San Benito County, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibits
- camping on river public property
- Area
- San Benito River FEMA floodplain
- Required first step
- outreach notice before citation
- Adopted
- Ord. 1025; amended Ord. 1069, 2024
Summary
Unincorporated San Benito County bans camping, sleeping, or sheltering on public property within the San Benito River area, a corridor mapped as FEMA 100-year floodplain.
(A) It shall be unlawful for anyone to camp, sleep, shelter, or reside on any public property in the San Benito River. (B) No person shall have any fire or campfire, propane, gasoline or kerosene stove on public property in the San Benito River, except as otherwise allowed by this Code or by license or permit, or in an area designated for such purposes by the county.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2025 S-28: current through Ordinance 1078).
Full Breakdown
San Benito County Code § 9.04.003 makes it unlawful to camp, sleep, shelter, or reside on public property within the San Benito River area: the stretch of river channel in unincorporated San Benito County mapped as a FEMA 100-year flood zone on the county's GIS. Fires, campfires, and fuel-burning stoves are barred there too, absent a permit or a county-designated area. Before citing or arresting under this section, an enforcing officer must first notify the person of the violation and inform them that help is available through the county's Homeless Outreach Coordinator; ceasing the conduct after that notice is an affirmative defense (§ 9.04.005).
Violations & Fines
A violation is a public nuisance and a misdemeanor, enforceable by criminal or civil action including administrative citation, but only after the required outreach notice is given (§ 9.04.005).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the county cite someone camping by the San Benito River immediately?
Does the camping ban cover private land along the river too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in San Benito County
California rules heatmap·Compare San Benito County to another location·View the California homelessness & encampment rules overview
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