> would it not bother you if someone simply stood next to your van all night, even if they did so motionless and quietly?
No. I also wouldn't mind if they stood by the water fountain (assuming I could access it). Before anyone calls BS, I didn't mind when folks parked in front of my house[s] on a public street, either. When they blocked or parked in my driveway I did mind because I could not enter/exit. I asked those folks to move to a non-blocking spot.
> Homeowners don't have that option; they have a natural interest in defending "social creep" from coming in.
They removed that option from themselves voluntarily when they bought an expensive, stationary asset. To me the issue is not that they have natural (or self-created) interests, it's whether they should have the right to leverage the power of the state (local codes, law enforcement) to advance those interests.
> We both are effectively saying the same thing, in similar circumstances: "Of all the places you chose to exist, why you gotta do it right next to me?"
Vandwellers deal with this by leaving the unpleasant situation. Homeowners have restricted their own mobility and then expect others to acquiesce. A good explanation of how/why this works is found in The Homevoter Hypothesis.
> Most people would be fine with RVs parked on the street if homeless people didn't ruin it by peeing on everything and trashing the place
I'm making the opposite point; they would be hostile to RVers even if they were completely law-abiding. The "health and safety" cries are fig leaves to cover their fear, xenophobia, and greed.
Homevoters are hostile to any real or imagined threat to their investment. They lobby/annoy the local municipality and law enforcement into actions the homevoters believe shores up their home values. That is effectively rent-seeking behavior in the sense Adam Smith referred to rent.
The most obnoxious part of it is that home values are only realized when the property is sold. So in effect the homevoters are saying "get rid of these transients because I am planning to leave." Not to mention the willingness of homeowners to devalue their own property to skirt taxation.
It's a game played by the wealthy to protect their own interests.