The SHARP Board of Directors endorses a “Yes” Vote on Proposition L in San Francisco’s November 4 election.

Parking in San Francisco is a mess. Part of the problem is that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), with exclusive authority over parking, has eliminated some 10,000 parking spaces. Newly constructed housing units do not require 1-for-1 parking. They have not built a single public parking garage since the 1990s, despite raising parking fees, parking tickets, residential permit charges and meter rates and hours.

Now they want to eliminate more parking in our neighborhoods while expanding parking meters into residential neighborhoods, and tripling the vehicle license fee. And they will make traffic congestion even worse by eliminating traffic lanes.

Prop. L would make it City policy to halt expansion of mandatory parking meters into residential neighborhoods without permission from neighbors, and freeze fees for neighborhood parking permits, tickets, garages and meters for 5 years. SFMTA would need to use a portion of parking fees to construct neighborhood parking garages. And it would make it City policy for SFMTA to work for safer and smoother-flowing traffic on City streets.

Finally, City policy would say neighborhood parking meters should not operate on Sundays or after 6 PM. Read the voter pamphlet and you can see the full measure. Given the residential character of our neighborhood, we recommend a Yes vote on Proposition L.

The Board’s vote to endorse Proposition L was 6 in favor, two opposed, and two abstentions.