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Santa Ana City Council set to make camping in public, including sleeping in cars, illegal

December 18, 2024

Camping, including in one’s vehicle, or storing personal belongings on public property is set to become illegal in Santa Ana after the City Council coalesced behind an anti-camping ordinance.

The ordinance that got unanimous approval Tuesday night would make it illegal for any person to camp — defined as pitching a tent, using camping supplies or using a vehicle “for human habitation” — or store personal property at any public parking lot, plaza or space, including the Civic Center where an encampment was cleared a few years ago.

Camping in public could be cited as an infraction or a misdemeanor at a Santa Ana police officer’s discretion. The City Council will need to take a second required vote to put the new law into effect, which would be 30 days after adoption.

“It’s really important that we recognize that the city of Santa Ana is not only compassionate … but we’re also going to hold people accountable for their actions,” Councilmember Thai Viet Phan said. “It is not your fault for having mental health crises. It’s not your fault for being addicted to drugs, however, it is your responsibility to get help, to accept help, and to go out and not harm others.”

It’ll be considered camping in your vehicle, under the new rules, if the view into two or more windows of a vehicle is limited, seating is largely used for storing personal belongings, a person cooks or grooms themselves in the vehicle or if furniture is set up around the vehicle, impeding public access.

Phan said she does not believe the act of sleeping in one’s car is a crime, however, she welcomed the changes to how car camping is defined under this law.

“The provisions that we have kept in here, including preventing blocking of two or more windows, storing personal belongings and trash and rubbish, grooming, bathing in the car,” Phan said, “those are nuisances that have actively negative effects on the communities in which these cars are parked.”

The ordinance first came to the council for consideration at the Dec. 10 meeting, but some councilmembers asked staff to change what they considered “overly broad” language. The purpose of the law, for example, was clarified to note it isn’t “intended to interfere with otherwise lawful and ordinary uses of public property.”

A U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June has allowed cities to cite people for sleeping in public areas, regardless of the availability of local shelter beds.

At the Dec. 10 meeting, some council members asked City Manager Alvaro Nuñez where people experiencing homelessness were expected to go should the anti-camping law be approved. Nuñez pointed to the city’s 200-bed shelter, as well as the county’s 425-bed Yale Navigation Center.

As of Dec. 18, the city’s shelter had seven beds available, according to a data dashboard the city keeps online. The county shelter serves nine central cities and availability is based on the specific population a vacant bed serves.

But, this ordinance is not about people who are homeless, said Councilmember Phil Bacerra.

“This is about safe access to public spaces,” Bacerra said. “This is about being able to walk out to a bus stop, sidewalk, park, any public space. That’s what this ordinance is about.”

Mayor Valerie Amezcua said it is a matter of the quality of life in Santa Ana.

“In the city of Santa Ana, we all deserve to be safe. We all deserve to be able to walk at night,” Amezcua said. “We all deserve to live in a place where it’s quiet and we can get sleep.”

Santa Ana is the latest Orange County city to recently adopt anti-camping laws, joining Irvine, Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo and San Clemente.

Orange County Register

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Santa Ana City Council set to make camping in public, including sleeping in cars, illegal

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