RVs and Vehicles on Streets

RV parking is a concern for many residents and business owners. We’d like to provide some background.

Our Public Safety and Community Services Officers routinely receive and investigate complaints, while also taking the initiative to address violations. When they find RVs violating state or City laws they issue notices and citations.

You’re encouraged to report abandoned vehicles and/or vehicle violations online at rpcity.org/247.

Parked RVs

RVs that are legally registered can park on public streets. The City requires that RVs and boats parked on the street be moved 1/10 of a mile every 72 hours. We cannot start the 72 hour ‘clock’ until we have identified the vehicle and marked its tires or parking space.

Public Safety enforces State laws and the Municipal Codes fairly and evenly.  There are residents that park or store their RV on the street. Everyone with an RV can park it in a location that does not violate the rules.

Blocked Sidewalks

RVs and their occupants cannot block public access to sidewalks or discharge waste onto the street.

Tow Requirements

The City has the authority to have RVs, boats, and cars towed when they have parked in the same location beyond the 72 hour limit. However, there is only one company in Sonoma County that provides this service. They have limited capacity to store towed vehicles.

The towing company will not tow an RV if someone is living in it. It is legal to live in an RV if the owner complies with the legal requirements applying to all RVs.

Trash around RVs

You may see items around RVs that appear to be trash. Sometimes those items are trash but that is not always the case. Oftentimes, those items are their personal property, not trash.

City staff cannot remove someone’s personal property. Typically, City staff will speak with the person who owns the property to determine if it is actually trash. If it is trash, City staff provide the person with resources and assistance in removing the trash. If the property is considered personal property, City staff ask the owner to move the property inside their RV.

Expired Registration

There are two reasons for an expired registration sticker. The Public Safety Department can determine the reason for the expired registration stickers which will direct the enforcement decision of the Community Services Officer CSO.

1) The registered owner has paid the registration fee and failed to put the renewal sticker on the RV. 
Resolution: The CSO will advise the registered owner to put the updated sticker on the RV, and will advise of the 72 hour parking limit.
or
2) The registered owner failed to pay the fees and are out of compliance. 
Resolution: Enforcement action begins with a citation. Should this not resolve the issue, we will issue a second citation and begin the legal process to remove the RV. The process, referred to as abatement, takes approximately a month or more to complete. During this process, we continue to issue citations which will need to be paid prior to the release of the vehicle in question. The difficulty comes in towing the vehicle.