S.F. Mayor Lee wants free parking at meters on Sundays

A parking ticket is left on a car parked at an expired meter on Harrison Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, June 28, 2013. The violation for parking at expired meters jumps to $74 on July 1, making it the most expensive fine in the country. less A parking ticket is left on a car parked at an expired meter on Harrison Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, June 28, 2013. The violation for parking at expired meters jumps to $74 on July 1, making it ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close S.F. Mayor Lee wants free parking at meters on Sundays 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is calling for an end to Sunday metered parking in the city.

"I've always felt uncomfortable with it, but Muni was suffering and we needed the money," Lee said Tuesday. "Now, I think we have come up with a better way to finance Muni in the long haul, so why not give people a break?"

The city started charging for Sunday street parking last January, something officials expected would bring in $1.7 million annually for cash-strapped Muni.

The take has been a lot better than that - closer to $6 million, with nearly half coming from parking tickets, which can run as high as $72.

Lee said the lopsided ticket take was one reason for calling off Sunday pay for parking.

"It was just nickel-and-diming people to death," he said.

Lee plans to call for the rollback in his State of the City address Friday and to ask voters to approve a $500 million general obligation bond in November to fund transportation. It would be the first in a series of bonds over the next 10 years.

Giving the public a break on Sundays - plus making permanent the program that grants free rides on Muni to low-income children, which Lee will also propose - could make voters more amenable to voting for the bonds.

The Municipal Transportation Agency must approve the rollback, but its chairman, Tom Nolan, is on board.

Free parking on Sundays is one of several measures Lee plans to propose in the coming year intended to boost the city's "affordability."

And with good reason. Recent polls show that the economic boom has given rise to anxiety among a growing number of voters that they are being priced out of the city.

Free parking on Sundays won't solve the larger issues like the near-absence of affordable housing, but Lee figures he can do something about parking, which is also a growing concern - and he can do it quickly.

"I just thought that as part of the larger discussion about affordability, it was the right time," he said.

One note of caution: The rollback will not include the 1,300 meters operated by the port - so if you're headed to the ballpark, the Ferry Building, Fisherman's Wharf or anywhere near or along the Embarcadero, be prepared to keep paying on Sundays.

Lucas, the sequel: "Star Wars" creator George Lucas hopes a "radically different" design will finally get the Force behind his plan for a $300 million museum across from San Francisco's Crissy Field.

Lucas spokesman David Perry said the new plan to be delivered Friday "reflects real listening and real adaptability" to the Presidio Trust's concerns.

For the past year, Lucas has been playing dodgeball with critics at the trust and the public in general who have objected to his museum's 60-foot height and Beaux Arts design, saying they don't fit in with the park's shoreline.

"I think we were very clear that building wasn't going to fly," Nancy Bechtle, president of the Presidio Trust board, told us Tuesday.

The trust gave Lucas until week's end to revise the plans for his museum, where he intends to display his collection of Americana art and "Star Wars" and other Hollywood memorabilia. The same deadline applies to two competing groups hoping to build at the site, which is now a Sports Basement.

A Lucas camp insider tells us the film mogul will deliver a reconfigured building that will comply with the park's 45-foot height limit.

"If the issue is height and views, the trust is going to have to come up with another reason to say 'no,' " said the insider, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been delivered to the Presidio. "I think everyone is going to be surprised."

In other words: This is it - take it or leave it.

From what we hear, some of the trust's directors may not like the final proposal - but the betting among insiders is that the board will have a hard time saying no to Lucas if his latest plan addresses their key concerns.

Should the trust sign on, speculation is likely to linger for years about whether credit should go to the new design or to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who recently called for bringing a "star attraction" to the national park.

Pelosi, who pushed through the congressional legislation creating the park on the grounds that it be financially self-sufficient, didn't endorse the Lucas museum by name. But several other political luminaries have, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Mayor Ed Lee, along with a host of business and Hollywood types.

The Presidio Trust is scheduled to review the revised plans from all three applicants for the site in a public meeting Jan. 27, and will probably make its choice within a couple of weeks after that. That may not end the acrimony, however.

"If we had to vote today," Bechtle said, "chances are not good it would be unanimous."