Parking problems exist through out South City

Parking problems don’t seem to be isolated to just one neighborhood as we have heard many times on our Facebook page.

Would this work in your neighborhood?
Photo; LMU

As much talking as we’ve done, there doesn’t seem to be an easy fix to it either. This discussion was brought up again as South City added a new resident who was wanting to know the rules of the road.  While there was no clear way on how to deal with this issue, it did provide a place for frustrated neighbors to share what has, or hasn’t worked for them. This also gives some insight on how our neighbors see this ongoing problem.

Please add to the conversation with your comments; how do you deal with parking issues on your block?

• OK new South City neighbor Scott Poggenburg has a question that many of us also are forced to deal with…. How do you handle excessive cars parked on your block? Do you have neighbors parking on areas not designated for cars like lawns and sidewalks? This edited post is from Scott – let’s share what we have found that works.
  

  As a new resident in South San Francisco..I have a million $ question. Is there a limit to the number of vehicles at one residence?..Where I live I know for a fact that one neighbor has 11 cars and another 6 (that’s just counting the ones I know about). At night, there are cars on lawns and every place else. Any thoughts?

John Cain I have problems with parking too. For some reason I have a guy running a business and his employee’s park all over, taking up the parking. How can this be legal?

Rose Chang Chiu I don’t think it is. So law-abiding citizen, me, decided to let the city know that I’m starting a home based business in my house selling scrapbooking materials. They told me that it was not allowed because that meant customers would be coming to my house and parking on my street and that UPS would be making deliveries. I could only hope for that much business…

John Cain Now that sounds like BS, not like you’re having employees parking all over the place. Where do u draw the line. I don’t agree with that one.

Marisa Tamburini Meier I agree, John. If the business requires Work trucks, and employee parking you need to rent commercial space. When did South San Francisco zone these residences for commercial use?

Dianna Erdesz Armanino John Cain, I have the same problem!! The guy runs a town car business and had the nerve to ask if we can take our fence down so he could park a limo between our homes!!

Dino Fontana Wow.. that’s ballzy..

Nadine Moreno I’d look into the laws regarding running a commercial business in a residential home. There may be regulations that are meant to prevent that.

John Cain The nerve of some people. Take your fence down. Yeah! I will get right on that…..Sounds like the guy down on Miller Ave.

Jennifer Faria I live in here in South City and it’s the same issue with a man running a town car/taxi business and I called the South City Police Station and they confirmed they aren’t allowed to have their business vehicles in a residential area. I believe after 72 hours they can be towed. You can call the Police Department and ask.

Mary Vance Yes they can be towed but people know how to avoid that by moving their cars around. This is what is happening around where I work. Car storage!

Marisa Tamburini Meier You have got to be kidding

George Bernal We have the same problem on our block we have an apartment building that must rent by the room At least 30 cars for one building it sucks.

Michele Ferrario Burbano I don’t think it is legal to park cars you use for your business at your residence. We have a neighbor who runs a business but she is not allowed to park her cars at her home.

Louie Dynes SSF has always had parking issue.. get used to it..that’s how you deal with it..

Marisa Tamburini Meier I pray for good health for you. God forbid you are ever disabled. I promise your attitude will change. just sayin

Cynthia Arias where I live.. parking issues all the TIME!!! I hate it!

Jim Kamariotis 1/650/829/3939. SSF police abandon car line. Cars cannot park longer than 72 hours in same spot. Call that number after. 72 hours police will come out ant tag vehicle to move.

Janel M Chrestenson Pearson That’s a problem pretty much everywhere. One car driveways force more street parking. Some streets have very little parking since the driveways are so close together. Most people have 2 cars. Most neighborhoods can’t even handle a 2 car household.

Muriel Pleasic Peninger I do not think they r allowed to park on lawns. I never knew of people having that many cars,lol. must be rich. r they all registered? if their registered, I don’t think there’s a law. It’s a public street. if they move them every five days they r not breaking the law. do u have a driveway? They’re not blocking your drive r they? no law broken if not. We were fortunate on our street. Most of us had no more than three.lol. and all of us were good to each other. sorry for u.

