Seattle City Council is considering how to provide help to people who live in their vehicles. Legislation proposed this month by Councilmember Dan Strauss is focused on ways to connect those residents with shelter and housing. It would also create designated "safe lots" where they could park.
The Vehicle Resident Assistance Program consists of six measures and is being reviewed by the city council’s Public Safety Committee.
“Today there are no dedicated city teams focused on helping people who live in their vehicles,” Strauss told the committee at its Aug. 11 meeting. He said the city has no safe lots or services to help people living in cars, trailers, or RVs transition into housing.
Strauss said the status quo is overloading the small number of contracted outreach staff, “Often leaving the few case workers we do have to provide services for hundreds of clients at a time.” He noted estimates, including the 2024 King County “Point In Time” homeless estimate, reveal that one of every four unhoused individuals in the region is sheltering in a vehicle.
In a press release, Strauss said the legislation “is about ensuring people who live in vehicles are not forgotten — but that they’re cared for and have a clear road to housing.”
What’s in the proposals?
One proposal would increase the city’s investment in services aimed at those living in vehicles. Using $5 million in existing funding, the proposal would add outreach staff and create safe lots where those workers could more easily connect and follow-up clients to connect them to housing opportunities.
Another measure would authorize storage spaces where RVs and trailers could be parked once their owners are in shelter or housing. The proposal allows people to maintain possession of their vehicle while receiving help.
A third proposal would create a Vehicle Resident Assistance Permit for RV and trailer owners in the program, allowing them to remain parked on city streets while they await housing. People without permits would need to move their vehicles every two hours, in accordance with parking regulations.
Strauss also wants to update the city’s existing Junk Vehicle Law to assist parking enforcement, clarifying and offering guidance to enforcement staff on what constitutes an abandoned vehicle, or a vehicle that is “inappropriately” stored on a city street.
Other sections of the ordinance streamline city processes to more quickly create safe lots in industrial zones, and outlines how city departments will work together to support these programs.
The Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing in mid-September.
