City Council to Take Up Faulconer’s Ordinance on July 8th
By JEC
The City of San Diego is about to ban a host of vehicles from parking on city streets. This coming Monday, July 8th, the City Council will consider a new ordinance sponsored by 2nd District Council member Kevin Faulconer that prohibits city residents from parking oversized, non-motorized or recreational vehicles on any street within the city limits.
There are exceptions, of course. Vehicles performing service to the property or loading/unloading; government or public utility vehicles; buses used to transport youths or the disabled (party buses get no free pass); and, any vehicle displaying a valid permit.
To issue permits involves creating a new bureaucracy.
A permit will be good for only 24 hours and is obtained on-line. Only up to three (3) consecutive 24 hour permits may be issued. The cost is expected to be around $2 per day, limited by a Government Code that prevents the city from making a profit from permit fees. Permits are tied to specific street addresses.
A resident may obtain no more than 72 permits a year. The good news – the parking prohibition only applies to the hours of 2 am to 6 am. Perhaps graveyard shift police officers don’t have enough to do.
Normally parking is regulated by a broadly applied State law that allows vehicles to be parked along unpainted unregulated curb for up to 72 hours. Of course to be cited for a violation requires the police to chalk your tires to prove you have in fact exceeded the time. There’s not a lot of chalking (of tires) going on beyond limited commercial areas. But, like a wet blanket, this ordinance will effectively suspend that State law for larger vehicles across the entire city.
From Allied Gardens to San Ysidro, from City Heights to Ocean Beach, all 372 square miles of the City of San Diego will be affected. In other words, if you live in San Diego it will no longer be lawful for you to park at the curb in front of your house a boat, trailer, work truck, RV or any vehicle longer than 27 feet or taller than 7 feet, even if you move it within the 72 hour limit. Without a permit your vehicle could be cited and charged a $100 fine.
Limited to just 72 days a year City residents will feel the pinch but tourists should be okay. In fact, tourists might even feel empowered. With a permit in hand they may feel justified in dropping their toys off in about any neighborhood at any time. Then again, according to some, this is already happening.
Scott Chipman, a member of the Pacific Beach Community Planning Group (PBCPG) has been making the rounds promoting what he describes as the “parking protection ordinance”. Scott sees three problems; tourists who park their RV’s and boats around Mission Bay, especially PB. Irresponsible neighbors who buy “toys” as Scott puts it – boats or RV’s – and park them in front of their homes. And lastly the homeless, people who setup housekeeping in a vehicle on the street. The city already has laws against sleeping in vehicles and parking unattached trailers (boats).
According to Chipman the PBCPG endorsed the idea of this ordinance several years ago. The idea of a pilot program was reportedly kicked around. It’s unclear why years have passed or if anything has occurred recently to reawaken this new law.
As Scott Chipman sees it the ordinance proposed by Faulconer is not strong enough. He said:
“This one (doesn’t) sting enough for me. It allows vehicles to get a permit and then park anywhere on the block. Not just in front of the permit address. Also, Enforcement is limited to 2am to 6 am. Should start at midnight.”
With the issues between Mayor Filner and the Republicans, some of the language of this new ordinance needs to be shared.
Section 86.0142 “Permit Process for Temporary Overnight Parking on Public Streets”, (a) The City Manager has the authority… or (g) “The fee for obtaining the permit shall be established by resolution of the Council based upon the recommendation of the City Manager.”
Most of us know that the City Manager was replaced by the strong mayor concept some five years ago. The Mayor now has the executive authority once held by the City Manager. Seems sponsor Faulconer and City Attorney Goldsmith could not bring themselves to write “the Mayor” into this new ordinance.
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
what about non-residents? maybe I missed it. I welcome this, people who buy these monsters that block the view at intersections, and are mostly just unsightly, should have an off-street place to park them before they buy them……
Visitors or locals with off-street storage may obtain a one day permit to park on a street between 2 am and 6 am by providing an address and paying a fee. Ordinance language seems to assume visitors are staying with friend or family and have a city address to use, remembering that the permit allows you to only park on the same block as the address. Be mindful this ordinance goes well beyond the idea of RV toys; one neighbor is an electrician – parks his work truck in front of his house each night, as you might. It’s over 7 feet high; his options, park on his landscaping – an option we neighbors do not prefer. Another friend drives a pickup with a camper. The camper is over 7 feet. He too is busted. As to blocking views of intersections, section 86.0138 (b) of this ordinance proposes to also make it illegal to park one of these vehicles within 50 feet or any intersection, alley, or park entrance.
Ah yes, old Kevin bowing down to his true task masters…
Question- do any of you know what the electrical outlets, now locked up, on the street lights on Newport Ave were for?
Answer- so that RV users etc could CHARGE THERE VEHICLES ON NEWPORT AVE.
Screw you.
Answer: Overpopulation.
I would think this is directed at the large number of vagrants that park their unsightly motor homes all over the city and then live there. I worked near 805/Clairemont Mesa BLVD and there was a street near our office that had up to 10 motor homes at a time parked there, where people were clearly living.
I seriously doubt anyone’s work truck will be cited, or towed. This is clearly just a way to get the vagrants out of town, and I’m all for it. The people who parked near my office would routinely litter, panhandle, and often times leave trash in our parking lot overnight.
