A two-year-old San Diego law credited with preventing boats and large campers from monopolizing parking spots, especially near the beach, became permanent legislation on Tuesday.

City Council members unanimously approved eliminating a “sunset clause” from the oversized vehicle ordinance based on positive feedback from residents, community leaders and the Police Department.

They say the law’s positive impact on safety, aesthetics and parking availability trumps the hassles it has created for some local recreational vehicle owners who have had to begin paying for storage lots or using their yards.

City officials estimate there are roughly 100,000 recreational vehicle owners in San Diego.


Some community leaders have also expressed concerns that the ordinance has increased homelessness by forcing some people who had been sleeping in RVs onto the streets.

The law, which would have expired in August without the council’s vote to eliminate the sunset clause, primarily targets tourists with large campers who sleep inside their vehicles to avoid paying for hotels or other accommodations, particularly during summer months.

This practice often means trash on the street, loitering outside the campers and other problems that turn some neighborhoods into makeshift campgrounds.

The law also cracks down on people who use city streets to park their boats, non-motorized vehicles and other large vehicles.


The law prohibits such vehicles from parking on any San Diego city street or in any public parking lot between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., and makes it illegal to park those vehicles within 50 feet of any intersection at any time of the day.

An oversized vehicle is defined as one more than 27 feet long and more than 7 feet tall.

The law includes exemptions for school buses, some city vehicles and commercial vehicles making deliveries.

The city has posted more than 300 red-and-white signs throughout San Diego explaining the new law, mostly near freeway exits.


Residents say the problem became steadily worse in San Diego before the law was passed in August 2014, partly because most other cities along the coast had previously adopted similar bans.

San Diego spent more than seven years crafting the new law, with the largest sticking point being whether it should apply citywide or only along the coast.

Pacific Beach residents Lou Cumming praised the city for making the law permanent, predicting the problems would revive without it.

“These visual eyesores present safety hazards and health hazards and they reduce the quality of life in our residential neighborhoods,” Cumming said.


Other residents say they support the law, but complained that police need to step up enforcement.

Some also say it’s forced them to begin contacting city code compliance officers, because many RV owners are now illegally parking them in side and front yards.

Lt. Adam Sharki said enforcement is handled by the city’s 20 police investigative service officers, who are a step below full-blown police officers and make less money.

The city plans to add three more such officers this summer, increasing their ability to issue citations in areas where oversized vehicles typically park, Sharki said.


Since the law took effect, the city has issued 2,028 warnings and 3,190 citations, which come with a $100 fine.

The number of fines for parking within 50 feet of an intersection, which the city calls a safety hazard because of blocked sight lines, was far more than the number of fines for illegally parking overnight.

More than 2,700 of the citations have been for violating the intersection rule, while less than 500 have been for parking overnight.


Owners of large vehicles can buy one-day permits online for $1.25 that allow them to park overnight so they can conveniently prepare for trips and unload after them.

The city has sold about 12,000, roughly one third the number they had expected.

Councilman Todd Gloria has urged city officials to study whether revenue from fines and permits comes close to covering the estimated $1 million annual cost of enforcing the new law.

Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, who represents the beach areas most affected, said the law helps boost public safety so it shouldn’t be viewed as something where all costs should be recovered, such as operating a municipal pool or golf course.


Gloria has also expressed support for the city establishing a special parking lot where RVs could park overnight, contending this would help avoid increasing the city’s homeless population.

Gloria said through a spokesman on Tuesday that Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s staff told him this week that they have been unable to find any suitable locations for such a lot.

To report an oversized vehicle illegally parked overnight or too close to an intersection, call (619) 531-2000.