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

Chapter 7.20, Loitering and Camping, pairs a camping-location ban with a separate sanitation ban aimed at unsanitary encampment conditions. Section 7.20.060 bars camping, occupying camp facilities, or using camp paraphernalia within 1,000 feet of any waterbody except at a permitted campground, in a public park while it is closed, on a sidewalk or street in a way that blocks pedestrian or vehicle traffic or violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, or in any other public lot, area or place between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.

Section 7.20.070 goes further and bans eight specific activities on public property unless the City has designated or permitted the area for them: storing personal property, including camp facilities and paraphernalia; cooking; using or facilitating an open flame; laundering clothing or bedding; bathing; urinating; defecating; and disposing of trash. Subsection B states the City Council's intent directly: the prohibitions exist to protect the public from fire threats and unsanitary conditions and to protect the environment, including water courses and the stormwater conveyance system, from pollution.

Section 7.20.080 separately makes public urination or defecation unlawful anywhere exposed to public view, not just on public property. The chapter's stated purpose in Section 7.20.010 frames all of this as protecting property rights and public health, and directs both the Sheriff's law enforcement division and the City Attorney's office to strictly enforce the chapter. A related but separate San Diego River Corridor chapter, Sections 7.20.100 through 7.20.160, imposes fire- and pollution-focused camping restrictions and an abatement procedure specific to mapped river-corridor parcels, distinct from the citywide rules in Sections 7.20.010 through 7.20.090.