San Jose rewrites encampment sweep rules (+ 516 miles paved)

San Jose
City Council Meeting
March 3, 2026

TL;DR

• Personal Property Impound SOP for encampment sweeps revised 11-0: minimum storage drops from 90 days to 30 (14 for bulk items), with a 72-hour response promise and city delivery to a location of the owner's choosing.
• Measure T paving outperforming plan: 516 miles paved against an original 420-mile target, with 163 more to come. $14.5M in unallocated reserves remain.
• City's first Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan adopted: 19 measures, 62 strategies, 5 hazards led by flooding.
• Sewer rate audit accepted with 6 recommendations on rate model assumptions, reserve policies, and transparency. ESD signed on to all of them.
• $2.5M asphalt paving purchase order approved with Wattis Construction, plus six one-year extension options through 2033.

What happened

1. New rules for property taken during encampment sweeps, approved 11-0
   1. Council approved a revised Personal Property Impound Standard Operating Procedure for encampment abatements. The motion, from Councilmember Campos, also delegates authority to the City Manager to amend the SOP administratively going forward (in coordination with the City Attorney's Office) and directs staff to return to the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee in June 2026 with an implementation update.
   2. What this means for you: Minimum storage time for personal belongings collected during a sweep drops from 90 days to 30 days. Bulk items, anything that won't fit in a covered 60-gallon container, get a 14-day minimum. The list of items staff will store now explicitly includes government ID, medications, eyeglasses, tents in good shape, operable bikes, medical equipment, and photos. Biohazards, perishables, gas cans, propane, and contraband are not stored. If you call about stored property, the city says it will respond within 72 hours and deliver belongings to a location of your choosing within San Jose. Today, fewer than 10% of people whose property is impounded come to reclaim it. The SOP does not cover property inside vehicles or RVs; that falls under a separate state vehicle code process.
2. Measure T paving: 516 miles done against 420 planned
   1. Council accepted the Measure T Community Oversight Committee's annual report for fiscal year 2024-2025 on a motion from Councilmember Kamei. Through June 30, 2025, the city has spent $455 million of the $650 million bond, with 80% going to traffic and public safety. The remaining $209 million in bonds was issued in July 2025 and will show up in next year's report. Committee chair Nicholas Cochran recommended council establish a rank-ordered priority for the three remaining public safety projects still in design (the 911 call center upgrades, which were recently awarded; Fire Station 36; and Police Administration Building upgrades) in case the $14.5 million in unallocated reserves runs short. Fire Station 23 remains land-only, with neither design nor construction money identified.
   2. What this means for you: Paving is running well past the original plan. Public Works Director Matt Loesch told council Fire Station 36 will go out to bid later in 2026 with completion expected in 2027. A more detailed Measure T update memo is coming to council on March 24.
3. City's first Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan adopted
   1. On a motion from Councilmember Doan, council adopted the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan and approved folding it into annual Climate Smart updates. The plan was funded by a $650,000 state grant the city received in late 2023 and developed with consultant Ramey and Associates. It covers 5 hazards (flooding, drought, wildfire smoke and events, sea level rise and storm surge, and extreme heat) and lays out 19 measures with 62 implementation strategies across four categories: knowledge, governance and policy, structural, and communications.
   2. What this means for you: The vulnerability assessment identifies flooding as the most impactful hazard to San Jose's infrastructure and population, followed by extreme heat and sea level rise. Sea level rise risk is concentrated in the northern part of the city. Currently funded implementation work includes turning the Roseville Community Center into a climate resilience hub, sub-regional shoreline adaptation planning, and reducing water demand or increasing non-potable water sources.
   3. Sewer rate audit accepted, 6 recommendations on the books
      1. Council accepted the City Auditor's sewer rate setting audit on a motion from Vice Mayor Foley. The audit found ESD's rate model complies with state Clean Water State Revolving Fund requirements (confirmed in 2014), but flagged that a 2015 consultant study found the strength of wastewater reaching the regional facility didn't match what the rate model assumes. ESD has since hired a consultant to begin field sampling. The three audit findings: review rate model assumptions, develop formal reserve policies for the sewer fund, and improve transparency around how rates are set and how industrial users are billed. ESD Director Jeff Provenzano said the department supports all 6 recommendations.
      2. What this means for you: Sewer rates fund sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment, and are based on the volume and pollutant strength of a customer's wastewater. Changes from this audit could affect how those rates get set in future cycles. No rate change was on the table at this meeting.
   4. $2.5M asphalt paving purchase order approved
      1. Council approved a $2,500,000 not-to-exceed purchase order with Wattis Construction Co., Inc. for asphalt paving services from March 3, 2026 through March 2, 2027, plus a $250,000 contingency and up to six one-year extension options running through March 2, 2033. This was part of the consent calendar, approved 11-0.
      2. What this means for you: This is the city's contract vehicle for asphalt paving work over the next year, with extension options to keep Wattis in place through 2033 if council appropriates funds each year.

What residents brought up

• Item 3.4 drew most of the public comment in this meeting. Eight residents spoke.
  • A representative of the Unhoused Response Group cited a Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and Reel Coalition letter sent to councilmembers, and said only 8% of reasonable accommodations were approved and only 6% of impounded property was recovered by owners. The speaker called for a civilian review board to oversee both the RA process and the property SOP, and asked the city to stop sweeps with no prior outreach.
  • A representative of SOS (Survivors of the Street), who said she lived in vehicles and shelters for 10 years before getting housing, asked council to halt sweeps and instead expand permanent supportive housing, open a navigation center, and meet with advocates at the Thursday lunches on the 17th floor.
  • A representative of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) said that during the Columbus Park sweep, the only person she saw retain their belongings was someone who had been arrested; otherwise people were either given a two-bag limit or had all belongings discarded if they weren't present. She asked council to delay the upcoming April sweeps until the policy is revised with input from people with lived experience and a civilian review board is established.

Also happened

• Council adopted Resolution RES2026-55 revising Council Policy 1-18, the Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program Policy, with new guidelines on cost recovery, ratepayer impacts, reserves, and annual review.
• The consultant agreement with DST Consulting Services for Housing Department grant and contract management was increased by $100,000, from $715,000 to $815,000 (RES2026-57).
• Council appointed Aric Johnson (Management Employees) and Jaime Fonseca (AFSCME Local 101) to the Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee for four-year terms ending March 1, 2030.
• Council approved the Bay FC Flag Raising on March 9, 2026 as a Council-sponsored special event for International Women's Day, sponsored by Council District 2.
• Council recognized March 2026 as Women's History Month and Youth Arts Month, and commended CityTeam Mayfair for over 40 years of service in East San Jose, including a food pantry that supported families 4,100 times and served 616 unique households last year.
• During Open Forum, a resident requested council create a day of recognition for victims of crime in San Jose.

For any updates or corrections, please email steven@polisdesk.com