San Jose moves to expand enforcement, in‑house outreach and tracking for lived‑in vehicles; police plan neighborhood quality unit

San Jose officials on May 12 described a suite of enforcement and outreach changes aimed at reducing impacts from lived‑in vehicles and encampments, while attempting to coordinate offers of shelter and diversion to services.

Transportation staff said the city’s ALA/OLIV program has targeted roughly 20 sites so far and is seeing a high rate of voluntary vehicle removal; staff reported about 12 towings to date. City leaders proposed expanding the program next year to another 50 sites and adding enhanced enforcement for single‑vehicle “one‑off” locations through a manager’s budget addendum (MBA No. 4) that would also pilot stricter checks of expired vehicle registration and street‑sweeping compliance.

Assistant City Manager Lee Wilcox and Director of Transportation John Risto described the enhanced enforcement proposal as a two‑part approach: continued, targeted posting and clean‑up at large clusters (the ALA cadence of temporary tow‑away signs) and a new enforcement stream to address small clusters and one‑off vehicles that are not on the program’s scheduled list. Risto said the city’s early experience shows many vehicles move voluntarily after a one‑week notice; when tows occur they have been relatively few so far. Staff…