In another attempt to iron out parking regulations, the Lompoc City Council decided that RV owners with permits are exempt from a 72-hour parking ban.
“It exempts RV owners with RV parking permits from the city’s ordinance that requires you to move your vehicle every 72 hours,” City Attorney Jeff Malawy said at the Aug. 18 meeting. “However, staff believed that it was still important to require an RV with an RV parking permit to not stay permanently on the street in the exact same spot essentially forever, which is what would be allowed if we completely exempted RVs with permits from the 72-hour rule.”
Last October, the city passed a rule stating any vehicle parked on the street for more than 72 hours may be towed. Now, vehicle owners with a permit will be able to park in one location for 30 days before moving. City staff originally set the time frame at 21 days, but council members increased the number as part of its 4-1 vote to approve the ordinance on Aug. 18.
Councilmember Jeremy Ball dissented, saying that he was “frustrated” that an RV parking discussion was part of the same agenda item as a clause that will help police enforce camping and personal property storage violations at bus stops. Other council members were confused about the combination, too.
City staff said the intention of the parking rule was for people with RVs to be able to keep them in their neighborhoods, but public commenters saw it differently.
“We have plenty of parking in our city that residents should be able to park an RV in front of their house without having to move every 21 days. I don’t go camping every 21 days. My RV may sit for 30 days, 45 days,” one speaker said at the meeting. “We actually threw our permit away because it was useless for us, and we now pay storage because the city won’t let us stay parked in front of our house.”
At the suggestion of the Lompoc Police Department, the new rules also extend the window of time when vehicles in violation may be penalized. The department’s call volume and the number of weekend tows were cited as part of the decision, Malawy explained.
Police now have 14 days (increased from 48 hours) to cite or tow vehicles in violation. Even if the driver properly moves their RV in those two weeks, it may still be towed.
Multiple residents exceeded their three-minute time limit during public comment, including those who spoke against turning infractions into misdemeanor charges for camping and storing personal items at bus stops.
“When you turn violations into misdemeanor offenses, you create another potential point of contact between vulnerable residents and the criminal legal system,” a speaker from 805 Undocufund said. “For an undocumented resident, those encounters can carry immigration consequences that many other Lompoc residents never have to consider.”
Resources are offered before anything else, Malawy explained. But if someone denies those resources, the ordinance will aid with enforcement because someone charged with an infraction may not show up to court. A judge is more likely to issue a bench warrant for police to arrest someone for a misdemeanor, so that they appear in court.
Increasing infractions to misdemeanors was another reason why Councilmember Ball dissented.
“One of the issues with the unhoused population is not regularly getting notices about court dates, missing court dates and becoming—unintentionally in some ways—becoming a part of the criminal system,” Ball said. “In the worst-case scenario, I’m worried that we turn a lot of people that are dealing with a lot of issues into criminals.”
This article appears in August 27 – September 3, 2026.
