San Jose says unpermitted RV parking site on VTA property violates multiple codes
By CBS Bay Area
The City of San Jose says an RV parking area, on Santa Clara VTA property near a city-sanctioned RV safe parking lot on the same site, is operating illegally and violates multiple city codes.
About three months ago, Issa Ajlouny, president of the nonprofit advocacy group SAFER San Jose, began noticing several RVs and cars parked in the east lot at the VTA Santa Teresa Station in South San Jose.
“They decided to open up their own safe parking site without following any rules,” Ajlouny, who has been living in South San Jose for the past 50 years, told CBS News Bay Area.
“VTA should stick with the business of transit, and then all of a sudden [they’re] in the business of opening up their own safe parking site, which I think is bad for them,” he said.
In 2023, VTA and the City of San Jose opened a Safe Parking Site on the west lot of the Santa Teresa station. More than 40 RV spots and vehicle spaces have been opened for unhoused persons. Santa Clara-based nonprofit LifeMoves, which places people experiencing homelessness in interim housing, operates the site.
The LifeMoves RV parking site on the west side is clearly gated off and displays private property signs. Not so on the east side.
“On this [west] side, right over here, we have picnic tables and plenty of restrooms. They come in here with showers and all sorts of things and programs to help them get out of the situation they’re in,” Ajlouny said. “On this side, they just dumped them here, and there’s nothing there.”
In the east lot, VTA and the nonprofit community group Amigos de Guadalupe entered into an agreement for that part of the site in 2024. But the City of San Jose says the site is unpermitted.
CBS News Bay Area reached out to VTA for comment, and a spokesperson said they executed an amended license to allow for seven safe parking stalls, five RVs, five personal vehicles, and space.
“As a general matter, VTA is not subject to local building and zoning ordinances for its own governmental projects,” a spokesperson told CBS News Bay Area. “Any license or lease of VTA property requires the licensee or lessee to obtain any required permits. VTA received notice of a code violation for the site and is working with our City and County Partners to resolve.”
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said the city only became aware of this recently, prompting code enforcement to conduct an inspection in December.
“This just wasn’t a site we were aware of; it didn’t go through a city process,” the mayor told CBS News Bay Area. “There was no community meeting, there was no city permitting. That was VTA land, and I don’t know, I think in this case the county and VTA came to some sort of arrangement. We can’t just have a new one pop up, and the neighbors don’t know about it.”
Mahan added that the city’s goal is to always offer safe and dignified housing alternatives.
“The truth is, we have offered them housing and an RV buyback at least three times now, over the last few months,” Mahan said. “These are folks who have originated from the Columbus Park, where we have offered everyone private individual interim housing.”
He added, “This is undermining the neighbors’ trust in our processes and our solutions, because we have a well-run site that did have community buy-in.”
Meanwhile, Ajlouny hopes VTA and county leaders will find an alternative solution, saying that safety for his community is a top priority.
“The county is responsible for fixing this. And the county is hiding right now,” Ajlouny said. “Treating them like this and having them live in these conditions is wrong.”
CBS News Bay Area reached out to Amigos de Guadalupe for comment and has not yet heard back. Additionally, we reached out to county leaders, and they said they are unavailable for comment.
VTA has until January 31st to bring the property back to compliance. It is unclear as of yet what that means for the RVs and cars parked in the east lot right now.
