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7th March 2024
09:47am GMT
A couple were left stunned when they were hit with a parking fine for using their own driveway - the same one they've been using for the past 36 years.
Judy and Ed Craine parked their car in the driveway in front of their San Francisco home like it was any other day, however, on this particular occasion - much to their surprise - they received a $1,542 (£1,209) fine.
Worse still, they were threatened with a $250-per-day fee (equal to £196) if they didn't remove the vehicle from the same spot they'd been using for more than three decades.
Searching for an explanation, the Craines went on to tell ABC-affiliate KGO-TV that the San Francisco Planning Department is now enforcing a decades-old section of code that bans any and all vehicles from being parked on a "carpad' or setback" in front of a house unless it's accompanied by a garage or cover.
The couple said they wrote back to check if it was a mistake only to "all of a sudden be told you can't use something that we could use for years"; they described the decision as "startling and "inexplicable."
The planning department was alerted to the Craines' use of their driveway by an anonymous complaint that was lodged against them and two other unsuspecting neighbours who were also caught off guard by the same violation.
Daniel A. Sider, the chief of staff at the San Francisco Planning Department, told ABC News: "The first we learned of it was during Friday’s broadcast. To that end, we’re reopening the matter and hope to have more clarity in the coming days."
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