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Towing rules tightened

Posted on February 16, 2012February 15, 2012 by Susan Dickson

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL – Responding to concerns about predatory towing practices, the Chapel Hill Town Council on Monday voted to approve changes to the town’s towing ordinance that will tighten regulations, requiring towing companies to accept credit cards and limiting towing fees to $125 town-wide.

Residents have argued that towing fees for cars towed from areas outside the central business district – where regulations limit such fees to $100 – were too high, with some companies charging as much as $200, and that the cash-only policies of most companies are unfair. In addition, residents have complained that storage locations in remote areas are unsafe and that “walk-off” towing, which occurs when a driver parks at one business and visits another while parked there, is a predatory practice.

Towing companies have said they have to recoup costs lost by the limited downtown towing fees by charging higher fees outside of the downtown area and that those who pay towing fees with a credit card could cancel the charges later.

The ordinance, which will go into effect on May 1, requires towing companies to accept multiple forms of payment, including credit and debit cards; requires that companies have storage lots located no farther than 15 miles from the point of tow; creates a system of graduated fines for companies that violate the ordinance; requires that one sign be posted at every third parking space and a sign be posted notifying drivers of video surveillance, in addition to signage previously required at the entrance to the lots; and requires companies to notify the police department before towing a vehicle. Previously, towing companies were required to notify police within 30 minutes of bringing a car to their lots.

The ordinance will also require that storage lots be secured and lighted appropriately, to be inspected annually by the police department.

The council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance changes and 6-3 to approve fee regulations, which set caps at $125 for towing vehicles from private lots, $50 to release vehicles to owners after hook-up but before towing and $20 per day for storage after the first 24 hours.

Town staff had recommended a $100 town-wide limit, but council members said they felt that should be increased, since the $100 limit for downtown was set four years ago.

In 2011, 673 cars were towed from non-residential private property in downtown Chapel Hill, up from 550 in 2010, including 120 from Panera; 89 from Warehouse Apartments; 87 from McDonald’s; 85 from the lot at 306 W. Franklin, between Vespa and Noodles & Co.; and 74 from the lot at the corner of Henderson and Rosemary streets.

Tom Stark, an attorney representing George’s Towing, which opposes the changes, said his client had installed video surveillance not as a predatory practice but to document walk-off towing at lots his drivers tow from, including the 306 W. Franklin lot.

“In every instance that you tow someone’s car, you have an unhappy person there, and what they say about what happened is rarely accurate, which is part of the beauty of doing the videotaping,” he said, adding that in most cases cars are towed 10 to 30 minutes after the driver walks off.

“[Tow truck drivers] try to be lenient in the policy, but the purpose of the policy is to keep people from tying up lots,” Stark said.

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