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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance 56861 0290190_20251119_ms29 Ordinance No. 5686 Emergency Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Prohibing Rental of Vehicles for Human Habitaon The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1. Findings and Declara ons. The City Council ﬁnds and declares as follows: A.The prac ce of ren ng out recrea onal vehicles or other oversized vehicles for use as living or sleeping quarters, known as “vanlording,” is a growing concern in many ci es, including the City of Palo Alto. B.Recrea onal vehicles used for vanlording are parked on public streets, occupying valuable and limited street parking spaces. C. Allowing vanlords to rent out vehicles in the public right of way facilitates private proﬁt- taking from the use of a public resource. D.The prac ce of vanlording is unlicensed and unregulated and therefore o en associated with unregistered, poorly maintained, and inadequately insured vehicles. E. Vanlords oﬀer renters a place to stay without responsibly addressing health and safety issues that can arise when inhabited vehicles are parked on public streets. These issues include improper waste disposal, unsanitary condi ons, illegal parking, tapping into or blocking ﬁre hydrants or other u lity infrastructure, and the crea on of ﬁres. F.The ren ng out of vehicles for human habita on is not currently regulated. Unlike tradi onal landlords and property management en es, vanlords are not explicitly subject to laws that require the upkeep and maintenance of rental housing. Accordingly, those who rent from them are not protected by laws that secure tenants’ rights or even basic habitability standards. G. With this ordinance, the City Council intends to prohibit vanlording within the City of Palo Alto. H. This ordinance is necessary as an emergency measure to preserve the public peace, health, and safety by addressing the public health and safety impacts of vanlording, including ﬁre safety and sanita on impacts to nearby residents, businesses, and pedestrians. SECTION 2. Chapter 9.06 Rental of Vehicles for Human Habita on is hereby added to Title 9 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, to read as follows: 9.06.010 Rental of recrea onal vehicles for living or sleeping quarters – Prohibi on. Docusign Envelope ID: 35867E58-03FF-4F1F-A90B-FD8CDF1A16CE 2 0290190_20251119_ms29 No person shall rent, lease, let out, or otherwise loan any oversized vehicle which is subsequently ulized for living or use as sleeping quarters on any street, alley, or city-owned or city-controlled premises in exchange for money, goods, or services. For the purposes of this Chapter, “oversized vehicle” means any vehicle exceeding seven feet in height or exceeding twenty feet in overall length or exceeding seven feet in width (including any load or accessory thereon other than antennas), provided that this deﬁnion shall not apply to vehicles which exceed these dimensions solely because of modiﬁcaons required to accommodate a disability and the vehicle is lawfully displaying a disabled placard or license. It shall not be necessary to prove that the person who rented, leased, let out, or otherwise loaned any vehicle which was subsequently ulized for living or sleeping quarters intended or knew that the vehicle would be used for living or use as sleeping quarters on any street, alley, or city-owned premises. 9.06.020 Rental of recrea onal vehicles for living or sleeping quarters – Adver sements prohibited. No person shall adver se for rent, lease, let out, or loan in any newspaper, or through any other medium including online, social media, or other pla orms, any oversized vehicle available for the purpose of u lizing the vehicle for living or use as sleeping quarters on any street, alley, or city-owned or city-controlled premises. 9.06.030 Rental of Vehicles in the Public Right of Way It shall be unlawful for any person who deals in or whose business involves the rental or leasing of vehicles, including recrea onal vehicles (RVs) or other oversized vehicles, to park, store, or leave standing any such vehicles, whether occupied or vacant, on any street, alley, or other public right-of-way during the conduct of such business. This prohibi on does not apply to a vehicle owned only for personal use and not involved in the business of rental or leasing of vehicles, if otherwise legally parked. 