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

Section 9.34.010 prohibits camping, lodging or sleeping on a public street, including inside a vehicle parked on a public street, on publicly-owned property, in public parks, and in other places the section lists as prohibited: public sidewalks, alleyways, paseos and rights-of-way; public parking lots whether publicly or privately owned; public landscaped areas; private property readily accessible to or used by the general public; vacant lots; and drainage culverts and basins. The ban does not reach camping conducted under a permit or license in a designated public campground.

The section's definition of "camping" is deliberately broad: it means using a public street, publicly-owned property, park or other prohibited place for living accommodation, lodging or sleeping, evidenced by remaining for prolonged or repeated periods not tied to the location's ordinary use, while keeping or storing possessions such as sleeping bags, bedrolls, blankets, tents, luggage, backpacks, cookware or food, cooking or eating meals there, or lodging in a parked vehicle. Whether the activity counts as camping turns on the totality of the circumstances, not on the person's stated intent.

Section 9.34.020 lets both peace officers and city employees enforce the chapter under Chapter 1.08, and punishes a violation under the Chapter 1.12 penalty and fee schedule, with an administrative citation available as an alternative to a criminal charge and community service available in place of paying the citation. Section 9.34.030 clarifies the chapter does not replace or limit separate trespass or nuisance claims a property owner or the city could otherwise bring.