SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Proposed City Ordinance Updates
Public Safety Subcommittee
October 13, 2026
Dan Marincik
Captain, Police Department
Paul Lowenthal
Division Chief Fire Marshal, Fire Department
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
1 New Ordinance 3 Updates to Ordinances
1 RV Parking
• Establish a clear citywide rule for RV
parking on public streets, rights-of-way, and
public property.
• Preserve limited loading, cleaning,
breakdown, emergency, and approved
exemptions.
2 Panhandling
• Update Chapter 10-36 to add additional
restrictions regarding panhandling where
health and safety are concerned.
3 Sideshows
• Provide an update to our current
sideshow ordinance based on recent
guidance from case law.
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2 SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
• The Department receives ongoing community
complaints about recreational vehicles parked on city
streets.
• The City must balance connecting people living in RVs to services and housing with addressing the health and
safety conditions those situations create.
• Parked recreational vehicles can obstruct
intersections, sight lines, and safe passage for drivers and pedestrians.
• Extended stays in areas not designed for long-term
living raise sanitation concerns, including refuse,
wastewater discharge, rodent activity, and the
absence of running water.
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Proposal 1 | RV parking ordinance
Proposed core rule
• Residential streets (all times)
• Commercial, industrial, and community facility areas (7:30 AM to 10:00 PM)
• Parks, public squares, and alleys
• City-owned parking lots (except while conducting City business) • Within 30 feet of intersections where visibility may be impaired • Also prohibits connected an electrical cord or running a sewage line Exemptions
72 hours for loading, unloading, or cleaning near the registered parcel, followed by 48 hours away.
24 hours for emergency repairs after a mechanical breakdown.
NEW CITY ORDINANCE
5 SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Some Cities with RV Ordinances
Sunnyvale San Rafael Lafayette Huntington Beach Danville West Hollywood
Santa Monica Mountain View Costa Mesa Beverly Hills Newport Beach Laguna Beach Cupertino Sebastopol Palo Alto Menlo Park Orinda San Diego Coronado Saratoga Campbell Moraga San Francisco Los Gatos Los Altos
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Current ordinance | Panhandling
The City already prohibits aggressive panhandling and panhandling in specified locations.
Aggressive panhandling § 10-36.110
No person shall panhandle, ask or beg in an aggressive
manner in any public place. Conduct covered includes:
Approaching, speaking to, or following a person in a way likely to cause fear of bodily harm or loss of property.
Unwanted touching of a person in the course of the
solicitation.
Blocking or obstructing the safe passage of a person or a vehicle.
Continuing to panhandle after being asked to stop.
Using profane language which is likely to provoke.
Areas where panhandling is already prohibited
Approaching a motor vehicle. Soliciting an operator or occupant of a vehicle on a street or in a parking area.
Entrance or exit to a building. Doorways and adjacent areas people must pass through to enter or leave.
Parking lots. Public and private parking lots and parking garages.
Public transportation. Public transportation vehicles and their designated stops.
Restaurants. Outdoor dining areas and patrons seated at or waiting outside a restaurant.
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Where the impacts show up
Mapped calls for service and pedestrian-involved collisions across Santa Rosa Panhandling complaints by location
Calls for service referencing panhandling; likely underreported.
Pedestrian-involved collisions, one year
Dots represent collision locations involving a pedestrian.
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Proposal 2 | Panhandling amendment
Amend Chapter 10-36 with location-based safety restrictions and updated findings.
Proposed additions
1 Roadway safety Median strips and specified
intersection-related vehicle contacts.
2 Transit and fuel
locations Public transportation vehicles/stops
and gasoline stations/fuel pumps.
