Palo Alto Car Camping Ban Won't Be “Actively” Enforced

There's a ban on "camping" in your automobile in Palo Alto, but fret not: your weekend getaway is still A-OK, as police don't plan to "actively enforce" the ban, according to reports.

Unless your neighbors turn you in.

Complaints and a "robust" effort to "bring known vehicle dwellers up to speed" with the ban will precede any enforcement, the Palo Alto Daily News reported.

Palo Alto is by repute the lone Santa Clara County city without a ban on living in cars on its books, the newspaper reported.

Police can tow cars that have remained in the same spot for longer than 72 hours, and can also tow cars that are more than 18 inches away from a curb when parked, the newspaper reported.

Since July 2011, the city council has been working on a ban on vehicle habitation, the newspaper reported. The law, not in effect yet, would be enforced two months after it goes into effect in the aforementioned manner.

Of late, "more and more car campers" have been parking their homes at the Cubberly Community Center, which has become a "de facto homeless shelter," the newspaper reported.

No word on alternate services or an alternate location for those living out of their automobiles was provided.