Last spring, the Mountain View City Council directed staff to begin working on a citywide prohibition on parking for vehicles more than 6 or 7 feet tall. In September of 2019, the City Council passed a sweeping ban that would close off most streets in the city to "oversized vehicles." City officials claimed the new ordinance was all about traffic safety measure, but the action was widely seen as an effort to push the hundreds of people living in RVs and trailers out of the city.

The Mountain View Housing Justice Coalition and Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America, already involved in acting on behalf of underhoused people, got down to business. They began circulating a petition to hold a referendum on the council's decision in order to take that decision to the voters.

Two days before Christmas, many RV dwellers got news that brought hope that they might be able to keep their mobile homes in the city, where most of the adult RV dwellers are employed. Officials with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters announced that the referendum petition had successfully collected enough signatures to overturn the vehicle ban. If the council wishes to try again to enact a ban they must go to the voters. The earliest election for this would be November 2020. Meanwhile the default situation is no ban on recreational vehicles parked curbside in this city on the San Francisco Peninsula.

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