Julie Bettencourt Cliff check the muni code. also, excessive car parking can be considered a public or private nuisance if it interferes with the use or quiet enjoyment of your home or is unsightly

Sharon Kay Gustilo Meyer I live on Hillside where we can only park on one side of street. It doesn’t help that my neighbors on both sides have at least 5 cars each (one even has a 15 passenger van) and they have a tendency of parking in the street and leaving their driveways empty. I’ve asked politely if they can maybe leave one spot open… NOPE! Called the cops and there is nothing we can do unless the car is parked for 72 hours or more…*there is nothing we can do.

Alejandra Cano Have the same issue, We have a neighbor that lives across the street and runs a limo business with his friend. I live on a corner so we have a lot of parking and the neighbor directly across from us has a huge fence with more parking, and this guy always parks his limos right in front of my house. We also have a car that has been in front of the house for a few weeks now and no one has claimed it. Called the cops, but they haven’t had it towed. It gets pretty annoying, esp when family comes over. John Cain I’m sure you can feel my pain on this, we also get people parked right by the house getting their groove on, not the thing I want to see when I come home at night.

Hikey Luna I am a SSF home owner resident and I have car parking issues. I have a neighbor who rent illegally and has at the most 9 cars out on the street. In addition I have another house that has 6 cars. My block lost so messy with cars. There so bold they like to park in front of my drive way late night and move the car around 4am. So I’ve complained to SSF PD. They said to call 650-877-8900 ask them to transfer you to abandon cars. If the car stays more then 2 -3 days you can call them they will go over give them a green warning label if the car doesn’t get moved the next day they will ticket it the car and tow it. The more you do it the more they get it. I personally believe SSF should have those permit parking stickers like SF

Mary Vance I live near a permit parking only neighborhood in SSF. Near Avalon Park. Any car without a permit sticker can get ticketed. I have seen it happen after only 1 day. If a strange car is parked in front of a house, you call and they come out and ticket it. I’m sure there is some kind of limit to the cars one can register also.

Kevin Maffei Give Craig Lustenberger a call at SFFPD Code Enforcement.

John Cain Alejandra! Yeah, I have heard about that, as you know we get that up here too. If people want to run a business then go to the industrial parts of town, not the residential neighborhoods.

Raquel Cordon-Curtis Look to see if the tags are up to date, if not , call in the police vehicle abandonment department, there good at keeping non op junk cars off our streets.

Rosalba Barajas That happens in Daly city too my neighbors has 6 to 8 cars the problem is that they doesn’t use the cars

Cindy Langley There is a lot you can do you just have to be on top of it. Call 8778900 ask them all your questions

Danyah Baliu That’s the price of living in an apartment. You either have a house with a garage/driveway or an apartment with hopefully a parking space. If you don’t have either, then that’s just how it is. Get used to it.

Gene Lovins THAT’S LIFE IN A CROWDED CITY – WE ARE NOTAS CROWDED – BUT WHEN THE NEIGHBORS HAVE A PARTY- GOOD LUCK ON FINDING A PARKING SPOT FOR COMPANY THAT IS CLOSE- AND NOT DOWN HALF A BLOCK IN FRONT OF SOMEONE ELSES HOUSE IF THEY HAVE COMPANY–LOL

Dawn Sotelo I had the same problem, had a neighbor who lived on the other end of the block that ran a painting business out of their home. They had five large vans and would park in front of our house and across the street. Called the police and city, talked to very nice woman, found out if it is a commercial vehicle they cannot park on a residential street for more than 2 hours. But the catch is the vehicle must be registered to a business. This guy had them registered as personal.

Sheryl Lopez-Farragher People in homes who have 5-6 cars each make it hard for homeowners with 2 or 3 cars ,(Parents and child each with a car) although we only have 2 cars. It’s just a part of the culture unfortunately, so many people living in one dwelling. It does suck big time!

