A push to abolish 'ridiculous' S.F. laws

Kimberly Conley puts a bicycle into her garage where she and her husband keep their bicycles and other items rather than cars, Monday January 6, 2014, in San Francisco, Calif. They have turned their driveway into a parklet for public uses. less Kimberly Conley puts a bicycle into her garage where she and her husband keep their bicycles and other items rather than cars, Monday January 6, 2014, in San Francisco, Calif. They have turned their driveway ... more Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close A push to abolish 'ridiculous' S.F. laws 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

(01-07) 09:58 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Kimberly Conley and Amandeep Jawa don't have a car, so they use their Mission District garage to store their bicycles - in direct violation of San Francisco law.

The couple, along with probably thousands of other San Franciscans, are scofflaws because of a little-known section of code that bars people from using garages to store anything but automobiles. The law went unnoticed until three months ago, when San Francisco attorney Gary Rabkin commented on its ridiculousness on a website dedicated to presenting city laws to the public in an easy-to-navigate format.

On Tuesday, Supervisor Mark Farrell will propose a measure to scrap the garage code - but he's not stopping there. This new year, Farrell has resolved to use that website, www.sanfranciscocode.org, to clear any unnecessary laws from San Francisco's books and to tweak laws that need updating.

He won't be doing it alone: Farrell wants suggestions from any interested citizen and also is co-sponsoring a scholarship opportunity for local college students who have their own ideas.

Civic engagement, said Farrell, "doesn't have to mean coming to a board meeting to testify at 3 p.m. in person."

Opportunity to engage

"We want to make sure that as technology evolves, people's lives evolve with that technology," he said. "We are presenting an opportunity for people to engage with city government in a way that works for them."

His push centers on the website, part of an effort by the nonprofit OpenGov Foundation, which focuses on using technology to allow people to access and use government information.

Eventually, said its executive director, Seamus Kraft, the foundation wants "every law and every piece of legislation in the country" to be accessible online in a "modern, restriction-free and user-friendly format."

In addition to the San Francisco work, the nonprofit has placed all of the laws in the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore online. All three websites use an open data format that makes it easy for people outside government to search through and comment on them - or, for the more technologically advanced, to build applications that can be used in civic life.

"Having open-law data allows you to do almost anything with it," said Kraft. "We have a firm tradition of citizen-led change and citizen-led government in this country, and what does it look like in 2014? This is what it looks like."

$1,000 scholarships

The foundation is also co-sponsoring Farrell's Civic Engagement Challenge Scholarship, which will award $1,000 scholarships to five graduate and undergraduate students in March. Applicants will be asked to use www.sanfrancisocode.org to suggest changes to outdated laws or suggest new policies.

Outdated is exactly what the garage law is, said Conley, the Mission District resident. She expressed surprise that the law is still on the books, but admitted she hasn't read a lot of San Francisco code in the past.

"It's absolutely ridiculous, especially in San Francisco, where storage space is at a premium - you expect to be able to do with your garage whatever you need to do with it," she said. "If you're not going to use your garage for a car, it should be your space to do as you please."

Rabkin went looking for the code section after a friend of his was told by her landlord that she needed to remove some items from a garage because it was required by law. A bicyclist, he was shocked to find that a bike-friendly city such as San Francisco would bar their storage in garages. The website - especially its user-commenting feature - is a great resource, Rabkin said.

"I appreciate when things are more accessible," he said. "Laws are kind of like the operating system of society, and if citizens can't access them, it's crazy."

Reaping tech's benefits

Farrell agreed with both Conley and Rabkin, saying he imagines that basically anyone with a garage in San Francisco is technically violating the law. The proposed change, he said, is just one example of how, as the technology sector takes off in San Francisco, its citizens - and government - can be reaping the benefits.

"I believe City Hall needs to make sure that technology benefits residents' everyday lives ... but also make sure that we foster technology to create new ways for residents to interact with city government," he said. "I hope everyday San Franciscans, students, anybody interested in city government will look and help find solutions. One thousand eyes on a law are better than one."