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

Section 12.42.030 makes it unlawful to camp, occupy camp facilities or use camp paraphernalia on any street or alley, public parking lot or area, or park, except during a declared emergency or natural disaster, a city-sponsored event, or in a designated mobile-home or RV camping ground. Section 12.42.040 separately bars using a vehicle for dwelling on any city street between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., or at any time within one block of a park or a licensed school, preschool or daycare. On sanitation and cleanup specifically, Section 12.42.050(B) prohibits storing personal property in a public area in a way that obstructs city operations, including street or sidewalk maintenance or cleaning, or park or landscaping maintenance, repair or irrigation; the city may temporarily move or impound that property without any prior notice for the time needed to complete the operation.

Related no-prior-notice removal powers cover property blocking ADA passage (subsection C), property within ten feet of an operational entrance, exit, driveway or loading dock (subsection D), property left past a posted closure time (subsection E), items posing an immediate health or safety threat (subsection F), evidence of a crime (subsection G), and bulky items generally (subsection H). Whenever property is removed, Section 12.42.070(B) requires the city to post conspicuous notice at the site describing what was taken, when, and where and how to reclaim it; the city must store impounded property for ninety days under Section 12.42.060 before it may be discarded, and it separately bans erecting any tent in a public area under Section 12.42.080.