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Committee advances amendments to Safe Overnight Parking pilot, including police-code carve-out and reporting requirements
Summary
Supervisors agreed to forward amendments to the Safe Overnight Parking pilot that carve out licensed participants from vehicle-habitation penalties and require HSH six-month tracking and a joint controller/HSH report after one year; the sponsor cited a 17% homelessness increase in the 2019 point-in-time count.
The Land Use & Transportation Committee on Monday forwarded amendments to a pilot for Safe Overnight Parking and a related vehicle navigation triage center, approving changes intended to protect program participants and mandate program evaluation.
Sponsor Supervisor Brown, joined by cosponsors, described the package of amendments. She said the ordinance would create a carve-out in the police code so people licensed to park and sleep at a Safe Overnight Parking lot or vehicle navigation triage center "shall not be subject to the penalty set forth in section 98 of this article 1.1 while using or accompanying their vehicles for human habitation," provided the use occurs on the licensed premises. The sponsor also asked HSH to track and evaluate the pilot every six months and required a joint controller/HSH report to the Board after one year with a recommendation on whether to continue the pilot.
Supervisor Brown cited the 2019 point-in-time count, saying San Francisco's homelessness population increased by 17% and that much of the increase was driven by people living in cars and RVs. Public comment included speakers who criticized the city’s broader housing policies and others who supported protecting people living in vehicles; Sonia Trauss called criminalizing vehicle habitation "inhumane and shocking."
The committee accepted the sponsor’s amendments without objection and forwarded the amended file to the full board with a positive recommendation. The transcript does not record a numerical roll-call tally; the committee took the action "without objection."