Jose Chavez 3 inch nails, orchard supply hardware

Solo Taumoepeau hahahha! Jose while all these folks are crying.. you know whets up!.. lol.

Cynthia Arias @Hickey luna I also wish we had permit stickers like SF!!! I really think we need it in our area!!!

Angelique Presidente Permit stickers do NOT work! We have them in our SSF area and people still have 11 cars – and they only enforce the stickers when u call repeatedly. Now, if they actually followed through and enforced the vehicle limits each dwelling is allowed, that might be more efficient.

Cenizo A. Rodriguez Try to live @ railroad, now that’s a drama.

Claude Thompson Hilti cordless , 1 1/4 drywall screws in the sidewall…. A method I have employed for nuisance neighbors…

Solo Taumoepeau Claude – u crazy…. guess I am too cuz that’s how I’d deal with it.. LOL

Marisa Tamburini Meier lol Claude. I also considered going to the shooting range and picking up spent shells which I could then strategically place in the parking space I would like to keep.

Jim Chazer It’s hard to complain about families with kids and the kids each have a car.

But I have a real problem with multiple families living in a single-family dwelling. And I hate homeowners that build “in-law” apartments in the backyard and/or garage. Is that legal? Is there a way to contact the city and have them check it out?

Marisa Tamburini Meier EXACTLY Jim.. I’ve noticed that the homes with multiple cars also have garages that are either converted or FULL of Stuff. We only have a one car garage – but it sure as heck has a car parked in it – rather than on the street.

Anna Lee Johnson wow wouldn’t that bring down the value of these neighborhoods and it looks so bad too I believe there are laws to help get rid of the junk if there are that many people in one house that’s another story

Gustavo Romeo Jimenez Just Deal with it !!!!

Everything South City Gustavo Romeo Jimenez How do you ‘deal with it’ when there is no parking in front of your home – or anywhere for a block or more? We’ve had people complain they come home with kids/groceries/etc and can’t park in front of, or near their home. How do you deal with that? (serious question…) thanks.

Bob Padilla Get white shoe polish the liquid kind, cover all the windows a few times it will get better the polish washes off butt take a little effort and makes a mess , it will change

Melissa Stieren Scott I would think the cars parked on the lawn would get towed or at least ticketed??

Jackie Moreno People really complain about that? Oh gosh.

Jenn Haug had two other houses near mine (next door and across the street down one) who had 5 or 6 cars each, and despite us (all) having two car garages/driveways, I could never park in front of my house. They and their guests typically would use 2 spaces to park their small car in the middle of. I would have to park nearly half a block away to be near my house. The best part was that other neighbors and I talked about the nuisance, and stated to the people their cars could get scratched by other people who think those people who park their cars that way are rude. It got the rude people talking and then they found out how unpopular they were and of how rude other people though they were. It changed only then. I admit it took a long while and an entire street of pissed off people to stink eye them.

Marisa Tamburini Meier Unfortunately, I feel you got lucky. My parent’s Other neighbor did something similar, and was caught on video. She was sued.

Jenn Haug we didn’t need to go there, scratching up the cars, we let them know that a space that holds two cars ie Cadillac sized cars (parallel parked) should hold more than one Honda. My neighbor and I also would park on either end of these losers (on either end of the Honda and across our own driveway), as would the other neighbors in their own drive ways. Imagine when these loser told us it’s illegal to park across driveways, and we advised it is our own driveway thus no complaint would be filed, they tried to then advise it’s not right we did that. They called the police and tried to get us ticketed, despite they could get out. The police were ready to tow my car as I stood there, I asked to what address did the complaint come from and to what address is the car registered. The police then became aware of parking Wars, and advised the losers to be courteous. Following this BS they still hogged parking spaces so we parked even closer so they could not get out… they had to wait till one of us left. The losers usually wouldn’t ask us to move as they had ignored us when we asked them. If they did ask it was when another person came to our house, they would not come to our door. Then one day a few of them parked nicely, and so did we… bliss after… was it tough love or tough shit mentality?

