Temporary RV Safe Parking Program

In October 2020 we created the largest Safe Parking program in the County, transitioning a majority of RVs off of City streets and into a parking lot where those residents could safely park and work on a path to permanent housing, and still allowed RV residents to park on the street using a permit so long as they enrolled in the City’s safe parking program. The program launched in tandem with the City’s prohibition of overnight parking of RVs on the street and included working with Assemblymember Phil Ting on AB2553 which made it possible to open the 24/7 Safe Parking Site.

The program, operated by the City’s nonprofit partner, LifeMoves, included both the City’s Safe Parking Site at 1402 Maple Street for 40 RV households and additional on-street permitted parking for approved participants.

Background

The City Council Safe Parking Ad Hoc Committee including Councilmembers and members of the Council appointed Housing and Human Concerns Commmittee worked with City staff to research best practices and engage with other communities. The Committeevisited several cities to view safe parking programs (i.e., East Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose); and attended the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference to further our research on solutions to end individual homelessness.

Early on, we determined the importance of conducting community meetings to better understand the impact of RV residents living in locations not intended for that purpose. From the neighborhood residents and businesses, we learned that the majority of people felt that RV residents should have a safe place to park. There was also ongoing concern about health and safety related issues such as garbage, human waste, improper dumping of black water, traffic safety, theft, etc.

Our meetings with RV residents validated the results of the RV Survey conducted by the County:

• The majority lived in Redwood City prior to moving into the RV/Motorhome they currently lived in

• The majority were households that previously rented an apartment or even a room, but could no longer afford to

• Mostly adult only households, but there were also families with children

• Most were working adults — construction workers, auto mechanics, college graduates, sales representatives; some were on fixed incomes

• While there were some who live in their RV/Motorhome during the week while they work in the area and return to a home outside of the area on the weekend, the vast majority of households were living in their RV/Motorhome every night; many for over a year

• Most considered living in their RV/Motorhome as a temporary situation

All of the information gathered -data, research, community meetings — led to a two-pronged approach: prohibit overnight RV parking on City streets while simultaneously offering off-street safe parking and on-street permitted parking options for RV residents that were living on Redwood City streets at the program’s inception.

Celebrating Many Successes of the Program

WTEH - John Sunset Story on Vimeo

The goal of the Temporary RV Safe Parking Program was to assist RV residents living on the streets with transitioning to permanent housing while also reducing the impact of RVs on the streets in Redwood City

Prior to the launch of the program, there was an average of 110 RVS on the street each night. By the end of the program in February 2023, 60% of the 91 households that joined the program had moved to permanent housing.