Bay Area neighborhood taps city permit tactic to reserve street parking

A San Francisco resident has shed light on an under-the-radar tactic to reserve free street parking in the notoriously overparked city — and neighbors are furious.

Greg Long, a 56-year-old product designer, took to social media to share that he was suspicious of a whopping 14 “no stopping” tow-away signs on his side of his street in Presidio Heights.

That’s six of eight parking spaces gone, he said, as he shared video of one tow-away sign that’s still up despite being expired in May.

It turns out, Long revealed, that you can shell out of pocket around $350 a month to get one of these signs up in front of your place — and have the street parking spot all to yourself. There’s a $851 fee for the application, then you spend $209 a month for every 20 feet of curb.

Long inquired about the signs to the city’s Public Works department, which told him it doesn’t have the resources to track the permit activity but can respond to complaints.

“This is a system that’s easy to abuse,” Long said. “It’s simple to pull a street permit, you need no documentation, and enforcement comes only when your neighbor complains.”

Typically, such street space permits are used to help people conduct construction on their own homes, according to the city website — but that also includes “minor building repairs” like landscaping.

The Public Works department disputed the idea that there’s widespread gaming of the system, telling the San Francisco Chronicle in a statement that “we have no reason to believe it’s a rampant issue.”

The city agency issued around 8,600 tow-away sign permits last year and will likely issue around the same amount this year, the Chronicle reported.

Public Works encourages all complaints, it said, and if someone violated the process and refuses to fix it, fines can total up to $1,000 per day.

Still, Long’s video seems to have confirmed a lot of people’s suspicions and anger over the tow-away signs they’ve seen.

“2900 Jackson Street (at Broderick) has been under construction since I moved into the neighborhood in 2005,” one commenter claimed.

“Becoming a huge issue in Presidio Heights. Trying to park during the day?… University High and construction sign on 70% of the blocks… forget about it!!” another user commented.

Even elected officials like city Supervisor Stephen Sherrill joined in on the chorus, telling Long that he inspected dates on an expired sign near his home.

“A lot of people are sneaky,” Sherrill said. “They leave their signs up after they expire, so take a look at those dates.”

Frustrations with parking — and alleged tactics to game the system — have been a longstanding issue for San Francisco all over the city. Back in 2024, there was one instance where a neighbor allegedly posted their own “no parking sign,” according to a viral Reddit post.

Ultimately, Long said he’s just trying to bring awareness.

“Part of what I’m doing is just showing people like, ‘Hey, let’s just try to be neighborly – if your sign’s done, take it down,’” he told the Chronicle. “Don’t try and abuse this loophole.”

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