Santa Cruz County’s RV demolition plan tests the limits of California’s homelessness enforcement
Like many communities across California, Santa Cruz County and several of its cities are moving to crack down on recreational vehicles and vehicles parked on public streets.
The issue has become the focus of a broader debate over how to handle homeless encampments in the state. Governments and residents say the vehicles can be magnets for crime and drug activity. Advocates for the unhoused say efforts to limit where people can park their vehicles overnight target a vulnerable population with few other options for shelter.
Exact figures on how many people currently live in vehicles in Santa Cruz County are hard to come by, but the county’s 2023 point-in-time count estimated that about half of all unsheltered residents slept in their vehicles, or around 700 people at the time.
The latest proposal is playing out at the county board of supervisors, which is trying to pass a law that would allow tow truck operators to immediately demolish the vehicles they remove from the streets. Lawmakers say current rules requiring towed vehicles be stored for 15 days before they are dismantled or crushed are discouraging operators from towing — and undermining rules on abandoned and illegally parked vehicles.
The county is not alone. Smaller cities like Carlsbad and San Mateo have also moved to ticket and tow. And a state bill, Assembly Bill 630, would make it easier in parts of the state to junk RVs valued up to $4,000 instead of auctioning them.
But the new rules have run into snags. Last week, Santa Cruz County supervisors hit pause on the proposal after the American Civil Liberties Union warned the proposed ordinance could break state law. The group said the draft rule does not give people enough time to get their vehicles back. It also warned that the county was stretching the definition of “inoperable” to include vehicles that are simply not registered.
Elsewhere in the state, courts are proving to be a check on the powers of local governments to dismantle makeshift shelters for the unhoused. In Vallejo, a federal judge blocked the city from removing one woman’s shelter, saying forcing her out with no options could violate due process – the first such order since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling made it easier for communities to clear encampments.
Some places are using carrots, not just sticks, to get people out of vehicles and into shelter. The City of San Jose has a pilot program to pay $2,000 to buy RVs to get people indoors. Berkeley offered cash for RVs — about $175 per linear foot — plus motel rooms and flexible rules for pets and roommates. The result: 36 people and 26 dogs moved into a motel, and only three of 32 vehicles stayed on the street near the site. The program is modeled after a similar one in Marin County. In Santa Cruz County, leaders say they are reviewing their proposed new rules around demolishing towed vehicles to ensure they can withstand a legal challenge, with no timeline yet to bring back the ordinance for a final vote. — Tamsin McMahon
POINTS FOR PARTICIPATION
It’s Election Day on Tuesday for a handful of local and statewide ballot measures.
Voters in the City of Santa Cruz will choose between two competing housing measures. Measure C, backed by affordable housing advocates, would add a $96 yearly parcel tax and a transfer tax on home sales above $1.8 million (capped at $200,000) to raise about $4.5 million a year for affordable housing and homelessness, with oversight and some exemptions. Measure B, backed by the real estate industry, would set a $50 parcel tax, along with a transfer tax only on sales above $4 million (capped at $100,000), and fund some climate projects. Both need 50% plus 1 to pass; the higher “yes” would win. — Tamsin McMahon
And, in statewide ballot measures: A poll last week by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 56% of likely voters plan to vote yes on Proposition 50. Most of those who support the redistricting measure said they strongly disapprove of President Donald Trump and approve of Gov. Gavin Newsom. Nearly 70% told the think tank that the special election is very important. The results revealed a major party split, with 84% of Democrats supporting Prop 50 and 89% of Republicans opposing the idea. Among independents, 55% said they supported the effort. — Tamsin McMahon
Vector control public hearing: The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to discuss whether to implement a fee increase that would fund expanded mosquito and rodent control services, after asking voters to approve the increase in an election this fall. The Mosquito, Vector and Disease Control Assessment would increase the fee by about $11.99 annually, but the amount each property owner pays will vary based on property size. The fee is the Santa Cruz County Mosquito and Vector Control department’s only source of funding.
If the Nov. 4 ballot measure fails, the supervisors cannot approve a fee increase on their own, but the board does have the authority to not approve the increase even if it does pass with the needed simple 50% majority.
