Low-impact camping areas.

Assembly Member Ward, with coauthors Connolly, Ortega, and Rogers, advances a county‑based pathway for private‑property camping that creates a distinct regime for low‑impact camping areas and treats qualifying LICAs as outside the current special occupancy parks framework when a county enacts an authorization ordinance. The approach places local action at the center of regulation while preserving state‑level oversight through notification to the Department of Housing and Community Development. The bill also contemplates a collaborative enforcement structure that involves county registries, complaint programs, and platform accountability, and it integrates LICAs into the broader eviction framework used for special occupancy parks.

A low‑impact camping area is defined as private property that rents a temporary sleeping accommodation for recreational use and is not a commercial lodging facility. To qualify for exemption from the special occupancy park designation, LICAs must meet a set of criteria, including limits on nights and occupancy (not more than 14 consecutive nights per camper and 28 nights per calendar year per camper), a cap of nine accommodations with no more than four RVs concurrently, prohibition on permanent occupancy and on street parking, and compliance with applicable fire safety, tax and fee, waste disposal, trash management, and quiet hours requirements. Where local rules are silent, quiet hours default to 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.; LICAs must also comply with local zoning, lot size, and setback requirements, designate a 24/7 operator, and maintain minimum distances from residences and property lines. Counties authorizing LICAs must establish a registry and a complaint program, require LICAs to post permits or registrations, and inform the state agency of their authorization; online platforms must display the county name and a field for required licenses or permits and remove noncompliant listings within seven days of county notification.

Enforcement and governance rely on county authority augmented by state oversight, with eviction processes for LICAs mirroring those applied to special occupancy parks. Online hosting platforms face new listing obligations and a formal removal mechanism tied to county determinations of license validity or revocation, or when a listing is not authorized. The bill contemplates a state‑to‑local‑to‑platform regulatory chain, and it assigns platforms responsibilities to maintain up‑to‑date county information and to remove listings when notified by the authorizing county. The text does not specify an explicit appropriation, indicating that fiscal effects would arise from county administration, platform integration, and potential state oversight activities, rather than from a designated state funding line. In sum, the proposed framework creates a county‑authorized LICAs regime with precise occupancy, density, safety, and regulatory requirements, while preserving the existing eviction framework and requiring coordination among counties, the state, and online platforms.