New fee duns residents for railings, greenery

Both the Examiner and the Chronicle have articles today discussing the new fees that the city is charging to residents who improve or repair their sidewalks.

From the Chron, "In late 2004, James and Mellie Malcolmson received city permission to install a safety railing along the sidewalk in front of their Filbert Street home on one of San Francisco's steepest hills. James Malcolmson, 87, had suffered a stroke, his wife was recovering from knee surgery, and they needed the railing to walk up or down their block. Then, earlier this month, the Malcolmsons received something else from the city they hadn't expected -- a bill from the San Francisco Department of Public Works demanding payment of a $1,200 yearly fee for encroaching on the sidewalk."

"Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier, whose district includes the neighborhoods where the Popes and Malcolmsons live, is well aware of the complaints. On Tuesday, she introduced legislation that would temporarily suspend the encroachment fees while their impact is analyzed more fully."

""We don't want to tax people for things that add a public benefit,'' said Marshall Foster, the mayor's director of city greening, who said it only makes sense to remove roadblocks for landscaping projects."

And from the Examiner, "“It seems I should be assessing The City for putting in the railing, not the other way around,” said Malcolmsen, who got the proper city permits to install the railing."

“Charging for taking over part of the public sidewalk for commercial purposes is totally appropriate, but charging someone hundreds of dollars a year because they want to make the street more beautiful with a tree or a planter box, or repair the sidewalk, just doesn’t make sense,” Alioto-Pier said.