San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced on June 10 new proposed legislation tackling RV homelessness, including citywide parking limits of two hours for oversized vehicles, while also increasing outreach and prioritizing housing and services, as well as parking enforcement.
The mayor said in a post on social media that the number of RVs in San Francisco is rising and it’s affecting neighborhoods, public safety, and people’s lives.
“We are changing that today,” Lurie wrote on the X platform on June 10. “The families living in RVs deserve better options. And our neighborhoods and small businesses deserve safe and clean streets.”
Lurie said a comprehensive approach is needed.
“This is about restoring our streets and public spaces. But doing it the right way. With dignity, with support, and with real solutions,” he said in a video attached to the post.
Living in one’s vehicle on the street, in a park, or on the beach is illegal in San Francisco. Safe parking sites established by the city in recent years have been met with mixed results. In Candlestick Point, south of downtown, the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center opened in January 2022 but closed in March 2025 over high costs and low use. A legislative analyst in 2023 called the proposal to extend the lease for the Vehicle Triage Center at the time “by far the most expensive homeless response intervention.”
The San Francisco City Council voted in October of that year to approve the lease extension at the cost of $13 million over two years. Residents received access to meals, wi-fi, and laundry services.
According to city data, 474 vehicles were being used for habitation in July 2024, down from 1,058 vehicles in July 2023. However, complaints to the city’s 311 public service line grew from 1,318 reports in 2023 to 1,491 last year.
Former Mayor London Breed, along with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, also took steps to try to curb the city’s RV homelessness issue last August, introducing a proposal for overnight parking restrictions for RVs and other large vehicles in much of the city.
Supervisor Joel Engardio said at the time that large RVs cannot take up parking spaces because residents and visitors need the spots.
“A functioning city needs streets that function. Residents are frustrated because they pay tickets if their car is a few inches over a line, while the RV in front of their house gets to stay indefinitely. Some of the RV dwellers near the ocean have dumped piles of debris in the street while engaging in antisocial and illegal behavior that makes residents afraid to walk in their neighborhood,” Engardio said in a statement.
“It is reasonable to tow an RV if an offer of shelter is refused,” he continued. “We cannot accept RVs as a long-term solution to our housing crisis. I support building more affordable housing in my district for formerly unhoused people—including those who currently live in RVs. We can provide shelter and permanent homes for people without accepting an anything goes approach on our streets.”
The new law was approved in October, making overnight parking by people living in RVs a towable offense between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., but only if offers of shelter, housing, or services are rejected.
Since San Francisco receives federal funds for homelessness services, it is required to do a point-in-time (PIT) count at least once every two years. The city’s 2024 PIT count, which took place in January 2024, found that San Francisco provided emergency financial assistance for more than 7,000 households at risk of homelessness through prevention programs.
Approximately 8,300 homeless individuals were counted, while more than 20,000 residents sought out homeless services.
