[Adopted 9-18-1961 by Ord. No. 22; amended 6-26-1979 by L.L. No. 12-1979]
[Amended 6-10-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010; 11-7-2013 by L.L. No. 2-2013; 11-4-2015 by L.L. No. 2-2015; 10-6-2022 by L.L. No. 2-2022; 12-7-2023 by L.L. No. 7-2023]
A. 
Any vehicle parked, standing, stopped or abandoned on any street or highway, or parked in any driveway in such a manner as to obstruct or block the sidewalk, within this Village during a snowstorm, flood, fire or other public emergency, or found unattended on any street or highway where said vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic, or found unattended on any such street or highway where the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles is prohibited during said emergency in addition to any penalties set forth in § 55-17 of this Code, may be immobilized by a boot or other locking device or removed or towed away by any officer or by any employee or agent of the Village duly designated by the Mayor or Clerk or by any police officer, without any personal liability for such removal.
B. 
Inoperable, abandoned and unregistered vehicles.
(1) 
The owner of property upon which an inoperable or abandoned vehicle is being kept shall remove such motor vehicle within one day. Upon the failure of such property owner to remove such motor vehicle, the Village may have it removed and may assess the costs of such removal against the owner of the property, to be collected in the same manner as a tax.
(2) 
The Village may tow or otherwise remove any unregistered motor vehicle parked, standing or stored on a public street. In addition to any penalty imposed pursuant to § 55-17, the owner or operator of such motor vehicle may reclaim it pursuant to §§ 55-5 through 55-7.
C. 
Any vehicle that has been ticketed on a Village street for violating Village traffic and/or parking regulations may be immobilized by a boot or other locking device or removed or towed away by an officer or by an employee or agent of the Village duly designated by the Mayor or Clerk or by any police officer, without any personal liability for such removal.
D. 
The Village may tow, impound, immobilize, or otherwise remove from the public street or any public area, a vehicle whose owner has accrued greater than $350, inclusive of penalties and interest, of outstanding judgement or judgments for parking violations against the vehicle’s owner. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to limit the Village’s removal of a motor vehicle which is illegally parked, stopped, standing, abandoned, inoperable, or unregistered.
After such removal or towing away of any vehicle, as in this Article provided, such vehicle may be stored at a place designated by the Mayor or Clerk, to be there held until the owner or operator of such vehicle shall call for and remove the same.
[Amended 6-10-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010]
Prior to such removal from such storage, the owner or operator of such vehicle shall pay the amount of all charges and expenses actually and necessarily incurred in such removal or towing from such street or highway, and of all charges and expenses actually and necessarily incurred for such storage. The payment of the above charges shall be in addition to any penalty imposed pursuant to § 55-17.
[Amended 12-7-2023 by L.L. No. 7-2023; 4-4-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
A. 
Upon seizure of a vehicle as provided in this article, the Village shall, as soon as practicable, ascertain the identity of the parties with property interests in the seized vehicle (the "interested parties"). The interested parties to be ascertained shall include the following four categories of persons (to the extent they exist for a given vehicle):
(1) 
The person in possession of the vehicle at the time of seizure;
(2) 
The registrant of the vehicle;
(3) 
The titled owner of the vehicle;
(4) 
Any lessor of the vehicle; and/or
(5) 
Any lienholder of the vehicle.
B. 
Within 10 days of the seizure of a vehicle as provided in this article, the Village shall notify all interested parties of the seizure by certified mail, return receipt requested, with a notice of seizure sent to the interested parties as follows:
(1) 
The address used for an individual interested party shall be that listed on the individual's driver's license, registration documents, or such other address as reasonably calculated to give the lessor and/or lienholder notice of the seizure.
(2) 
The address used for the lessor and/or lienholder (as applicable) of the vehicle shall be the address identified on the vehicle's title document, the vehicle's lease contract, and/or the vehicle's retail installment contract, and/or such other address as reasonably calculated to give the lessor and/or lienholder notice of the seizure.