Angelica Flores next to my parents we had a group of guys living in an apartment and they would buy and flip cars all the time not to mention the daily cars they drove and at one point they had 12 cars. If they don’t move the car after 3 days we would call the non emergent number, and they would give them a notice and they had 3 days to move it. But they would only replace it with another car. Super frustrating!!

Marisa Tamburini Meier I understand your frustration.

•  JoAnn Willis We have cars parked on the lawn, on corners, in the walk area to the house, and all over the street. Cars are supposed to be moved every 72 hrs. and not block corners. The worst offenders are the home care givers with vans parked on corners so you can’t see oncoming traffic. People with R.V.’s and boats are also offenders. I have called the police many times and they do come to ticket some.

•  Anna DeMarco Tholl When you move out of CA this is no longer a problem lol

Vaughn Leslie Hyndman The problem I have in my neighborhood is not the number of cars. Most of the cars for several blocks all park on the sidewalks instead of next to them. ( my guess is to protect them from getting hit by buses etc) so this forces people who walk in the area to walk in the street! This is very dangerous to those with handicaps and strollers and so flipping RUDE. It sucks to see all these people who obviously care more about their cars than people

Everything South City Thanks Vaughn Leslie Hyndman for bringing up this issue – that was the next one on our list – as Joey Preston comments below – that is why Orange Ave became 1-way.

Jim Chazer I grew up in San Francisco. When I moved to the suburbs I noticed that some curbs were squared off (like I was used to in the City) but some were rounded. Since cars parked half on the sidewalk where there were rounded curbs, I just assumed that was WHY they rounded the curbs…because they knew the streets were too narrow and wanted people to park on the sidewalk.

•  Joey Preston That’s why the city made Orange Ave one-way. Cars on the sidewalk.

Solo Taumoepeau CRY BABIES ! CALL THE WAHMMBULANCE…. or teach your neighbors a lesson. PERIOD…

Marisa Tamburini Meier Anger and revenge fuel the fire. This is a problem with the city that needs to be addressed.

Solo Taumoepeau of course. but there are tactful ways to combat this problem. crying on facebook isn’t one of them. I have had problems with neighbors in the past. & I have been civil with them on all issues. Key is being proactive, assertive humble & kind. Voicing your problems with your neighbor on Facebook is for the birds. GO to your neighbor & work it out ! If not. there are steps to be proactive to solve the issue.

•  Maria Cristina Morales-Hernandez Our street is narrow and we have no choice but to park halfway on the sidewalk. If we don’t do that there would be no room for cars to drive on the street, even if we made it a one way street.

Frank Poncherello I’m in Winston Manor, an area with decent parking. I don’t care if people park in front of my house — it’s a public street and, thanks to good public transportation, our family of four manages with just one car.

What DOES grate me are people who feel the need to cross lanes and park facing the wrong direction. It’s so freaking tacky and shows laziness on the part of the driver. Can’t you take the extra 10 seconds to flip around in a driveway and face the direction of traffic? Most cities ticket for this sort of thing — back right wheel is more than 18 inches from curb.

•  Mary Vance Sidewalk parking is so annoying. There is no need for it on the streets I see.

Laura Michaelis I live on Grand, the apartments 3 doors down and the duplex next door and across the street don’t just take up all the parking, but have people honking their horns and yelling for people to come out to the vehicles all hours of the day and night. We have 3 off street spots, but the neighbors think our driveway is a pick up drop off zone and will block the driveway all the time. I started taking photos of the cars, the occupants and send them to the landlord with dates and times.

Marisa Tamburini Meier Yes, the noise and lack of consideration is outrageous

Jim Chazer SO rude!

