San Francisco, CA - Today, Mayor London N. Breed announced a proposed City law that will give homeless outreach workers a new tool to get people to accept shelter, housing, and services being offered to those living in oversized vehicles, including recreational vehicles (RVs) on all San Francisco streets. The legislation will ensure City streets are used for the purpose for which they were designed-transportation-rather than serving as unofficial parcels for inhabited oversized vehicles.

Supervisors Joel Engardio, Catherine Stefani, Rafael Mandelman, and Matt Dorsey are in support of the proposed legislation.

Under the San Francisco Transportation Code, current regulation exists prohibiting overnight parking by oversized vehicles on certain streets but not all. The proposed legislation will make overnight parking by inhabited RVs a towable offense between midnight and 6 a.m., but only if an offer of shelter, housing, and/or services are rejected. Current overnight parking restrictions will continue to exist on already approved streets.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) and City agencies regularly offer RV dwellers services and referrals to alternative housing, including offers of shelter, housing, public benefits, and health services. Services are offered on a case-by-case basis based on need, but include:

• Paying for the repair and relocation of RVs, including paying for the rent and fees at an RV park of their choice
• Access to shelter
• Rapid rehousing vouchers, permanent supportive housing, and hotel vouchers
• Relocation services, including utilizing the Journey Home program

As an example of this work, since June, HSH has helped 50 households move from vehicles on Winston Road and Zoo Road and into long-term housing, in addition to conducting outreach to RV dwellers across San Francisco. However, despite several efforts to connect some households to services, offers by homeless outreach workers have been continuously turned down. Given the pending towing, households on Zoo Road were more inclined to accept offers. Today's legislation will apply that same approach citywide.

"San Francisco is a compassionate City that will always lead with offers for housing and shelter, and other supportive services, but we must enforce our laws to ensure that our streets are safe, livable, and accessible to everyone," said Mayor Breed. "Since the Grants Pass decision granted us the authority to resume enforcing local laws on our streets, our message has been clear: accepting our help is not just an option, it is the option. If someone is offered housing, shelter, and support but turns us down, they cannot remain on the streets. Today's legislation will allow us to apply the same principle to people living in RVs."

"Large RVs cannot be allowed to permanently take up multiple parking spaces, because the lack of parking turnover denies access to residents and visitors. A functioning city needs streets that function. Residents are frustrated because they pay tickets if their car is a few inches over a line, while the RV in front of their house gets to stay indefinitely. Some of the RV dwellers near the ocean have dumped piles of debris in the street while engaging in antisocial and illegal behavior that makes residents afraid to walk in their neighborhood," said Supervisor Joel Engardio who represents the Sunset neighborhoods on the Westside. "It is reasonable to tow an RV if an offer of shelter is refused. We cannot accept RVs as a long-term solution to our housing crisis. I support building more affordable housing in my district for formerly unhoused people - including those who currently live in RVs. We can provide shelter and permanent homes for people without accepting an anything goes approach on our streets."

"As we work to keep our streets safe and accessible for everyone, this legislation strikes the right balance between compassion and accountability," said Supervisor Catherine Stefani. "San Francisco will continue to provide housing and services to those in need, while mitigating health and safety risks on our streets. By giving City agencies this necessary tool, we can protect our neighborhoods while ensuring support for our most vulnerable residents."

"I strongly support Mayor Breed's proposal. San Francisco should be doing everything we reasonably can to help unhoused households resolve their homelessness, but it is not reasonable or fair to impacted neighborhoods to allow our public spaces to be converted into campgrounds," said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. "That is true of encampments on our sidewalks and in our parks, and it is true of RVs on our streets. We can and should offer shelter and services to unhoused households, but we simply cannot allow people to live in RVs on our streets indefinitely."

"Allowing RVs and other oversized vehicles to serve as makeshift housing is creating too many safety concerns and public nuisances," said Supervisor Matt Dorsey. "Mayor Breed's proposal strikes the right balance by ensuring that those living in vehicles are offered shelter or housing options, while disallowing a practice that needs to end. Our goal should be to connect unhoused residents to appropriate services while maintaining safe and clean streets. I think the Mayor's approach will accomplish that."

San Francisco has long faced challenges with on-street parking of RVs such as trailers, motorhomes, and campers. Existing policy makes it illegal to live in a vehicle on City streets. RVs parked on streets can present public safety and public health hazards, including impaired sight lines for road users and illegal dumping of garbage and waste matter on sidewalks and streets. In some districts, limited available on-street parking is decreased further due to oversize vehicles being stored on streets.

The legislation, which the SFMTA Board of Directors will take up on Tuesday October 1, would be implemented and enforced by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) in collaboration with the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).

"City workers are out on the streets every day offering shelter and housing to people living in recreational vehicles. This legislation will allow for parking enforcement if and when all of those offers have been refused," said Jeff Tumlin, SFMTA Director of Transportation. "The number of RVs on City streets is causing a variety of problems. We're hearing from small businesses in industrial parts of the City that they're struggling to get their deliveries because all the parking spaces are taken up with RVs. And residents in some neighborhoods are finding the sidewalks in front of their homes blocked by garbage and human waste. We have to do better."

Mayor Breed's Homelessness Response

Since taking office in 2018, Mayor Breed has significantly expanded and improved San Francisco's homelessness response system, leading to the number of people living on the streets to reach the lowest level in at least 10 years. Under her leadership, San Francisco has expanded shelter beds by over 70%, increased housing slots for formerly homeless individuals by over 50%, and added 400 behavioral health treatment beds.

In the last year, San Francisco has helped over 5,200 people exit homelessness, provided shelter to nearly 10,000 people, and over 8,200 people have accessed prevention support like rental assistance to keep them from falling into homelessness in the first place.

"The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is committed to continuing to provide outreach to people struggling with homelessness and living in their vehicles", said Shireen McSpadden executive director of HSH. "We will use the shelter, housing and financial assistance available to us to move people out of vehicles and into a safe and dignified housing options."

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