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

Section 42-52, 'Prohibited acts,' declares it unlawful and a public nuisance for any person to camp, occupy camp facilities, establish camp facilities, maintain camp facilities, or use or store camp paraphernalia on any public property or any private property in Surprise. 'Camp' is defined in Section 42-51 to include laying down bedding, erecting tents or other shelter structures, digging or breaking earth, storing personal belongings, starting a fire, regularly cooking meals, or living in a parked vehicle, and the definition applies regardless of the participants' intent if the circumstances show they are using the area to sleep or live.

The only carved-out exception covers overnight camping on private residential property by the owner or the owner's friends and family, limited to five consecutive nights, with owner consent, no fee charged, no nuisance from noise or sanitation, and the camping confined to a rear yard or a screened front or side yard. Section 42-52(e) separately makes it unlawful and a public nuisance to wash one's body or belongings in a fountain. The city manager may issue a temporary permit allowing camping tied to a special event under Section 42-54, and Section 42-53 lets a citing officer, with the individual's consent, divert someone facing probable cause for a camping charge to a facility for mental health, housing, or substance-abuse services instead of issuing a criminal citation.

The article's stated purpose, in Section 42-50, is to keep streets, parks, and other areas 'clean, sanitary and accessible' and to protect public health, safety and welfare from the sanitation and safety hazards that unregulated camping creates.