The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency charges at least $322 for temporary permits that provide legal parking for moving trucks.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle 2018
My first encounter with San Francisco's notorious bureaucracy occurred before I arrived here.
About a week before my move from Sacramento to San Francisco, I realized that I might need a temporary permit to park and unload my moving truck in front of my new building. I naively assumed that this would be a relatively easy and inexpensive process.
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After googling for a while, I landed on the “Temporary Signage” page of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency website. This seemed like the right location – it detailed the process for reserving parking spaces for commercial and residential moves, corporate events, funerals and “other similar needs.” But the site itself was a confusing tangle of diagrams, caveats, and costs, and I had a hard time deciphering which permit I should apply for, let alone how much time it would take to process the application.
I had the choice of “event permits submitted 14 days prior to an ISCOTT-approved event,” “event permits filed 13 days or less prior to an ISCOTT-approved event,” or “temporary 311 signs (until up to 3 days)”. ” (When I called 311 and asked what ISCOTT was, the operator replied that he had no idea. I later learned that it is the Interdepartmental Committee for Traffic and Transportation and approves road closures for major events.)
The website also advised that I should allow a processing time of at least five business days between the date of application and the date of enforcement. If my application were approved, signs warning the public would need to be posted at least 72 hours in advance for non-paying spaces and at least 24 hours in advance for paid spaces.
I wasn't sure what approval period applied to me, but one thing was clear: it was too late for me to meet the application deadlines.
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It was also incredibly expensive.
The cheapest permit listed was for a temporary 311 sign and cost $320. But, the site cheerfully notes, if you were to reserve a paid parking space, you would have to pay an additional $16 per meter per day.
I stared at the website in disbelief. How could a temporary parking permit cost almost four times as much as renting a moving truck?
And why would San Francisco, desperately trying to lure residents back amid a post-pandemic exodus, charge newcomers such an exorbitant sum just to park their moving truck? The policy stands in stark contrast to recent efforts to reduce costs for renters, including a law authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, to limit the size of apartment deposits.
I didn't have five business days for the city to process my parking permit application, but even if it did, fees over $350 would be out of the question. So I did what I now see many other moving companies doing: double parking.
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Of course, this was far from an ideal solution. Not only does this lead to less safe road conditions, but it also clogs traffic, irritates drivers, and forces you to constantly be on the lookout for a parking attendant who might ticket your car or have it towed.
But the city had given me virtually no choice. I wanted to do the right thing and get a parking permit, but the lengthy application process, confusing guidelines, and prohibitively high costs made it nearly impossible.
A San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency official told me that the price for a temporary parking permit only allows the agency to recoup program costs, including labor, materials and enforcement costs.
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But even a few small improvements could help reduce costs and increase efficiency. The official noted that workers have to wade through piles of invalid or incomplete permit applications and go back and forth with confused customers. This is a waste of time and resources that can be easily remedied by clarifying important details and instructions on the website.
This would also help in reducing the long processing time. Although the state sets certain time limits – the 72-hour notice for reserving an unpaid parking space is included in California's vehicle code, for example – San Francisco could streamline things within its control.
“There are a few things that could be updated,” the official acknowledged.
But ironically, by charging such high rates, the agency may make less money than it would if the rate were lower. Given the choice between paying $320 and double parking, many people choose double parking. But that calculation would likely change dramatically if permit prices were significantly lower.
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San Francisco needs to make it easier to follow the rules than to break them. Doing the right thing shouldn't cost hundreds of dollars more than doing the wrong thing.
Reach Emily Hoeven: emily.hoeven@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @emily_hoeven