San Diego has a homeless population. It’s been illegal to live in vehicles on public streets for years. I believe the people most likely to be affected will be residents; the “vagrants” are already illegal and if cited can move to a new location. Tourists get a permit and are gone in a week or two. But for us that live here, our options are limited – more than the vagrants or tourists. While the police might not cruise for the electricians work truck, they have the choice, especially with a complaint in hand. Can you see how this law might be used in neighbor disputes? The proponents note neighbor behavior as a principle reason for the ordinance. We are often strangers to our neighbors. Is that good? Will this ordinance become another excuse not to talk to a neighbor? San Diego is a big place; does one size fit all? I believe we can do better than add another layer of bueaucracy.
“The good news – the parking prohibition only applies to the hours of 2 am to 6 am. ”
Go drive down Ebers past OB Elementary right now, or by Correia- today or on any school day for the matter. There is at least one and typically several RV’s parked there that are clearly lived in. One is leaking sewage out of it at the pump-out port. Yes- I have pointed it out to the cops.
The local schools should not be some homeless campground.
San Diego has a Homeless Problem. Full Time RV Homeless is a small subset of this much larger problem. I support a comprehensive multi city and county plan to address this Homeless Problem.
I own an RV, I follow the laws. I pay my fair share with higher DMV and fuel taxes, and do not feel it is right to impact the several thousand of law abiding RV owners, just to target this small subset of Full Time RV Homeless. We have laws that are not enforced now, that makes overnight living illegal. The inconvenience, and added costs, to the thousand of law abiding RV owners is not the right direction. Not to get too crazy, but what happens when some small group of citizens don’t like yellow cars – will they too be banned and require special permits?
IMO, focus on the larger Homeless problem – leadership is the pulling together of different city and county entities to develop a comprehensive all-up homeless plan.
As others mentioned, those that break the laws today, will do so tomorrow. Those that ignore citations today, will do so tomorrow. But, the thousand of law abiding RV owners will become greatly inconvenienced by this approach. My emails to my representative mentioned school. No recess for all, due to a few kids causing a problem – not fair in school, and not fair if applied in this situation.
I vote by what I think, I donate by what I think – and I offer to get involved to help provide ‘balanced’ feedback in the development of such a comprehensive Homless plan.
RV Owner
I too am a RV owner and pay all my taxes and don’t believe there should be a law saying when I can park my RV on the city street, since this law has come in to effect I have received 4 parking citations and am very upset.
I am a homeowner and don’t believe you should be able to store your mobile home in front of my house.
Apparently there are more who believe like I do than like you do.
That’s how democracy works.
I go to SDSU to I have to work full time (35 hours a week) JUST to pay rent here in SD/ OB. I can not miss ONE hour and if I do then I have to beg for money from my folks. My life would be so much easier if there was a place that I could park an RV and live in it. I understand that there are A LOT of really crappy looking RV’s out in OB/PB/ why not cite them for that and limit where RVS can be parked. Sorry guys OB, an area called the WAR ZONE. (and there are homeless people tha sleep on the beaches EVERY NIGHT they just know what the rules are and follow them.) So your telling me that its better to have a bunch of junkie meth heads living next door to you then having students and people trying NOT to live off the Gov’t. park an RV on your street? I think you people need to wake up..The stupid thing about this is I can go out and buy a class A Conversion van and live in it with my dog and park in front of your HOUSE … this is the problem with people that dont think…
I am confused why is Falconer for this I thought he was a conservative type and for less government. OBviously this is more government a whole new bureau to oversee and regulate.
It is obviously a rule that will have selective enforcement. the RV’s do present a problem but they need a place to park overnight or maybe several nights.
I have spent many nights sleeping in a van but it was just a small dodge van so not the same as a big RV Maybe allowing them in big parking lots between 11PM and 0600.
Just curious, where do you suggest empty trailers, boats and/or trailers with equipment attached park? I was at Rite Aid this afternoon, there is a construction trailer parked across from the Thai restaurant….taking up parking for residents and merchants ( I decided not to mention the company name on the signage of the trailer but I wish that contractor would park it at their house or workplace) rather on OB streets. If this is a way to advertise, it’s not effective in my view.
The Council did approve a city wide ordinance. Council members had various reasons; Lightner from La Jolla was after panel vans used to rent kayaks and bikes – “they’re ugly” and already need a business permit. Cole was after semi trucks – “they park end to end” but I was left wondering if those trucks belong to any businesses along those commercial streets. But homeless was the most often cited complaint.
Look at the comments of this “progressive” blog as a measure of empathy for the homeless. While laws have banned living in vehicles on public streets for decades, many complain there’s no enforcement. People point out that you can never know for sure if someone is inside a RV with the windows covered so by banning the RV from city streets, even for just a few hours, removes the need to know for sure and forces the homeless to move on.
Proposed by Faulconer, seconded by Zapf, the GOP is certain to take credit. Absent in the Council discussion, economic impact. The cost of signage was noted ($44k) and we did learn that city parking officers are required to meet a quota of 25 tickets a day, but the potential or likely impact on business, tourism, or residents forced to pay for storage was never mentioned. And where will the RV homesteders go? In answer to a Council question about where these people might go, a City staffer reported they found a “low cost” camp for small RV’s for $20 a day – $600 a month. I thought if they could afford that they’d probably not be living in an RV on the streets.
