Santa Maria, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)
Key Facts
- Ban scope
- Streets, sidewalks, parking lots, bus shelters, parks
- Private-property camping
- Owner/lessee permission plus RV sanitary hookup only
- Storage ban
- Personal property/camp gear on public property
- Unclaimed items
- Deemed abandoned; impounded under Title 3, Ch.10
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor, Section 6-1.02(e)
- Council exception
- Designated camping areas by resolution, Section 6-1.02(f)
Summary
Camping or storing personal property, tents, sleeping bags or cooking gear on any Santa Maria street, sidewalk, parking lot, bus shelter, park or other public property is a misdemeanor under Section 6-1.02, whether or not the camper is inside a vehicle. Peace officers can impound unlawfully stored belongings as abandoned property, and the City Council can designate exceptions by resolution.
It shall be unlawful to camp or occupy camp facilities at any time, whether inside or outside of a vehicle, in or on any: (1) Public street, sidewalk, parking lot, bus shelter, park or other public property, except as otherwise provided by resolution of the City Council... Storage of personal property in or on public property. It shall be unlawful to store personal property, including camp facilities and camp paraphernalia, on any public property, except as otherwise provided by resolution of the City Council. Unlawfully stored or unclaimed personal property in or on any public property shall be deemed abandoned property. Peace Officers may impound abandoned property and turn it in at the local law enforcement station where it will be handled pursuant to Title 3, Chapter 10 of the Santa Maria Municipal Code. Misdemeanor. Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4818069; v9 updated 2026-04-07).
Full Breakdown
" Subsection (c) bans camping on any public street, sidewalk, parking lot, bus shelter, park or other public property outright, and separately bans it on private property, including vacant lots, unless the camper is the property's owner, lessee or houseguest, or has the owner's written permission, and the camping vehicle is hooked up to a City building official-approved recreational vehicle sanitary connection. Subsection (d) reaches beyond camping itself to bar storing personal property, including camp facilities and paraphernalia, on public property; anything unlawfully stored is deemed abandoned, and peace officers may impound it under Title 3, Chapter 10's abandoned-property procedures. 02(d) violation. Subsection (f) lets the City Council designate camping areas by resolution and signage, the only carve-out from the blanket ban.
Violations & Fines
Any violation of Section 6-1.02, whether unlawful camping or unlawful storage of personal property, is a straight misdemeanor under subsection (e), with no separate infraction track written into the section itself. Peace officers may seize camp facilities, camp paraphernalia, or other stored belongings left on public property as abandoned property and process them under the City's Title 3, Chapter 10 abandoned-property rules, which can include disposal if the owner does not reclaim the items.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to sleep in a car on a Santa Maria street?
Can I camp on a vacant lot I don't own?
What happens to a tent or belongings left on a sidewalk?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Maria
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