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

Section 5-36.01, amended by Ord. 1491-26 effective August 6, 2026, defines camping to include building a semi-permanent structure to shelter people, using a tent, sleeping bag, blanket or other material to sleep, lie or shelter, digging to create a shelter, storing or leaving unattended personal property on public property, making a fire or using a grill or portable stove on public property, and sleeping in or on a parked vehicle. Camping counts whether or not a full night is spent. Section 5-36.02 is the cleanup protocol.

The enforcement officer is any City employee designated by the City Manager or a designee. Except in exigent circumstances, the officer gives at least seventy-two (72) hours of pre-enforcement notice, served on a readily apparent owner or posted on or near the property; with no readily apparent owner the notice goes up in at least two locations. The large-print notice states the date and time, local housing and shelter resources, that unclaimed property will be discarded after sixty (60) days, and that no fees apply for storage or retrieval.

At enforcement the owner gets thirty (30) minutes to remove belongings, then the rest is collected, tagged and stored for sixty (60) days. Protected personal property covers nonperishable items with an apparent value of $50 or more, plus items with apparent personal value such as eyeglasses, wheelchairs, medical equipment, personal papers and operational bicycles. The Public Works Director writes the impoundment procedures, and a post-enforcement notice must give the location, date and time, impoundment facility and housing resources. The City can also designate No Encampment Zones around critical infrastructure, landmarks, homeless shelters and low barrier navigation centers; people there are treated as already noticed and face immediate enforcement.

Section 5-36.03 exempts marked camping areas, Parks and Community Services events, and private property camping by the owner, tenant, relatives or someone with written consent, capped at fourteen (14) consecutive days and once in any ninety (90) day period.