\u201c(They) wanted us to know that the issues with the unhoused population and the overwhelming number of vans on their street is getting worse and untenable,\u201d Katz wrote in May. \u201cPublic defecation, needle use, gas canisters are more prevalent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chamber received similar comments from Intuit and Google, Katz added.<\/p>\n
Several letters focused on traffic and pedestrian safety. They described driveway sight lines obstructed by RVs and a lack of street parking for employees and visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe campers have completely taken over the area and there isn\u2019t any parking for my employees,\u201d wrote Mac McConnell, owner of\u00a0The Midwife and the Baker<\/a>\u00a0on Independence Avenue. \u201cMy morning shift starts at 4 a.m. and a few women have mentioned feeling uncomfortable parking so far away and having to walk past dilapidated campers.\u201d<\/p>\n Property owners also reported the RVs parked near their buildings made it difficult to attract and retain tenants.<\/p>\n BXP, which owns a large office park on Bernardo Avenue and Ravendale Drive, threatened in May to sue Mountain View. The company argued that it deserved compensation from the city because it \u201chas suffered peculiar, direct, and substantial impacts and ongoing financial losses at the city\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n In the June report, city staff provided an overview of vacancy rates in areas heavily populated by oversized vehicles. The areas that had the highest vacancy rates were Terra Bella Avenue (28.5%), Bernardo Avenue\/Ravendale Drive (34.2%) and Pear Avenue (53.3%), according to the report.<\/p>\n However, the city did not directly link the vacancy rates, or pending number of\u00a0property tax appeals<\/a>, to the presence of RVs and trailers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not possible to verify, quantify or predict such economic impacts, nor determine the extent to which oversized vehicle parking may be contributing to them,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n A proposal for bike lanes<\/p>\n On a late summer afternoon, dozens of RVs and trailers sat nearly bumper-to-bumper on Marine Way, a street just north of Highway 101 that\u2019s surrounded by Google and Intuit office buildings.<\/p>\n One of the RVs belonged to Mountain View resident Abraham Espinoza. For years, Espinoza and his family stayed at a\u00a0safe parking lot<\/a>\u00a0near Shoreline Amphitheater. But they were forced to leave after plans to find housing did not work out, he said.<\/p>\n Approximately 30% of participants in Mountain View\u2019s safe parking lot program move into transitional or permanent housing as the next step, according to the\u00a0city\u2019s website<\/a>. However, that data was mostly collected from participants living in passenger cars.<\/p>\n Espinoza chose to park on Marine Way because it felt like a safe setting, he said. Google and Intuit security guards are stationed nearby and there are a lot of lights, he said. Still, Espinoza worries about what will happen if the city clamps down on street parking. He is his family\u2019s only income-earner and does not know where else they could afford to live.<\/p>\n \u201cI try not to think about what will happen next,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Espinoza\u2019s concern that he could be forced to leave Marine Way is not without basis. Last year,\u00a0Intuit<\/a>\u00a0met with city officials to discuss the possibility of adding bike lanes on streets near its campus, which would effectively push out the RVs. Intuit offered to spearhead and pay for the project, according to the June report.<\/p>\n The streets identified for bike lanes were Marine Way, Casey, Coast and Garcia avenues \u2014 all but one of which currently allow for oversized vehicle parking.<\/p>\n In July, Intuit\u00a0contributed $500,000<\/a>\u00a0to Mountain View\u2019s\u00a0Affordable Housing Fund<\/a>, the first corporate donor to do so.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, other businesses have also expressed an interest in the Intuit bike lane project, the report said. That includes\u00a0Wisk Aero<\/a>, an autonomous air taxi company. The company asked the city to add bike lanes on Broderick Way, another street that has parking for oversized vehicles.<\/p>\n Last year, Wisk contacted the California Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development with complaints that RVs were allegedly parking in the company lot. A state representative sent a letter to the city relaying the concerns. The letter claimed that RVs had \u201cdissuaded potential hires\u201d and that Wisk was \u201clooking to lessen their Mountain View footprint and expand more in Fremont as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n City staff intend to bring plans for the Intuit bike lanes to the council for a vote in December, according to the June report. If approved, construction would begin early next year, coinciding with the expiration of the lawsuit settlement.<\/p>\n This is not the first time that property owners and businesses have asked the city to put in bike lanes on streets accommodating RVs. A year ago, the city posted a survey to gather public input about adding bike lanes on Terra Bella Avenue. However, the city council shelved the plan<\/a>\u00a0in April to focus on projects that are considered higher priorities.<\/p>\n At the time, Councilmember Lucas Ramirez voiced concern the bike lanes were a \u201cpretext for getting rid of the RVs.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Rvs](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/RV-parking_in-MV.webp\")
RVs and cars parked near Intuit\u2019s offices on Marine Way in Mountain View on Sept. 10, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray.<\/p>\n