Arcadia, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Chapter 9 of Article VII, Camping and Storage of Personal Property, opens with a purpose clause in Section 7870: reserving open spaces and facilities for their intended purposes, and avoiding unsafe and potentially disorderly conditions, unsanitary and unhealthful conditions, and the degradation or destruction of open spaces. Section 7871 defines camping as residing in or using public property for one or more nights for living accommodation purposes, such as sleeping or preparing to sleep, using tents, storing personal belongings, making a fire with Bunsen burners or other heating items, or regularly cooking meals.

Public property in Section 7871(f) covers alleyways, parking lots, passageways, streets, rights-of-way, park playgrounds, freeway on-ramps and off-ramps, parks, landscaped areas and greenbelts, publicly owned fences, trees, light poles and equipment boxes, open spaces, public facilities and buildings, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and public educational institutions. Section 7872 bars camping, occupying camp facilities, using camp paraphernalia or using public utilities on it, and says setting up provisions for camping is a violation whether or not a full night is spent at the location. Section 7873 bars storing personal property, including camp facilities and camp paraphernalia.

Section 7874 exempts emergencies, including a City declared emergency or natural disaster; persons in organized and supervised recreational activities in parks or the Civic Center area approved by the Director of Recreation and Community Services or City Manager; camping in public areas legally established and clearly designated for camping; and City, public utility or governmental agency employees who must be in the areas for their work.

Under Section 7875 the Arcadia Police Department, the City's Code Services and Enforcement Division, Parks and Facilities personnel or other local law enforcement enforce Sections 7872 and 7873. The City Manager, or a department designated by the City Manager, can issue regulations or guidelines to aid enforcement and create procedures to protect the property rights of individuals whose property is taken into custody. An editor's note records that Ordinance No. 2410, adopted October 21, 2025, repealed the former sections on offers of housing, shelter and services, exemption for necessity, notices, and personal property.