San Francisco parking controversy by Lake Merced

SAN FRANCISCO - A group of people who live in their vehicles are calling on San Francisco leaders to help them find a new place to park and stay long term, but the SFMTA wants to enforce a four-hour time limit on parking near Lake Merced.

Rows of RVs are parked on Winston Drive and Lake Merced, and some of the people who live in those RVs held a rally there on Tuesday to discuss their situation. 

The Coalition on Homelessness estimates there are hundreds of people who live in this unofficial RV community. As many as 100 families live here.

For the past year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has been trying to implement a plan to enforce a four-hour time limit for parking in this area and tow vehicles in violation of that. 

The enforcement of that plan's been delayed several times. The people living here say they've received notices that July 2 is when a contractor will start repaving work, and that they will have to leave. 

They're calling on city leaders to help them find a new, designated parking site for them to stay in their RVs long-term.

"People were promised by our supervisor they were going to find a place to park," said Flo Kelly, a volunteer for the homeless coalition. "Maybe here. Maybe there. Oh, we can't really tell you." 

Speaking partially in Spanish, Arleen Arostenguis said that he and others keep their streets clean.

"We're not dirty," she said. "Our main ask is to have a safe parking site." 

An 11-year-old named Hazel said she has been living with her family in an RV in this spot for four years, describing a very stressful situation.

"People…think we're bad because we live in RVs," she said. "My mom and my dad had to work a lot to get the stuff we needed."

SFMTA responded, saying that the timeline to enforce the four-hour parking rule is still not set.

A spokeswoman explained that the pavement contractor will post temporary tow-away notices on Winston in advance of the roadwork and remove any vehicles that aren’t moved voluntarily. 

"Of course we want to (and will) give everyone as much advance notice of that action as we can," she said. 

It's not clear if the SFMTA will lift the four-hour rule when the roadwork is completed.