San Francisco homeowners accused of potentially abusing parking permits

And new at 10, finding parking in San Francisco can be frustrating enough, but could some homeowners be using construction permits to reserve public parking spaces for themselves? Well, a Presidio Heights resident is raising concerns about potential abuse of the city's permit system. KTVU's Betty Yu joins us live from San Francisco with that story. Betty. Claudine, many of the homes in this Presidio Heights neighborhood are under construction, as you can see behind me. So it's not all that unusual to see these no parking signs, but one resident found that the city's permitting system may be surprisingly easy to exploit. In San Francisco's Presidio Heights neighborhood, finding street parking is an everyday challenge, but these no stopping signs are raising some red flags. It's just extremely easy in San Francisco to get a permit. You can get it without actually having any construction done to your home or property, you can put down landscaping as, you know, an excuse for getting a permit. And the cost isn't really all that expensive. Greg Long, a product designer who lives on Jackson Street, started looking into the city's temporary street space permits after noticing about a dozen signs on his block. He discovered that homeowners can apply for permits to reserve curbside space for construction or landscaping at a cost of about $200 per 20 feet per month. You don't have to submit any documents and the city told me in writing it can't police these construction zones. And he worries some may be gaming the system to keep parking spaces open for themselves. You do not need a construction project. His Instagram video explaining his concerns captured widespread attention. Certainly nobody likes to think that there are affluent people taking advantage of a situation or a system and that certainly struck a nerve. Greg says he's also noticed signs left standing after work is completed or permits have expired but many of these signs are perfectly legitimate. I would say Presidio Heights specifically does have a lot of construction. I'm always like thinking that a lot of work is being done but always skeptical. I'm always checking those dates. Public Works says these permits are intended for work trucks, portable toilets and construction equipment, not personal parking. The department says it typically checks for related construction permits before approving applications and has no evidence that abuse is widespread. But enforcement largely depends on complaints. Residents can report suspected violations through 311. That is interesting that it puts it on the residents because you would think that we would have some funding. I mean, the meter maids are always out there. And again, Public Works maintains that this is not a widespread problem, but urges anyone who suspects that a permit is being used to report it to 311 and also adds that offenders could face fines of up to $1,000 a day. Now, Greg says he himself has not reported any of these cases to 311, but he did notice that after he posted that Instagram video, many of the signs that he was used to seeing around, his block suddenly came down. He also says he hopes the SF Board of Supervisors takes a closer look at the process for obtaining a permit and makes it a bit more rigorous. Claudine? Yeah, well, a couple hundred dollars for the permit isn't maybe a lot of money, but $1,000 a day, that would certainly add up if you are caught misusing this permit process. All right. Thank you, Betty.