San Francisco RVs to get towed for parking on certain streets, SFMTA rules

( KRON ) — The SFMTA Board of Directors voted in favor of banning large recreational vehicles from parking on certain streets. Residents in San Francisco living in RVs and trailers will now face having their homes towed if they don’t accept shelter and services.

SFMTA approved Mayor London Breed’s new homelessness policy with a 6-1 vote on Tuesday night. The new rule bans RVs from parking overnight between midnight at 6 a.m. on streets with dedicated posted signs.

Before, officers could only tow RVs if they had a warrant. Now, if someone refuses shelter, they will be towed under the updated policy.

KRON4 spoke with a resident who did not wish to go on camera. She said her previous home was sold by her landlord and that other rents are too high, so she’s been living in an RV for six months near Lake Merced.

“I’m especially afraid of getting our RV taken away and then paying that towing fine,” she said. “So long as we keep the area clean and we’re able to move to where we need to move, then I don’t think they should be out here harassing us every other day.”

This resident is among dozens of others living in trailers at Lake Merced, with residents telling KRON4 that many of them have full-time jobs and think there is another solution.

“Helping all these people out to get a place for their RV and having a low monthly payment will be helpful,” the resident told KRON4.

The Coalition on Homelessness agrees with her, telling KRON4 they are “angry” and “devastated” with this new policy.

“(The SFMTA is) making folks give up the only monetary asset they have for temporary shelter when offering no long-term solutions — and again — not investing in the infrastructure,” Lukas Illa, a Human Rights Organizer for the Coalition on Homelessness, told KRON4.”If we had five safe parking sites, that would be a completely different story… We have one,” he added.

Before the ban goes into effect, SFMTA said they will post flyers and install signs on streets that will be impacted.

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