City Delays Parking Restrictions Near SF State, Offering Brief Reprieve to RV Community

Dozens of families living in RVs and cars in a quiet westside San Francisco neighborhood got a momentary reprieve this week after the city delayed its plans to implement parking restrictions in the area until some point in 2024.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency had initially intended to implement the new four-hour parking rules on Tuesday, which will eventually drive out many of the more than 100 people currently living in their vehicles on Winston Drive and Buckingham Way, behind Stonestown Galleria. The agency has not yet determined when the new restrictions will go into effect.

“We are concerned that the ticketing and towing would destabilize the families, push them further into homelessness and into street homelessness and just disrupt their lives and ability to work and create a life for themselves and their families,” said Eleana Binder, policy manager for GLIDEsf, a local nonprofit that has been advocating for housing alternatives and other resources for families living in RVs in the vicinity.

When the new rules go into effect, parking between Lake Merced Boulevard and Buckingham Way will be limited to four hours on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The changes were approved in September by the SFMTA board to open up more parking for staff and students at nearby San Francisco State University and make way for a traffic improvement project.

When the new rules go into effect, any vehicles in violation will receive a $92 ticket, according to the agency, which noted that it offers payment plans for tickets, community service alternatives, and discounts for people experiencing homelessness.

“I hope that the timeline will continue to be pushed back until there can be solutions for everyone, whether it’s housing or safe parking, then housing,” Binder said. “I really hope that we can get there.”

Joshua Hernandez, 21, who has lived with his girlfriend in their RV in the area since they were priced out of nearby Daly City earlier this year, said it would be almost impossible to move his vehicle every four hours because he works full-time as a plumber and she is in school

“Being a plumber is a good career, but it’s a hard one. With an RV, we are investing this money on something you know will be better for your future, like college,” Hernandez said. “We aren’t asking for a fancy place, just a place where we can park our trucks, stay safe and go to work.”

The city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing has been trying for multiple years to secure housing placements and vouchers for people living in their vehicles in the area. Still, demand has continued to far outstrip the city’s limited supply of subsidized housing options. And many people here said they’d prefer to continue living in their own RVs than moving temporarily to overcrowded shelters.

From spring to early November of this year, 24 households living in their vehicles in this area had been moved into housing, according to HSH data, and 30 were in the housing placement process. At least 18 are still in the process of securing a subsidy and housing provider, according to Emily Cohen, a spokesperson for the agency.

Until recently, the city was also looking for two nearby lots to convert into safe parking sites for RVs, similar to several other sites it opened during the pandemic — including one in the Bayview neighborhood.

But neither of the sites has yet been secured, said Supervisor Myrna Melgar, whose district includes the nearby Lake Merced and SF State communities.

“We are still desperately looking but are not near any kind of lease arrangement,” Jennifer Fieber, Melgar’s legislative aide, said in an email to KQED.

“Since I took office, my goal has been to find a solution for the sad situation of the many families living in their vehicles near Lake Merced,” Melgar said in a separate email. “Every family deserves a safe, stable housing solution.”

Nearby Lot 25, on the SF State campus, had been considered a potential site but is no longer an option because the campus plans to use it for its own housing project, a spokesperson for the university said.

“Despite assessing dozens of sites over the past two years, we have been unable to identify a suitable property for this service,” added Cohen from HSH. But she said the city is still actively looking for potential sites nearby.

“We are not giving up on the goal of opening a westside safe parking program and are actively assessing two possible sites for suitability,” she said.