City Council
Ad Hoc Report
From: Oversized Vehicles Ad Hoc Committee
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Members: Lauing (Chair), Lythcott-Haims, and Reckdahl
Meeting Date: February 23, 2026
Report #:2512-5591
TITLE
Status Report from the Oversized Vehicles (OSV) Ad Hoc Committee CEQA Status: Not a Project.
RECOMMENDATION
The Oversized Vehicles (OSV) Ad Hoc Committee recommends that the City Council receive and provide feedback on the Committee’s report back including supplemental information from staff.
Formation of the Council Ad Hoc
On October 20, 2025, the Palo Alto City Council approved a set of initial measures to address the growing numbers of Oversized Vehicles (OSVs) and resulting community impacts, as well as the needs of OSV dwellers, including:
1. Prioritizing the towing of unregistered vehicles parked on City streets.
2. Prohibiting the parking of detached trailers on public streets.
3. Prohibiting the renting of public parking spaces (“vanlording”).
4. To enhance cleanliness in OSV areas, the Council authorized a one-time deep cleaning followed by a semi-monthly sweeping schedule. Because this sweeping requires vehicles to be relocated, it also serves as a mechanism to ensure all parked OSVs remain mobile and operable.
5. Recruit new safe parking on privately-owned and congregation-based parking lots, excepting any safe parking site that requires undedicating parkland.
6. Council directed staff to return to Council for approvals of ordinances and contract amendments as soon as possible.
7. Directed the Mayor to create an Ad Hoc Committee to recommend details on the increased enforcement and evaluation of Phase 2 activities, reporting back to Council in 4 months.
The initial ordinances for items 2-4 were approved by Council on December 8, 2025, with second readings approved on January 12, 2026.
State law mandates that the City post clear signage before authorizing tows for street-sweeping or inoperable-vehicle violations. However, because unregistered vehicles can be towed without prior signage, they accounted for the majority of initial enforcement actions. Since the October Council meeting, the City has successfully towed 33 OSVs. Despite this progress, the removal rate remains constrained by the limited storage capacity of local towing companies, which serves as the primary bottleneck in clearing violators from the streets.
Deep cleaning has been completed in approximately half of the OSV areas. Compliance has been high, with owners consistently relocating vehicles to facilitate cleaning and sweeping.
Temporarily moving these vehicles has also provided an opportunity for the City to address deferred maintenance, including tree trimming and storm drain clearance. However, the vast majority of the OSVs returned to the areas shortly after cleaning was completed.
The City’s recent efforts seem to have reduced the OSV population. However, since core issues remain largely unresolved, the City should consider additional, more comprehensive measures.
Background
In areas with high OSV density, the community faces persistent health and sanitation issues.
Beyond sanitation, these vehicles congest streets—obstructing sightlines for drivers and making it increasingly difficult for local business customers to find parking. Some residents report feeling unsafe in the presence of OSVs and the people who live in them. Aggressive enforcement against OSV parking by neighboring cities has pushed many of these vehicles into Palo Alto, exacerbating local OSV impacts.
Palo Alto’s current OSV situation is unacceptable and untenable to many. Some OSV residents are “bad actors” and their behaviors include angry verbal outbursts, an excessive amount of belongings on the street and sidewalk, and accumulation of trash and unsanitary disposal of sewage which can attract rodents. However, we must also recognize that this population is not a homogeneous group. Many OSV dwellers contribute to society by working jobs and paying taxes and make efforts to conduct themselves as good neighbors. Given the regional housing crisis, many individuals have no viable alternative to living in their vehicles. Consequently, our goal is to mitigate OSV impacts on the community while remaining empathetic to the needs and dignity of OSV occupants.
Palo Alto’s Safe Parking program at Geng Road operated by Move Mountain View (MMV) currently provides off-street parking for 22 OSVs, having been expanded from 12 parking spots in 2025. MMV’s dedicated case managers assist occupants in securing permanent housing, facilitating a transition toward self-sufficiency. With its kitchen, food pantry, laundry machines, locker rooms with showers, it is considered the best-resourced safe parking lot of all that MMV manages in the region. The City’s Safe Parking program also includes partnerships with local faith-based communities. We currently have four (4) such partners, each of which provide four (4) spots for overnight parking to cars only (not OSVs), for a total of 16 spots. These resources by themselves cannot handle the scope of the OSV population in Palo Alto.
