Victorville, CA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)
Key Facts
- Core ban
- Camping/storage in streets, parks, waterways
- Sensitive-area buffer
- 500 feet of schools, shelters, transit hubs
- Notice before cleanup
- 24 hours minimum, § 13.27.040(a)
- Property storage
- 90 days, § 13.27.040(e)
- No-citation window
- 9 p.m.-5:30 a.m., § 13.27.040(g)
- Adopted
- Ordinance 2445, December 2023
Summary
Victorville bans camping, erecting an encampment, or storing personal property in streets, parks, open space, waterways, and other public areas under Municipal Code Section 13.27.020, with an outright ban near schools, shelters, transit hubs, and city buildings regardless of shelter availability. Section 13.27.040 sets a detailed 24-hour notice-and-storage process before the city clears a site.
Unless otherwise permitted by law or permit, when shelter is available, it is unlawful for any person to camp; occupy camp facilities; erect an encampment; erect, configure, construct, maintain, use, occupy, or allow to remain erected any camp facilities; light or kindle a fire except in an appropriate containment device provided or approved for that purpose by the fire chief or building official; or use camp paraphernalia in the following areas, except as otherwise provided by resolution of the city council and provided that notice of same is clearly and conspicuously posted at the areas:(1)Any street;(2)Any park;(3)Any open space;(4)Any waterway, including any portion of the Mojave Riverbed Area;(5)Any public area; or(6)Any public parking lot.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 57).
Full Breakdown
020(a), but only when shelter space is available and after notice is posted. 015 as within 500 feet of a school, shelter, open space or waterway, transit hub, or city-owned building. 025 adds waterway-specific bans on driving nails into trees, moving boulders, digging into a bank, or lighting a fire along the Mojave Riverbed Area or the Oro Grande Wash without Fire Chief approval. 040(a) requires the city to post a bilingual notice of clean-up giving occupants at least twenty-four hours to remove their belongings, and the city can then abate within seventy-two hours of that notice without reposting. 040(e) so owners can reclaim them; hazardous, perishable, or unstorable items are excluded from storage. 025(a) can be enforced at any hour.
Violations & Fines
Routine unlawful camping under Section 13.27.020(a) cannot be criminally cited between 9:00 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., or at any time when no shelter is actually available, per Section 13.27.040(g). Camping in a sensitive area or where it creates an immediate safety threat is enforceable around the clock. The city can expedite abatement, with as little as three hours' notice, under Section 13.27.040(h) if there's a valid trespass agreement or an imminent threat to life or property.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is camping banned everywhere in Victorville?
How much notice does Victorville give before clearing an encampment?
What happens to belongings left behind during an encampment cleanup?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Victorville
California rules heatmap·Compare Victorville to another location·View the California homelessness & encampment rules overview
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Encampment Sanitation in Nearby Cities
How other cities in San Bernardino County handle encampment sanitation.