Orange County Municipal Code Div. 21 Illegal Encampments and Camping on Public Property

(a) Public property within the unincorporated County should be readily accessible and available to residents and the public at large. The use of these areas for camping purposes and/or for storage of personal property interferes with the rights of others to use the areas for which they were intended. The purpose of this chapter is to maintain property in blight-free conditions to secure access for all members of the public to public property, and to ensure that public property is used for its intended purposes and remains accessible to all citizens and visitors to the unincorporated areas of the County.

(b) When large amounts of personal property are left unattended on public property throughout unincorporated areas of the County, it creates blight, obstructs the public rights-of-way, interferes with access to public property and to businesses, and thus negatively affects quality of life, and negatively affects the profitable operation of such businesses.

(Ord. No. 25-023, § 1, 11-18-25)

For purposes of this Division, the words and phrases defined herein shall be construed in accordance with the following definitions:

Abandoned Personal Property means unattended, but not stored, personal property that by its condition of damage, deterioration, disrepair, non-use, obsolescence, or location causes any reasonable person to conclude that the owner has permanently relinquished all right, title, claim and possession thereto. In determining whether property is abandoned, enforcement officers shall, erring on the side of caution, evaluate the facts and circumstances surrounding the item(s), including whether the personal property is unattended and lacks objective signs of abandonment. Examples of objective signs of abandonment include, but are not limited to, items located in gutters, placed adjacent to trash receptacles, an empty and/or broken tent sitting by itself on a sidewalk with no other belongings, or a bag of clothes that is open and strewn across a sidewalk.

Camp means to pitch or occupy camp facilities, to use any public property, as defined herein, for living accommodation or habitation purposes such as sleeping activities, or making preparations to sleep, including the laying down of bedding for purposes of sleeping, or to use or store camp paraphernalia for purposes of living accommodation or habitation purposes.

Camp Facilities include, but are not limited to, tents, huts or other temporary shelters of any kind, extra clothing, personal hygiene items, and/or shopping carts, strollers, wheeled suitcases or similar mobile containers used to transport and/or store other camp paraphernalia items.

Camp Paraphernalia includes, but is not limited to, tarpaulins, umbrellas, cots, beds, bedding, sleeping bags, hammocks, cooking facilities, kitchen utensils, camping stoves, portable barbeques and similar equipment, extra clothing, personal hygiene items, and/or shopping carts, strollers, wheeled suitcases or similar mobile containers used to transport and/or store other items of camp paraphernalia.

Encampment means a temporary living area established by individuals. These areas often feature built structures and personal belongings, in addition to camp paraphernalia, and can be a source of public health and safety concerns. An encampment encompasses the definition of camp but applies to more than one individual pitching or occupying camp facilities on public property.

Enforcement officer is defined in Section 1-1-40.2(d).

Essential personal property means tents, tarpaulins, bedding, blankets, sleeping bags, bicycles, trailers, carts, clothing, identification, medical papers or devices, medications, personal items (e.g., photographs and documents) and items necessary to acquire assistance for, or achieve, instrumental activities of daily living. Essential personal property does not include any items intended for commercial purposes, such as items, consumable or otherwise, for sale, trade, barter, or in consideration of donations.

Non-Essential Personal Property means all items other than essential personal property.

Personal Property means any tangible property other than land that may be subject to ownership. Personal property includes essential and non-essential personal property.

Public Property means and includes, but is not limited to, any street, sidewalk, building, grounds, lot, parcel, open space area, park, plaza, or parking lot owned, operated and/or maintained by the County.

Public Street means and includes, but is not limited to, any street, road, highway, alley, sidewalk, parkway, bridge, culvert, drain, and other such facilities owned, operated, and/or maintained by the County.

Sidewalk means the portion of the public right-of-way between the curb line of any County owned, operated and/or maintained street, road, highway, bicycle lane, or other thoroughfare designed for vehicular travel, and the adjacent property line, whether or not that area is paved.

Store means to put aside or accumulate for use when needed, to put for safekeeping, to place or leave in a location. Stored personal property does not include abandoned personal property.

Stored Personal Property means personal property, other than abandoned personal property, that is accompanied by signs of ownership, such as packing, stacking, or organizing.

Unattended means no person is present with the personal property who asserts or claims ownership of the personal property.

(Ord. No. 25-023, § 1, 11-18-25)

Unless authorized by permit or other applicable law, it is unlawful:

(a) To construct, place, or maintain on public property any semi-permanent structure, including but not limited to hand-built sheds and structures with metal or other heavy roofing and siding materials, for the purpose of sheltering one or more persons.

(b) To camp on public property, including but not limited to using, placing or maintaining a tent, sleeping bag, blanket, or other materials for the purpose of sleeping, lying, or sheltering one or more persons in the same location. For purposes of this section, the same location shall mean within five hundred (500) feet of the location in which the person camped on the previous day or night.

(c) To camp within five hundred (500) feet of any posted notice to vacate or other official signage designating a location for encampment clearance or otherwise prohibiting sitting, sleeping, lying, camping, or placing personal property in that location.

(d) To sit, sleep, lie, or camp on any public street, road, bike path, public parking lot, restricted area, or on any sidewalk.

(e) To store any non-essential personal property on any Public Property or on any sidewalk in a manner that impedes passage within the meaning of the American Disabilities Act.

1. It shall not be a violation of subsection (e) to: (1) store property in accordance with a County issued permit; (2) store property as part of activities expressly authorized by the County; (3) store property for authorized County, public utility, or government agency purposes.

(Ord. No. 25-023, § 1, 11-18-25)

(a) Any violations of the provisions of this Division are unlawful and subject to the enforcement remedies pursuant to Sections 1-1-34 through 1-1-39 and 1-1-40, et seq. of this Code and any other means provided by law.

(Ord. No. 25-023, § 1, 11-18-25)

If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Division is held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed severable and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have adopted this article irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof and intends that the invalid portions should be severed, and the balance of the article be enforced.

(Ord. No. 25-023, § 1, 11-18-25)