But, as noted, this ordinance adds another layer of bureaucracy requiring daily permits – but they will be available on-line as if being “on line” some how mitigates the burden of knowing more rules. I’m sure the Convention and Visitors Bureau will visitors booklets on how to comply with the layers of San Diego laws. But then, please note, San Diego’s not the first, all other cities except Imperial Beach has the same law.
Faulconer tried to push this one through before but the projected cost was considered too high for the returns it promised, but he learned his lesson this time around and had a budget drawn up by an outside entity that on the surface suggests it will be a moneymaker. I’m sure that was probably one of the reasons it passed, but the numbers are more than a little worrying when you do the math.
According to the UT, it will reportedly cost $2.1 million annually to implement the program and it’s expected to bring in $2.8 million per year, generating a profit of little over $700,000 from two sources – permits and citations. Permits are expected to cost $2 each so we shouldn’t expect them to contribute more than a tiny fraction to the total, so that likely leaves the bulk of the $2.8 million to be generated by citations.
This is where it gets scary. At $100 each, that means that the city is expecting to write almost 28,000 tickets annually to owners of “oversize” vehicles in San Diego to fund this witch hunt, and as the profit probably more than justified the program in the eyes of many, you can bet that they’ll be doing their damnedest to fill the quota. If you consider it in that light, what was packaged as a homeless problem with no chance of paying for itself suddenly became magically profitable when the net was cast wider and otherwise law abiding San Diegans were caught up in it. In his attempts to again sell this ridiculous law to his fellow council-members, Faulconer has offered us up as sacrificial lambs.
If you own a work truck, lifted 4×4, camper, trailer, boat, bus or RV now labeled as “oversized”, thanks to people like Faulconer and Chipman you should fully expect to get stung to the tune of $100 if you park on public streets between 2am and 6am, and less than 50 feet from an intersection at any time. If this gets final approval from the Coastal Commission, electricians, plumbers and other tradesmen with work trucks taller than the mandated 7 feet might be well advised to think twice about taking jobs in areas like OB and PB where their chances of finding a legal parking spot in the center of a block are unlikely. With 28,000 tickets needing to be written ever year to fund this ordinance, SDPD are unlikely to be giving anyone a break.
RV sales will undoubtedly go down when people realize that off-street parking now has to be factored into the cost, and it shouldn’t take long before the RV community nationwide begins to view San Diego as unfriendly and stays away to the detriment of the tourist industry.
All in all, they will be few winners if this is implemented. We already have laws on the books that could be used to address the problem without creating additional ones that would only penalize our fellow citizens. I would strongly urge anyone that considers themselves unfairly targeted by this ordinance to immediately contact the Coastal Commission and let their feelings be known before they make a decision. Standing idly by only serves to help others further erode our rights.
Why should anyone be given a break? If you park illegally on the street you should pay your ticket…no? If you speed you get a ticket and ….a speeder has to to pay the ticket/fine, attend a course to get the points removed from thier license so their insurance costs do not increase etc. etc.
Maybe owners of RV, boats, trailers who leave them recklessly on our streets should have to take a course and then the city could raise more revenue! Nothing comes free…that is just the way life is. If someone cannot afford to store their RV then they should not buy one. Maybe this is an opportunity for RV sellers to provide storage in turn for a purchase?
It’s not that OB residents are unfriendly. We are tired of blight in our neighborhoods by these types of vehicles. I believe tourist would understand and appreciate a resolution to our frustration.
I’m fascinated by an interesting twist; the concepts presented by Scott Chipman (and Faulconer) consider the curb in front of your house to belong to you – sort of, sometimes. Chipman was clearly unhappy over neighbors parking in front of his house. To leave boats, trailers, rv’s “Recklessly” on our streets – think about the statement. Why or how is this reckless? Especially if the curb in front of your house is yours. Or is it? I can’t make out which concept is being embraced? If we have the right to claim the curb in front of our house as ours, why can’t I park whatever I want there? But remember, the ordinance specifies 27 feet long AND 7 feet high; I could park a 30 foot flat bed trailer connected to a Ford F150 anywhere – so much for controlling blight. It seems to me, by this ordinance, by the comments made about this ordinance, both here and in meetings, that our tempers are short along with our empathy and in the end we really don’t like each other. No one, not Ms. Cole, not the Democrats on the Council, no one showed any concern for who would be impacted or in what way. How many vehicles will be affected? How many are RV’s, how many are semi-trucks? How many belong to residents; how many are tourists? To force all these vehicles off the streets into private storage yards, is there adequate room in private storage yards? Information provided by City staff suggests there is not room – “well, they’ll just have to leave.” And what businesses might be affected? Faulconer rationalized the policy by noting that other cities have already passed such an ordinance. All those cities added together do not equal the population of San Diego. Given the order of magnitude and our current tenuous economic situation, I am most surprised at the total absence of economic concern by our city council.
Reckless as in irresponsible. Irresponsible as in a lack of responsibility. Those that feel they can park their vehicle in someone’s else’s neighborhood just because they think they are entitled to do whatever they please, where ever they please with little regard for how their actions impact others or the environment are disrepectful. IMO, you learn what you live. Parents either teach you or do not teach you to make something of yourself or feed off others if you are too lazy to put forth effort. Just an opionion no further explanation or defense needed.
