[Adopted as Sec. 6.20 of the Codification]
No person shall abandon any motor vehicle within the Village
and no person shall leave any motor vehicle within the Village for
such time and under such circumstances as to cause such motor vehicle
reasonably to appear to have been abandoned. Whenever any motor vehicle
has been allowed to remain standing on any street or public place
in the Village for more than 73 hours, the same shall be deemed to
have been left or abandoned within the meaning of this section.
No person shall leave any nonoperable, dismantled, wrecked,
junked, or parts of a dismantled motor vehicle on any street or highway
within the Village.
Prohibition on certain vehicles. See § 16-22T of the Municipal Code of Whitefish Bay.
The Police Department may remove or have removed any motor vehicle left at any place within the Village which reasonably appears to be in violation of § 6-47 or to be lost, stolen or unclaimed. Such motor vehicle shall be impounded until lawfully claimed or disposed of in accordance with § 6-51. The Police Department may remove and junk, or cause to be removed and junked by private contract, any motor vehicle left at any place within the Village which reasonably appears to be in violation of §§ 6-48 and 6-49.
A.
At any time prior to the sale of impounded motor vehicles as herein
provided, any person establishing his ownership or right of possession
to such vehicle may reclaim and obtain possession of the same by paying
the actual charges for the storage and towing thereof and other expenses
incident to the care of the same. After any such motor vehicle shall
have been stored as aforesaid for 30 days or more and shall not have
been reclaimed as aforesaid, the Chief of Police may sell the same.
Notice of such sale shall be published in the Whitefish Bay Herald
once, but the same notice may include one or more motor vehicles.
At such sale, the highest bid in cash for any such motor vehicle shall
be accepted; unless the same is, in the judgment of the Chief of Police,
inadequate, in which event, all bids may be rejected. In case all
bids are rejected or no bid at all is received, the Chief of Police
may, in his discretion, either readvertise the sale or adjourn the
same from time to time to a definite date each time, or sell such
motor vehicle at a private sale or junk the same. After deducting
the reasonable and necessary expenses incident to the care and sale
of any motor vehicle, the balance of the proceeds shall be paid to
the Clerk-Treasurer and credited to the General Village fund.
B.
The sale of motor vehicle under the provisions of this section shall
forever bar all prior claims thereto and interest therein except as
hereinafter provided.
C.
At any time within one year after the sale of a motor vehicle as
provided herein, any person claiming ownership of such motor vehicle
or a financial interest therein may present a claim to the Village
Board, setting forth such facts as are necessary to establish such
ownership or interest. If the Village Board is satisfied as to the
justice of such claim it may allow the same, subject to a deduction
for expenses incurred in towing, hauling, storing and disposing of
such vehicle, but in no case shall the amount allowed exceed the sum
paid into the Village Treasury as the result of the sale of such motor
vehicle nor the amount of the interest of the claimant therein.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1804; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 17, Village Code and Ordinances,
Art. I)]
Pursuant to §§ 349.13(3) and 342.40(3)(b), Wis.
Stats., all as amended from time to time, this section of the Municipal
Code applies to all vehicles left standing on a highway in violation
of Chapter 342, 346 or 349, Wis. Stats., disabled vehicles obstructing
a public right-of-way, motor vehicles violating any parking regulation,
and abandoned or nonoperable motor vehicles as defined by this chapter.
Village Police and Public Works personnel, or their agents, are hereby
authorized to remove vehicles in violation of this chapter or Wisconsin
Statutes and to impose the cost of such removal on the owner or the
operator of the vehicle. Such costs may be recovered by fee charged
to release the vehicle from impoundment or by civil forfeiture on
a citation issued under this section.
