San Francisco RV dwellers navigate permit process as city works to provide housing
Clelia Nicotra and her dog spent the morning outside their recreational vehicle by Lake Merced in San Francisco.
"At first, I was staying towards Bayview, but it's really not safe. I got my generator stolen, so I had to find another place," Nicotra told CBS News Bay Area.
She and her husband have been staying by the lake since last April, shortly before the city of San Francisco enacted a two-hour parking restriction for RVs.
"When the SF HOT team came out here, that's when I went and got my permit, but that was one or two days out of the entire month," she said.
According to the city, there are more than 320 permitted vehicles in this program, which exempts them from these parking restrictions. RV dwellers had to show proof of residency by last May in order to qualify for the permit.
Officials said the permit lasts six months, and the goal is to help residents transition into interim housing in the meantime.
Nicotra said the process was confusing.
"Told me permit lasted six months, 12 months, then six months. So, mine would expire in April, and if I don't have my housing in April, I don't even know how, it hasn't been told how the process is going to be," she said.
City leaders said there would be an opportunity to extend the permit duration, should the resident not have found housing through the program. Additionally, Nicotra said she has been waiting to sell her RV as part of the RV buyback program.
"I just want to be out of this. I want to be done with this. But they haven't really done what has been promised. Once you file all the paperwork, it's going to be first check of a $1,000, and the remainder when you get your housing. I didn't get my first check," she said.
But Adrienne Bechelli, the deputy director of the city's department of emergency management, said her team has been doing thorough outreach block by block.
"We did a really thorough job of over two months of targeted outreach to the areas where we knew were the largest concentration of large vehicles, but also a block-by-block outreach effort for the entirety of September and October," Bechelli told CBS News Bay Area.
"There are over 320 permitted vehicles in this program, and there are not 320 case managers. So, we are working methodically through those who are enrolled in the program, and we ask for patience for people who have not yet been able to participate and engage in case management," she added.
Bechelli said that based on their last quarterly count in December, her staff had accounted for 462 large vehicles citywide. She added that roughly 70% to 75% of those vehicles are permitted.
Officials said that since the implementation of the program, 11 households moved out of their RVs and into city housing, as they are continuing to work toward permanent housing.
"A mixture of non-congregate shelter as well as rapid rehousing and urgent accommodation vouchers that we are working through," Bechelli said. "We also have a unit hold program through local landlords who have opted into an agreement with the city to add their units to the portfolio of housing that we have available."
Zach, who requested to share only his first name out of anonymity, is a volunteer with the Coalition on Homelessness. He has also been living in an RV for the past five years.
"Other people are concerned about the fact that, yeah, they want housing, but now the city is trying to pressure me into housing in a way that feels punitive instead of a way that feels helpful to us," he said. "During the permit process, it felt like the city really didn't want to give out permits. It was hands-off very much; they didn't do the hard work of trying to talk to people and inform them about the new law. This policy is led with enforcement rather than aid and restoration."
But city officials said they are working around the clock to provide housing for those in need.
"I would ask for people's ongoing patience with the program," Bechelli said.
She added that permit applications are still available for those who already exist within the city's database. The window to appeal the permit process, however, is closed.
"I think the common misconception is most of these people choose to live in RVs. They choose to be off the grid, but it's not really reflective, sure there are some people, but it's really not everyone," Nicotra said. "We all just want to live in houses, but sometimes it's not that easy."
Nicotra said she works six days a week as a cook to make ends meet, and hopes for a stable roof over their heads one day.
"We just do our best," she said.