Debbie you raise a good point – a question of basic values. Do you own the curb/space in front of your home? In some places you do and that is well known and practiced. Here, in sunny Southern California as a rule no, you don’t, you do not own the space in front of your home. We do not all share the same understanding. This experience has been very much like the blind men and the elephant; each with a unique point of view. You have personal experiences in your mind; “people parking in someone else’s neighborhood”. As did Myrtle Cole (semi-trucks) as did Shari Lightner (panel vans) and the neighbors boat, and that ugly work truck and the RV’s as big as office buildings. It seems the idea has such broad support because it provides an opportunity for us to act on that little pet peeve – to scratch that itch that’s annoyed you for so long.
It will take a year or so for the Coastal Commission to do their thing. Until then the City needs to publicize the up coming new law; to help people prepare for it.
The point is that owners of “oversized” vehicles weren’t necessarily all breaking the law. If you moved more than a tenth of a mile withing 72 hours, you satisfied the law currently on the books. Some don’t and they should be the ones rightly targeted with laws already in existence instead of this ridiculous blanket ban. This smacks of the Chinese government increasing the number of capital crimes 100 fold when they realized how profitable organ harvesting was. See a way to make money and expand the laws to make previously law abiding citizens criminals – bad legislation at best.
JEC – are you sure that it is 27 feet AND 7 feet, and not just one of them? In cities that have similar ordinances, three maximum dimensions (height, width and length) are usually specified and a vehicle is liable to be cited if it only meets two of the three. Only larger vehicles (Winnebagos, Bounders, etc) would fall into that category and that doesn’t seem to be the spirit of this ordinance. The council minutes take a month to be posted online and the video archive is taking longer to show up on the city page than anyone I’ve spoken to expects, so I’ve been unable to find specifics other than what’s being posted through media outlets.
Yes, I’m sure – I obtained an advance copy and watched the Council session on Cable. Here’s that section copied from the ordinance
“Oversized vehicle means any vehicle, including any attached trailers, vehicles or
loads thereon, that exceeds 27 feet in length and 7 feet in height, excluding
recreational vehicles.”
And defining RV’s
“Recreational vehicle means: (a) any camp trailer, camper, trailer coach, or house
car, as defined in Vehicle Code sections 242, 243, 635 or California Health and
Safety Code section 18010; or (b) any boat, dune buggy, all-terrain vehicle (“ATV”)
or other motorized or towed vehicle designed, maintained, or used primarily for
recreational purposes.”
And that is correct, in order to park a Honda Civic hooked to a little Tear Drop trailer (neighbor) or a camper van (another neighbor) in front of your house overnight you must obtain a permit or be subject to a $100 fine. And Republicans claim to dislike bureaucracy. Yeah… The City estimates writing 15,000 tickets generating $1 million in revenue but they must employee Parking enforcers, maybe 4 or 5, at $70,000 each, plus overheads. Parking Enforcers are expected to write 25 tickets a shift – but how likely is the city to assign parking enforcers to the graveyard shift? A dozen enforcers, and the City is not likely to assign a dozen, working the wee hours of the morning across the entire city would each have a 33 square mile territory to cover. OB is just one square mile. It’s more likely tickets under this ordinance will be written by patrol officers. That is why this law is a candidate for selective enforcement. The City must rely on receiving complaints from neighbors.
Okay – found the video archive for the Monday council meeting and spoke to Councilman Faulconer’s office for clarification. You’re right – it is 27 feet AND 7 feet for “oversized” vehicles, but the ordinance covers three groups – oversized vehicles, recreational vehicles, and trailers. Any size RV (with the possible exception of the smaller van-based models) and any trailer is liable to be cited for parking.
so what are visitors do? when we get tired and need to pull off cant find an rv park available or any rest areas or truck stops? do u want people to fall asleep at the wheel? sounds to me like the people of san diego and surrounding area dont want rvers.
Miss-
There are no rest areas or truck stops in OB because it’s the end of the line. Your not going “through” here, your going “to” here.
If you want to “visit”, you should do so legally and respectfully.
Squatting in front of people’s homes is neither.
It seems like such a simple issue to fix? San Diego is a big place so why not set aside areas away from residential housing and industrial zones so people who qualify as modest means and or disabled waiting for section 8 housing can be safe and out of sight, out of mind? The Cal. Const. Article 1 protects everyone’s right to safety and privacy. The Cal. Health and Safety Code defines RV’s as being manufactured for Human Habitation, recreation and other Occupancy. This is a prior time, place and manner restriction that the law requires the city to have an adequate alternative for these rubber homeless and disabled citizens, so they don’t end up outside exposed to the elements and possible become seriously sick or worst. I agree the RV’s should be out of residential areas for the most part. If adequate alternatives were in place and safe, then the homeless RV issue would become a moot point. This would also make it easy for outreach teams as well as the police to document who’s who. I’ve reached out to Kevin Faulkner over this matter but he has not contacted me as of yet. It seems that we always have to go to Federal Court and get a Restraining Order to prevent the City from being able to enforce something like this because of the constitutional questions that are involved which are decided not by a consensus of opinion but rather by the rule of law. Just because some of us are Republicans, doesn’t mean we are monsters.