Strategic Goals
Palo Alto’s OSVs present a complex set of challenges for the community. To address these multi-faceted impacts, we have established the following strategic goals:
1. Return to Historical Numbers: Neighboring cities’ OSV bans have pushed many vehicles into Palo Alto, increasing both their numbers and their impact on residents. It is essential that Palo Alto returns these numbers to previous, manageable levels.
2. Improve Sanitation: Because poor sanitation is a risk to public health, we need to eliminate sewage, garbage, and rodents from city streets, which can be particularly impacted by high OSV concentrations.
3. Improve Traffic Safety: We need to restrict OSV parking near intersections to eliminate blind spots and ensure clear sightlines for drivers and bicyclists.
4. Require Local Connection: Because Palo Alto cannot absorb OSVs from other communities, OSV occupants should have established connections with Palo Alto.
5. Prioritize Low Income: Our goal is for Palo Alto’s limited street parking capacity to be used by those who need it most, prioritizing OSV parking for low-income individuals and others identified as particularly at-risk according to county assessment tools.
6. Transition to Stable Housing: Palo Alto’s OSV street parking should be considered a temporary bridge, not a long-term housing solution. We want to encourage Palo Alto’s OSV occupants to apply for County housing programs.
7. Expand Safe Parking: Because transitioning OSV occupants to stable housing provides better outcomes for both the occupants and the community, Palo Alto needs to expand its safe parking program, shelter beds, and transitional housing.
8. Regional Collaboration: The regional nature of OSVs has created a 'patchwork' effect:
cities with less restrictive laws are overwhelmed by vehicles fleeing more stringent regulations in neighboring communities. We want to encourage regional leaders to coordinate to develop regional, synchronized responses to OSV impacts and the needs of OSV dwellers.
The Desire to Mitigate Litigation Risk
Legal risk is an important consideration for the Council as it weighs potential approaches to regulating OSV parking. The City Attorney's Office is aware of three instances of lawsuits challenging other Bay Area cities' attempts to effectively prohibit OSVs from parking on streets citywide. Two of those cases resulted in settlement1 and one is still pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals2, making it difficult to extrapolate clear legal precedent around how much discretion cities may exercise in limiting or prohibiting OSV parking on public streets.
However, these cases are instructive in terms of understanding the forum and financial scale of a potential legal challenge. All three lawsuits were filed in federal court by skilled civil rights and pro bono attorneys asserting both constitutional and statutory challenges against the cities' regulations. While those cities' precise legal fees and settlement costs are unknown, the City could reasonably incur anywhere from $500,000 to more than $1 million in defense costs.
In sum, while the precise degree of legal risk associated with restricting OSV parking is difficult to gauge, the City should expect to expend significant legal resources in the event of a lawsuit.
The Challenge of Expanding Safe Parking Opportunities
Palo Alto’s Geng Road safe parking lot operated by the non-profit organization Move Mountain View (MMV) offers space to 22 OSVs, and comes with myriad amenities as discussed above.
MMV also has a strong track record of assisting vehicle dwellers in accessing the social support system offered by government, faith, and non-profit entities. In the last five years, 69 vehicle dwellers at our Geng Road site have been placed into permanent housing, transitional housing, or shelter beds. Therefore, we know the safe parking model offered by MMV works, and we seek to expand the number of spaces available at Geng Road or at another location.
Since the October 20 City Council vote, we have explored expanding the Geng Road site operated by MMV, attempted to locate other properties that could become safe parking lots for OSV dwellers by speaking with owners of vacant/unused lots and with faith-based communities that have large parking lots, and we’ve looked into the availability of city-owned land for such purposes.
Expand the Geng Road program. The land adjacent to the MMV Geng Road is dedicated parkland (baseball/softball/batting cage/parking lot). Undedication would require approval of the voters. Council’s October 20, 2025 motion specifically indicated we were not to look at land that would have to be undedicated.
