Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss has introduced legislation to expand services for people living in vehicles while limiting unpermitted motorhomes and travel trailers to two hours of parking on city streets.
Strauss’s legislation, called the Vehicle Resident Assistance Program (VRAP), would direct $5 million toward services for vehicle residents, create a new vehicle storage program for people entering shelter or housing, and establish a vehicle permitting system for people living in motorhomes and travel trailers.
“One out of every four people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in our region is living in their vehicle,” Strauss said in a recent newsletter. “Right now, the City of Seattle does not have a comprehensive strategy to help them build pathways to shelter and housing. We also know that our city’s current approach to RVs is not working.”
There are several aspects of Strauss’s VRAP legislation:
- Investing in new services: Directs $5 million to increase safe lots, vehicle storage, direct outreach, and to create pathways to housing for vehicle residents.
- Shelter storage: Allows residents to store their vehicles while they access shelter and housing. Strauss says this would change existing practices that “often put people’s vehicles, which are often their last possessions, at risk when they enter shelter or housing.”
- Faster access to resources: Expands the Finance and Administrative Services director’s authority to help vehicle residents access services such as housing, safe lots, and storage more quickly.
- Stronger support and regulation for motorhomes: Provides clearer rules for people who live in vehicles on city streets while also creating a better pathway to shelter and housing. Strauss said this piece of the legislation closely mirrors programs that are already operating in San Francisco and Lacey, WA. Under this proposal:
- People in need who are engaged in services, follow existing laws, and comply with basic rules will receive a Vehicle Resident Assistant Permit allowing them to continue living in their motorhomes and travel trailers on city streets while they wait for appropriate shelter or housing.
- Motorhomes and travel trailers without a permit will be limited to parking on city streets for two hours at a time and would prohibit unpermitted motorhomes and travel trailers from parking on city streets between midnight and 6 a.m.
- Updates “junk vehicle” laws: Adds clarity to the city’s Junk Vehicle Law, which Strauss says hasn’t been updated in 25 years. This would better address abandoned or inappropriately stored vehicles on Seattle streets and provide better guidance for parking enforcement officers.
Jen Manlief, Vehicle Resident Programs Manager at Vehicle Resident Outreach, said the organization has worked with people living in vehicles since 2011 and has seen growing demand for assistance.
“There is far more need than outreach workers currently have capacity to address, and this legislation is a strong step in the right direction to provide the resources needed to help vehicle residents stay safe and legal while they’re in their vehicle, and move toward more stable situations,” Manlief said.
The legislative package is scheduled for discussion by the City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 9:30 a.m. A committee vote is anticipated in mid-September.
“This 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,” Strauss said.
Ballard-area residents may remember a previous city-funded safe parking program in Interbay. Salmon Bay Village opened in December 2023 at 3435 15th Ave. W., just south of the Ballard Bridge, with 10 tiny homes and space for up to 30 RVs. The site was operated by the Low Income Housing Institute on a temporary basis before making way for Pickle at the Palms, the indoor pickleball facility now being developed on the property.
Photo: Google Image Capture Sept. 2025 / NW Leary Way near 14th Ave NW