Boats are an increasing problem. Our street has taken on the look of a marina. No one seems to care that their neighbors have to look out on their boat toys all the time, or that they can be ticketed, or that the boats definitely block the view at intersections.
If you can’t afford to store your boat in a slip, at a marina or in a yard … then, it’s part of the deal, and you can’t afford a boat!
Time to file complaints?
Hi all. I am 25, have a 3.8 gpa of 4.0. I am a clean young man. I pick up others’ trash, which there is plenty of it everywhere, not just from RV’s. I am well mannered, don’t play foul music, respect peoples’ residences and obey the law. I work a 40 hour full time job and a 20 hour part time job. I pay taxes. I do everything that a good 25 year old American Citizen should. The one thing different, I prefer to live in an RV. There has to be a way that good people that contribute to society instead of beg and be lazy can enjoy living in an rv without disrupting those who choose 4 walls. Just because there are plenty of lazy bums playing loud music all times of night outside your house and selling sea kelp sandals to afford it, that doesn’t mean I should take a nasty hit. It would be extremely hard for myself to obtain housing with my credit. Why should I get slapped with new laws when I dont deserve it? There has to be a way to meet in the middle… Maybe parking lots built and open from 8pm to 8am for Rv campers? I dont know, but I, and others like myself, shouldn’t be able to live in our RV’s because others don’t like it. To be honest. I truly believe the heart of the hate is that most homeowners don’t like the idea that they make huge bucks with a well-earned education to live close to a beach, all the while, someone else can spend 3000.00 on a camper van and do the same thing. I had a lady bang on my camper van one morning screaming,”Get a job you homeless bum!” Excuse me? I work and pay taxes. I truly feel discrimination is the real reason why so many people have problems with RV parking. I got news, the more the economy falls, the more people find cheaper ways to provide a roof over their head.
You don’t pay property taxes. You don’t pay rent to someone who does.
What you really want is to spend $3000 to get $500,000+ in benefits.
What if he only has $3000 to spend? What difference is it (or business of YOURS) what part of town the street he parks on is in? Presumably you’d be okay with him parking in front of a wrecking yard in national city and not in front of your luxury beach property? What makes you think you own that street or have the right to declare who can be on it? I’m sure you’d have no problem with a rich neighbor parking a $300,000 diesel pusher in front of his house. Mr. RV probably doesn’t want to be near you anyway but the necessities of life like running water and bathrooms, needless to say a temperate summer climate, are usually only found near beaches and parks.
This smacks of the same entitlement issues that’s causing the benches to be removed from dog beach park. If they aren’t a certain class of people, don’t have a snobbish level of wealth, you think you can exclude them from existing in your presence.
I hope the walls in your exclusive gated residence are high enough to protect you from proletariat justice WTSHTF.
If he has $3,00o to spend, he can certainly afford rent in a beach apartment. A permanent structure designed to house humans. A RV is a recreational vehicle, not a residential vehicle.
Why does Mr. RV get to park anywhere he wants ? It’s a public street for all of us, not just him to squat and live off the grid. Where does he get his electricity from? Where does he dump his waste when it’s full ?
And the necessities of life are only found near beaches and parks ? His RV has a bathroom and he can get those other necessities at an RV park that is designed to house his living arrangement. The only entitlement issues are from the RV’ers who think it’s their given right to park wherever they choose and for however long they want.
I drove a truck OTR for 32 years total. For about 4 of those years I lived in it going by friends or parents homes for a “day or 2 off” then hit the road again. Love it but as I told other drivers that if single why own or rent while out making a living? That’s a waste of money unless you “think” he must as in liberal thinking gone amuck.
The same goes for me now. I get enough even with Social Security to live in an RV but not to “own” or rent also. But not on someones curb. Yes, I do like to visit a beach sometime but why not a parking lot made just for them at rates much better than that $20 a day crap! A homeless shelter without food only charges $10 a night! Many RVers are much neater than the “homeless” side of RVing and so what if the city doesn’t make millions but a few dollars from the permits and daily costs? After the lot is secured with tax dollars OR built by a say non government group with up to date hookups and sewer even with a shower and toilet building with say a door money taker like many bathrooms do so maintenance is not as big of a problem for the park. If they are tourists that wish to stay a few nights spending money in your town, make it beneficial to your town BUT not to make a killing but to be self supporting for say the handicapped who would love to work up to anyone in this day and time and making enough for taxes, lower cost employees (at least $.25 higher than the local min wages) and water/power costs and show enough profit to say that it did help even in a little way then it’s a success!
They are off your curbs spending money and more than those who have a harder time because they are not as lucky as some of us.
There IS a solution for that but what do I know? Nothing but a lot of thinking time and that’s what the governments don’t have much time to do as their jobs are only from 9-5 with golf or whatever included.
Most the homeowners will be for this whack law. But when the ticket writers come write them up for washing their car in their driveway or growing a garden out front I’m gonna laugh my ass off.
