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On Saturday, San Francisco’s new ban on RV parking went into effect. Under the new rules, which were passed by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors over the summer, RVs and other large vehicles cannot be parked in one spot in the city for more than two hours. Those in violation of these rules could get cited or towed.
There is an exception: people living in their RVs can apply for a temporary permit from the city to continue parking, and if approved, they receive a sticker to put on their vehicle allowing them to continue parking for another six months.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors and San Francisco’s mayor say the new rule is necessary to clean up city streets and to get the people living in RVs into housing.
But advocates for the unhoused in the city say that even as of this weekend, they encountered people living in RVs who were unaware of the new rule and had not had a chance to apply for a permit.
Jennifer Friedenbach, the executive director of San Francisco’s Coalition on Homelessness, said that her organization has concerns that people who have their vehicles towed will face significant financial burdens in retrieving their towed vehicles.
“The folks who lose their RVs, most of them will end up on the streets,” Friedenbach said.
San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management told NBC Bay Area that as of October 31, it had issued 299 temporary permits to RV residents.
“The permit is a transition tool and only prevents enforcement of the two-hour parking limit—it does not waive other parking or vehicle requirements, including operability,” a spokesperson with the Department of Emergency Management said, adding that for residents who cannot move their large vehicles, case managers can help them with other options such as vehicle buy-back.
NBC Bay Area spoke with several people living in RVs along Lake Merced Boulevard, who each said they were aware of the new rules. Many, but not all of the RVs parked along that stretch of road had received temporary permit stickers.
“The new policy has some good and bad points,” said Joe, who declined to share his last name, who lives in an RV in San Francisco.
Joe was able to get his RV approved for a temporary permit. He thinks the new rules will help the city to crack down on RV dwellers who are not taking care of their trash of abiding by the rules.
But Joe also said he sees some problems with the new rules.
“Overall, the policy is basically unenforceable,” he said. “They simply don’t have the resources to find homes for several thousand families.”
The Coalition on Homelessness said there are still few options for people in RVs when it comes to housing, especially considering there are hundreds of people already on the city’s shelter waitlists. Advocates are urging the city to establish safe parking sites for RVs and to consider the consequences of towing someone’s home.
“We are calling on the city of San Francisco to not tow one RV when the household in that RV does not have a place to call home,” Friedenbach said.
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