This article is enacted under authority of § 6109(a)(22)
of the Vehicle Code and gives authority to the City to remove and
impound vehicles that are parked overtime on any street in the City
or in metered and unmetered parking lots in the City in violation
of any provision of this chapter.
The City shall have authority to remove and impound or to order the removal and impounding of any vehicle parked overtime or otherwise illegally, provided that the circumstances of its parking were within the conditions stated in §
249-28 of this article, and provided that no such vehicle shall be removed or impounded except in strict adherence to the provisions of this article.
Removal and impounding of vehicles under this
article shall be done only by approved storage garages that shall
be designated from time to time by the Council. Every such garage
shall submit evidence to the Council that it is bonded or has acquired
liability insurance in an amount satisfactory to the Council as sufficient
to indemnify owners of impounded vehicles against loss or damage to
those vehicles while in the custody of the garagekeeper for the purpose
of towing or storage. The approved storage garage shall submit to
the Council its schedule of charges for towing and storage of vehicles
under this article, and when the schedule is approved by the Council,
those charges shall be adhered to by the approved storage garage.
No different schedule of charges shall be adopted without approval
of the Council, and no different charges shall be demanded of or collected
from any person whose vehicle is removed or impounded under this article
by any approved storage garage. The Council shall delete from its
list of approved storage garages any garage that makes any unapproved
charge in connection with any vehicle removed or impounded under this
article.
Within 12 hours from the time of removal of
any vehicle under authority granted by this article, notice of the
fact that the vehicle was removed shall be sent by the City to the
owner of record of the vehicle. The notice shall designate the place
from which the vehicle was removed, the reason for its removal and
impounding and the garage in which it was impounded.
The payment of any towing and storage charges
authorized by this article shall, unless payment is made under protest,
be final and conclusive and shall constitute a waiver of any right
to recover the money so paid. If payment of any towing or storage
charges is made under protest, the offender shall be entitled to a
hearing before a District Justice. Payment of towing and storage charges
shall not relieve the owner or driver of any vehicle from liability
for any fine or penalty for the violation of the provision of this
chapter for which the vehicle was removed or impounded.
The City shall cause a record to be kept of
all vehicles impounded under this article and shall be able at all
reasonable times to furnish the owners or the agents of the owners
of those vehicles with information as to the place of storage of the
vehicle.