Seattle City Council has approved an eight-to-one package of measures to regulate RV parking and create a permit system for people living in motorhomes and travel trailers, with the stated aim of connecting them to shelter and permanent housing.
The six-bill Vehicle Resident Assistance Programme, sponsored by council member Dan Strauss, will allow eligible residents to remain in their vehicles while they follow city rules, engage with support services and wait for an appropriate offer of shelter or housing.
The package also directs $5 million already included in the city budget towards safe parking lots, vehicle storage, outreach and housing pathways. A new “shelter storage” service is intended to allow people entering accommodation to store their vehicles and belongings rather than risk losing them.
Seattle RV parking permit scheme
Under the new rules, permits will apply to operable motorhomes and travel trailers parked in designated industrial areas. Permit holders will have to obey existing laws, comply with conditions and move their vehicles every 72 hours where required.
RVs without a permit will eventually be restricted to two hours’ parking on public streets. The new regulations are scheduled to take effect on April 30, 2027, with enforcement due to begin after a warning period on July 31, 2027.
The council also approved changes to Seattle’s “junk vehicle” rules, which officials said had not been updated for 25 years. The changes are intended to give parking enforcement clearer powers over abandoned or improperly stored vehicles that are not being used as homes.
Mr Strauss said the city’s existing approach was failing and called for more safe lots to be opened. “For far too long, people living in their vehicles have been forgotten on our streets,” he said, describing the legislation as “a road to shelter and housing”.
Supporters said the programme would provide a more structured alternative to repeated enforcement action. Jen Adams of Vehicle Resident Outreach said the legislation offered “a much better pathway toward housing” for people living in RVs.
However, the measures have prompted concern among advocates who fear that residents could lose their homes if they fail to obtain a permit or comply with the new requirements.
Chanel Horner, a volunteer with the Stop the Sweeps campaign, said she supported the idea of more safe parking but remained worried about enforcement. “I feel like they are going to be taking people’s homes if they don’t get their permit in time,” she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington also raised concerns about impoundment. Jazmyn Clark, the organisation’s smart justice policy programme director, said that taking a vehicle from someone living in it meant losing “their home, shelter, possessions, and often their primary source of stability”.
Ms Clark said people experiencing homelessness should not lose the limited shelter available to them “simply because adequate alternatives do not exist”.
Ms Horner also questioned the description of some vehicles as junk, saying: “It’s kind of touchy to call them all junk.” Mr Strauss said the changes were aimed at vehicles that were not being lived in and insisted: “We don’t want to take people’s homes or take their things.”
The legislation will now go to Seattle’s mayor for approval and signature. Most of the measures will take effect 30 days after signing, while the RV parking provisions will follow the later timetable set out by the council.
