The Palo Alto City Council unanimously voted at its Oct. 20 meeting to approve a phased plan to address oversized vehicles, including recreational vehicles parked on city streets that people live in.
The first part of the phased plan increases regulatory measures around the city, including the prohibition of parking inoperable vehicles on public streets, a ban on “vanlording,” increased street sweeping and increased regulatory signage.
The plan directs the city to work with groups such as LifeMoves, faith-based organizations and private businesses to provide permanent or temporary parking spaces for residents living in RVs.
The second phase of the plan aims to aid people living in vehicles through small-scale services such as mobile pump-outs, community outreach and garbage collection.
City Council member Greer Stone said these restrictions on RVs in Palo Alto started because the Council received many complaints regarding waste and sewage on streets near RVs.
“Palo Alto has a far greater percentage of our unhoused being sheltered in oversized vehicles than elsewhere in the county,” Stone said. “It has become clear to the city and the Council for a while that this was a growing issue and a concern that required a more nuanced policy discussion in order to be able to address.”
Many RVs in Palo Alto are parked in front of businesses. During the meeting, Victor Sloan, president of Victor Aviation Services Inc., located on Embarcadero Way, said a lack of regulations have significantly impacted his business.
He said nearby RV communities on Geng Road and Faber Place have caused blockages and delays for large deliveries because trucks cannot enter parking lots or make necessary turns.
“As a result, this is causing an additional cost for our company and delays for critical mission customers who are waiting for their products to be delivered or serviced,” Sloan said at the meeting.
Another major concern of Palo Alto residents living and working on streets where RVs are parked is waste and sewage. Keyler Escobar, a 10 year old living in an RV in Palo Alto, said it is often dirty around the RV encampments where he lives.
“Garbage, trash, bags and food,” Escobar said. “It’s hard to get rid of our garbage around here.”
Because of this, Escobar agreed that systems like a garbage pick up service would be helpful for RV residents to help keep the streets clean.
Justin Harper, a Palo Alto RV resident who spoke at the City Council meeting on behalf of an RV community, said many residents pay $15 for a pump-out service that helps to remove waste from RVs.
“We know sewage can be an issue,” Harper said. “Some people just drive by, open their tanks, and drive off.”
Palo Alto resident Barry Katz, speaking at the Council meeting on behalf of the Ventura Neighborhood Association, said the phased approach suggested by the City will not deter RV residents but will entice more RVs to park in Palo Alto.
“My greatest fear is that the report is equivalent to putting up billboards up and down Highway 101 inviting people to move to Palo Alto where they will receive enhanced services: street cleaning, sanitation, hygiene, police and fire protection,” Katz said. “Best of all, at no cost.”
The plan comes amid rising levels of homelessness in the Bay Area. According to Santa Clara County’s 2025 Point-in-Time Count Community Report, homelessness in Palo Alto has doubled over the past two years. The report also found that of the 399 unhoused individuals in Palo Alto, 76% are living in vehicles.
Mary Wisnewski, president of Heart and Home Collaborative, a nonprofit shelter for unhoused women in Palo Alto, said in the past 10 years, she has noticed an increase in the average age of people coming to the shelter as well as an increase in first-time homelessness.
“For these people, an RV is a navigable home,” Wisnewski said at the Council meeting. “Many people see an RV as a viable option for their continued health and safety.”
However, according to Teresa Sanchez, who lives in an RV in Palo Alto, safety is not something that comes with her living situation.
Sanchez said she had to move into an RV three years ago, after getting into an accident working at a restaurant which left her with a broken hand. This injury left her with a $100,000 bill, which made housing unaffordable.
She said living in an RV has created dangerous situations including break-ins, since her vehicle does not have the same security as a regulated RV park, home or apartment.
“(Somebody) broke my door, and tried to rape me,” Sanchez said. “I have a video. (They) tried to take control and kill me. It was a really terrible experience. I took a video, and I called the police, but the detective doesn’t call me anymore.”
In situations like this, Jose Mencidei Da Santos, an RV resident living in Palo Alto said the aid that would help RV residents the most would be safe parking so residents don’t need to be worried about constantly needing to move their vehicles.
“Even in the places where parking an RV is allowed, they ask for a lot of documents, and we don’t have them,” Mencidei Da Santos said. “We are searching for a place to go, but we are not finding anything.”
Mencidei Da Santos speaks primarily in Portuguese, so his interview was conducted using an interpreter app.
One clause of the RV restriction plan would include a ban on “vanlording.” Vanlording is a practice where people rent RVs parked on public streets at a reduced rate, offering a cheaper alternative to buying an RV or renting an apartment.
City Council member George Lu said vanloding is exploitative.
“Prices can be surprisingly high, and there are no guarantees about sanitation, waste disposal, and more,” Lu said in an email. “I recognize that some people depend on renting RVs to avoid street homelessness. We’re working on ordinances, and we’ll be thoughtful about how to proceed.”
While outlawing vanlording, the City Council has plans to work with faith-based organizations and private businesses through the Move Mountain View Safe parking program.This program works with faith organizations and businesses to provide consistent, temporary parking spaces to people in Santa Clara County living out of their vehicles.
City Council member Julie Lythocott-Haims said the city hopes for a similar program in Palo Alto.
“If the city could lease those lots for the near term, that could bridge us until more permanent support and resources become available,” Lythcott-Haims said in an email.
One such organization is First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, also known as First Congo, at 1985 Louis Road. First Congo has been a member of the SAFE parking program since 2022. However, parking spaces are only provided to passenger vehicles and not RVs.
Associate Pastor Reverend Dr. Eileen Altman said faith communities hosting RVs is not a viable solution because RVs will not be able to move off-site during the day, while passenger vehicles can.
“Most faith communities in town operate a variety of programs during the day, like preschools or other programs in the congregation,” Altman said. “To have people living permanently on site would cause a variety of complications.”
Alongside First Congregational Church, Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto and Etz Chaiym have all provided parking spaces for community members living in RVs.
With increased costs of living and the reduction of safety net systems for low income residents such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Altman said more hunger and homelessness is coming.
“We all need to be aware that there are a lot of folks out there who are really struggling because of the rising costs of everything: groceries, housing, healthcare,” Altman said. “The safety net systems that our nation has relied on for the last 60 years are rapidly fraying. I just think we all collectively are going to need to find better ways to support our most vulnerable neighbors.”
Regardless of how the situation unfolds, Lu said the new RV and oversize vehicle restrictions will be a complicated path for the City.
“We need to do more, and we’re not imposing any outright ban,” Lu said in an email. “We recognize the humanity of everyone living in an RV.”
Other cities including Menlo Park and Mountain View have also passed regulations on the presence of RVs and oversized vehicles in their community, shrinking the number of places where vehicle dwellers can legally stay and intensifying fears of displacement. And this has RV residents concerned about their future in Palo Alto.
“Where are we going to go?” Harper said. “Menlo Park already doesn’t allow any of us. I’m not allowed back in Mountain View. I was told I’d be arrested on the spot if they saw my RV, so I’m stuck here. I can’t go north. I can’t go south.”
