The brown wood shake building at the corner of Sacramento and Laurel streets hasn’t had many renovations in recent years. But that hasn’t stopped its owner from taking out multiple street parking permits.

In the past 15 years, the owner of the Goldberry Building in Presidio Heights has applied for and received at least 20 city construction parking permits. Yet little construction has been completed on the property since March 2000, records show. Plans to create a single-dwelling unit on the third floor and a garage have moved at a glacial pace, and multiple permits for the project have expired, city records show.

Meanwhile, the building owner and a contractor, Presidio Heights Restoration, have exploited a city loophole to use those parking spaces for their personal use, a half-dozen neighbors and city officials say. That’s because there are no limits to renewing the parking permits as long as construction is ongoing — even if it takes more than 15 years. Calls by The Chronicle to both building owner Margaret Rogerson and Presidio Heights Restoration were not returned.

Under new legislation pushed by Supervisor Mark Farrell, which the Board of Supervisors will take up next month, limits would be placed on renewing parking permits at the same address within a three-year period. It also gives officials more authority to deny permit renewals if a resident appears to be taking advantage of the system. If the legislation gets the majority vote, it would go into effect in about 10 weeks — and apply retroactively to the Presidio Heights property.

“Somebody in my district was able to essentially have their own parking spot for over 10 years by abusing the system,” said Farrell, who represents Presidio Heights. “That needs to stop. This legislation makes sure we don’t have some of the rampant abuses that I have seen in neighborhoods throughout San Francisco. Parking is a precious commodity and is a huge concern to neighbors.”

The Department of Building Inspection issues construction permits, while Public Works or the Municipal Transportation Agency give the OK to block off street parking for the project. On Sacramento Street, the parking permits issued for work on the Goldberry Building have lasted an average of 3.9 months. There is normally a six-month limit for a parking permit, but, recently, permits have been limited to one month on Sacramento Street. A new application must then be submitted so the departments can check on construction progress.

“Right now, if you wanted to get street space, you could apply for a permit and we would issue one,” said Jerry Sanguinetti, manager of the Public Works’ Bureau of Street Use and Mapping. “You could pull one after the other, assuming you have work that is ongoing. People can use that to essentially create private parking.”

More scrutiny

The proposed system would tie permits more closely to the work going on at the building itself — inspections would be more regular and renewal requests would get more scrutiny, Sanguinetti said.

“To see those signs up that say ‘24/7 No Parking,’ and then see that no one is there and no work is being done is disheartening,” he said. “We want to address the issues where construction isn’t actually happening so we can open that space up for people to park and close any loopholes that people use for private parking.”

It’s welcome news to Presidio Heights neighbors, who have filed more than a dozen complaints against the commercial building on Sacramento Street. A black Volvo station wagon is a regular fixture in front of the building, but construction crews and equipment are rarely around, they say.

“There’s been perpetual construction with minimal workmen for 10 years running,” said Greg Linsky, who lives nearby. “The overwhelming majority of the time, there are no workmen-like trucks, just a single station wagon parked there.”

‘Going on for years’

It’s been a never-ending project, said Price Cobbs, a retired psychiatrist who lives on the block.

“In the time that they have had their permits, you could have built two buildings on the same property,” Cobbs said. “There’s a ‘No parking’ sign that won’t let you park in those spaces Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. It has been going on for years and years and years. I can’t even pinpoint when it started at this point.”

But soon, city officials say, that project should start wrapping up, or they’ll open the street parking spaces back up to the public.