Glendale, AZ Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 25-90(a) makes it unlawful for any person to camp upon public or private land, and specifies the ban applies "whether or not such camping takes place in a motor vehicle," reaching both tent encampments and people sleeping in cars or RVs on streets or lots. Subsection (b) lists four activities the section does not punish: camping by a private property owner or family members on their own land for private use and enjoyment; events that hold a city special event license, special use permit, or other city permission; camping of 24 consecutive hours or less in the public or private parking lots of a stadium or arena seating more than 15,000 that is owned or operated by a public entity, which covers overnight tailgating at State Farm Stadium or Desert Diamond Arena; and temporary structures or camps a government agency sets up during a special event, disaster, or emergency.

Subsection (c) sets the penalty as a Class 3 misdemeanor under Glendale City Code Section 1-7. The section was originally adopted by Ordinance No. 2332 on July 22, 2003, amended by Ordinance No. O18-77 on October 23, 2018, and most recently amended by Ordinance No. O25-01 on January 14, 2025, showing the city has actively revised its encampment rule within the past year. Because the exceptions are narrow and fact-specific, city code enforcement and police evaluate each camp site against the private-property, permit, stadium-lot, and emergency-shelter carve-outs before issuing a citation, and the law applies uniformly whether the camping occurs downtown, along a wash, or in a parking lot.