9.06.050 Rental of Space in the Public Right of Way No person or en ty other than the City of Palo Alto and any of its departments or designees or other appropriate public en ty shall have the authority to sell, lease, license, permit, reserve or facilitate the reserving of any street, way, alley, highway, road, parkway, parking space or other public right of way or City-controlled parking lot in the City of Palo Alto without wri en Docusign Envelope ID: 35867E58-03FF-4F1F-A90B-FD8CDF1A16CE 3 0290190_20251119_ms29 authoriza on from the City. Any person who purports to sell, lease, license, permit, reserve or facilitate reserving of space in the public right of way via a wri en or oral agreement of any kind, with or without compensa on, is in viola on of this sec on. 9.06.060 Enforcement Each day in which a viola on of this Chapter occurs shall cons tute a separate viola on of this Chapter. Each vehicle in viola on of this Chapter shall cons tute a separate viola on of this Chapter. Viola ons are enforceable through any penalty available by law, including those speciﬁed in Title 1 of this Code. SECTION 3. Severability. If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this ordinance, or the applica on to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not aﬀect the other provisions of this Ordinance which can be given eﬀect without the invalid provision or applica on and, to this end, the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared to be severable. SECTION 4. Eﬀec ve Date. This ordinance shall be eﬀec ve immediately upon adop on by four-ﬁ hs of the council members present. // // // // // // // // // Docusign Envelope ID: 35867E58-03FF-4F1F-A90B-FD8CDF1A16CE 4 0290190_20251119_ms29 SECTION 5. CEQA. The City Council ﬁnds and determines that this Ordinance is not a project within the meaning of secon 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because it has no potenal for resulng in physical change in the environment, either directly or ulmately. INTRODUCED: DECEMBER 8, 2025 PASSED: DECEMBER 8, 2025 AYES: BURT, LAUING, LU, RECKDAHL, STONE, VEENKER NOES: LYTHCOTT-HAIMS ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: ATTEST: APPROVED: ______________________________ ____________________________ City Clerk Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: ____________________________ City Manager ______________________________ Assistant City Aorney ____________________________ Chief of Police Docusign Envelope ID: 35867E58-03FF-4F1F-A90B-FD8CDF1A16CE Certificate Of Completion Envelope Id: 35867E58-03FF-4F1F-A90B-FD8CDF1A16CE Status: Completed Subject: ORD 5686 - Emergency Ord Prohibiting Vanlording Source Envelope: Document Pages: 4 Signatures: 5 Envelope Originator: Certificate Pages: 2 Initials: 0 Christine Prior AutoNav: Enabled EnvelopeId Stamping: Enabled Time Zone: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) 250 Hamilton Ave Palo Alto , CA 94301 Christine.Prior@PaloAlto.gov IP Address: 165.225.242.120 Record Tracking Status: Original 12/11/2025 8:39:40 AM Holder: Christine Prior Christine.Prior@PaloAlto.gov Location: DocuSign Security Appliance Status: Connected Pool: StateLocal Storage Appliance Status: Connected Pool: City of Palo Alto Location: Docusign Signer Events Signature Timestamp Tim Shimizu Tim.Shimizu@paloalto.gov Assist. City Attorney City of Palo Alto Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None) Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 73.241.45.80 Sent: 12/11/2025 8:49:43 AM Viewed: 12/12/2025 2:11:14 PM Signed: 12/12/2025 2:11:24 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via Docusign James Reifschneider James.Reifschneider@paloalto.gov Acting Chief of Police Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None)Signature Adoption: Drawn on Device Using IP Address: 50.226.37.6 Signed using mobile Sent: 12/12/2025 2:11:25 PM Resent: 12/23/2025 1:15:08 PM Viewed: 12/23/2025 1:51:38 PM Signed: 12/23/2025 1:51:53 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via Docusign Ed Shikada Ed.Shikada@paloalto.gov City Manager City of Palo Alto Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None) Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 170.85.54.89 Sent: 12/23/2025 1:51:55 PM Viewed: 12/23/2025 4:16:05 PM Signed: 12/23/2025 4:16:11 PM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via Docusign Ed Lauing Ed.Lauing@paloalto.gov Mayor Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None)Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 75.85.214.3 Sent: 12/23/2025 4:16:12 PM Viewed: 12/24/2025 8:55:47 AM Signed: 12/24/2025 8:56:06 AM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via Docusign Signer Events Signature Timestamp Mahealani Ah Yun Mahealani.AhYun@paloalto.gov City Clerk Security Level: Email, Account Authentication (None)Signature Adoption: Pre-selected Style Using IP Address: 170.85.155.3 Sent: 12/24/2025 8:56:07 AM Viewed: 12/24/2025 8:58:48 AM Signed: 12/24/2025 8:59:00 AM Electronic Record and Signature Disclosure: Not Offered via Docusign In Person Signer Events Signature Timestamp Editor Delivery Events Status Timestamp Agent Delivery Events Status Timestamp Intermediary Delivery Events Status Timestamp Certified Delivery Events Status Timestamp Carbon Copy Events Status Timestamp Witness Events Signature Timestamp Notary Events Signature Timestamp Envelope Summary Events Status Timestamps Envelope Sent Hashed/Encrypted 12/11/2025 8:49:43 AM Envelope Updated Security Checked 12/23/2025 1:15:07 PM Envelope Updated Security Checked 12/23/2025 1:15:07 PM Certified Delivered Security Checked 12/24/2025 8:58:48 AM Signing Complete Security Checked 12/24/2025 8:59:00 AM Completed Security Checked 12/24/2025 8:59:00 AM Payment Events Status Timestamps