sunnyvaleca.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7014182&GUID=1ED10C32-1325-4891-ABED- 959D528361C5&G=FA76FAAA-7A74-41EA-9143-F2DB1947F9A5&Options=&Search=&FullText=1 15 https://www.sf.gov/large-vehicle-refuge-permit-program 16 https://cupertino.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7640446&GUID=AA6B4AEF-0865-48BB-ADEB- 056F131B83A5