Mountain View council to consider bans on street-parked RV rentals and unhitched trailers Tuesday

The Mountain View City Council will consider two ordinances Tuesday, Nov. 17, according to a council report.  One bans renting out vehicles parked on city property, including streets, as homes, a practice called "vanlording."  The other bans unhitched trailers on streets.

The city's July count found 428 lived-in vehicles, up 122, or 40%, from 2025.  Most, 402, were oversized.  Vanlords could face a misdemeanor charge; their tenants would not.

How San Jose and other cities handle RV rentals

No state law explicitly bans vanlording, the report says, and several Santa Clara County cities have written their own rules.  San Jose banned vanlord rentals on its streets in July 2025 and also bars parking and sleeping in those rented vehicles on city streets from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to the report.

Palo Alto in December 2025 banned renting out oversized vehicles for living while they are parked on city streets or lots, and storing such rentals there.  Cupertino bars overnight parking of oversized vehicles without a permit, which it gives only to residents for limited periods, and bans renting or lending any vehicle as a home on public streets.  Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto and Saratoga already restrict unhitched trailers.

Mountain View’s version would ban advertising, renting or lending vehicles as living quarters on any city-controlled property, including streets, alleys and parking lots, the report says.

Staff also seeks $428,000 for homeless help, including food, showers, laundry and direct aid.  A final vote would come Dec. 8.

The council will also weigh extending its ban on detention facilities to Oct. 2, 2027, a second report shows.  The ban, adopted Oct. 13, expires Nov. 27.  Extending it takes six votes.

On consent, the council will vote on settling disputes with the developers of two projects it approved in November 2025:  a 15-story, 455-unit building at 901-987 N. Rengstorff Ave. and 299 rental homes at 749 W. El Camino Real.  Both deals extend permits to four years.  The 5 p.m. meeting is at 500 Castro St. and online.

Source:  City of Mountain View City Council agenda and reports, Nov. 17, 2026.