Corvallis, OR Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 5.03.080.080.01 defines camping as setting up or remaining at a campsite to establish a residence to the exclusion of others, and lists indicia of camping such as stoves or fires, stored belongings that cannot be quickly removed, tents or lean-tos, and staking out an area to exclude the public; bedding alone is not indicia of camping. Section 5.03.080.080.02 makes it unlawful to camp on a public right-of-way, park, sidewalk, alley, street, under any bridge, or on City-owned property, a Class C Misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine or 30 days under Section 5.03.160.040, unless a permit under Section 5.03.080.080.04 or a City Manager declaration applies.

It carves out people who are merely sitting, sleeping, or lying down to stay warm and dry in City Manager-designated areas, and anyone sitting, sleeping, or lying down in a legally parked vehicle, though property stored around the outside of that vehicle can still be treated as an illegal campsite. Section 5.03.080.080.03 separately makes camping on private property without the owner's consent a Class C Misdemeanor. Section 5.03.080.080.04 lets the City Manager issue permits for up to four vehicles or microshelters, or microshelter villages, for groups meeting a demonstrated community need, plus narrower medical-hardship permits for hospital parking and caregiver RVs.

Section 5.03.080.080.05 delegates the City Manager authority to designate rest locations and hours but expressly withholds that power over land designated as a natural area or riparian or wetland areas.