[Added 5-8-1996, approved 5-9-1996]
No person shall tow or cause to have towed an unauthorized motor vehicle from a private or public parking lot, as heretofore defined, unless the following requirements have been complied with:
A. 
A towing permit shall have been obtained for the premises from the City Clerk and an annual fee of $100 paid to the City of Mount Vernon for each lot covered by the permit.
[Amended 10-8-2014, approved 10-9-2014]
B. 
A sign of minimum dimensions of three feet by three feet shall be conspicuously posted at each entrance and exit to the parking lot and wherever else the Commissioner deems necessary. Each sign must contain the following information:
(1) 
A statement that any car parked without authorization on the premises shall be towed at the owner's expense.
(2) 
The towing fee to be charged, said fee not to exceed $65 for the first offense and $100 for a second or subsequent offense, with the maximum fine in each and every instance which may be imposed not to exceed $250.
[Amended 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999; 3-27-2019, approved 4-2-2019]
(3) 
The per-diem storage fee charged shall not exceed $10.
[Amended 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
(4) 
The permit number.
(5) 
The name, address and telephone number of where the motor vehicle can be claimed.
C. 
Only a person licensed by the City of Mount Vernon pursuant to this chapter may tow said vehicle from said premises.
D. 
The charge for towing and storage shall not exceed the maximum permitted charges as provided by this chapter.
E. 
It shall be unlawful for a licensed tower to tow from a private or public parking lot unless a permit has been issued to said premises.
F. 
No permit issued hereunder shall be transferred to another premises.
G. 
The City of Mount Vernon and one-family and two-family residential properties are exempt from this section.
H. 
The owner of the vehicle is to be notified, in writing, by certified mail, within five days of removal by the licensed tow operator. In the event that the owner is not so notified, no additional per-diem charges shall accrue after the fifth day.
I. 
Upon pickup, the licensed tow operator must notify the Police Department radio room of the color, make, year and model of the auto towed from the private property, as well as the date and time and complete Form MV-31A at Mount Vernon Police Headquarters. The tow operator must also maintain a running log of all vehicles picked up pursuant to this section, listing the date and time of pickup, the color, make, year and model number of the vehicle picked up and time of the call to the Police Department and the name of the person receiving the information.
J. 
The licensed tow operator shall be required to maintain for a two-year period all billing and towing records for vehicles towed from private and public parking lots as defined in this chapter and shall be required to make available for inspection all such records to the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee upon demand.
K. 
Booting.
[Added 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
(1) 
Where the operator of a booting service places a booting device on an unattended motor vehicle parked without authorization on a privately owned real property under the direction of the owner or an individual acting on behalf of the owner of such property, said operator shall immediately notify the Police Department. Said operator shall only be entitled to charge the owner of such motor vehicle the maximum fee of $45 for the placement and removal of such booting device.
[Amended 5-9-2012, approved 5-10-2012]
(2) 
No person shall boot or cause to have booted an unauthorized motor vehicle from a private or public parking lot, as heretofore defined, unless the following requirements have been complied with:
(a) 
A sign with minimum dimensions of three feet by three feet shall be conspicuously posted at each entrance and exit to the parking lot and where else the Commissioner deems necessary. Each sign must contain the following information:
[1] 
A statement that any car parked without authorization on the premises shall be booted at the owner's expense.
[2] 
The booting fee to be charged, which shall not exceed $45.
[Amended 5-9-2012, approved 5-10-2012]
[3] 
The name, address and telephone number of booting company, and how the boot can be removed.
L. 
Removal of signs.
[Added 10-8-2014, approved 10-9-2014]
(1) 
Any premises that allows their permit to expire shall be required to remove all signs from such lot(s) within 30 days of expiration.
(2) 
A fine of $50 per month shall be imposed for failure to timely remove all signage as required.
[Added 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person, business or corporation to engage in booting of vehicles within the City of Mount Vernon without having in force a license therefor as herein provided.
B. 
No person shall boot or cause to have booted an unauthorized motor vehicle from a private or public parking lot, unless the following requirements have been complied with:
(1) 
A sign of with minimum dimensions of three feet by three feet shall be conspicuously posted at each entrance and exit to the parking lot and wherever else the Commissioner deems necessary. Each sign must contain the following information:
(a) 
A statement that any car parked without authorization on the premises shall be booted at the owner's expense.
(b) 
The booting fee to be charged, which shall not exceed $45.
[Amended 9-11-2013, approved 9-12-2013]
(c) 
The name, address and telephone number of the booting company, and how the boot can be removed.
[Added 9-8-1999, approved 9-9-1999]
A. 
Every applicant for a booting license shall be subject to an examination of criminal history information, including pending arrests and convictions. Every application for a booting license shall file, together with the application, fingerprints of both hands. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall have the authority to submit the fingerprints of the applicant, together with the required fees, to the Division of Criminal Justice Services or other appropriate agency for processing and investigation. No application for a booting license shall be approved until after the commanding officer of the Criminal Identification Unit in the Department of Public Safety has reviewed and examined the criminal history information disseminated by the Division of Criminal Justice Services. No applicant for a booting license shall be denied by reason of an applicant having been previously convicted of one or more criminal offenses, unless (1) there is a direct relationship between the applicant's criminal conviction and the license sought, or (2) the issuance of the license would involve an unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public.
