RV residents, advocates urge supervisors to halt Bayview Vehicle Triage Center closure ahead of Feb. 14 impound date

Several RV residents and advocates told the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28 that the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center (VTC) is slated to close on Feb. 14 and that local law enforcement may impound vehicles at the site, leaving dozens of people without shelter.

The most urgent claims came from remote caller Ramona Maayan, who said the site's residents were told sheriffs would arrive on Feb. 14 and that "someone is going to impound our RVs." Maayan told the board there are "35 people out here in a high state of panic" and asked the supervisors to place the closure on a public agenda so residents and the department could explain why notice and a hearing had not been provided. She cited California Vehicle Code section 22650(b), saying vehicle removal constitutes a seizure that should be reasonable and that residents should be given a pre-seizure hearing where required.

An in-person speaker, whose comments were delivered through an interpreter, said she has lived at the VTC for two and a half years and requested a 90-day extension to repair her RV because repairs had been delayed for more than two years. The speaker said she had not been provided sign-language interpretation despite repeated requests, and that the site's conditions and delays had created discrimination and hardship.

Kelly Hughes, who identified herself as an RV resident and wheelchair user, said city departments had failed to make the VTC ADA-compliant and that her reasonable-accommodation requests were ignored until a HUD investigation prompted the department to hire an ADA consultant. Hughes said she and another resident received reasonable-accommodation approvals on Oct. 7 but that repairs started and then stopped, leaving her RV with a partially installed windshield and interior water damage. "Nobody out there is being housed. All their reasonable accommodations are being denied," Hughes said, and asked the board to accept into the record documentation she offered.

Advocates also described the site's condition and urged the board to reconsider or delay the planned closure. Aaron Wilson, an advocate and one of the owners of trailers at the triage center, said the city had invested more than $15 million to establish the Bayview VTC and that closing the site now would push 30-plus RVs back onto the street. Wilson asked the board and the mayor's office to intervene to stop or pause the closure.

Officials at the meeting did not provide a timeline for reversing the decision; the board's clerk acknowledged three pending ADA accommodation requests connected to the meeting and accepted documents offered by commenters for the public record.

What speakers asked for: a public hearing and notice before services or a facility are limited or closed; a 90-day extension for repairs for residents who requested it; clarity about any planned impoundment of vehicles and assurances of due process in removal; and immediate attention to ADA compliance issues raised by HUD's active inquiry.

Authorities cited by commenters included California Vehicle Code section 22650(b), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and an ongoing HUD investigation referenced by speakers. Residents and advocates repeatedly asked the board to use its oversight authority to delay the closure and ensure relocations would not violate residents' legal rights.

ACTIONS: No formal board action on the VTC closure was recorded during the Jan. 28 meeting. Multiple speakers asked supervisors to place the closure on an agenda for formal consideration and to seek a stay or reversal of the closure decision.