[Added 1-19-1993; amended 3-4-1996; 11-5-2001]
In order to protect persons who operate motor vehicles within
the City limits, to ensure that the streets, public ways, and public
property remain open and free of hazard to the public, and to further
effectuate the efficient enforcement of the City's traffic, parking,
snow removal, and other ordinances, it is necessary to license and
regulate those businesses providing vehicle wrecker or towing services
at the request or direction of the City.
[Amended 4-4-2016 by Ord.
No. 2016-22]
In addition to the words elsewhere defined in the Code of the
City of Westbrook, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed
thereto, unless otherwise indicated:
Any building or permanently affixed structure which is owned
or held under a lease or ascertainable rental agreement at the time
the business is commenced, and which, for the purposes of this article,
is used in whole or in part for the purpose of engaging in vehicle
towing.
A list maintained by the Police Department, containing the
names of wreckers licensed by the City to respond to police requests
for vehicle towing.
A business engaged in, or offering the services of, a vehicle
wrecker, tow truck or carrier, whereby motor vehicles are or may be
towed or otherwise removed from one place to another by the use of
a motor vehicle specifically adapted to and designed for that purpose.
[Amended 11-25-2002]
No wrecker shall be eligible for placement on the City's towing list without having obtained and maintained a valid wrecker license from the City as set forth in Article I of this chapter. The ownership and the payment of fees for additional tow vehicles used in association with the tow list shall not entitle the wrecker company to additional positions on the towing list rotation.
Applications for the wrecker license shall be procured from
the City Clerk's office, completed and signed by the applicant, and
filed with the Clerk. The following shall be submitted with the application:
A.
Proof that the applicant is a legally organized business. This may
include copies of deeds, leases, rental agreements, and Assessor's
records; business filings with the Secretary of State; addresses shown
on federal and state tax filings; copies of insurance coverage for
the premises and for the employees therein; advertising; and motor
vehicle registrations;
B.
Evidence that each applicant owns/leases and operates its own wrecker(s).
A copy of any tow vehicle registration, title and lease, where applicable,
shall accompany the application;
C.
Evidence that the wrecker maintains a safe and legal storage facility
for those vehicles towed at the request of the Westbrook Police Department
during emergencies or without the owner's knowledge or consent;
D.
Evidence that the wrecker maintains satisfactory levels of insurance
to satisfy claims arising out of the towing or storage of motor vehicles;
E.
Evidence that the wrecker and its employees or agents are available
on a twenty-four-hour, 365-day-per-year basis to ensure that towed
vehicles may be released within one hour of demand by the owner who
has cash to pay all fees;
F.
Copy of driver's license of all employees operating wreckers in response
to calls from Westbrook Police Department.
Required certificates of insurance, vehicle(s) title/lease and registration and required evidence of business organization shall be submitted with the required application as set forth in Article I of this chapter. The inspecting officers shall investigate the applicant's compliance with the minimum regulations for wreckers and compliance with Chapter 335, Land Use, of the City Code.
[Amended 4-22-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-68]
The municipal officers, in addition to other provisions of this code authorizing such action, may deny, suspend, or revoke a license upon stipulations set forth in § 205-8 as well as any of the following grounds:
A.
The wrecker has violated any of the requirements set forth herein.
B.
The City is not satisfied with the general services of the wrecker
or its employees or with the cooperation it has received when services
are rendered; or the applicant's business otherwise has been the source
of consumer complaints.
C.
Conviction of crime under the following standards:
(1)
Conviction
for one misdemeanor for a theft-related offense, applicant is ineligible
for five years.
(2)
Conviction
for one misdemeanor for a driving-related offense, applicant is ineligible
for five years.
(3)
Conviction
for two misdemeanors for a theft-related offense, applicant is ineligible
for 10 years from conviction date of most recent offense.
(4)
Conviction
for two misdemeanors for a driving-related offense, applicant is ineligible
for 10 years from conviction date of most recent offense.
(5)
Conviction
of any felony-related crime, including theft- and driving-related
offenses, applicant is permanently ineligible.
The following minimum regulations must be met on a continuous
basis:
A.
Each registrant shall be a legally organized business, having a place of business, i.e., an office located in a conforming zoning district or operating as a legal nonconforming use under Chapter 335, Land Use, of the City Code, from which the business and wrecker vehicle operate, and having a storage location for all vehicles towed by that company which also must be within five air miles of 570 Main Street.
B.
Each registrant shall own/lease and operate its own wrecker(s), which
for the purposes of this article must be used exclusively by the licensed
wrecker business. The registrant shall supply the Chief of Police
such other evidence as he shall require that demonstrates that the
wrecker vehicle will be used exclusively by that single wrecker business
in connection with the towing list rotation.
C.
Insurance.
(1)
Each wrecker business shall maintain its own separate insurance coverage
for place of business, storage facility, wrecker vehicles, and employees,
indicating the following coverages:
(a)
Garage keeper's policy. Covering fire, theft, windstorm, vandalism,
and explosion, in the amount of at least $35,000.
(b)
Garage keeper's liability policy. Covering the operation of the applicant's
business, equipment, and vehicles for any bodily injury or property
damage. This policy shall be in the minimum single limit amount of
$100,000.
