San Ramon, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)
Key Facts
- Core ban
- Camping/encampments on public property without a permit
- School/shelter buffer
- 500 feet, where camping signs are posted
- Vehicle sleeping ban
- 9:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. on public lots/streets
- Cleanup notice
- 24 hours posted before city abates encampment
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor under § A1-32(B)
- Enforcement limit
- No citation overnight when no shelter is available
- Effective date
- Ordinance No. 527, effective February 13, 2025
Summary
San Ramon bans camping or maintaining an encampment on any public property, including streets, sidewalks, parks, open space and waterways, without a temporary use or encroachment permit. Camping is barred outright near schools and shelters, in waterways, and inside vehicles parked overnight between 9 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., with abatement and storage procedures set by ordinance.
A. It is unlawful for any person to camp or to maintain an encampment in or upon any public property, including in any street, sidewalk, park facility, beach, open space, waterway, and banks of a waterway, unless permitted under a temporary use permit or encroachment permit, whichever may be appropriate, or as specifically authorized by the City Manager. ... D. At all times, regardless of the availability of shelter space or beds, it is unlawful for any person to sleep between 9:00 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. in any vehicle parked on any public street, alley way, or parking area, or on any privately owned parking area used for the parking of customers of any business enterprise without the consent of the owner of such business enterprise.
Full Breakdown
Chapter IX of Division B6, adopted by Ordinance No. 527 in January 2025, makes it unlawful under § B6-224(A) to camp or maintain an encampment on public property, including streets, sidewalks, park facilities, beaches, open space, waterways and their banks, unless authorized by a temporary use permit, encroachment permit or the city manager. Subsection B bars camping at all times, regardless of shelter availability, where it poses an immediate threat of harm to a person, to public health or safety, or disrupts vital government services.
Subsection C adds location-specific bans that apply regardless of signage in waterways and riparian corridors, and, where signs are posted, within 500 feet of a school or shelter, within any transit hub or along trolley tracks, and in any park facility. m. Section B6-223 separately protects waterways from structures, digging, vegetation removal and waste discharge along their banks. , or whenever no shelter is actually available to the person, though the waterway protections and the location-specific and vehicle-sleeping bans in § B6-224(B) through (D) are enforceable at all times.
Section B6-226 requires a written 24-hour clean-up notice posted at the site before the city manager abates an encampment, photographs the site and property before and after, and stores unclaimed items of apparent value and utility rather than discarding them outright.
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter IX is prosecutable as a misdemeanor under the fine and custody provisions of § A1-32(B), per § B6-225(A). Officers cannot cite for ordinary camping under § B6-224(A) overnight between 9 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. or when no shelter is available, but the waterway-protection, buffer-zone and vehicle-sleeping bans in § B6-224(B) through (D) can be enforced at any hour regardless of shelter availability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to camp in a San Ramon park?
Can police cite me for sleeping outside if there's no shelter bed available?
What happens to my belongings if the city clears an encampment?
Can I sleep in my car overnight on a San Ramon street?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in San Ramon
California rules heatmap·Compare San Ramon to another location·View the California homelessness & encampment rules overview
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Encampment Sanitation in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Contra Costa County handle encampment sanitation.