Apple Valley, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)
Key Facts
- Section
- § 11.20.045(A)-(D)
- Adopted
- Ordinance 302, Oct. 25, 2005
- Bans
- Public camping, overnight RV parking
- Requires
- Written Town Manager permission to camp
- Sanitation bans
- Public urination/defecation, RV sewage dumping
Summary
Apple Valley Municipal Code § 11.20.045 bars camping, sleeping outdoors or in a vehicle, and overnight RV parking in any public location without written permission from the Town Manager. The same section bans open cooking fires outside designated campsites and bans public urination, defecation or RV sewage dumping.
(A) No person shall camp, sleep outdoors or in a vehicle, or park a recreational vehicle overnight in a public location, other than in a designated commercial or public campsite, except by permission in writing by the Town Manager or his/her designee. (B) No person shall light or maintain in a public place any fire or to cook, prepare, serve or eat any meal other than at a stove, barbecue, fire circle or other place provided for that purpose in a designated public or commercial campsite. (C) No person shall intentionally urinate or defecate in a public place, other than a washroom or toilet room, under circumstances where such act could be observed by any member of the public. (D) No person shall allow sewage or other wastewater to flow from any recreational vehicle onto the ground or to any location other than a designated sewage tank dump site intended for that purpose.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 19 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
20. Subsection (A) bars camping, sleeping outdoors or in a vehicle, or parking a recreational vehicle overnight in a public location outside a designated commercial or public campsite, unless the Town Manager or a designee grants written permission. Subsection (B) confines open fires and cooking to a stove, barbecue, fire circle or similar spot inside a designated public or commercial campsite. Subsection (C) bars intentionally urinating or defecating in a public place, other than a washroom or toilet room, where the act could be observed by the public, and subsection (D) bars letting sewage or wastewater flow from a recreational vehicle onto the ground or anywhere other than a designated sewage dump site.
A fifth subsection, (E), separately bans open-container alcohol possession in public places and is addressed on its own page. 010. Because the section states no fine of its own, enforcement for camping, fire and sanitation violations alike falls to the Town's general Code penalty provision rather than a chapter-specific schedule.
Violations & Fines
Section 11.20.045 carries no fine of its own, so the Town's general Code penalty at § 1.01.230 applies to camping, fire and sanitation violations alike: a misdemeanor punishable by up to $1,000 plus court costs or up to six months in county jail, or both. Citing officers and the Town Attorney may reduce the charge to an infraction under § 1.01.220, escalating from $100 to $500 for repeat convictions within a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone camp overnight in an RV on a public street?
Does Apple Valley regulate encampment sanitation?
Can someone build a campfire in a public place?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Apple Valley
California rules heatmap·Compare Apple Valley to another location·View the California homelessness & encampment rules overview
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