In addition to establishing a set of goals for Palo Alto\u2019s RV policy, including a focus on sanitation, safety and regional collaboration, the committee is exploring a parking permit pilot program and a regional convention to address the issue.<\/p>\n
The permit program would set aside certain streets throughout the city as places where oversized vehicles could park overnight, excluding residential zones. The committee discussed eligibility requirements for permit seekers and a requirement that participants be good neighbors and actively seek permanent housing.<\/p>\n
While the idea remains a preliminary discussion, Reckdahl said the biggest advantage is that the program would introduce a cap on the number of parked RVs in Palo Alto, while giving the city leverage to root out \u201cbad actors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not everyone on the council was as enthusiastic about the approach. Mayor Vicki Veenker noted that commercial areas in south Palo Alto are host to many more RVs than other parts of the city.<\/p>\n
The number of RVs parked on Palo Alto streets had doubled between 2023 and 2025, according to staff, with most of the city\u2019s roughly 400 unhoused individuals living in vehicles. Many are parked on commercial blocks along East Meadow Circle and San Antonio Road, in the Ventura neighborhood and around Embarcadero Road, near the Baylands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid we\u2019ll perpetuate some disproportionate impact,\u201d Veenker said.<\/p>\n
Some residents and business owners also expressed concern Monday night that the permit program would unfairly burden those who live and work near any designated RV parking zones.<\/p>\n
Maia Harris with Jay Paul Company, which owns two buildings on Park Boulevard, asked the council to exclude the corridor from any permit program in the future.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PAlo-Alto-2-RV-parking_001.webp.webp\")
A company pickup truck parked outside Palo Alto Glass on Transport Street in Palo Alto on Feb. 23, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray.<\/p>\n
\u201cA permit system authorizes and regularizes the use it governs,\u201d she said. \u201cIn a commercial corridor, steps from the California Avenue Caltrain station, we don\u2019t believe long-term vehicle dwelling and a Class A office environment can coexist.\u201d<\/p>\n
What remains unclear about the permit pilot program is where everyone else would go once those spots fill up. Neighboring cities to the north and south have all but banned overnight oversized vehicle parking, driving much of the rise in the population of vehicle dwellers in Palo Alto.<\/p>\n
The committee hopes a regional response could be the answer.<\/p>\n
The OSV ad hoc committee is convening a\u00a0regional meeting<\/a>\u00a0on April 17, co-sponsored by Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing and Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Nonprofit leaders, elected officials, academics and other experts will also be in attendance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that we don\u2019t participate in a race to the bottom in terms of shuffling OSVs around different jurisdictions,\u201d Council member George Lu said.<\/p>\n The committee also listed eight goals in its report indicating that the city wishes to prioritize oversized vehicle parking for low-income individuals with ties to Palo Alto, whether that\u2019s through employment, historical residency or a child enrolled in a Palo Alto school. In doing so, committee members hope to weed out those whom they refer to as \u201cbad actors,\u201d characterized by \u201cangry 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the committee members have emphasized a commitment to more permanent solutions to address RV homelessness, they conceded in their report that options to do so are limited in Palo Alto.<\/p>\n For example, options to expand safe parking sites for vehicle dwellers has been a fruitless endeavor thus far. Congregations told the committee that they feel it\u2019s \u201csomeone else\u2019s turn\u201d to offer parking spots to vehicle dwellers, and private businesses have been less than eager to take up the baton, citing safety concerns. There is no vacant city land available, according to the committee report, and it would not be a simple task to expand the existing safe parking site on Geng Road because it\u2019s surrounded by dedicated parkland.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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\u2019s significant OSV challenges,\u201d the committee wrote in the report.<\/p>\n The lack of housing and shelter options has not slowed enforcement. Palo Alto police have towed 33 vehicles since Oct. 20 of last year, when the council passed its\u00a0phased policy response<\/a>\u00a0to RV parking. Lauing said the majority of that actually occurred after Dec. 8, when the City Council\u00a0passed additional ordinances<\/a>\u00a0banning \u201cvanlording\u201d and detached trailers from parking on public streets \u2014 a rate of about 11 tows per month. The majority of those vehicles were unregistered, according to the committee report, because state law does not require prior signage before towing of unregistered vehicles. While progress is limited by local towing companies\u2019 capacity, especially for oversized vehicles, the city has continued to enforce the 72-hour parking limit to facilitate street sweeping and tree trimming.<\/p>\n The committee reported that deep cleaning has been completed in about half of the areas where RV parking is clustered, and that compliance from vehicle residents with the 72-hour limit has been high.<\/p>\n However, city staff also noted that increased enforcement is having a detrimental effect on future efforts to transition RV residents into more permanent housing.<\/p>\n