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City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: City Attorney
Meeting Date: December 8, 2025
Report #:2510-5346
TITLE
Adoption of Emergency and Regular Ordinances Prohibiting Unattached Trailer Parking and Vanlording and a Resolution Amending the Administrative Penalty Schedule Imposing Penalties; CEQA status – not a project.
RECOMMENDATION
As directed by the City Council on October 20, 2025, staff recommends Council adopt the following legislation to prohibit unattached trailer parking and vanlording throughout Palo Alto:
1. An emergency ordinance and regular ordinance amending PAMC section 10.44.020 to prohibit unattached trailer parking, with limited exceptions (Attachments A and D);
2. An emergency ordinance and regular ordinance prohibiting vanlording (Attachments B and E); and
3. A resolution amending the Administrative Penalty Schedule to add penalties for the ordinances above (Attachment C).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On October 20, 2025, the City Council directed staff to return with two emergency ordinances to address parking of certain oversized vehicles (OSVs) on City streets: an ordinance to prohibit parking unattached trailers throughout the City and an ordinance to prohibit vanlording, the practice of renting out OSVs for human habitation on public streets. The attached emergency ordinances, which require 4/5 approval for adoption (6 votes), will go into effect immediately upon adoption. The regular ordinances are substantively identical, and are included as a standard practice to ensure enactment of the Council’s policy direction in the event that the emergency ordinances are not adopted or are challenged.
Enforcement of the ordinance prohibiting the parking of unattached trailers includes citations and towing, and can begin once signs are posted. 1 Enforcement of the vanlording ordinance includes citations and fines, as this ordinance targets landlords and not vehicle dwellers. 1 Additionally, the ordinance addressing unattached trailer parking also includes a clean-up provision authorizing the City to tow where OSVs are prohibited from parking between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., when appropriately signed.
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These ordinances are part of Phase 1 strategies to address concerns relating to OSVs. Other elements of Phase 1 are also underway. These include: increasing street cleanups and sweeping of impacted streets, considering a buyback and/or storage option to accept OSV residents quickly at housing, recruiting new safe parking on privately-owned and congregation-based parking lots, and working with an Ad Hoc Committee to recommend details on increased enforcement and other related items (e.g., evaluating ”Phase 2” activities such as considering limiting OSVs to certain streets, creating permits, and developing an enhanced services pilot). Street cleanups and sweeping will begin on initial impacted street segments in December, with additional streets anticipated each week, excepting Christmas and New Year’s, until all currently impacted streets are covered by spring 2026. The remaining issues are being worked on by the Ad Hoc with staff support and an expected February report back to Council.
BACKGROUND
Existing state and local laws regulate parking in the City of Palo Alto. Oversized vehicles are subject to a number of existing parking restrictions, including a requirement that no vehicle may park in the same spot for more than 72 hours without travelling at least half a mile; a requirement that all vehicles have current registration to park on the street; and a prohibition on OSVs parking overnight on some specific blocks, which applies only where signs are posted.
The City Council voted on October 20, 2025 to expand these parking restrictions to include a ban on unattached trailers parking in the public right-of-way. These trailers require a separate truck or other vehicle to tow them in order to be moved. Residents, businesses, and City staff have observed an increase in the number of unattached trailers on City streets. These trailers reduce parking availability and circulation on City streets and, because they cannot be readily moved, create risks in an emergency and may be more prone to violating the 72-hour rule, among other impacts.
Council also voted to direct staff to create an ordinance against vanlording. Vanlording occurs when a person rents or attempts to rent an oversized vehicle with the intent that the tenant will reside in the vehicle while parked on the street. In Palo Alto, anecdotal reports and staff observations suggest that vanlording is occurring in areas where OSVs are congregating. The City would be following other California cities, including San Jose and Los Angeles, in prohibiting vanlording.
Additionally, at the October 20 Council Meeting there were several questions raised by Councilmembers in relation to oversized vehicles, relating to countywide safe parking capacity, changes in City towing practices, and understanding the estimated budget through the lens of services and enforcement. The following information is provided for reference:
Safe Parking Capacity: The total countywide capacity is 332 spots (104 car spaces, 228 OSV spaces).
Towing Practice: While enforcement via towing and citation had been occurring previously, in June of 2025, the Police Department assigned a dedicated supervisor to its 8 4
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special enforcement detail and prioritized OSV-related issues. As a result, staff has increased OSV-related enforcement activity in the form of more citations issued for parking and nuisance violations and more tows. The dedicated staff have also assumed responsibility for addressing Palo Alto 311 and other citizen inquiries on OSV issues. In parallel, the Police Department has enhanced its collaboration with the City’s Homeless Outreach Team, in the interest of connecting those cited with resources that can obviate the need for towing in some cases.
