San Francisco took its first step Tuesday in blanketing the city with a two-hour parking limit for large vehicles as part of a plan by Mayor Daniel Lurie to address vehicular homelessness and restore public spaces on city streets.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors voted 6–1 in approving parking code changes to create the Large Vehicle Refuge Permit program — a key component in Lurie’s plan to take action on enforcing large vehicles staying at a spot for more than two hours. Lurie’s proposal is at the Board of Supervisors and has support from Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Joel Engardio, Myrna Meglar, Stephen Sherill, and board President Rafael Mandelman.
Officials from the Mayor’s Office and Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) said Tuesday at the SFMTA board meeting that the permit program was a key component of the mayor’s plan that allows those living in vehicles to receive if a a temporary permit to be exempted from the two-hour parking rule if they are “actively engaged in services” or awaiting housing placement.
Permits would last for six months, but residents of RVs can apply for a six-month extension, especially if it takes longer to find housing.
Other qualifications to receive a permit include having lived in a vehicle since May 31. Eufern Pan, the assistant chief of Health, Homelessness and Family Services in the Mayor’s Office, said the Healthy Streets Operations team in May identified 437 large vehicles with people living in them.
HSH would identify those who qualify for the program, and then the SFMTA would issue RV residents a sticker to place on their vehicle.
Permits can be revoked if those living in large vehicles refuse an offer of a “noncongregate interim or permanent housing.” Once revoked, the large vehicles could be subject to citation and towing.
Dozens of people rallied on the steps of City Hall ahead of the SFMTA board meeting against the two-hour citywide parking changes and spoke out against the changes during public comment.
At the rally, Yessica Hernandez, a policy associate with Compass Family Services, said the two-hour limit will bring fear and instability to families who would constantly have to move under the two-hour parking limit.
“They need protection and a real opportunity to move into permanent housing, Hernandez said. “They need real solutions.”
Critics of the proposal also said there were not enough housing subsidies to give to those living in vehicles. The city has on hand 115 subsidies for families through its rapid rehousing subsidy program and 130 hotel vouchers. Pan said Lurie’s office is working on expanding the funding allocation for the rapid rehousing program during the current budget process.
Vice Chair Stephanie Cajina, who voted against creating the permit program, applauded the work of the mayor’s office but said there were “still too many outstanding things that need to land,” adding that it made her “uncomfortable” to approve the permit program.
If approved by supervisors, city officials said they plan to implement the two-hour parking restriction in the fall.