I am wondering if the California drought is partially karma for the way this state has treated its homeless and poor at least. Especially those who live in RVs because they can’t afford to live in other types of housing. Rain and water in general is usually symbolic of money and wealth. Those who have the money and can afford to live in nice houses and apartments by the beach are the ones strongly in favor of banning overnight RV parking by others, many of them not as well off as they are. So just as they are restricting the well-being of others, perhaps the Law Of Karma has come to them by restricting their water/wealth in the form of a massive drought! I have read that California has 2 years of water left if drought conditions continue. There was hope at first that a strong El Nino was building to ease the drought. Now that El Nino has fizzled to a moderate to weak one that will bring at the most moderate to little rainfall. I have read that many of the residents of California may have to be migrated elsewhere if the water runs out or pay more money (give up more of their wealth) to desalinate water and continue to pay (give up more of their wealth) for higher and higher food costs as a result. Just as the wealthy and middle class people are trying to migrate the poor and homeless out in their RVs and make life more difficult for them, the Law Of Karma could have manifested a drought that will make their lives as well as the lives of others difficult.
What I want is to be able to afford somewhere to sleep while I go to school. Maybe 500k homeowners have nothing better to do than bust my balls about enjoying the coast line. I honestly can not find a suitable reason that my quiet presence is bothering anyone. Maybe a gated private community is what you would prefer? Somewhere nobody but your self righteous ego can thrive.
Well said, Mr RV
It’s good to want things…
Mr. RV wants coastal living without paying the property taxes that make it possible. He wants the view and the road he parks on without paying for those either. And for those who have worked their butts off to live here, no, we didn’t buy a home for the view of your RV.
I googled “RV parks in San Diego”… and wow, there’s plenty of them. Maybe not right by the beach, but that’s the way it is when you’re young. I knowseveral people, good students, working hard and living in PB, presumably with your financial issues. They are by the beach and can afford “somewhere to sleep while they go to school”. Get your credit score back up (yes, it takes time) and good luck.
Funny stuff. You think people living in RV’s or vehicles didn’t “work hard” and just need to bring their credit scores up to get a nice house at the beach.
This sounds like someone’s grandfather telling a child “you just need to get a paper route like I did and work hard and before you know it you’ll be head of the Hearst publishing dynasty!” Forgetting paper routes are now run by underpaid adults.
Let me clue you in, for a lot of us hard work is what did us in. I joined the military and for four years every time my squadron deployed I humped 300lbs of tie down chains in steel boxes up and down near vertical ladders on board ship. On a good day you just destroyed your back, on a bad day my shipmate on the top let go and when the box and I hit the deck it crushed my leg.
When you’re 19 you feel no pain. Decades more of getting up every morning and moving furniture, wrenching on cars, to pay the bills, and when it hurts you just stuck to that “work hard” meme and your coworkers looked up to you and said “he’s the last of the iron men!”didn’t get you a ticket to the beach club.
I guess it’s just going to get you looks of contempt from the bourgeois that you didn’t work hard enough when you’re sitting in a wheelchair virtually paralyzed. Is that what you think when you see a middle aged man living in an RV? That he was lazier than you?
Maybe you had a better paper route. Maybe you’re the guy who didn’t hold his end of the box. “Working hard” is no guarantee of anything but perhaps a broken body, and it goes without saying most of the upper classes did not get that way through long hours of labor.
You know, I absolutely agree. Although rv parks are more expensive than renting, I see where everyone is coming from. Ill simply try to find somewhere out of view.
Why can’t we utilize Fiesta Island for the Rv’s? Was it not originally developed for recreational vehicles? When i was a kid in PB, it was a LAND FILL, a DUMP if you will. This past early spring RV’S, autos, etc. Were allowed for a time, 2months i believe, to stay on the island around the clock. There were no problems out there. There is much more drama in our local beach communities, than there ever was out there. As it is, Fiesta Island is CLOSED to vehicle traffic between the hours of 10pm and 4am. You can walk out there ant time you like. This would allow the less fortunte, ones who cannot own a home on the beach, to enjoy the area without offending these yuppies chasing the mortgage. I am a disabled widow. I live in my RV with my dog. (His name is OB) I GREW UP HERE. i dont want to be on the “streets” but no one will rent to me because f my pitbull. I raised him from 7weeks, and he is just a love-bucket. My only son dropped dead in my arms 8 years ago while we were fishing on Mariners Point. I WILL NEVER LEAVE MY HOME-TOWN. My heart is here, my son is here. He saved 39 people with organ and tissue donation. These people are all right here. The woman who got his heart is here. I have heard it beat in her chest. You people are just sef-centered, arrogant, and void of compassion for anyone but yourselves. There is more thn ONE type of person that YOU consider homeless, and worthless. I spend $3,000 a month in the beach communities where i was raised, you are no better than i. In fact i am BLESSED not to be like YOU.
Apparently, you’re a disabled widow with entitlement issues. Just because you’ve had to deal with adversity in your life, you don’t get carte blanche to do as you please and flout the law of the land. And if you can spend $ 3,000 a month in the beach communities, you can afford beach rent. Oh that’s right, you have a pit bull that you were forced to own, I suppose. If you want to park your RV and live in it, so be it. But buck up like a productive member of society and pay for a space in an RV park such as Campland on the Bay instead of being a freeloader. Life’s hard, suck it up and get a helmet.
To sane voice:
You are anything but sane
You also seem very angry.
I Agree with you Ms Wilson , have fun & be happy
What will OB be when the hippie RV’s are no longer showing up, bringing a smile to my face? I love the pretty colors and earth friendly slogans painted on them….but if you cannot fit your vehicle in a stall at Dog Beach, you really should instead try to park your Goliath vehicle on the street where it won’t block out others from enjoying the beach (because you just selfishly took up 3 spaces).
