San Francisco Supervisors Reverse City's Controversial RV Parking Ban

Facing staunch opposition from advocates for people experiencing homelessness, San Francisco supervisors voted Tuesday to reverse course on a controversial citywide policy banning overnight parking for RVs.

Approved Oct. 1 by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, enforcement of the ban was intended to begin Nov. 1 but got delayed after advocates with the End Poverty Tows Coalition filed an appeal. The policy did not initially require approval from the Board of Supervisors.

The parking ban would have allowed SFMTA officials to tow oversized vehicles, like RVs — rather than just ticketing them — if inhabitants turn down offers of shelter or services. The 18-month pilot program would have been implemented on most city streets between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.

In its appeal, filed just days before the policy would have gone into effect, advocates with the End Poverty Tows Coalition argued it unjustly targeted unhoused residents. Supervisors Dean Preston, Hillary Ronen, Shamann Walton, Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safai signed on to the appeal.

Those supervisors, with the addition of Supervisors Connie Chan and Myrna Melgar, voted to reverse the SFMTA policy after hours of public comment urging them to do so.

The hearing marks the first time the board heard an appeal to an SFMTA decision since the city enacted a review process in 2018.

“An RV is often where people can get out of survival mode, take a breath, and have the mental and emotional capacity to focus on stabilizing and rebuilding their lives,” said Joy D’Ovidio, cofounder of the San Francisco-based nonprofit A Meal With Dignity. “We’ve all experienced the trauma of having a car towed — imagine having your home towed. We must be more compassionate than that.”

The board heard from dozens of San Francisco residents in support of reversing the ban, some of whom were currently or formerly living in their vehicles. Speakers pointed to the lack of shelter space and options for families living in RVs.

No members of the public spoke in support of the SFMTA policy during the hearing. But, in a presentation to the board defending the ban, officials from the SFMTA said it would have been used as a last resort to address health and safety issues for people living in their vehicles, as well as for neighboring residents and businesses.

The agency had planned to implement the policy at a rate of one or two city blocks per month, SFMTA Streets Division Director Viktoriya Wise said during the presentation.

“Until there is a clear indication of meaningful enforcement, such as having your vehicle towed, people don’t always want to accept shelter and our other services,” Wise said.

But Gabriel Medina, executive director of La Raza Community Resource Center who spoke on behalf of the End Poverty Tows Coalition, argued the ban would endanger people who live in their RVs — many of whom are disabled, undocumented, or survivors of domestic violence.

His organization has been involved in outreach with the Winston Drive RV community near Lake Merced. Families in that RV community were evicted earlier this summer after being shuffled around the area for years. Some were moved into long-term housing after the city threatened to tow their vehicles.

Instead, he said the city should invest in safe parking sites and ramp up community engagement to connect more people with housing opportunities. Though, previous attempts by the city to create safe parking sites have not gone smoothly. The city is set to close its only safe parking site for people living in their vehicles early next year.

“The requirement only for shelter, rather than housing, is inappropriate for this population. For every person in an RV offered a shelter bed, someone on the street loses out on that bed,” said Eleana Binder, who filed the appeal on behalf of the End Poverty Tows Coalition.

The controversial parking ban was first proposed in September by Mayor London Breed as part of her broader effort to crack down on homelessness in the city. Of the roughly 4,300 people who are unsheltered on San Francisco’s streets, about a third of them live in their vehicles, according to the city’s 2024 point-in-time count. However, for unsheltered families, that rate jumps to 90%.

Supervisors Joel Engardio, Rafael Mandelman and Matt Dorsey supported the proposal when it was announced and also voted against reversing the SFMTA policy at Tuesday’s meeting.

“This is not going to mean the mass displacement of RVs, but these are some tools to be sparingly used as necessary when nothing else is working,” Mandelman said. “I take staff at their word. That’s how they see it. I think they have constrained themselves quite a bit.”

Melgar, who worked with the Winston Drive RV community in her district, said the issue with the ban is that it would charge the SFMTA with tasks outside the scope of the department.

She said the city is not currently set up to support those living in RVs — especially families.

“Eventually, I will support the parking restrictions when we have a system to deal with it, which I don’t think we have today,” Melgar said.