Hundreds of San Francisco RV residents could be at risk of getting towed as parking ban approaches

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — RVs parked on San Francisco streets for more than two hours could be towed starting Saturday.

“There is no place for us to go, and we didn’t do anything wrong. We are just trying to get our stuff together. We are not in a shelter or anything, but we are taking care of ourselves so,” said Edward, an RV resident.

In May, city workers drove around San Francisco and identified 489 RVs with people living in them.

That group automatically qualifies for a six-month extension, meaning they don’t have to move their RVs every two hours and are not at risk of getting towed but since then, many have appealed that they were left out and want the city to add them to the list.

“I have a bunch of moms and some single dads that were not counted in May and they don’t have the very limited things like a copy of a ticket or a mechanical receipt on their vehicle, but they do have enrollment in SFUSD of their children and the city is saying no, that is not good enough – that doesn’t prove that you are actually inside the vehicle sleeping,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, SF Coalition on Homelessness.

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As the two-hour parking limit approaches, the city is also finding housing for some of these residents.

“Yes, we moved in the first family last Friday and they were able to get successfully housed, and then we are going to do another one this coming up Friday and once we get everything moving we are going to try to do multiple families per week,” said Jason Dewes, Program Director for the Large Vehicle Program at Catholic Charities.

San Francisco is also offering to buy some of the RVs for $3,000 to $6,000.

“If they sign an agreement that they are open to doing this, they receive a thousand-dollar check, then the case worker starts working with them to find housing,” said Anne Stuhldreher, SF Tresure, Senior Advisor.

As multiple efforts continue, the city’s Department of Emergency Management confirms they haven’t given everyone they identified in May a sticker to avoid getting towed, saying that as of Tuesday “238 large vehicles have received permits and won’t be towed for violating the two-hour parking ban.”

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Meaning there are still 251 RV’s that qualify for the six-month extension but don’t have the stickers making them at risk of getting towed.

“They created a permitting process that is really difficult – it’s an online portal you have go through an application, you then have to show up at a random meeting and if they missed you and didn’t count you originally, they have limited proof that you can put in,” said Friedenbach.

The city received 94 appeals and 81 of those appeals have been approved. Thursday is the last day to submit an appeal.

RVs with permits are still subject to other parking requirements.

The last day to get a permit is Saturday – the day the ban goes into effect.