The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday that will vacate streets around SF State to make make way for construction and redevelopment of the Parkmerced area.

Scheduled to start in March 2017, construction will take approximately two years to complete, during which time parking spots and garages near SF State will be closed and demolished as developers begin the construction process, said P.J. Johnson, a spokesperson for the Parkmerced Development Project.

After construction is complete, approximately the same amount of street parking spaces will return to the area, Johnson said.  

“It’s already hard enough to find parking spot with what’s available,” psychology major Katelyn Gardner said. “So if they take a bunch of parking spots away it’s going to be almost impossible to find parking.”

According to records from the San Francisco Public Works Department, phase one of construction would begin at the Northwest corner of Parkmerced on Vidal Drive.

Construction would affect Serrano Drive, Font Boulevard, Junipero Serra Boulevard and nearly half of Gonzalez Drive, according to the vacation order.

“Parking is terrible, it’s always been terrible. On a good day it’s just bad, but on a regular it’s terrible,” African studies major Hassani Bell said.  “I would be incredibly irritated because it already takes me half an hour to find somewhere to park on a normal day.”

“When it comes to transportation and Parkmerced, the most important thing we can do for the future is tunnel M-line from West Portal to Parkmerced and ideally to Daly City BART.” Candidate for District 7 Supervisor Joel Engardio said.  

During recent neighborhood meetings at St. Thomas Moore’s gymnasium, residents expressed their concerns over how city officials, especially the Board of Supervisors and developers, are creating legislation in a fast paced manner they feel disenfranchises the community overall.

“Getting to SFSU will only become harder and parking less available until the proposed west side transit realignment occurs,” former resident of Parkmerced Aaron Goodman said.