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Stonestown mall: RV dwellers’ protest blocks traffic into shopping center for hours

Protest blocking road
Demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Stonestown mall. | Source: Courtesy photo

Approximately 20 demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Stonestown Galleria Tuesday morning with a car and cones, protesting the pending clearing of a RV encampment on Winston Drive.

The protest started at 7 a.m. at the intersection of Winston Drive and Buckingham Way and was over by 10:45 a.m.

RV dwellers have been living on the block for years. But starting July 1, they say they expect city officials to begin enforcing the street’s four-hour parking limits—which would effectively clear the encampment.

Four buses were backed up behind the protest at the intersection of Winston Drive and Buckingham Way. SFMTA said it would adjust its routes. | Source: Courtesy video

Video from 9:30 a.m. showed four buses backed up at the blocked intersection.

The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency said its 29 Sunset and 58 Lake Merced bus lines rerouted around the demonstration, but resumed operating as usual once the protest concluded.

Kenneth Cocking, who lives in an RV nearby on Lake Merced Boulevard, said he supports the protest. He’s lived in RVs in the area for over six months.

“With all of the empty parking lots and space, long enough to where they can accommodate a few RVs … they have the means to accommodate the homeless,” Cocking said.

Tomoki Chien can be reached at tchien@sfstandard.com