San Francisco is pushing out dozens of RVs that have long parked on Winston Avenue near Stonestown Galleria, owners of the vehicles said, resulting in a confrontation with police at the city zoo late Monday night.
Earlier this year, city officials put up signs in the area, warning residents about a new, four-hour parking limit. Vehicle owners living along Winston Drive were later given an Aug. 1 deadline to move or face being towed. This week, the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority placed flyers on windshields warning residents about the deadline, and offering information about supportive services in several languages.
On Monday night, owners of the RVs, including numerous parents of small children, relocated to a parking lot near the San Francisco Zoo, a location spread by word of mouth, said three men who live in the vehicles, who spoke on condition that they wouldn’t be named. The community is primarily Spanish-speaking, and RV owners on site communicated with Gazetteer SF through a translation app.
At about midnight, several people told Gazetteer, approximately 10 police officers showed up at the lot, and told them they must move the RVs or face arrest. The conversation grew heated, the men said, before the police eventually told them to park the vehicles on Zoo Road.
About two dozen RVs were parked at the location Tuesday afternoon, with kids and families talking amongst themselves. A team from San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing was walking from vehicle to vehicle along Zoo Road, interviewing the RV owners.
“We moved from Winston to this side because they put in the four hour parking and if I have to go to work, I can’t come and move the car every four hours,” said Arlens Arosteguis, 48. He lives in an RV with his wife and two daughters, who both attend San Francisco schools.
Arossteguis confirmed that police asked him to move his RV. Asked what his next move was, he said he wasn’t sure.
“I think I’ll wait a bit and see what I can do, how to find a parking space for the trailer, and see how they can help us find a parking space,” Arosteguis said. “That’s what we need, even if we have to pay a price that depends on how much you earn, I think we can do it.”
The San Francisco Police Department, the SFMTA, and the zoo did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Jose Torres, a program manager for SF HOT, San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing outreach program, was on the scene with about a dozen other support workers. He told Gazetteer the agency had tracked the RVs when they moved to the new location, and followed them there to determine why the owners had relocated and ask what they might need.
The agency has been working with RV owners on Winston Drive for 1.5 years, Torres said, largely to help them to find housing.
“We’re trying to figure out how to support them,” he said. “Most of them are families. We’re talking about people that have kids.”
Gazetteer SF city reporter Eddie Kim contributed reporting to this story.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correctly name the road residents are now parked along. It is Zoo Road, not Zoo Drive.
