In a city where parking is an absolute nightmare, you can add one more car to San Francisco's dismal street congestion. A couple in San Francisco was fined $1,542 for parking their car on their own property — a spot they used for 36 years. And if they didn't find another spot, the city threatened to charge them an extra $250 per day thanks to a city ordinance that bans people from parking cars in front of their own homes.
The only way Judy and Ed Craine could get the fine waived was to prove "the spot had 'historical use' as a parking space," according to WRBZ 2 (ABC). Or so the city claimed.
However, when the Craines found a photo taken 34 years ago of their daughter in the same spot with a parked car, the city said nope — the photo was too new. When the couple looked through historical archives and found a horse-drawn buggy parked on the same spot, the city said nope — the photo wasn't clear enough. But did the city offer them another reliable place they could park their car? Nope.
From WRBZ:
Frustrated, the couple stopped parking in front of their home, if only to avoid the hefty fines.
The city did close the case without charging any penalties after the couple got the car out of the roadway and kept it off. The planning department told the Craines they could build a covered carport or garage to continue to park there.
