I’m planning on flying home from Wednesday-Sunday for the Thanksgiving Holidays. I don’t have a parking space, and someone told me that if you park your car for over three days in the same spot, it may get towed. Is this true? What do I do with my car?
I’m glad someone asked this, because I was also under the impression that your car could get towed after three days in the same space, and thus always had to scramble to find a suitable parking garage or friends’ driveway whenever I left the city for longer than a weekend.
A spokeswoman for the SF Department of Parking Enforcement Division set me straight: you can leave your car in the same spot for up to seven days (it used to be three days, but they recently changed the ordinance). After that time, you might get a “warning” left on your car, but only if someone calls to complain about your vehicle. Once you’ve received a warning, Parking Enforcement will count another seven days before towing your car.
In short: you have at least fourteen days to leave your car unattended (assuming there aren’t any other parking signs in the area; watch out for street cleaning!), and probably even longer.
Think of “Ask the Appeal” as your own personal genie: no Bay-related question is too big or too small. Whether you’re concerned with a municipal question, a consumer advocacy issue or simply with consuming alcohol, email us your questions at ask@sfappeal.com. We’ll either do the dirty work and talk to the folks in charge, contact an expert in the field, or – if your question is particularly intriguing or juicy – develop it into a full-blown investigative article.
