San Diego Passes RV Parking Ban

The basic error is in assuming that a public road is a place where you have a right to park your private vehicles when it is not. That people have gotten a free ride for years does not give them a special privilege that belongs to them in perpetuity.

There are friends' where I have to park a block or more away when I go to visit as their neighbors have their cars and commercial trucks and RV's parked in the street. The width of the street is also reduced which makes it more difficult for fire trucks to get into their neighborhoods or to turn around.

I would welcome this type of ordinance so someone could not park a MH or delivery truck or broken down vehicle in front of my house for months or years at a time.

Vulcaneer wrote:
Good for San Diego. If you don't like it here are some options for you.
1. Move
2. Find a storage lot.
3. Park it on the street and pay the fine, impound fee.
4. Sell the RV, Boat, Oversized trailer.
5. Rent an RV, boat, etc.

And for the squatters you now have reason to check in at a local RV park. Might want to call and get reservations.

beemerphile1 wrote:


Once again demonstrating lack of knowledge of what stealth camping entails.
1. If stealth camping no one knows you are there so no one can be offended.
2. When stealth camping it is recommended to use commercial areas and suggested that residential areas be avoided.
3. You do not stealth camp two nights in any one location.

The problem is caused by vagrants, derelicts, homeless, and others but not by stealth campers. The object of stealth camping is to be invisible. The dilapidated/unsafe RVs causing the problem are anything but invisible.

A few years ago, stealth camping might have been a way to exist. However, what has happened is the tragedy of the commons has reared its ugly head, where in some places, entire streets are taken up by motorhomes.

In Austin, we are getting echoes of what is going on in SD and other California cities. I've mentioned in other posts about it. The problem is that right now, it isn't the locals. We get the tourists coming in and acting like absolute pigs come busy weekends (SXSW, ACL, Formula 1), and I wouldn't be surprised to encounter a blanket RV ban soon, so I might as well get my request for a variance in early.

Good for San Diego. If you don't like it here are some options for you.
1. Move
2. Find a storage lot.
3. Park it on the street and pay the fine, impound fee.
4. Sell the RV, Boat, Oversized trailer.
5. Rent an RV, boat, etc.

There were a crazy amount of RV's parked on streets there. Just ridiculous. Clogged up many neighborhood streets. And the 50 feet from an intersection is a safety issue (visibility).

But I will say there is one street I remember where you were allowed to park on the street and live in the RV for up to a week (or so) at a time. It was next to a city park. On the way out to the navy base. That was a pretty neat thing. But people abused the priveledge, so no more.

Although the homeless seem to be taking a lot of blame here, I think there may be plenty of blame to go around. One of my first jobs in law enforcement when I started many years ago was the vehicle abatement detail. And part of that detail was to handle all types of parking complaints. California has had a law for years that you cannot park any vehicle on any street for longer than 72 hours at a time. Back then that was the only law I had to work with on RV parking. I don't recall ever dealing with a person just living in an RV on the road. All the problems were with owners of the RV's storing them on the street. I can't tell you how many times I got cussed out by people thinking it was their right to park their RV on the street and leave it there as long as they wanted. I remember one court in particular that had something like 12 houses on it. Of those 12 houses about 7 people owned RV's. There were a combination of trailers and motorhomes and all of them stored them on the street. When you turned onto the court all you could see was RV's, it looked like a trailer park. Is it any wonder the non-rv owners on the court didn't like it?

The moral of the story is if you are going to be an RV just expect that you need to store it off the street, and in many Cities not in your own driveway.

wny_pat wrote:

ol Bombero-JC wrote:


Besides agenda notices, potentially controversial items get *lots* of coverage in the newspapers - either front page or local sections.
(BTW - what government agencies have "official newspapers"??).:h

The City of San Diego does!!! It is "The Daily Transcript". Each local government in California is required by state law to name a offical newspaper where they are required to post Public Notices. You can usually find these Public Notices in the classified section, but they may be anywhere in the newspaper. They pay by the column inch for the space these public notices take up. The column inch rate is extremely expensive and local newspapers fight to have the right to be named the "Offical Newspaper" of local goverments. You don't read the newspaper, then you don't know what your government is doing!!! And you will not find it on the front page, or in the comics section either! Its the very fine print where you need a magnifying glass.

Those public notices that are required to be put in the paper are different from City Council Agenda announcements. I don't think there is a requirement to publish the agenda in the paper, however, many major newspapers take it upon themselves to publish the agendas. The agenda is only required to be completed 24 hours before the meeting and it then is posted near the City Council Chambers. Although I haven't checked, I'll bet San Diego puts it online too. You can bet the agenda was properly posted in this matter.

beemerphile1 wrote:
Prior to this ordinance, apparently it was permissible to park on the public streets overnight. It is legal to park overnight on almost every street in existence.

Parking and occupying/inhabiting an RV are two completely different things. I know lots of places across the country where it is legal to park an RV, but not legal to occupy/inhabit it. In fact; we use to live in a small community of less than 500 where you could park your RV on your property or the street year round, but could not occupy it without a special permit for special circumstances like renovations, storm repairs, etc.

beemerphile1 wrote:


You are entitled to your opinion even though wrong. Prior to this ordinance, apparently it was permissible to park on the public streets overnight. It is legal to park overnight on almost every street in existence.

Sounds more and more like all that camouflage/hiding is just a game, then. If it's "legal in almost every street in existence", there's no need for "stealth".

Francesca Knowles wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Yet another case of The Freeloader Effect:

Abuses by those who like to call themselves "stealthcampers" have once again led to folks like you getting punished....

Once again demonstrating lack of knowledge of what stealth camping entails.
1. If stealth camping no one knows you are there so no one can be offended.
2. When stealth camping it is recommended to use commercial areas and suggested that residential areas be avoided.
3. You do not stealth camp two nights in any one location.

The problem is caused by vagrants, derelicts, homeless, and others but not by stealth campers. The object of stealth camping is to be invisible. The dilapidated/unsafe RVs causing the problem are anything but invisible.

:R

Oh, please....

You are entitled to your opinion even though wrong. Prior to this ordinance, apparently it was permissible to park on the public streets overnight. It is legal to park overnight on almost every street in existence.

beemerphile1 wrote:

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Yet another case of The Freeloader Effect:

Abuses by those who like to call themselves "stealthcampers" have once again led to folks like you getting punished....

Once again demonstrating lack of knowledge of what stealth camping entails.
1. If stealth camping no one knows you are there so no one can be offended.
2. When stealth camping it is recommended to use commercial areas and suggested that residential areas be avoided.
3. You do not stealth camp two nights in any one location.

The problem is caused by vagrants, derelicts, homeless, and others but not by stealth campers. The object of stealth camping is to be invisible. The dilapidated/unsafe RVs causing the problem are anything but invisible.

:R

Oh, please...

"Stealthcamping" by its very definition is parking a rig where it's not supposed to be...else why the need for all the elaborate "hiding"-type ruses employed? Since there's no way to make an RV truly invisible (is there?), most of those ruses involve attempting to hide the fact that the rig is actually occupied.

It's hard for me to believe that there are actually grownups that seem to enjoy playing such games but since there are those that do so in spite of being perfectly able to pay their way, I can think of no other reason than "the thrill" for doing it. I often wonder if camo face paint and/or Ninja hoods are involved...

And per any difference between these and the- what? "lower classes"?-
I'm pretty sure that residents/businesses that have to put up with such nonsense consider all unpermissioned overnight occupants of their streets/parking lots as freeloading trespassers, regardless of how shiny the rig is.