City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: October 20, 2025
Report #:2509-5162
TITLE
Semiannual Update on 2000 Geng Road Recreational Vehicle Safe Parking Expansion
RECOMMENDATION
This report is provided for informational purposes only and does not require Council action.
BACKGROUND
Safe parking programs provide places where persons sheltering in their vehicles can safely and legally park and connect with services and support. The goal of the program is to connect participants with resources enabling them to find safe, stable, and affordable housing. The design and guidelines of the program can vary between operators and municipalities.
In many communities, including Palo Alto, different parking lots host different types of programs. In Palo Alto, two types of parking lots may host safe parking programs (1) publicly owned parking lots and (2) religious institutions. Both congregation-based and public parking lot programs provide interim assistance to households sheltering in their vehicles a safe place to park, access to restroom facilities, connection to social services, and resources to support transition households into permanent, stable housing. There is a 24-hour safe parking lot on City-owned land at 2000 Geng Road, which allows vehicles to remain parked in the same space without needing to relocate. It accepts both passenger vehicles and recreational vehicles (RVs).
Under the original Lease Agreement, 2000 Geng Road was leased to the County of Santa Clara for three years beginning in September 20201. The County contracted with Move Mountain View to operate the safe parking program at the site. The lease was amended on September 1 City Council, September 14, 2020, Item #9, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas- minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2020-2/id-11513.pdf?t=58031.91 Lease was included as a supplemental memo, found here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas- minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2020-2/09142020-item-9-at-places-memo.pdf
18, 2023,3 to extend the term, prioritize Palo Alto-affiliated4 residents, and clarify the City’s landscaping responsibilities. In response to Council’s June 18, 20245 directive to mitigate vehicle dweller displacement relating to a Caltrans project along El Camino Real, a further amendment to the lease agreement was approved in August 20246 to add to the leased space to accommodate an expansion from up to 12 vehicles to 22 vehicles. Over the following months, Move Mountain View and community partners fundraised initial seed money to bridge the gap from the first few months of expansion until the City could step in with funding. On March 10, 2025, Council approved a revenue agreement with Santa Clara County through September 2026 for expanded operations at Geng Road.7 While the County continues to fund the original 12 spaces, the additional spaces require City funding of approximately $266,162 annually.
ANALYSIS
The 2000 Geng Road Safe Parking program provides a critical resource for individuals sheltering in their vehicles in Palo Alto. This program continues to offer a structured and secure environment while connecting participants to supportive services. Every household is assigned a case manager. Together, participants and their case manager develop an individualized plan that outlines the household’s goals. Case plans serve as a roadmap, linking households and participants to essential resources, including job placement, medical services, and the Santa Clara coordinated entry system8. At Geng Road Safe Parking, participants have access to showers, a kitchen, laundry facilities, a children’s lending library, and a play area.
Through coordinated entry, case managers connect participants to VI-SPDAT9 assessments, which help ensure clients are correctly placed in the community queue for housing opportunities. Securing affordable housing in Santa Clara County is an ongoing challenge, especially for participants with disabilities or living on a fixed income. The VI-SPDAT assessments process ensures that participants are accurately positioned within the community 3 September 18, 2023 Council Staff Report,
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/meetings/ItemWithTemplateType?id=3115&meetingTemplateType=2 4 The Office of Supportive Housing considers a participant affiliated to the City if they answer ‘Palo Alto” to any of the questions:
If employed, what city do you work in?
If you go to school, in which city is your school?
In which city do you spend most of your time?
Which city did you live in prior to becoming homeless? 5 Council Action Minutes, June 18, 2024, Item AA4,
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=14318&compileOutputType =1
6 Council Staff Report, August 19, 2024, Item #10,
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=14361 7 Council Report, March 10, 2025 https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=14361 8 Coordinated entry is the process for guiding individuals from initial contact with service providers to receiving services and housing. Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry webpage provides more information here:
https://scc.bitfocus.com/coordinated-entry
9 Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT) is a pre-screening tool used to assess the health and social needs of unhoused individuals. queue, allowing participants to be connected with the housing interventions they are eligible for (e.g., rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing).
