SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a new ordinance that would restrict overnight parking for RVs and other recreational vehicles on public streets, while creating a permit system intended to connect people living in vehicles with housing and services.
The proposal would establish designated places where people living in RVs and other vehicles could park while working toward more stable housing. The city would spend $5 million on outreach, safe parking lots, and locations to store vehicles.
Under the proposed system, vehicles would have to be moved every 72 hours. Those that do not comply could ultimately be towed without notice, although the city would issue warnings early in the program.
Councilmember Dan Strauss argued during a Public Safety Committee meeting in September that the ordinance would help connect people living in vehicles with services and housing while addressing a gap in the city’s existing shelter system.
“Because for much of our shelter and definitely for our permanent supportive housing, we have chosen to build units over parking spots, which is the right choice, but that leaves a lot of people out because they have vehicles whether they live in them or not,” Strauss said.
The proposal has also drawn criticism from people who fear the new restrictions could leave some people without either a vehicle or a place to stay. During public comment before the council’s Public Safety Committee, Tammie Adams described her experience living in a vehicle while she was unhoused.
“I was formerly unhoused and lived in a car,” Adams said. “Having a safe place to rest my head at night as a female living on the streets, that was very unsafe.”
Another woman who spoke during the committee meeting criticized the proposed system as overly complex.
“It’s too complicated. Too rigid. Too costly and too likely to be a bureaucracy that punishes people without homes,” she said.
The full Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance at its 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday.
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