At a meeting punctuated by emotional cries for compassion, the Palo Alto City Council voted late Monday night to pass an ordinance that would make it illegal for people to use their cars as dwellings.

Diane Jones choked back tears as she told council members that she only recently became homeless and couldn’t afford to put a roof over her son’s head with the monthly $1,200 disability benefit she receives.

“Me and my son live in a car and we’re not bad people. I’m so afraid what will happen if we lose that,” said Jones.

“I’m begging you to just please have a heart,” she added to thunderous applause from a packed council chambers.

The city council, however, said the safety concerns raised by residents in response to a “dramatic increase” in the number of vehicle dwellers at Cubberley Community Center were too much to ignore.

“What we’re doing tonight is the hardest of balancing acts,” said Council Member Liz Kniss, who helped vet the ordinance as chairwoman of the city council’s Policy and Services Committee.

“We are attempting to take care of the needs of some of the neediest in our community and at the same time we are trying to take care of the safety of those residents who live in this community … and who have told us they are uncomfortable with the situation that we now find ourselves in.”

According to a city staff report, the ordinance would be rolled out over a six-month period, focus on connecting offenders with social services and be enforced on a complaint-only basis.

The estimated 30 to 50 people who live in their cars in Palo Alto could potentially be charged with a misdemeanor and face a maximum penalty of six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine or both. City officials, however, stressed that the legal system would only be used as a last resort.

“I believe that this is an appropriate action at this moment with the proviso that we will be looking at the next steps and looking at resources and productive ways of addressing this problem,” said Council Member Gail Price.

Council Member Larry Klein said it was time to change Palo Alto’s status as one of the few cities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties without an ordinance. He added that he toured Cubberley with police Sunday night and counted 27 vehicles that potentially belonged to vehicle dwellers.

“The dramatic increase in the use of Cubberley by homeless people sleeping in their vehicles, I think, shows that we have inadvertently become a magnet and that has to come to an end,” Klein said.

Barron Park resident Bob Moss, who was among the 50-plus people who addressed the city council about the ordinance, said most of Palo Alto’s vehicle dwellers are “perfectly normal,” but as their numbers have increased at Cubberley, so has the percentage of “weirdoes.”

“They’re not the kind of people you want to have living in your neighborhood,” Moss said.

Greenmeadow resident Karen Sundback agreed. She told the city council she was flashed by a homeless person at Cubberley.

But Council Member Marc Berman found himself unable to support the ordinance. He said he wanted the city to seek proposals for a program similar to one in Santa Barbara County that allows vehicle dwellers to stay in certain areas.

“I think that there are other lesser steps than a complete ban that can be taken that can address the concerns that residents have,” said Berman, who was joined by Council Member Karen Holman in opposing the ordinance.

Other council members said that the ordinance was only the first of several policy changes aimed at ultimately helping solve the city’s homeless problem. They characterized the new law as a tool that police have lacked until now to get problematic vehicle dwellers to move.

“This does not preclude or cut out the possibility of a program,” said Vice Mayor Nancy Shepherd.

City Manager James Keene said stories of vehicle dwellers yelling at children and urinating in public were the impetus for the ordinance, which was proposed two years ago but shelved in favor of working with local faith leaders to develop a program similar to the one in Santa Barbara County. The city abandoned that effort due to a reported lack of interest.

But faith leaders in attendance Monday said they wanted a second bite at the proverbial apple.

“Honestly, I know there are issues but I also know we have not done enough to solve some of those issues,” said Katie Fantin, director of operations and missions at Vineyard Christian Fellowship. “This ban will not solve the problem that exists at Cubberley or anywhere else. Let’s actually solve those problems versus marginalizing even more people who are struggling.”

Homeless advocate James Han was also among the dozens of speakers who called for the ordinance to be shelved again.

“When you criminalize people who have no place to go, they end up getting pushed out of your community,” said Han, who is running for a seat on the city council of neighboring Redwood City.

“These are Palo Altans. These are people who have jobs in the community; people who would love to stay here if possible but can’t; people who are staying in their cars because they live in Tracy, they have jobs out here and they can’t afford a daily commute back to Tracy. These are people who are contributing to your community who deserve something more humane.”

Kniss, for her part, said she would welcome a program from the faith community and called on its leaders to develop one.

“The faith-based community in Palo Alto is enormous and it has great power,” Kniss said. “This is a group that could pull just this kind of organization together and I would challenge you to do that tonight.”

Email Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/jgreendailynews.