Sonoma County, Sebastopol grapple with camping, RV parking restrictions

Sonoma County has given initial approval to an amended ordinance restricting camping on public property during daytime hours. The changes aim to bring the county's existing camping ordinance in line with recent legal decisions while still enabling the county to discourage permanent housing encampments and address public health issues. Supervisor Chris Coursey said the ordinance is just one of many actions being taken to address homelessness in the county.

In a related development, civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, Disability Rights Advocates, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, and California Rural Legal Assistance, are suing the city of Sebastopol over its ordinance restricting RV parking in an effort to limit encampments where people live out of their vehicles. The lawsuit alleges that Sebastopol's ban on living in a motor vehicle disproportionately affects the poor and disabled.

The amended ordinance in Sonoma County complies with the 2019 appellate court ruling in Martin v. City of Boise, which recognized the right for unsheltered individuals to sleep in public when shelter is not available. The ruling allows for reasonable restrictions on when and where people can camp on public property if no other shelter is available.

As both Sonoma County and Sebastopol grapple with the issue of homelessness, the legal challenges faced by these jurisdictions highlight the complexity of balancing the needs of the unhoused with broader community concerns.