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

Section 19-21 defines camping as residing in or using a public park, public street, the McDowell Sonoran Preserve or other public place for living accommodation purposes, including erecting tents or shelter, digging or breaking earth, laying down bedding, using camp paraphernalia such as tarpaulins, cots or sleeping bags, storing personal belongings, starting a fire, regularly cooking meals or living in a parked vehicle. No person may camp in a public park, the Preserve, a public street or public place except when specifically authorized by a city-issued permit.

Before issuing a citation or making an arrest, a peace officer must first give the person a reasonable opportunity to relocate, a procedural safeguard built directly into the ordinance rather than left to police discretion. A companion provision, Sec. 19-23, separately and unconditionally prohibits camping at any time in an area subject to flooding or within a watercourse, citing the risk of flash flooding to life and safety; it uses the identical camping definition and camp-paraphernalia definition, carries the same class 3 misdemeanor penalty, and requires the same reasonable-opportunity-to-relocate step before enforcement.

Together the two sections give Scottsdale police a citywide camping ban paired with a distinct, safety-driven flood-zone ban that applies even where camping might otherwise be tolerated.