Sparks, NV Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

48 opens with legislative findings explaining why the ban exists: the Truckee River supplies 85 percent of the drinking water delivered in the Truckee Meadows, unregulated camping threatens that water quality, and camping in the Sparks Marina, city parks, Victorian Square and city parking structures interferes with public access and safety. 020 defines the regulated footprint as the Truckee River Corridor and Sparks Marina Corridor, each meaning all public property within 1,000 feet of the river's or marina's shore, plus Victorian Square and any city park or city-owned parking structure.

030 makes it unlawful to camp in any of those areas without a permit, and defines camping to include sleeping or laying out bedding to sleep, storing personal belongings, starting a fire outside a designated fire or barbeque pit, using a tent, shelter, structure or vehicle for sleeping, or cooking outside a designated pit. The six-hour threshold applies in the aggregate across a day and across all the regulated zones combined, so moving from the riverbank to a park bench does not reset the clock.

Narrow exceptions cover medical emergencies, permitted commercial establishments, and permitted parades, festivals or rallies. Before anyone can be cited, a law enforcement officer must have already notified them that their conduct violates the section. The chapter was most recently amended by Ordinance 2652 in June 2025, following earlier amendments in 2016 and 2023.