Estimated Budget for Services and Enforcement:
Table 1: Estimated Budget for Services and Enforcement
TOTAL
ENFORCEMENT
TOTAL
SERVICE TOTAL
ADMINISTRATION $157,000 $157,000 $314,000
STREET SWEEPING $245,000 $- $245,000
CLEANING $60,000 $- $60,000
ENGINEERING $419,000 $- $419,000
ENFORCEMENT/ TOWING $975,000 $- $975,000
EXPANDED SAFE PARKING* $- $405,000 $405,000
SIGNAGE FOR PARKING
RESTRICTIONS**
$4,200,000 $- $4,200,000
BUYBACK STORAGE $- $150,000 $150,000
ENHANCED SERVICES $- $400,000 $400,000
TOTAL $6,056,000 $1,112,000 $7,168,000
* Note that the safe parking estimates assume adding 22 RV spaces. **The $4.2 million for signage is the estimated maximum cost to sign Citywide. The cost will ultimately vary depending on factors including the number of new parking regulations adopted (and therefore the number of new signs), the geographic scope of a new parking restriction, and the availability of existing poles/infrastructure for new signs.
ANALYSIS
Unattached Trailer Parking Prohibited
Unattached trailers will no longer be able to park on City streets under the attached emergency and regular ordinances. There are very limited exceptions, including for trailers that have City- issued construction permits.
State law requires that the City post signs giving notice of this new restriction before enforcing it. The penalties for violation are citation (including fine) and towing of the trailer. Towing results in additional fees for the owner to retrieve the trailer. 8 4
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This ordinance also conforms the existing parking restriction that prohibits OSVs from parking from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. in certain residential or public facility zones to state law requirements. First, California courts have clarified that state law requires signs to be posted for this parking restriction to be enforceable. Accordingly, a provision in the City‘s current ordinance specifying that no signs are necessary has been deleted. Second, state law requires that local law authorize towing as an enforcement measure for this parking restriction, and this ordinance makes towing authorization explicit. Towing enforcement may begin when signs are updated to give notice that violators are subject to tow. Staff anticipates updating signage beginning in December, with anticipated completion for currently impacted street segments by spring 2026. The Police Department will begin enforcement two weeks after the signs are installed. This allows the Police Department to conduct direct outreach to ensure those affected are aware of the code update and are subject to tow.
Vanlording Prohibited
“Vanlording” will also be prohibited in the City under a number of new restrictions targeting vanlord activities. Foremost, vanlords are prohibited from leasing or renting an OSV that is intended for or later used for living while being parked on City streets or parking lots. Second, the act of advertising OSVs for such purposes will also be prohibited, whether it occurs in print or online. Third, vanlords are prohibited from parking or storing OSVs intended for rental on City streets or parking lots. Lastly, no person may purport to lease, reserve, or sell any City parking space, or facilitate such actions. Violators of any of these provisions are subject to citation and fine. Posted signs are not required to enforce this ordinance.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Adoption of the unattached trailer ordinance requires additional signage. Both ordinances require additional staff time for enforcement. Council has already approved the necessary FY 2026 budget amendments to fund the enforcement costs for these new ordinances on October 20, 2025.3
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The City Council received public comment on this topic at the City Council meeting on October 20, 2025. Prior to that, the Policy and Services Committee also took public comment on this issue on August 25, 2025 and recommended that Council ultimately adopt these two ordinances.
City staff have reached out to service providers to ask for increased outreach to vehicle dwellers4 ahead of the new ordinances and to help them understand the new ordinances, timeline, and the accompanying enforcement. Additionally, staff has updated the broader community through 3 See Minutes from the October 20, 2025 Council Meeting, available at https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=16271&compileOutputType =1
4 LifeMoves, the City’s contracted outreach provider, has a focused outreach plan related to the pending opening of the Homekey interim housing shelter. A high level overview of this plan is included as Attachment F. 8 4
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community updates via City communications channels and individual responses to residents and business owners who have written or called with concerns or queries relating to the impacts of OSVs.
Additionally, OSV Ad Hoc committee members have reached out to a variety of community members including faith-based organizations, property owners, and philanthropists to explore options for expanding safe parking.
A dedicated webpage outlines the City’s overall homeless response can be found at www.paloalto.gov/homelessresponse.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Adoption of these ordinances and resolution is not a project under CEQA pursuant to regulation 15601(b)(3).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Emergency Ordinance Amending PAMC 10.44.020 to Prohibit Unattached Trailer Parking
Attachment B: Emergency Ordinance Amending PAMC Chapter 9.06 to Prohibit Vanlording Attachment C: Resolution Amending the Administrative Penalty Schedule to Establish Penalties for Violations of the Ordinances Above
Attachment D: Ordinance Amending PAMC 10.44.020 to Prohibit Unattached Trailer Parking Attachment E: Ordinance Amending PAMC Chapter 9.06 to Prohibit Vanlording Attachment F: LifeMoves Palo Alto Outreach Plan
APPROVED BY:
Molly Stump, City Attorney