Ready or Not, San Francisco to Begin Enforcement of Latest RV Ban

Hundreds of RV dwellers across San Francisco could be ticketed or towed if they do not move their vehicles every two hours beginning Nov. 1, when the city’s new parking enforcement goes into effect.

Mayor Daniel Lurie signed legislation for the new parking restrictions in July as part of a wider effort to clear streets of RVs, tents and homeless encampments. But many people living in vehicles and homeless advocates have tried to delay enforcement, saying it will put intense pressure and financial strain on extremely low-income residents while dispersing RVs across the city. Right now, many are clustered in the Bayview neighborhood.

“They say they’re leading with compassion, but to me, they’re actually starting from a punitive standpoint to basically evict everybody in RVs and trailers from the city,” said Zach Bollinger, who lives in an RV near Lake Merced.

Leading up to the enforcement deadline, the city started a permitting process for people who live in RVs, allowing them to park without being subject to the two-hour parking limit. City officials said 270 permits have been issued so far.

To obtain the six-month permit, which includes a blue sticker that must be affixed to the back of the vehicle, RV owners must agree to participate in case management and connect with housing services. To qualify for a permit, a person or family must have lived in their vehicle as of May 31, 2025. They can request another six-month extension for their permit if the city is unable to offer them housing before it expires.

“The vast majority of people here are really interested in receiving an apartment or house,” said Bollinger, who has lived in his RV since 2017.

But some people living in RVs are now scrambling to obtain a permit, including those who say they weren’t part of the city’s tally of 451 inhabited vehicles earlier this year, Mission Local reports.

“The baseline census was taken in May, but those living in an RV in San Francisco prior to that census can submit accepted forms of documentation in an appeal process through October 30 to be granted a permit,” Deborah Bouck, communications manager for the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, said in an email on the 30th when asked about RV residents who were not counted in the city’s earlier survey.

The city does not have enough housing for all of the residents living in cars and RVs. In the latest budget cycle, the city allocated funding for 65 additional housing vouchers specifically for RV families looking to move out of their vehicles, and is now in the process of moving those families into their new homes.

As of Oct. 30, just one family had been moved out of an RV and into housing. Bouck said that should increase once the parking enforcement begins.

Meanwhile, the city said it will be offering single adults with RV permits housing vouchers, non-congregate shelter beds and permanent supportive housing units. So far, many have largely been offered temporary shelter, said Bollinger, who works as a rideshare driver and photographer.

For him, the RV offers more independence and privacy than a shelter.

“In order to receive our permits, we also have to sign up to receive services like shelter or housing,” he said. “The cost of living is really high. You know, moving for street sweeping, having to find places to fill and dump tanks, dispose of garbage, that kind of stuff sucks to do. But I have a lot less worries about having to make the bills.”

About 9% of the city’s unhoused population lives in vehicles, according to 2024 federal data. While a small portion of the homeless population overall, the number of people living in vehicles increased 37% from 2022 to 2024.

Families are disproportionately affected by the RV ban. The city’s 2024 Point-in-Time count found about 130 unsheltered families in the city, and 90% of those families lived in vehicles.

District 10, which includes the Bayview neighborhood, saw the largest increase in unsheltered homelessness between 2022 and 2024, largely due to an increase in people living in vehicles. There, local supervisor Shamann Walton and other community leaders have pushed for a safe parking site for families living in RVs. The city walked back a plan to keep a pandemic-era parking site open, sending many families to other streets with parking restrictions and often a lack of water hook-ups or sanitation services. Today, the city has no active safe parking programs.

Besides the Bayview, the city’s west side, where Bollinger frequently parks, had the second-highest portion of homeless residents living in vehicles.

City officials have gone back and forth over how to handle lines of RVs in residential areas, which increased after the coronavirus pandemic. In 2024, former Mayor London Breed similarly attempted to impose an RV ban, then reversed course after RV dwellers and homeless advocates pushed back.

“This comes down to being very aristocratic,” Bollinger said. “It’s not meeting the needs of the homeless population in general. It’s really just so that we can say, ‘look at our beautiful, wonderful city’ when it’s not solving any economic issues.”