by Aaron Bialick : sf.streetsblo.org – excerpt
A bill allowing many residential parking spaces to be rented to residents citywide was passed unanimously by the SF Board of Supervisors yesterday despite criticisms that it could encourage car commuting and discourage property owners from converting garages to housing units.
At a board meeting last week, D5 Supervisor Christina Olague proposed postponing approval of the legislation for further analysis in response to a letter from Jason Henderson, a geography professor and chair of the Market and Octavia Citizens Advisory Council (and occasional Streetsblog contributor)….
But the bill was pushed through after other supervisors said they felt further consideration unnecessary. The provision removing the 1,250-foot rule was one piece of a larger, generally popular proposal to simplify procedures for collecting the parking tax from property owners who own five or fewer parking spaces.
Supervisor Scott Wiener, who sponsored the legislation, said the reform was necessary to encourage property owners to begin paying the tax on spaces rented to non-building residents, which has gone virtually unknown and uncollected since it was put in place in the 1970s. Wiener also argued that the current 1,250-foot rule is unenforceable, and that the provision was properly vetted by the Planning Department… (more)
Meter Madness 