A settlement agreement finalized this month, borne out of a class-action lawsuit against the city of San Diego for ordinances that targeted unhoused people living in their vehicles, will see thousands of dollars in citations be forgiven, changes to enforcement of the ordinances and improvements to the city’s safe parking program. The 2017 lawsuit alleged that two policies, the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance, which prevented RV or large vehicle parking on city streets between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., and the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance, which prohibited people from living in their vehicles, violated the constitutional rights of otherwise law-abiding people with no other means of shelter. The ordinances resulted in fines, which could pile up and become untenable, and in some cases, the impounding of vehicles, leaving some people to sleep on the streets. The San Diego City Council approved the settlement in January, and U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia gave final approval to the agreement last week, ending seven years of negotiations. Under the agreement, the city will forgive all outstanding oversized vehicle tickets issued to class members and will not enforce the ordinances when the safe parking lots are unavailable due to capacity or are closed. It also allows vehicles that people are living in to be used for transportation to medical appointments, school, job interviews and other activities. The city will also pay $15,000 in damages to each of the nine named plaintiffs (two plaintiffs died during negotiations) while seven class representatives will each receive a $7,500 service reward. Michele Rice, 48, who is also homeless, puts a tarp over her car as she prepares to spend the night in it at a safe lot operated by Dreams for Change on May 23, 2019 in San Diego. The San Diego federal court will monitor the implementation of the agreement for three years. “Though this will not solve all of the issues that the homeless face, it will give some much-needed relief to those of us who need it the most,” Penny Helms, a named plaintiff, said in a news release from non-profit legal group Disability Rights Advocates. The agreement requires that the city make substantial investments — up to $900,000 — into a popular safe parking lot in Mission Valley, which would include the addition of water and electrical hook-ups for up to 40 RVs, showers, flush toilets and lighting. The city must also allocate up to $850,000 this year for the safe parking program. “As a participant in the safe parking program, I am really looking forward to the improvements to the Mission Valley lot,” Helms said in the release. Housed people take amenities like electricity, running water and showers for granted, she said. “For those of us living in vehicles — nothing, not even our safety — is taken for granted,” she added. Earlier this year, attorney Ann Menasche said in a joint statement with the city attorney’s office that the agreement “will allow the city to continue regulating parking without punishing people whose only shelter is their vehicle.” In an interview with the Union-Tribune Wednesday, Menasche called the settlement “groundbreaking” for homeless people who rely on their vehicles for shelter. “People will not be punished for circumstances outside their control,” Menasche said. Even before the settlement had been reached, the vehicle habitation ordinance appeared to be on shaky legal ground. In 2018, after the lawsuit was filed, a federal judge repealed the vehicle habitation ordinance, ruling that it was too vague. But the following year, then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer signed a new, revised ordinance amid complaints about conditions in neighborhoods. In 2019, the city opened the Mission Valley safe parking lot on Mission Village Drive, which proved popular even with restricted hours; people would be forced to move their vehicles every morning. The city later expanded access to the lot to 24 hours. But Menasche noted that the lot is still “hard to get into.” Helms told the Union-Tribune in January that she had waited months to gain access. Still, Helms is grateful for the agreement and the opportunity for improved conditions. “This will not only improve our quality of life but also enable those who are able to work to be able to show up clean for interviews and jobs,” she said in the statement. “This is not a handout but a hand up while we work toward finding sustainable housing, which we all know is its own challenge.”