Mayor Lurie Signs Legislation to Address RV and Vehicular Homelessness, Restore Public Spaces in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today signed legislation as part of his Breaking the Cycle plan that will help hundreds of families living in vehicles access stable housing, address and prevent RV and vehicular homelessness, and reclaim public spaces in neighborhoods across the city. Cosponsored by District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, and developed with city departments in the Large Vehicle Task Force, Mayor Lurie’s new law will expand housing opportunities for families and individuals experiencing vehicular homelessness while creating new restrictions with enforcement to prevent people from living in large vehicles on city streets long-term.

The law will establish a 24/7 two-hour parking restriction citywide for large vehicles and offer permanent or interim housing to those currently experiencing vehicular homelessness. To support this effort, Mayor Lurie secured $13 million over two fiscal years in the city budget for rapid rehousing subsidies, a vehicle buyback program, and outreach and enforcement resources. The legislation will also create a short-term permit to ensure those living in large vehicles who are actively engaged in services are not displaced. Implementation will be led by an interagency group, integrated with the city’s neighborhood-based street teams, offering services and enforcing parking regulations.

Under his Breaking the Cycle plan, Mayor Lurie is transforming the city’s response to the behavioral health and homelessness crisis—creating integrated neighborhood-based street outreach teams, launching the Breaking the Cycle Fund with $37.5 million in private funding, opening a 24/7 police-friendly stabilization center, significantly expanding the city’s recovery and treatment bed capacity, and introducing new policies to connect people to treatment. The mayor is also taking steps to clean the streets, launching a public-private partnership with Avenue Greenlight to clean commercial corridors in seven neighborhoods.

“As we’ve worked on this legislation, I kept coming back to parents. The parents living in vehicles deserve real options for raising their kids safely and with dignity. And the parents trying to walk down the street with their family deserve sidewalks that are clean, safe, and accessible,” said Mayor Lurie. “The legislation I am signing today delivers that—combining compassion with accountability, creating a clear path to permanent housing, and giving our city the tools to improve the quality of life for all San Franciscans.”

“No child should have to grow up in a vehicle. This law is about offering real pathways to housing and services—built on dignity, not punishment,” said Supervisor Melgar. “It’s a long-overdue, citywide approach to help families stabilize their lives and reclaim a sense of home.”

“For far too long, neighborhoods across San Francisco have borne the impacts of unregulated RV encampments—illegal dumping, blocked sidewalks, and public safety concerns,” said President Mandelman. “This legislation creates a humane pathway for current RV residents to find stable housing, while making it clear that new RV encampments will not be allowed and our streets will not continue to serve as shelter of last resort.”

“San Francisco’s RV ban legislation is a necessary step toward addressing the growing public health and safety concerns around vehicle encampments—including in District 6, where we’ve seen a significant increase in RV dwellings,” said Supervisor Dorsey. “No one should have to live in a vehicle on our streets. This policy isn’t about punishment—it’s about helping people transition out of unsafe, unstable conditions and into the safe, healthy, and supportive housing they deserve.”

In May 2025, the city’s Healthy Streets Operation Center conducted a large vehicle data collection effort that identified 501 large vehicles parked on city streets in San Francisco, of which 437 are being used for dwelling. Under the new law signed today, the strengthened interagency response to the vehicular homelessness crisis will pair a comprehensive outreach strategy to offer services with enforcement of new parking regulations—restoring public spaces while prioritizing the dignity and well-being of those living in vehicles.

Key elements of Mayor Lurie’s plan to address RV homelessness, enabled by the new law signed today, include:

• Specialized Outreach: The city will deploy new outreach teams trained to work with people living in large vehicles, with language skills and trauma-informed care.
• Comprehensive Service Offerings: Residents living in large vehicles in San Francisco as of May 2025 will be assessed for eligibility for:
  • Offers of Permanent or Non-Congregate Interim Housing: The city will make offers based on individual needs and eligibility. In the budget, Mayor Lurie expanded the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) rapid rehousing subsidy program to support households living in large vehicles entering into stable housing.
  • Large Vehicle Buyback Program: The city will offer cash incentives to residents living in large vehicles in San Francisco as of May 2025 to relinquish their large vehicles as part of the large vehicle outreach program.
  • Large Vehicle Refuge Permit Program: Residents living in large vehicles as of May 2025, who engage in services and agree to placement into non-congregate interim or permanent housing, may be eligible for a permit allowing temporary exemption from the two-hour parking rule.
• Enforcement: Two-hour parking restrictions for large vehicles will be enforced citywide, with the exception of commercial vehicles actively loading or when parking in industrial zones. Vehicles without a valid large vehicle refuge permit will be subject to citation and potential towing in order to ensure safe, accessible streets.
• Improved Interagency Coordination: The Large Vehicle Task Force is designing an operations model that articulates clear interdepartmental roles and workflows, integrated data tracking and reporting systems, and defined performance metrics to guide progress, building on the city’s integrated neighborhood-based model for street outreach.

The plan was developed in close partnership with city departments on the Large Vehicle Task Force, including HSH, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Department of Emergency Management (DEM), San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, San Francisco Recreation and Parks, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Port of San Francisco, Department of Public Health, and the City Administrator’s Office.

HSH will lead vehicle-focused outreach to help connect people to available services within the Homelessness Response System, while SFMTA enforcement will be engaged with SFPD support as needed when towing services are required for vehicles in violation of the parking restriction after people have refused services or housing. Operations, which will begin in high-impact areas, will be coordinated by the DEM-led neighborhood street teams.