SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — For about 12 years, Charles Rawson has been living in his motorhome full-time.
The inside is fully equipped with a stove, a bed, a couch, and his 13-year-old dog Misty.
Rawson likes his lifestyle. The 81-year-old says he cannot afford an apartment or home in San Diego.
Rawson spends the majority of his time parked at Shorline Park in Shelter Island, but soon many of the designated parking spots he uses will be gone.
On Tuesday, the Board of Board of Port Commissioners updated parking regulations to redefine the term "oversized vehicle."
The amendment also means 17 oversized vehicle parking spaces within Shoreline Park will be converted to regular parking spaces due to access, placement, and maintenance issues.
In a statement, the Port said, "The use of these spaces has resulted in significant damage to landscaping and curbs."
The changes come after an increase in van camping in the area.
"The word got out, I guess," said Rawson, referring to the increase in Sprinter vans he has seen in Shelter Island, which says started when the pandemic hit.
The Port says it "has received numerous public complaints regarding the dumping of human waste and trash in parks, on public landscaping, on streets and in parking lots, and these complaints have been on the increase" since more vans began using the park to camp overnight.
However, Rawson says people who live in vans full-time like him take care of the space, but will still be impacted by the amendment.
“Not one person that I know who lives in a place is a bum that trashes places," said Rawson.
During Tuesday's meeting several people advocated for the ability to camp in oversized vehicles overnight, siting a housing scarcity as the problem.
The changes prohibit oversized vehicles greater than 20-feet long or 7-feet wide or 7.5-feet tall from standing, stopping or parking on Port tidelands where posted, except in designated oversized vehicle parking spaces, with some exceptions for commercial and service vehicles.
Previously, restrictions only applied to length, not height and width as well.
The 24-hour lots on Shelter Island will also see new time restrictions implemented.
The changes are expected to go into effect on May 12 and new signs and some parking space stripes and markings will be installed in affected areas.
