Viewers from all over the world responded to this San Francisco couple’s story. Many could not believe a city would threaten a huge penalty for parking in their own driveway. Many offered to help prove it was a historic use – and then – the proof they needed came from an amazing source.

“It just seems wrong.”

Judy and Ed Craine had been parking in the carpad of their San Francisco cottage for 36 years… when suddenly the Planning Department said it’s illegal.

RELATED: CA couple allowed to park in their driveway again after threatened with $1.5K fine from city

They had to remove the car or face a huge penalty: $1,542 plus $250 for every day they parked there.

“I said what, that’s crazy,” Ed said.

So they quickly pulled the car out – but it made no sense.

“Why are you taking away something that has great utility?” Ed asked. “To all of a sudden to be told you can’t use something that we could use for years. It’s, it’s startling.”

The city planning code makes it illegal to park in the setback of a home to prevent front yards from becoming unsightly parking lots.

However, if they could prove cars were parked there before the law was passed in 1978, they might get a waiver.

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“We could be grandfathered in. If we show them a historical photo that showed a car… or a horse-drawn buggy in the carport,” Judy said.

“I did a number of online searches, Ed said, “checked historical resources,.”

But finding a historic photo of their exact driveway seemed impossible. Until Ed found an aerial photo from 1938. Zooming in showed their exact house. Ed saw a black shape he figured must be a car, pulling into what he figured must be the driveway.
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“Here’s our house…” Ed said. “This black blob looks like it’s pulling into our house… to me it’s very compelling that was a car.”

But city planners said the photo was too fuzzy – not clear evidence.

However, after ABC 7 aired the story, the couple was flooded with offers of help (as well as commentary about way-out San Francisco).

And then, a gift from the sky.

“I happened to be watching Channel Seven, Michael Finney, and I saw this couple who was in a really tough spot…” said David Rui. He manages the aerial photo collection at Pacific Aerial Surveys of Novato in Marin County, which has millions of photos from its flights across the Bay Area dating all the way back to 1928. Ruiz saw our story and knew he could help Ed and Judy.

“I just simply went through our flight database and found numerous flights and was able to pull out some photography,” he said.

Ruiz used mapping coordinates to locate their house among maps in the company database. He found two aerial photos of what appears to be a car in their driveway; the clearest was a photo from 1958.

Ruiz said the company flew over most of the Bay Area once every three years including this neighborhood. “The question is, is there a car in the driveway at the moment we fly over,” Ruiz said. Most people were at work with their cars when Pacific Aerial Services was flying overhead, reducing the chances of catching a car in the driveway .

He did find two of them — 1958 and 1955. .

“So April 23, 1958,” Ruiz said, pointing to an aerial photo taken with a film camera in a plane flying 6000 feet overhead. Ruiz said he’s able to enhance the photos with 3-D imagery and other tools. He’s trained to look for indicators it’s a real vehicle, such as shadows, context and dimension.

“And here’s the house in question, And right here is a nice car, parked right there.”

He pointed to an image that looked like it could be a 1950s automobile. it was a snapshot in time, a view that went back in time. The viewer is transported to that moment in that time. “It definitely looks like a nice big American sedan, doesn’t it?” Ruiz said.

“This is all film-based. We had a plane flying overhead, it’s flying at 6,000 feet, took this wonderful photo that you can enlarge,” he said.

It is crystal clear to Ruiz – as it just so happens Ruiz is an expert trained during his Army career to analyze aerial images – especially cars.

“As an imagery analyst from the Army, one of my specialties is identifying vehicles,” he said.

And so the black blob Ed Craine found? The planning department wouldn’t accept it. But Ruiz says that blob was, indeed, a car.

He showed 7 On Your Side a clearer copy of that photo.

“It verifies that this is a vehicle, that there’s height… so I told them that there’s no doubt in my mind as an expert that this is a vehicle and if they needed me to, to write a report or testify to that I could do that,” Ruiz said.

The Craines showed the city that 1958 photo.

And it did the trick.

The city said it is now a legal parking space — grandfathered in.

Ed and Judy, who didn’t want to go on camera, said: “We are delighted we are able to park in our driveway again.”

Thanks in large part to David Ruiz.

“I’m glad it helped them out. They seemed like wonderful people that were just in a tough spot,” he said.

Major help also came from a neighbor who rummaged through old boxes and found a 1972 photo showing a car in their driveway. Others in the neighborhood also got violation notices for parking in their driveways. All came from anonymous complaints. If that’s you, let 7 On Your Side know about it.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

Have a question for Michael and the 7 On Your Side team? Fill out the form HERE!
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The post Parking violation: US Military aerial view skilled helped San Francisco, CA couple park in driveway once more after risk of $1.5K positive appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Mike Yastrzemski (5), San Francisco Giants High Fives teammate, Tommy La Stella (18), after a hit from a … [+] Two home races against the Miami Marlins during the third innings of a baseball game in San Francisco on Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo / Tony Avelar)

Associated press

Towards the end of April, the San Francisco Giants got off to a surprisingly good start for everyone but the people who actually follow the team. Although their bullpen has not stabilized and the team’s batting average is among the lowest in the league, their offensive is much better than conventional statistics would show.

Since Farhan Zaidi took over as president of the team, the Giants have grown from a relic of the Stone Age of baseball to one of the most progressive and analytical teams in the league. This has resulted in a team that has been surprisingly competitive for years and seen by many as a reason to rebuild.

Despite two consecutive records under 500, the Giants have improved year on year, putting together a solid crew of regulars, while tweaking veterans who were believed to be falling sharply.

On the surface, the Giants appear to be a team whose attack is slow to start, which in a sense is true. However, despite their small total number, they were able to become very efficient and cause damage.

For example, the Giants are 26th on the team batting average and 22nd on the wRC + team. Currently, they don’t hit well in the traditional sense, but what is really interesting is what they do when they hit and what it could mean if they start to warm up.

As already mentioned, the Giants are in 4th place in the majors in barrel percent. That means they hit the ball hard but have less to show than most other teams, given their low average batting average. However, the Giants are also ranked 4th among the majors in HR / FB%, which means 16.5% of their flyballs fly over the fences. The Giants do this while in FB% 20th in the league.

This coupled with solid pitching has resulted in the Giants having the league’s ninth best running differential to kick off the season. If the Giants can get the ball up more as a team, they should see a significant dip in run production and overall hit in the summer months.

Additionally, the Giants who meet the Brain Trust of Donnie Ecker, Justin Many and assistant Dustin Lind seem to have shown Buster Posey and Evan Longoria the fountain of youth as they both posted a wRC + north of 150 to start the season .

Posey also made a small mechanical tweak to his setup that helped him get a bit more loft and efficiency out of his swing. Right now, Posey’s FB% is 31.6%, which is slightly less than his FB% from some of his best offensive seasons. In addition, Posey’s effect on the pitching staff appears to be the most potent. It appears that his pitch calling and mentoring had a strong, positive impact on this top 10 pitching corps, despite their unusually below average framing numbers early in the season.

The San Francisco Giants currently rank 2nd in a division that headline steals Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The underlying metrics and the Giants ‘recent offensive history show that the Giants’ bats are not even hot. It will be very interesting to see what happens when their offensive starts clicking and catching up with their strong inclination. If the Giants can further optimize their contact with balls in the air, the runs could start in groups and they will be a very tough game for the future.

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