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Board advances citywide park hours ordinance after hours-long debate
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved on first reading an ordinance to set citywide park hours from 5 a.m. to midnight, with neighborhood exceptions and added reporting and enforcement provisions after heated debate over impacts on homeless residents and enforcement capacity.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to approve on first reading an ordinance establishing uniform citywide park hours of 5 a.m. to midnight, with carve-outs for specific plazas and flexibility for the Recreation and Park Commission to set different hours when warranted.
Supporters said the measure aims to reduce vandalism and illegal dumping that Rec and Park staff say occur overnight; opponents said it would criminalize people who shelter in parks and exacerbate displacement without addressing enforcement or housing shortages.
The measure’s sponsor, Supervisor Scott Wiener, told the Board the ordinance responds to repeated vandalism and illegal dumping. Wiener said Rec and Park staff “leave work and everything is fine and return at 6 a.m. or so, and things are trashed,” and argued San Francisco was an outlier among large cities in lacking a codified baseline for park hours. He added the ordinance includes exceptions for streets and adjacent sidewalks that cross…
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