Hello everyone, it seems to me this is an issue of entitlement, the sense that “property owners” have the right to control “public” streets. First of all, the “home owners” do not actually own their homes, the state does; as the politicians have raised the property tax level so high; that even if a person pays off their home loan, the annual tax on your home is equal to a fairly stiff monthly rent, so when you get old and are no longer able to work, and your Social Security check is miniscule, it’s certainly not enough to cover your home property tax! The state can then confiscate your home for non-payment of taxes, throw you out onto the street, and sell your home that you worked so hard to pay for all those years, which by the way; has already happened to MILLIONS of formerly hard working and dutiful tax-paying citizens! Someone said that if a person could afford $3000, they could afford a “beach house”…what was that person smoking!?! First of all, the premise was; the person only had $3000; period, so could only put a roof over their head; by buying an RV. Another said that there was an RV park for “only” $600 per month, but the average SS check is less than $1000, with many around the $600 to $800 level. Now how does one “afford” a parking space at that level, which does NOT include utilities; and still have enough to buy essentials (food, gas, TP, etc.) Some folks are either clearly totally clueless, or are severely callous! I live in my RV with my wife, am almost 65 years old and my wife is almost 60, we are living on my SS check of $877 a month. When the “RV Park” takes it’s $600 for the space, and another $200 for utilities, we are left with only a grand total of $77 to get through the month with! You tell me what the alternative is, after working my entire life, paying taxes and being a good and honest citizen, how can I afford a “beach house” or any other “normal” home for my wife and I? The RV is our only choice for a roof over our heads…next stop; sleeping in the bushes; like millions of other homeless, which by the way; do most of the damage to the neighborhoods that is attributed to RV folks! With the severe recession, the available “senior housing” has diminished to almost nothing, with a waiting list a mile long! What does a society that uses up and spits out it’s people when they are no longer useful resemble? A draconian and fascist state; ruled by the elite, for the elite exclusively, using the “police’ as a “goon squad” to “enforce” heartless “laws”…kind of like Nazi Germany, which by the way, had much the same mindset as the cold-blooded individuals calling for a “removal” of the “unsightly people”. What next, euthanasia for the elderly who have no where else to go but their motor homes? We have always been clean and responsible in maintaining our RV, NEVER leaving garbage around, being quiet and respectful, and properly dumping our waste in the proper waste disposal site. Our RV clean, running, registered and insured, which by the way, the registration fee is supposed to allow parking on the public street, and I am sure my wife and I qualify as being members of the “public”. Property owners do NOT own the street, their “ownership” ends at the sidewalk. And by what right do the politicians who make the laws and ordinances lay claim to the “public” streets? They are supposed to be representing the interests of the ENTIRE public, not the narrow and selfish interests of those “special interests”, which the politicians always mouth the supposed will to “do away with special interest money”, but only talk the talk; and NEVER walk the walk, as it would undermine their ability to raise campaign cash! The cleverly written ordinances; are a way to extort more money for the “city fathers” to add to the coffers for pet projects that no one really needs or cares about, and are usually wasteful, or for a “slush fund” to tap into for their own purposes (like a private Swiss bank account maybe?) So many politicians across the US are being caught taking graft or outright embezzlement of “public” money…and they act as if they were “God”, and the public money in their care; was their own to spend as they see fit! We sadly have come full-circle in this country; and are back to a case of “taxation without representation”, as we are ALL being taxed to death! If you think not, pay attention to all the ways money is being raised by the unscrupulous bureaucrats: in particular concerning the homeless in RV’s; the local “traffic control” agency uses dishonest and devious means to ensnare folks, who are actually obeying the law. I actually watched from across the street (and I wish I had my camera in hand) when a traffic cop pulled up to my RV and walked over to the left front tire, place a paper clip on the tire, took a picture with her camera, looked at her watch, did something with the camera (presumably resetting the date and time) then took a second picture, then wrote a ticket. I walked over to her as she was writing the ticket and asked what she was doing. Appearing red-faced and flustered, like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar, she said she was writing a ticket for violation of the “72 hour parking law”. Now I had actually just parked there the night before; so I had not been there even 24 hours yet. But she insisted that she had “evidence” to prove otherwise, and if I wished; I could file a complaint with the department head. I went to protest the “violation”, but to no avail. My appeal was denied by the in-house “judge” 3 times. As it turns out, parking violations are no longer handled by the regular courts in our city, but are being administered by a bureaucratic “judge”, who always rules in favor of the bureau. I have taken to filming all my moves now, to have evidence of my compliance with the law, but they stung me for $150 nonetheless. Lately, since they have not been able to ensnare me with the 72 hour ordinance, they now are hitting us with $200 tickets for “living aboard” our RV. The cops (who act like total thugs, similar to the burly and brutal cop; who recently nearly beat to death a 50 year old grandmother on the freeway in front of families with kids as they drove past) come around at 3AM in the morning and pound loudly on the side of the motor home with their batons yelling “POLICE” and “Open UP”, terrifying my elderly wife and I, and shaking the motor home so violently that items were flying out of the cabinets. They also left dents in the side of the RV with their nightsticks, pounded on the propane tank (with no regard to a possible explosion they may have caused doing that!) walked around the vehicle, pounding all around it violently and trying to pry open the bedroom windows and the front door, warping the door with the force they were exerting, and generally wreaking mayhem on our vehicle. All because we were parked in a remote area of the city away from any residential area, so we were vulnerable to their “attacks”…out of sight, and out of mind. Why bother folks in such a remote situation? Probably because they were bored and needed something to do. For the life of me, I can’t imagine who we may have been bothering where we were, as it was so remote near the city limits, but apparently someone complained about us being there, because as I meekly finally answered the door, they told me they had a “complaint” from a nearby land owner, who wanted us gone. I explained that I hesitated to answer to door because I wasn’t sure whether they were actually the police, and may have been criminals intent on robbing us, as we’ve heard horror stories from others who’ve had just that sort of experience. The cops issued us a $200 ticket and told us to leave town; as “we don’t like your kind here”…now what “kind” is that? A retired couple living on a fixed income, in to only abode we could afford, our RV, which is clean, running and currently registered and insured. The rabid paranoia about some”kind” of people in RV’s (and there is a certain element of criminals in broken down and barely running junk pile “motor homes” cooking meth and doing criminal activities in them) which we are completely against, and wish the police would focus on that obvious element, instead of painting EVERYONE in a motor home with that “broad brush”. My wife and I feel totally violated, and humiliated by those who are supposed to “serve and protect” the citizenry! It’s obvious that the only folks the cops are serving and protecting; is the ruling elite! Where has justice and compassion in America gone!?!
