Ideas for spaces included a repurposed carpark or an unused building on either council or private land.
Council records show 83 people were known to be living in cars around the city, up from 53 in November last year.
In the past six months, the council received 151 calls from the public concerned about homeless people, including staff observations, a spokeswoman said.
Tauranga Housing Advocacy Trust lawyer Shard Loibl was on the advisory committee for the council's plans and said it was a "great idea" and should have gone ahead.
Many of those sleeping in cars were waiting for the Ministry of Social Development to get them into emergency housing as nothing was available or suitable, he said.
A mobile team to check in on people sleeping in cars is an idea being explored. Photo / File
He said cars and tents were broken into and the space was still needed for safety.
Loibl said the mobile team would be essential as car sleepers were "very vulnerable" and many got fined as most of their cars did not have freedom camping stickers or an up-to-date Warrant of Fitness or registration.
He said the Peoples Project helped by giving clients stickers so they wouldn't get ticketed, but many didn't know about this.
Council community services manager Gareth Wallis said it "proved difficult" to find the right spot for homeless people to park.
"There are increased risks with co-locating a range of people at one site, who in addition to being homeless, may also be experiencing a range of complex health and social issues."
Instead, staff were working with social service providers to see if they can create a localised mobile team to check in on people's welfare.
Wallis said they were in the early stages of looking into this and a delivery date was not confirmed.
He said their priority was to ensure the most vulnerable residents were kept safe and they were working quickly on the idea.
Wallis said the council issues freedom camping infringements but the bylaw was not used to penalise people who are "genuinely homeless".
"If we are aware of an individual or family sleeping rough we will not issue an infringement, but rather connect them with the right support agencies."
Tauranga homeless advocate Heidi Tidmarsh supported the idea of a mobile team but it would "take a lot" to establish a level of trust with those who were homeless.
Tauranga City Council community services general manager Gareth Wallis. Photo / File
Tidmarsh said she spent a lot of time "helping patch up women because they don't want to go to the police".
"There's a lot of domestic violence going on with the couples because they're living in a very strained environment."
This was the kind of thing the mobile support would be helpful for, she said.
She was pleased the idea of a designated area had been dropped given the high range of social and mental issues.
"I find sometimes when you get people in a group that have a lot of social issues, you create a lot more problems than it's worth."
Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Mike Bryant. Photo / File
MSD's regional commissioner Mike Bryant said it did "not operate waitlists for people in need of emergency housing".
"Living in a tent or a car is not suitable housing and we would be very concerned to hear about anyone in this situation.
He said they worked closely with local housing advocates and the council who contact MSD if they came across someone who was homeless or where there is a housing emergency situation.
Anyone in need of housing is encouraged to immediately get in touch with their nearest MSD service centre.
