Judy and Ed Craine have parked their car in the driveway in front of their San Francisco home for decades. Parking in the Golden City can be a hot mess and the Craines thought they were lucky to have their own spot for the past 36 years.
That luck ended when they received a $1,542 fine for parking on their own property — with the threat of a $250-per-day fee if they didn’t move the car. The couple told ABC affiliate KGO-TV the San Francisco Planning Department is enforcing a decades-old section of code that bans vehicles from being parked in front of a house unless it’s in front of a garage or has a cover.
“To all of a sudden to be told you can’t use something that we could use for years, it’s startling. Inexplicable,” said Ed Craine.
The Craines believe the space has been used for parking since the house was built in 1910. So the planning department told the couple that the city would waive the fine if they could prove that the lot has historically been used for parking. But every bit of proof they could drum up — including a 1938 aerial photo — was rejected.
Planning chief Dan Sider sympathizes with the Craines, but says the code was enacted decades ago for aesthetic reasons, saying, “The Planning Code doesn’t allow for the City to grandfather illegal uses on account of their having flown below the radar for a length of time.”
The city has since tossed the fines since the Craines are no longer using their driveway. It also told the couple they can build a cover for the driveway or a garage, if they want to use their driveway … as a driveway.