(c)
Road service liability. Covering the lifting, hoisting, and towing
of vehicles in the minimum amount of $35,000.
(2)
Notice. Each policy shall contain an endorsement by the carrier providing
30 days' notice to the City in the event of any change in coverage.
D.
By the act of accepting a wrecker license, each licensee agrees that
it will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the City, its officers
and employees from all claims for damages, including the reasonable
cost of defense and attorneys' fees resulting from the towing or storage
of vehicles under this article.
E.
Each wrecker shall maintain such records as may be required by the
Chief of Police and shall permit their inspection during normal business
hours.
F.
Each wrecker shall permit the Chief of Police or his designee to
conduct regular inspections of each towing vehicle and each storage
area during normal business hours.
G.
Licensees shall arrive at the scene with 30 minutes (or as soon as
practical given weather and road conditions) of receipt of a request
for service from the Police Department.
H.
Vehicles must be towed, not driven, to the designated storage facility.
I.
At the request of the police, a wrecker business shall clean the
accident area of any debris resulting from the accident.
J.
Each wrecker vehicle used in conjunction with this article shall
be permanently lettered with the company name and phone number of
the licensed wrecker business.
K.
Any changes in insurance coverage, tow vehicles, storage location,
or employees shall be reported to the City Clerk within five days
of the change. A copy of any new employee's driver's license must
accompany the notice.
A.
Those wreckers that have been licensed by the municipal officers
shall be placed on the towing list, which shall be utilized in those
instances in which a vehicle is to be towed from a public way or public
property or from any private property at the request or direction
of the City. Each wrecker business shall maintain a separate telephone
number that may be used by the police dispatcher when selecting a
wrecker and at which the car owner can contact the wrecker business
to secure the return of his/her vehicle.
B.
When a request for vehicle towing is received at the Police Department,
the dispatcher or his/her supervisor shall select the name of the
wrecker which next succeeds the last wrecker called for towing services.
Such wrecker selections shall proceed in a rotating manner until the
end of the list is reached, at which point wreckers shall again be
selected from the top of the list, consecutively.
C.
In the event that a wrecker does not respond to a phone call from
the Police Department or otherwise does not respond to the scene in
a timely manner, the next name on the towing list shall be called.
Then, should more than one wrecker respond to the scene, the last
one called from the Police Department shall be entitled to the tow.
Any wrecker called shall not be called again until its name next appears
in the rotation.
D.
Those wreckers who operate more than one towing vehicle shall be
selected only once during each rotation of the towing list.
E.
No tow truck, wrecker, or carrier used by one wrecker business to
respond to police requests for towing may be used by any other registrant
in connection with the towing list, irrespective of any business organization,
lease/title, vehicle registration, or other agreement by which registrants
might otherwise share the use of a wrecker vehicle.
A.
No wrecker shall respond to the scene of an accident or other emergency
unless specifically called there by the Westbrook Police Department
dispatcher or the owner or operator of the vehicle involved. No wrecker,
agent or employee shall solicit towing contracts at the scene. However,
nothing in this article shall be construed as prohibiting a towing
service from privately contracting with any person.
B.
In the event that a vehicle owner or operator requests a wrecker
of his/her own preference, the Police Department will attempt to secure
the services of the wrecker chosen, provided it is able to respond
quickly if circumstances demand it.
C.
In the event that the vehicle owner or operator selects his/her own
wrecker, then the towing list shall be disregarded, and the rotation
shall remain unchanged.
At his/her discretion, the Chief of Police or his/her designee
may select a wrecker that does not appear in the towing list sequence
when required by the exigent circumstances surrounding vehicle removal
or the need for special equipment and procedures.
Notwithstanding the procedures set forth herein, nothing in
this article, or in the towing regulations previously in effect, creates
a vested or exclusive right to be called or selected for a towing
operation requested by an employee or official of the City. Nothing
in the provisions contained herein is designed or intended to restrain
the course of free trade or to restrict the number of qualified licensees
on the towing list.
A.
The Chief of Police, upon notice and opportunity for hearing, is
authorized to remove a wrecker from the towing list or otherwise suspend
the privileges accorded hereby upon finding one of the following:
(1)
That the towing list registration was secured by fraud or by concealment
of a material fact by the wrecker owner and such fact, if known, would
have cause disqualification;
(2)
That the wrecker owner has violated any of the ongoing requirements
established herein; or
(3)
That the City is not satisfied with the general services of the wrecker
or its employees, or with the cooperation received when services are
rendered.
B.
In the event that the Chief of Police removes a wrecker from the
tow list, the company may appeal that action to the municipal officers.
Should they reverse the decision, then the wrecker shall be entitled
only to be placed back on its former place on the tow list.
As an express condition of licensure, each wrecker shall charge no more than the fees found in Chapter A400, Master Fee Schedule, in those cases in which a vehicle has been towed and stored at the request of the Police Department. These fee restrictions apply to automobiles towed to the authorized storage lots or police impound locations. Any vehicle towed to an alternative location at the request of the owner may be charged additional fees as negotiated prior to the tow. The schedule of fees shall not be modified except by action of the City Council.