Move Mountain View has the following eligibility requirements for participants:
1) Be currently unhoused, specifically sleeping or living in a vehicle. The vehicle must be operational and used for the primary purpose of residence. 2) Have valid documentation, including:
oVehicle insurance
oVehicle registration
oA valid driver’s license or state ID
3) Agree to program rules and be committed to working toward securing permanent housing. This includes participating in case management. 4) Prioritization criteria when space is limited:
oApplicants who live or work in Mountain View or Palo Alto oSeniors or people with disabilities
Move Mountain View is responsible for following these eligibility requirements under city ordinances and the Memoranda of Understanding they have with congregations (i.e., to use congregational parking lots). For ease of administration and operation throughout the sites Move Mountain View operates, these serve as baseline requirements, with city or site-specific requirements superseding as appropriate. One requirement that has raised some questions is the need for vehicle registration, insurance, and license or ID. This is required under the California Vehicle Code.17 Move Mountain View will help otherwise qualified people to get their vehicle registered (e.g., helping with funding, paperwork, etc). Move Mountain View partners with individuals who are interested in enrolling and participating in the program. As mentioned above, program enrollees may receive limited financial assistance to support with the cost of registration and or insurance.
During the reporting period, February 1, 2025, to June 30, 2025, a total of 30 households were enrolled in the Geng Road Safe Parking program. Out of 30 households, 23 households, or 76.7 percent, were affiliated with the City of Palo Alto. These 23 households consisted of 34 individuals.
To provide a richer picture of this program, for this initial report, staff asked the county to also share aggregate data on Palo Alto affiliated clients for the prior two years. During the time period from June 1, 2023 through June 30, 2025, there were 33 Palo Alto affiliated households enrolled in the Geng Road program, and on average, clients stayed in the program for approximately 435 days with a median stay of 328 days. Over this period, there were 14 households who exited the program, with 71 percent positive placements (e.g., permanent housing, transitional housing). When there is a wait list (i.e., households/applications pending, gathering documents), it has averaged 5 households.
17 See Cal. Vehicle Code section 4000(a)(1). Registration is required to park in a public parking facility, as well as to drive, move, or park on a street.
Limited resources, rising rents, and longer waitlists mean the search for permanent stable housing often takes much longer and can be a driver for longer stays. Even when units are available, strict housing eligibility requirements (e.g., immigration status and documentation) add more delays, making the path to stable housing slow and challenging. While the length of stay may appear long, participants make meaningful progress and are ready to transition into housing as soon as opportunities become available.
The county also looks at “utilization” for its programs on a monthly basis. Utilization shows the percentage of a program’s slots that are being used during a given time. For Geng Road, prior to expansion, utilization was at or above 100 percent. In 2025, as the program expanded gradually (e.g., hiring/onboarding staff), utilization steadily grew from 16 enrollments in January (73 percent utilization of the expanded program) to 22 enrollments in June (100 percent utilization of the expanded program).
The demographics of the Palo Alto affiliated households enrolled in the program during this two year period included:
67 percent men, 33 percent women
67 percent Hispanic/Latina/e/o
69 percent aged 45 or older, including 27 percent 65 or above 67 percent single adult households
21 percent households with children
As the program evolves, staff will expand these reports to incorporate longitudinal data points, including returns to homelessness for individuals and families served within 12 months, and returns to homelessness for individuals and families served within 24 months of exiting the program. At this stage, enough time has not yet passed to collect or analyze this information.
These data points will be incorporated into future reports as they become available.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for the work described within this report has been appropriated as part of the FY 2026Adopted Budget. Funding in subsequent years is subject to Council approval as part of the annual budget process. The next report and all subsequent will include a summary budget and actual report of operation and maintenance costs spent using City funds. Per contract, the summary budget and actual report shall have categories and format agreed upon by the City and County. At the time of this staff report, the parties are still finalizing those categories and format.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Stakeholder engagement includes regular and as-needed meetings between partners (i.e., Office of Supportive Housing, Move Mountain View). Additionally, City staff continues to engage with external stakeholders (e.g., the RV Dwellers group of service providers, City staff, a representative of Stanford University, members of the faith-based community, and people from the philanthropic community who meet monthly and as-needed to discuss and share information relation to Palo Altans living in their vehicles) and other cities to review progress and discuss updates related to homelessness in general, as well as safe parking.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This report is for informational purposes only with no action required by the Council and is therefore not a project subject to CEQA review.
APPROVED BY:
Ed Shikada, City Manager