How would you feel if you received an email one day saying you’ve been fined for parking in your own driveway?
That is precisely what happened to Ed and Judy Craine of San Francisco. For almost 40 years they had been parking their car in their driveway. As far as they could tell, that space in their front yard had been used for parking since it was constructed in 1910, making it one of the original homes in their Noe Valley community in San Francisco.
However, according to a violation notice they received from the city’s planning division, parking in front of a house is illegal unless the home has a garage or a cover (carport) over the car. What’s worse? This violation came with a hefty fee of $1,542 and $250 each day if they didn’t remove the vehicle from their car-pad.
The only way they can be granted a waiver was to show proof that parking was a historic use on their lot. So the couple dug up a photo taken 34 years ago with a faint glimpse of the car. But according to officials, it wasn’t old enough.
Another proof submitted was an aerial photo from 1938 showing their exact home with a little blob which Ed believes was a car pulling from their driveway. The Planning Department, however, said the pictures were too fuzzy and were not clear evidence.
How angry would you be?
In this episode of The Shawn and Matt Show, we discuss this topic along with poorly-photoshopped listing photos and cities where rents are less expensive than car payments.