4 AMEN CH. 10-36
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9 SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Chapter 10-36 | Proposed amendment language
Highlighted text is new or amended language proposed for § 10-36.120; all other provisions carry forward unchanged. § 10-36.120 (A) Findings — captive audience and public safety The City Council finds that panhandling from people in places where they are a “captive audience,” in which it is impossible or difficult for them to exercise their own right to decline to listen to or to avoid panhandling from others, is problematic and presents a risk to the health, safety and welfare of the public. Such places include public transportation vehicles and their designated locations for stops, as well as gasoline stations. The City Council further finds that the presence of individuals who panhandle money from persons at or near banks or automated teller machines is especially threatening and dangerous. Such activity often carries with it an implicit threat to both person and property. Restricting panhandling in such places will provide a balance between the rights of individuals panhandling and the rights of persons who wish to decline or avoid such panhandling, and will help avoid or diminish the threat of violence in such unwarranted and unavoidable confrontations.
Findings — roadway and traffic safety
The City Council further finds that panhandling on roadway median strips, at traffic intersections, and in the public roadway is unsafe and hazardous for panhandlers, drivers, pedestrians, and the general public. Panhandling on roadway median strips, at traffic intersections, and in the public roadway increases the risk of drivers becoming distracted from their primary duty to watch traffic, which may result in automobile accidents, congestion and blockage of streets and delay and obstruction of the free flow of travel, all of which constitute substantial traffic safety problems. § 10-36.120 (D) Motor vehicles, parking lots, roadways
(3) Median Strips. No person shall panhandle, ask or beg on a median strip or in any manner or location that is inconsistent with the provisions of the California Vehicle Code.
(4) Gasoline Stations and Fuel Pumps. No person shall panhandle, ask or beg from an operator or occupant of a motor vehicle while such vehicle is stopped in a gasoline station or at a gasoline pump. This subsection shall not apply to panhandling, asking or begging related to business authorized by and/or conducted by the property owner, business owner, or employees thereof on the premises.
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Proposal 3 | Sideshow amendment
Santa Rosa passed sideshow
ordinance in 2022
Have had no sideshows in last
several years
Based on recent case law, we
recommend an update to the city
ordinance
CH 10-26
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Recommendation
We recommend that the following spectator section be removed from the City ordinance.
Why
Recent case law directs enforcement toward conduct and
participation rather than mere presence.
Removing the spectator section aligns Chapter 10-26 with current legal guidance.
Remaining sideshow provisions targeting drivers, organizers, and promoters carry forward unchanged.
§ 10-26.040 Spectators prohibited at sideshows, street races, and reckless exhibitions of speed.
(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to:
(1) Be knowingly present as a spectator at a sideshow, street race or reckless driving exhibition conducted on a public street or highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(2) Be knowingly present as a spectator where preparations are being made for a sideshow, street race or reckless driving exhibition conducted on a public street or highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
(B) Nothing in this chapter prohibits peace officers, medical professionals, firefighters or their agents who are acting in the course of their official duties from being spectators at a sideshow, street race or reckless driving exhibition or spectators at the location of preparations for any of these activities. (Ord. 2022-012 § 1)
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
DIRECTION & DISCUSSION
1 RV Parking: Introduction of new ordinance and is the proposed 72-hour and emergency exemptions appropriately framed?
2 Panhandling: Introduction of amendment adding prohibited locations to include center medians, gasoline stations and fuel pumps.
3 Sideshows: Introduction of amendment to remove language banning spectator from sideshows
Santa Rosa Police Department
13 SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Proposal 4 | Fire and Open Flames in Parks
Amend Parks Code to add § 13-24.100 Fires and Open Flame.
Proposed language
1 Defines Open
Outdoor Fires
Fires in parks were not previously
addressed in city code.
2 Establishes use of
personal cooking
appliance
Allows for parks visitor to continue to
enjoy the amenities safely
4 AMEN CH. 10-36
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14 Allowance for other
open flames with
approval from City
Sets restrictions for
Red Flag Warning and
hazardous conditions
Allows for special events, vendors, camp
activities, etc.
Provides for community safety, reduces
risk, mitigates the threat of wildfires, and
property damage.
SANTA ROSA POLICE DEPARTMENT
Questions?
Public Safety Subcommittee
October 13, 2026