Increase the Faith-Based Program. Our faith-based partners tell us that the challenging neighborhood dynamics associated with their initial safe parking efforts prevent them from doing more at this time. They feel it is “someone else’s turn.” 1 See Navarro et al. v. City of Mountain View at N.D. Cal. Case No. 21-cv-05381 and Geary et al. v. City of Pacifica at Case No. 21-cv-01780.
2 See Yesue et al. v. City of Sebastopol at N.D. Cal. Case No. 22-cv-06474 and 9th Cir. Case No. 24-7691. The lawsuit was filed in 2022 and Sebastopol suspended enforcement of its OSV parking restrictions until the District Court ruled in its favor in 2024. The case is currently on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Oral argument occurred in December 2025 with a decision anticipated in 2026.
Lease vacant land/parking lots from corporations. None of the corporate entities we’ve approached have been amenable to leasing their vacant lots to the City for safe parking. Use City land. None of Palo Alto’s vacant or underutilized properties are deemed suitable for this purpose.
Lease land owned by other government entities. Caltrans owns the lot bordered by Hwy 101, San Antonio Road and Transport Street. Currently it is leased to a garden supply store. Due to a Caltrans policy change impacting the current use, staff are in touch with Caltrans about converting the use to safe parking.
In sum, despite the success of the highly successful safe parking program operated by MMV at Geng road, the high cost of land and a scarcity of suitable locations make it difficult to increase the number of off-street safe parking spots, and off-street parking alone will not fully address Palo Alto's significant OSV challenges. Therefore, we are proposing a pilot permit program designed to reduce impacts and address the needs of OSV dwellers, and we have also secured a commitment from County leaders to convene a regional conversation on this topic.
Exploring OSV Permit Program
Given the legal risks associated with an OSV ban and the difficulties of expanding off-street Safe Parking, the Ad Hoc committee recommends exploring alternative strategies. An OSV permit program would allow the City to mitigate the negative impacts of OSVs while providing targeted support for residents with legitimate needs.
Core Features of an OSV Permit Program:
Capacity limits: The City will reduce the number of OSVs in Palo Alto by capping the number of permits based on Palo Alto’s historical OSV population. Conduct Standards: Permit holders must abide by a set of guidelines designed to minimize community impacts. Rule violations would result in permit non-renewal. Defined Eligibility: Participation is restricted to low-income individuals with documented ties to the Palo Alto community.
Seek Housing: Pursue placement on County housing waitlists. Parking Locations: OSV Parking would remain prohibited in residential zones and all other areas where OSVs are currently restricted.
The permit program addresses community impacts through two primary mechanisms: it caps the number of OSVs at a manageable level and establishes conduct standards that give the city significant leverage to discourage problematic behavior. In addition, by bringing OSV dwellers into regulatory compliance with the City’s expectations, the permit program also offers more dignity and security to OSV dwellers.
While the potential benefits are clear, many operational details require refinement before such a program could be implemented citywide.
Proposed Pilot Permit Program
Given the unique nature of this OSV permit program, a phased implementation is necessary to refine administrative details. A small-scale pilot will allow City staff to closely monitor outcomes, improve administrative processes, and address shortcomings before any broader rollout. In particular, the Pilot Program will establish conduct monitoring, optimize sanitation scheduling, evaluate the impact on pilot streets, and streamline eligibility verification and County housing coordination.
The Pilot Program will feature a targeted geographic scope:
Designated Parking Zones: The Pilot Program will establish specific zones where permits are required to park an OSV. Confining the Pilot to small areas simplifies enforcement and allows for rapid installation of the legally required signage. Non-Pilot Areas: Areas outside of the Pilot will have no change in OSV regulations. City Staff and Police will conduct proactive monitoring to mitigate the impacts of unpermitted OSVs moving from the pilot areas into non-pilot areas. Pro-rated Permit Allocation: While a permanent city-wide program would determine capacity based on historical OSV data, the Pilot’s permit cap will be scaled proportionally to the capacity of the designated zones.