C. 
The notice of seizure shall state that interested parties shall have the right to a hearing, which must be commenced within 21 days from the time the notice of seizure is sent to all interested parties. The hearing shall be held under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Village Justice Court. In the event that the Village Justice Court does not convene within 21 days from the time the notice of seizure is sent, or if an interested party of the seized vehicle elects to have an earlier hearing, the Mayor of the Village of Russell Gardens shall appoint a neutral decision maker. The purpose of the hearing herein is to determine the respective rights of the Village and the interested parties as set forth in this section. The notice of seizure shall also include the following information:
(1) 
The make, model, and vehicle identification number ("VIN") of the seized vehicle;
(2) 
A statement that the purpose of the proceeding is to determine the legality of the seizure, the appropriateness of any fees and expenses to be charged in relation to the seizure and storage of the vehicle, and determine the rights of possession in the vehicle at issue.
D. 
The hearing shall be conducted before the Village Justice Court. If the Village Justice Court does not convene within 21 days of the seizure and an interested party of the seized vehicle makes a request to hold the proceeding prior to the Court convening, a neutral decision maker appointed by the Mayor shall review the legality of the seizure, the appropriateness of any fees and expenses to be charged in relation to the seizure and storage of the vehicle, and determine the rights of possession to the vehicle at issue.
E. 
Upon request of the interested party, the Village shall promptly arrange for and conduct the hearing. If no interested party requests a hearing or appears at the hearing, all interested parties will be deemed to be in default. In the event of a default, the Village Prosecutor shall conduct a post-default review of the seizure to determine the legality of the seizure, the appropriateness of any fees and expenses charged in relation to the seizure and storage of the vehicle. Following post-default review, the Village may take such further actions as are called for by its laws or other policies and procedures, including the imposition of fees, seeking forfeiture, or otherwise disposing of the vehicle.
F. 
In the event it is determined at a hearing that a lessor or lienholder is entitled to take possession of a seized vehicle, the lessor or lienholder shall, prior to a lessor or lienholder retrieving a vehicle pursuant to disposition, send a notice to the driver and registrant of the vehicle informing them that their failure to retrieve the vehicle within 10 days will result in turnover of the vehicle to the lessor or lienholder, as applicable. Such a vehicle will not be turned over to a lessor or lienholder until the lessor or lienholder provides satisfactory proof of a lessor or lienholder's right to take possession of a vehicle. Such proof shall be in the form of an affidavit from an appropriate custodian of records of the lessor or lienholder stating the reasons(s) the lessor or lienholder has a current right to take possession of the vehicle and attaching the lease document or retail installment contract.
(1) 
Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, the Village may reasonably request the affidavit of right described in Subsection F of this section to include the following:
(a) 
An agreement by the lessor or lienholder to reasonably cooperate with the Village should a driver or registrant later make claims against the Village related to the Village's turnover of the vehicle to the lessor; and/or
(b) 
An agreement to release, defend, and indemnify the Village for its conduct in towing the vehicle and turning the vehicle over to the lessor and/or lienholder.
(2) 
Satisfactory proof of a lessor's or lienholder's right to take possession of the vehicle shall not include any of the following:
(a) 
A requirement that the lessor or lienholder pay the Village any fees, except those that may be imposed by a disposition as a result of the post-deprivation proceeding outlined in this article;
(b) 
An agreement not to return the vehicle to the driver, registrant, lessee, or debtor, as applicable.
G. 
In the Village's discretion, and where reasonable and appropriate, the Village may make an application for a pre-seizure warrant and commence a proceeding in the Village Court of the Village of Russell Gardens subject to all notice and other procedural requirements contained in this chapter. The subject matter of the pre-seizure warrant application shall be identical to the subject matter of the post-seizure hearing. If the Village successfully obtains a warrant to seize the vehicle, the Village may forthwith seize the vehicle and dispense with the post-seizure hearing requirements of this chapter.