Seattle set to pass new rules giving people living in RVs a parking permit — if they accept shelter services

Tuesday afternoon, the Seattle City Council is expected to approve a “Vehicle Resident Assistance Program” including a new permit system for people already living in their vehicles, funding for safe lots and secure vehicle storage, and new overnight parking bans across the city. The program will be funded by $5 million already earmarked for homelessness services.

Councilmember Dan Strauss introduced the six-part legislative package this summer.

The cornerstone of the plan is a permitting system for motor homes and travel trailers that is hoped to move more people into more permanent shelter. Eligible vehicle residents identified through a one-time Human Services Department census can obtain a permit allowing overnight parking strictly within designated industrial zones, provided they work with caseworkers and follow neighborhood cleanliness rules. Permits will be revoked if an occupant declines six offers of appropriate shelter.

Unpermitted vehicles would be restricted to two hours of street parking, barred from overnight parking, and subject to immediate impoundment without prior notice.

The permitting and impoundment regulations apply only to “motor homes and travel trailers,” not passenger cars, vans, or SUVs.

Councilmembers are weighing three proposed amendments. Amendment A, sponsored by Councilmember Eddie Lin, would expand the Vehicle Residency Implementation Review Workgroup to include contracted service and outreach providers while broadening its scope to examine warning procedures, equity, and operational readiness. Another proposed Lin amendment directs the workgroup to establish ongoing monitoring metrics, conduct a citywide census of vehicle residents, and deliver annual evaluation reports to the council. Finally, Amendment C, sponsored by Councilmember Maritz Rivera, mandates the revocation of a permit if the holder is convicted of, or enters a diversion agreement for offenses involving drug dealing, sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of children, or prostitution-related loitering.

For unpermitted RVs and trailers, new restrictions taking effect next April will cap street parking at two hours citywide and ban overnight parking between midnight and 6 AM, backed by impoundment authority following a 90-day warning period.

For passenger cars parked on public streets, standard Seattle Municipal Code rules continue to apply including the general citywide 72-hour maximum parking limit, existing residential/timed parking zones, and standard 24-hour warning notices prior to impoundment.

Supporting ordinances update the Land Use Code for vehicle storage, expand leasing caps to 100,000 square feet for safe lots, modernize the definition of “junk vehicles” to streamline blighted vehicle removal, and fund eight city staffing positions.

Officials say the package is intended to match improved regulation and enforcement with expanded services to help people who live in vehicles of all types in the city.

Approximately 27% of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness in King County live in vehicles including cars, vans, buses, RVs, and travel trailers.

Concerns the new Seattle program will push vehicle homelessness outside the city will mean stricter rules across the region. King County Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn is proposing new regulations for roads and public rights-of-way in unincorporated King County “to prevent Seattle’s homelessness crisis from spilling into neighboring communities.”

COUNCIL NOTES

• Zoning reform for neighborhood churches and daycares in Seattle multifamily zones: The full council is also expected pass legislation to update zoning rules for smaller institutions like schools and places of worship in multifamily neighborhoods. Under the proposal, development rules for height, size, and neighborhood fit in multifamily areas would be relaxed to match standards established in 2025 for lower-density single-family neighborhoods. Currently, existing code imposes stricter building limits on institutions in denser apartment zones than in residential areas. The legislation is hoped to make it easier for neighborhood organizations such as churches, temples, mosques, childcare facilities, and community centers to find new locations, build, or expand.
• SDOT bike education agreement: Another bill up for a final vote Tuesday will open the way for the Seattle Department of Transportation and Seattle Public Schools on a five-year, $2.8 million agreement to fund bicycle and pedestrian safety education across public schools through August 2031, according to contract documents. Taught during physical education classes, the program covers third through eighth grades, including students with disabilities, by providing training, fleets, and lessons through the district’s “Let’s Go” and “Let’s Go Further” programs. Tied to the city’s Vision Zero safety initiative, the agreement reimburses the district across 20 scheduled milestones, covers a full fleet replacement by 2029, and requires annual reporting on student active travel and equitable access.
• Mayor Katie Wilson’s IT director set for formal approval: Shannon Smith will get formal approval as the city’s Chief Technology Officer and director of the Seattle Information Technology Department. The Seattle City Council’s Governance and Utilities Committee recommended confirming Smith and now the full council is set to sign off on the pick. Appointed by Wilson to an annual salary of $335,020, Smith would serve a term running through July, 2030. Smith, who previously managed portfolios at Seattle IT and served as chief of staff for King County’s technology department, leads an agency with more than 600 employees and an annual operating budget of $280 million. As CTO, Smith is helping lead an administration wrestling with key technology issues including a moratorium on new data centers and the expansion of the Seattle Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center camera system.