A settlement has been approved in a class action lawsuit that challenged San Diego's ordinances prohibiting people from living in vehicles and staying in parked vehicles overnight, which homeless advocates said unduly punished unhoused individuals who rely on their vehicles for shelter.
Under the terms of the settlement, the city will forgive outstanding tickets for those cited for parking oversized vehicles between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. on city streets from Nov. 15, 2017 — the date the lawsuit was originally filed — through the settlement date.
The Vehicle Habitation Ordinance will also only be enforced if the people living in their vehicles are committing a separate law violation.
The city has also agreed to expand its Safe Parking Program — which provides overnight stays at parking lots for those living out of their vehicles — to make improvements to the program's Mission Valley lot, and not to enforce the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance or Oversized Vehicle Ordinance between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. if legal parking in the Safe Parking Program is unavailable.
The settlement was approved by the San Diego City Council earlier this year and signed by a San Diego federal judge last week.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of 11 homeless plaintiffs argued the ordinances penalized people whose only form of housing was their vehicles and burdened them with fines that they were unlikely to be able to pay.
"This settlement marks an important step forward toward treating our unhoused residents with fairness, dignity, and respect while we work together to solve the affordable housing crisis," said Ann Menasche, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the settlement also provides $15,000 in damages for each of the nine remaining plaintiffs. Two of the original plaintiffs have died since the lawsuit was filed.
One of the remaining plaintiffs, Penny Helms, said in a statement, "Though this will not solve all of the issues that the homeless face, it will give some much-needed relief to those of us who need it the most."
Helms said the planned improvements to the Mission Valley lot, which include additions of running water, showers, and electricity, "will not only improve our quality of life but also enable those who are able to work to be able to show up clean for interviews and jobs. This is not a handout but a hand up while we work toward finding sustainable housing, which we all know is its own challenge."