I find this nation not too different from when the constitution was first enacted when only property owners really had any rights. Now these same owners are basically saying they own the streets and the heck with everyone else. And the ones with the most money that can afford apartments, condos, and homes by the beach are complaining the loudest.
Well, what’s going to happen in the future when the same greed that evicts homeless RV owners-which is the same greed that created human-induced climate change, makes their beach areas uninhabitable due to rising sea levels? Are they going to use that same greed, in the form of their economic and political clout, to evict those less well-off in the mid-city areas so they can STEAL their land and their homes?
R, the sad thing is that they already are doing that.
If the City of SD wants to pay for the lawsuits they will soon lose due to the Ninth Circuit Courts ruling that cities cannot make laws that discriminate against the homeless. By passing laws that forbids a person from sleeping in a legally parked and registed Vehicle, let them, we have lots of homeless people who could use the money they win to get themselves off the street and into a nice new full paid for home courtesy of the City of SD.
Native,
They are trying to end run that by giving tickets between the hour of 2 and 6 am. There is a class action already in the works. The repub. overlords that stole the city back from the dems. They don’t care what happens to the people that are getting these tickets. It seems to me that they would rather have them in RVs and conversion vans rather than on the streets.
Hi Dominic,
Can you tell me more about the class action lawsuit that’s in the works?
Thank you.
This is all so funny.
I own my land, I own my house, I own my RV, my boat.
As such I pay taxes on all the above.
If I want to park my gigantic boat and RV in front of my house then I am going too. I don’t need to store them anywhere I bought and paid for the house with enough space out front to park them. The street isn’t being worn down because I take care of my belongings and property.
If you don’t appreciate someone parking out front of your house maybe you should have the courage to go speak with a fellow human being, fellow citizen ,and politely ask or engage in conversation pertaining your concern at hand.
And go from there.
I swear Americans today are becoming nazis by the night.
If your home less. As I have been. because of job loss. what is wrong with a poor person sleeping in a van, car RV whatever.
Are they bothering anyone?
Would you rather see them lying in the street when they have a vehicle to spend their miserable poor lives in?
It can happen to you. Very easily. Outsourcing. getting older. Company relocates to another country.
this is for the white collar A-holes like me. if your blue collar?
You might have savings but with nothing coming in and everything going out how long will you last?
REMEMBER. IT CAN BE YOU REMEMBER. IT CAN BE YOU REMEMBER. IT CAN BE YOU. in a split second
Who is this who doesnt want people sleeping in cars? Sure he has a nice home to go to.
Hope it happens to you.
Even if your lucky enough to keep your job which you take a shower before you go to work rather than when you come home.
paying property taxes may give you the right to hoard our coastline and beaches legally, but morally all you have done is confiscate what belongs to all of us. Beaches are a human landscape and resource, not a rich person landscape and resource. You can delimit land, space, outerspace and the elctromagnetic spectrum all you want. You can hate those who have less than you all you want. In the end, we who have less will always out number you who have more and we will survive by any means necessary despite your hate. Your hate is what defines you more than your money. When you die, your rotting stinky corpse will smell just as bad as mine and guess what you wont be taking your $500,000 dollar beachfront property with you…nope…you will be worm food just like me. In the meantime, i will save my money by not paying the too high cost of rent and i will save my time by not working three jobs to pay for it and never be ‘home’ to enjoy it. I will work one job and i will do that very well. I will sleep 8 hours everynight where ever i can find a place to do it. I will be the good person i am, healthy, talented, empathetic and respected…and i will do it whether i live in my car or ever find myself fortunate enough to have my own home. And i will be a better person for it. You will hate today and you will continue to hate tomorrow and the only person you are hurting is yourselves. This is our planet not yours. I can guarantee your environmental footprint is way bigger than mine.