SAN FRANCISCO—A couple who parked their car in front of their San Francisco home for over three decades, was fined for the first time recently for doing so. On Tuesday, July 12, the city legalized their car-pad allowing the couple to use it once again.
Initially, the Craines’ received a base fine of $1,542 and was threatened with an additional $250 fine that was to be added on daily if they continued using their carport.
A decades-old section of city planning code bans motor vehicles of all kinds from being parked on a car-pad or setback in front of a house unless a garage or cover accompanies it. The couple’s driveway did not have either feature.
The city told the couple they will reinstate the parking space if they could prove that the lot had been historically used as one. The first piece of evidence the couple issued was a 34 year-old picture of their daughter standing in the driveway with a car next to her barely visible. The planning department stated that the image was not old enough to help the car-pad be grandfathered.
After researching, the couple discovered an old picture taken back in 1938 that depicts what maybe a horse and buggy parked in the lot. After deliberation, the city planning department legalized the lot.
According to reports, the regulation was enacted for purely aesthetic reasons. The planning department received a complaint about how the Craines’ were using their driveway by anonymous resident. Two of their neighbors were also fined for the same violation.
Some enforcements are complaint based and issues similar to the Craines’ violation are considered low priority.