•  Marisa Tamburini Meier Frank – My 87 year old dad parked in front of his house every day for 59 years. Day after they moved in, neighbor across street snatched his space. Dad ( who has ketosis and can’t stand straight – has handicap plaque) left a note said he needs to par…See More

Moserod OSe I am not sure who to call, but I have seen blue handicap parking on a couple of streets. perhaps you might be able to get this done by the city for your dad.

Marisa Tamburini Meier Thanks, Moserod BUT this brings Up Another Concern About South San Francisco. There are so many homes that have been converted to “nursing homes”. One two houses down from selfish new neighbors. There is not enough parking for their visitors. My father considered having his curb painted blue; but then people from the nursing home would also have all rights to park directly in front of my parent’s home. For the post about whitening the windows – be very careful. Good neighbor to right conspired with my dad to “block” the jerk into the spot that he snatched. Dad parked behind kid, neighbor parked in front of kid, overlapping my dad’s driveway. (my car was in driveway). Cops were called. COPS FREAKING SIDED WITH THE FREAKING RUDE KID ACROSS THE STREET. THEY WERE VERY UPSET that the neighbor blocked our driveway. I told cops I gave him permission, because there was no other place to park his car – since my Dad had to use the place neighbor typically parked in. I told the cops they needed to back off, and talk to the kid. When the kid comes and introduces himself to my dad and they can talk and make parking arrangements, we will release the car block. But they threatened the neighbor, too and neighbor caved in. Never did get an apology or a conversation about parking arrangements.

•  Alexandra Carolina Munoz I THINK IS THE CITY JOB TO SOLVE THIS BY BUILDING A PARKING LOT LIKE THE ONE IN THE SFO AT A SHORT RADIOUS AND HAVE A VIGILANT AND CHARGE A SMALL FEE TO THE RESIDENCE AND TAX DEDUCTIBLE. ..just an opinion..

Danielle Revives Call the Public Health and Safety Department. They are more likely to get things taken care of over any other department. Also, don’t know if this was posted or not but here are the municipal codes regarding parking, etc.  Here is the SSF Parking Municipal Codes

Anita Porpoise Go up to Mandalay on the mountain, their parking spaces are all marked off. SSF doesn’t care about the long time residents. I live a block up from Grand, where there are a block of apts on both sides of the street. So the people in apts on Mission Road and Grand park on our block. I have a corner house and one car, and rarely can park in front of my house. Four of my neighbors block the street in front of their houses with recycling containers 24/7. So on recycling day, I had to leave and left the recycle bins in front of my driveway. That evening my neighbor moved them in front of my house, so that I would have a parking space in front of my house. So when I came home, I pulled up in front of my driveway and got out to move the recycle containers so that I could park. Before I could get back into the car, a woman in a BMW drove up the cross street and backed up to take the space. I got in the car and blew the horn and took the space. She actually thought that I moved the containers so she could park? Best part on the other side of my driveway, there was space for two cars. But she drove away.

Christina Barnett Haas When SSF was established back in 1908 folks didn’t have cars obviously then when they first came round families were lucky to own 1 car let alone 2 or more. Times have changed we all have to get along and coexist! My feeling is if it’s not your street try NOT to park on it unless you live there or are visiting someone that does. Be respectful plain and simple! Plus we already have that new huge parking garage on Miller plus the few small ones around. Maybe let folks that live closest to them park for free as things are so expansive in this day and age. Or at minimum only charge a discounted rate!

Everything South City Just an fyi, did you know that those neighbors who live in the downtown area have to pay for monthly parking permits to park in front of their homes because the whole area is metered or paid lots.

Louie Dynes It’s like beating a dead horse

Kevin Cronin You beat dead horses?

Terrie Moreland I walk everyday and there are cars that park on the sidewalk even by our house so I got passed one day and stopped the meter maid guy and gave him the address and he went up and gave a ticket. It was as easy as that.

Everything South City It is like it starts a trend when one neighbor does it  seems others follow that example and do likewise. Frustrating. {ksw}