Call it sanctuary on wheels: San Francisco is about to give a big break to people, many of them illegal immigrants, who are caught driving without a license.

Beginning Sunday, cops will no longer impound cars the first time drivers are pulled over without a license.

The reason: Many such drivers are in the United States illegally - and thus unable to get a license - and the officials pushing the change think that impounding their cars is an unfair hardship.

Instead, unlicensed drivers will be given 20 minutes to phone a relative or other acquaintance with a valid license and insurance to pick up the car. If the driver doesn't have a cell phone, police will help him contact someone.

If no one shows up, then the cop is to call a supervisor to approve the tow.

A second offense within six months means an automatic tow. But, for those who stay clean for half a year, the clock starts over.

The change means San Francisco will be far more accommodating to unlicensed drivers than police in Oakland, San Jose and even lefty Berkeley. Cops in all those cities impound the cars of people driving illegally.

Recently installed Police Chief George Gascón said San Francisco is "trying to be sensitive to all of the communities we serve."

"We recognize that this is a problem within the Hispanic community, where people working here can't get a driver's license because of their immigration status," Gascón said.

The 30-day car impounds have long been a sore point with the city's Latino politicos and activists, who feel the practice is unfair.

Some police officers we spoke with, however, said people without licenses are often lousy drivers - and that the change means more dangerous streets for everyone else.

"These are the same people who are sailing through stop signs and injuring people," said one traffic cop who asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

Gascón emphasized that unlicensed drivers "will still be cited. If they don't learn their lesson and repeat offend, the car will be impounded."

The chief said the change was already in the works when he came to town at the end of July. He said it had sprung from conversations between Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisor David Campos - who arrived here illegally from Guatemala at age 14 - and former Police Chief Heather Fong.

Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard - whose boss is refusing to implement Campos-backed legislation barring the city from turning over illegal immigrant youths to the feds if they haven't been convicted of a felony - confirmed that when it comes to giving unlicensed drivers a break, the mayor and the supe agree.

"On this one, we're all on the same page," Ballard said.

Don't do it: We know one group dead set against extending San Francisco's parking meter hours into the night - the people who hand out parking tickets.

"It wouldn't be safe," said Dominic Garrett, the steward for the union representing the city's 283 parking control officers.

"We already feeling the anger over $55 tickets, and now they would have us out until midnight?" Garrett asked. "With no backup?"

Growth industry: With the feds announcing a new, go-light policy on medical marijuana, Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan is ready to take the next step - the legalization, regulation and taxation of grow houses in the city.

For years, grow houses and warehouse operations, with their illegal and unsafe wiring, have been the bane of police and fire departments.

Kaplan says it could all be changed.

"We could set them up in the city's industrialized zones in East Oakland and along (Interstate) 880," Kaplan said. She notes that there are lots of empty warehouses with the space and electrical capacity for large-scale cultivation of marijuana.

Kaplan is no stranger to the marijuana debate. She was a key backer of Measure F, the initiative approved by voters in July that substantially increased the city's cut of medical marijuana sales.

Now she's ready for phase two: expanding the number of pot dispensaries in Oakland and setting up legal grow operations to keep them supplied.

"There would be a system of permits, planning and safety codes to be followed," Kaplan said. "And, of course, we'd tax them."

Of course we would.

Green to green: OK, so being a good citizen, you put all your coffee grinds and food scraps into the green compost can - where does it go from there?

Recology - the new name of San Francisco's garbage company - trucks the muck up to Vacaville in biodiesel trucks (of course) to a processing plant.

After two or three months, it turns to mulch and is sold to farms, vineyards, golf courses or anyone else who wants it, for $25 a ton.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.