After the discussion – scheduled for 10:45 a.m. or later on Tuesday, part of the supervisors’ meeting that begins at 9 a.m. in the Watsonville City Council chambers – the board will close the hearing and authorize the county clerk to tabulate the ballots. The results of the election will be announced at a Nov. 18 hearing. — Hillary Ojeda
SNAP benefits: Supervisors are also slated to vote on a resolution declaring a local emergency in light of the Trump administration’s lack of federal financial support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the government shutdown. The resolution would authorize providing $500,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County to purchase and distribute food to affected residents and families. — Hillary Ojeda
Downtown housing development moves ahead: A new housing development proposed for the area covered by Santa Cruz’s Downtown Plan Expansion could take a few steps forward on Tuesday, at the City of Santa Cruz’s Architectural Review Committee meeting. This time, the area south of Laurel Street — or SoLa — is in focus.
The project, headed by Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company, is an eight-story, 245-unit mixed-use development with 12,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space at 201 Front St., currently the site of Ace Hardware. It will have a hearing Tuesday, including requests for a nonresidential demolition authorization permit, coastal permit, design permit, administrative use permit, heritage tree removal permit and a downtown density bonus request.
Because this project is a downtown density bonus proposal, the architectural review committee ruling will head to the city’s planning commission next, and finally the Santa Cruz City Council for approval. The meeting starts at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. — Max Chun
Watsonville PLA discussion continues: The Watsonville City Council and the Monterey/Santa Cruz Building and Construction Trades Council are set to meet again on Wednesday in hopes of finding a common ground on the city’s project labor agreement, which sets the rules for wages, benefits and working hours on major city projects. That meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. — Tania Ortiz
County officials defend residents’ constitutional rights: The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will weigh in on a resolution to affirm the county’s commitment to supporting and protecting residents’ constitutional rights amid growing concerns of executive overreach by the Trump administration, including aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. That meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Watsonville City Council chambers, located 275 Main St. — Tania Ortiz
OF NOTE
As Santa Cruz embarks on a residential building boom, community members frequently raise a similar question. How many of the rental units being built in the city are aimed at local residents? Last week, the Santa Cruz City Council voted to strengthen rules that would give local residents and workers preference to access units in affordable housing projects that received assistance from the city. The resolution by Councilmembers Gabriela Trigueiro and Susie O’Hara prioritizes city residents, local workers and people at risk of displacement. The city noted that about 70% of the 201 apartments in the last four city-supported buildings went to people who lived or worked in Santa Cruz, and another 20% went to people who lived elsewhere in the county. But there is no formal system to track who lives in affordable housing or enforce preferences for local residents. The city council plans to revisit the idea in January, with a report on how much such a system would cost.
The City of Santa Cruz picked Cassie Bronson to be its next city attorney, starting in January. She is now the assistant city attorney, where she helped work on policies, like the soda tax, rules for oversized vehicles, sidewalk vending laws and moving the city council to district elections. She will take over from Tony Condotti, who has been city attorney since 2015.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s final report on a Santa Cruz passenger train keeps most plans the same but adds new details about future possible ridership growth and longer possible commute times. It also raises the idea of shifting the route through the Beach Flats to avoid the Boardwalk, and possibly moving the western terminus to a Beach Street/downtown station instead of by Natural Bridges State Beach. In December, RTC commissioners could move to environmental review or pause the project.
Santa Cruz County leaders are reviving a statewide local-government coalition to oppose the Trump administration’s new offshore oil and gas drilling plans. The Interior Department plans lease offerings off California in stages between 2027 and 2029, according to multiple media reports. While the county has laws against drilling and big onshore facilities, earlier this year supervisors set aside $29,000 to rehire veteran advocate Richard Charter to relaunch a statewide lobbying group. Officials say protecting the coast is an ongoing, “intergenerational” fight.
Watsonville’s city hall was packed last week as Santa Cruz County held a town hall about its plans to regulate battery storage facilities in the wake of January’s fire in Moss Landing. County officials told residents that stricter safety rules, more studies and an evacuation plan are coming. But some community members worried about what bringing a battery storage facility to the county could mean for home values and insurance rates, while others asked for safer battery types or limits on building such facilities on agricultural lands. The first county hearing on the planned new ordinance is set for Nov. 18.