While the specific details are currently under development, the Pilot Program is expected to include the following components:
Conduct Standards: Permit applicants/holders will be expected to:
oMaintain Vehicle Registration and Safety: Permit applicants must have valid vehicle registration and insurance. Vehicles must pass a safety inspection, including a check for oil, water, and sewage leaks.
oAgree to being a "Good Neighbor:” Applicants must commit to a "Good Neighbor" agreement, which includes guidelines for noise mitigation during evening hours, pet containment, the prohibition of open fires, and a ban on storing personal belongings in public spaces.
oPark Safely: Permit holders must ensure their vehicles do not obstruct sightlines near intersections or driveways. To prevent a continuous 'wall of vehicles,' a minimum 20-foot clearance must be maintained between parked OSVs.
Additionally, the extension of vehicle slide-outs is prohibited while parked on City streets.
oSeek Housing: To ensure that the program serves as a bridge to permanent stability, participants must actively engage with service providers and apply for available housing waitlists; those who refuse a housing placement will be ineligible for permit renewal.
Restrict Eligibility to Income-Qualifying and Local Connection: Participation is restricted to low-income individuals with established ties to Palo Alto, such as employment in Palo Alto, PAUSD enrollment, or a history of long-term Palo Alto residency prior to displacement.
Provide Access to Sanitation Services: To prevent waste and litter, a designated City facility could accept garbage and sewage from permit holders during scheduled collection times.
Permit Duration & Cost: Permits will be issued on a short-term basis (e.g., 30–90 days).
Fees will be structured to offset the costs of sanitation and administrative services. Non- compliance with program standards will be grounds for permit non-renewal.
Should the pilot demonstrate success in reducing community impacts, the City will be prepared for a rapid, phased expansion of the program.
The Need for Regional Coordination
The housing crisis and increase in homelessness is a regional, state, and national issue. When individual cities decide to sweep out encampments of unhoused people or ban OSVs from parking on their streets they simply push that population elsewhere. And such efforts do nothing to address the needs of unhoused people for basic shelter, services, and dignity.
Because we in Palo Alto find ourselves impacted by the decisions of neighboring municipalities which have banned OSV parking, we’ve sought to elevate the conversation to a regional level so as to work on regional solutions. At our request, the Office of Santa Clara County District 5 Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, in partnership with the County’s Office of Supportive Housing, and Joint Venture Silicon Valley are co-sponsoring a regional convening on this issue on Friday April 17 from 1-4pm. They estimate inviting 50-60 attendees to that event including representatives from Palo Alto, and they have requested that we present our pilot permit program as an example of innovative responses to OSV impacts and vehicle-dweller needs.
Conclusion
Since the Council’s actions on October 20, the City has made significant progress despite the scale of the problem and operational constraints such as limited towing capacity and the lack of available land for more safe parking lots. The Ad Hoc Committee commends City staff for their exceptional dedication, including their extensive work during evenings and weekends to address this issue. Despite this progress, we recognize that OSVs continue to negatively impact Palo Alto’s residents and businesses. We also understand the needs of individuals who have no viable housing alternative to their vehicles. The City remains committed to working on the expanded measures needed to address all aspects of this problem.
To that end, an OSV Permit Program represents the most pragmatic next step, allowing the City to mitigate the negative community impacts of OSVs while supporting dwellers with legitimate needs. This framework allows the City to cap vehicle numbers while utilizing strict 'Conduct Standards' to manage behaviors that affect public health and safety. By prioritizing low-income individuals with documented local ties, the program ensures street parking remains a temporary bridge to stable housing.
Furthermore, an OSV Permit Program allows Palo Alto to mitigate OSV impacts while providing a legally defensible framework that reduces the threat of costly legal challenges.
The City continues to prioritize the expansion of off-street Safe Parking while also advancing regional efforts to create a unified response. Our goal is to ensure local policies work in concert with neighboring cities to achieve sustainable results rather than simply displacing OSV populations.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This is a study session only and no action is planned. Any subsequent projects as defined by CEQA will undergo review at the appropriate time.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Staff Supplemental Report Related to OSV Ad Hoc Committee Status Report Attachment B: Regional Convening Overview
APPROVED BY:
Oversized Vehicles Ad Hoc Committee Members