Unhoused San Francisco RV Families Return to Winston Drive After Zoo Road Eviction

Several families residing in RVs near San Francisco’s Lake Merced Park have returned to an area they previously inhabited on Winston Drive after city officials began trying to boot them from a road adjacent to the San Francisco Zoo late last week. Many of those families had moved to Zoo Road just the week prior — after having been cleared from Winston Drive.

This latest shuffle follows several years of unsuccessful attempts to find a safe parking space or other housing for dozens of immigrant families living in cars and RVs on Winston Drive behind Stonestown Galleria.

“Evicting these families before they have secured housing is not only inhumane but counterproductive,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, in a statement. “We urge the city to take down the tow-away signs [on Zoo Road] and halt the eviction to ensure that these families can transition into long term housing without unnecessary trauma.”

Earlier this year, San Francisco began enforcing four-hour parking restrictions along Winston Drive. Families were recently told they could park at the Zoo Road site, near the Pomeroy Recreation & Rehabilitation Center, when parking enforcement began. However, the city also began receiving complaints about the RVs in the new location.

City officials issued notices to vacate Zoo Road late last week. Then, on Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency posted signs warning that the RVs would be towed if not removed before midnight, causing residents to scramble and move yet again. Now, dozens of RVs line Lake Merced Boulevard near Winston Drive.

“They have had no sleep, they’re stressed out, they’re scared, and they’re traumatized from all of what they have been experiencing. They’re being pushed from one place to another,” said Yessica Hernandez, a housing justice organizer with the Coalition on Homelessness.

The city offered housing to some of the families living on Zoo Road, advocates said. Around 20 households agreed to the city’s housing offers, which range from shelter beds to subsidies on rent.

However, while the housing applications are processed, the city’s order to vacate Zoo Road remains, concerning residents who don’t know where to go in the interim.

Advocates are also concerned that the latest enforcement has split up the tight-knit community of families at Zoo Road, which are made up of majority Latino, non-English speaking immigrants and their children. Outreach workers with La Raza Community Resource Center previously told KQED that they estimate about 50 children live in the community.

Advocates say the back and forth and threats of towing, eviction or fines have made it increasingly difficult for the families to move forward.

“This is a community of families who are working but can’t afford to pay rent in San Francisco, and they are looking for some help from the city to find the stability that they need,” Hernandez said.