[Amended 10-28-2015, approved 10-28-2015]
B. 
An applicant for a license to engage in booting shall list on his or her application for such license the names, addresses and telephone numbers of each officer, director, principal, stockholder owning more than 10% of the outstanding stock, or of each partner.
C. 
If an applicant for a license conducts business under a trade name or the applicant is a partnership, the application must be accompanied by a copy of the trade name or partnership certificate duly certified by the Clerk of the county in whose office said certificate is filed. If the applicant is a corporation, a copy of the filing receipt or certificate of incorporation filed with and stamped by the New York State Secretary of State must be submitted.
D. 
An applicant for a license shall furnish in the application the address where the licensee does business and maintains the records it is required to keep.
E. 
Bond required. As a condition of the issuance of a license to engage in booting, each applicant for such license shall furnish, to the City Clerk, a surety bond in the sum of $5,000, payable to the City of Mount Vernon.
F. 
A licensee shall maintain the following complete, accurate and legible records and receipts to substantiate that vehicles booted are in compliance with the above section. Records shall include:
(1) 
The time of first sighting, when the vehicle was first observed on the property, the vehicle's license plate number, physical description of driver, when the driver vehicle/driver was observed parked beyond the time period allowed or when the driver left the parking lot establishments.
(2) 
The log shall be maintained and be available for inspection on the property to which the entries pertaining to where the alleged violation occurred and where the vehicle was booted; otherwise, the log shall be kept and be available for inspection at the principal place of business of the licensee.
G. 
Each licensee shall issue to the person in charge of a booted vehicle a receipt that contains the information required by the following subsections in the form and manner described below and shall retain an identical copy of each such receipt in its records:
(1) 
The booting receipt shall be a printed form that includes such captions and blank spaces as are appropriate to insert the information to be furnished concerning the booting of a vehicle. Unless specifically provided otherwise, the printed text shall be in no less than ten-point type in a color that is sharply set off from the background color of the document. The information to be inserted on the form shall be legibly hand printed on the original page with indelible ink that is sharply set off from the background color of the document.
(2) 
The original and all duplicate pages of each receipt form shall contain the following information and text in the order listed below:
(a) 
The words "BOOTING RECEIPT" at the top of the page in twelve-point boldface type.
(b) 
A receipt identification number, which shall be issued in sequence, shall be nonduplicative and shall be imprinted on the original page and all duplicate pages of each such receipt.
(c) 
The name, business address, business telephone number and license number of the licensee who booted or who authorized or directed an employee to boot the vehicle.
(d) 
The address of the property where the vehicle was booted and a description of the location of the vehicle on such property.
(e) 
The vehicle license plate number, the vehicle identification number, the make and color of the vehicle.
(f) 
The words "THE VEHICLE WAS BOOTED:" in twelve-point boldface type followed by a full and accurate description of the facts that substantiate the failure to comply with the parking rules posted on the property pursuant to this chapter; if the failure to comply involves parking longer than the time period permitted pursuant to the posted parking rules, or the driver has exited the parking facility, the description shall include the exact time, accurate to the nearest minute, when the parked vehicle was first observed and when it was observed to be parked beyond the posted, specified time period or the driver left the parking complex.
(g) 
The date and the exact time, accurate to the nearest minute, when the vehicle was booted.
(h) 
The amount of the charge for removing the boot, followed by the statement identifying the credit cards that may be used for payment.
(i) 
The amount paid for the booting charge, the method of payment, the date and the time, accurate to the nearest minute, when the booting charge was paid and when the boot was removed from the vehicle.
(j) 
The name, identification badge number and initials of the employee who attached and/or who removed the boot, and the name, identification badge number and signature of the authorized individual who accepted payment for the booting charge, unless and if such vehicle is booted and/or such payment for the booting charge is accepted by the licensee himself or herself, in which case such receipt shall indicate the licensee's personal name and initials.
(k) 
The words "IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OPERATOR OF BOOTED VEHICLE:" followed by the statement set forth herein: "THE CHARGE FOR BOOTING AND/OR TOWING THE VEHICLE CANNOT BE MORE THAN THE AMOUNT SHOWN ON THE SIGNS POSTED ON THIS PROPERTY. A CAR CAN BE BOOTED AND A CHARGE IMPOSED ONLY IF THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN VIOLATION OF THE POSTED PARKING RULES. A BOOTING LICENSEE MUST STATE IN THIS NOTICE THE FACTS THAT SUBSTANTIATE HOW THE POSTED PARKING RULES WERE VIOLATED. SEE THE BACK OF THIS FORM FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS."
(l) 
The name of the owner or lessee of the property on which the vehicle was booted and the address and telephone number where such owner can be reached during normal business hours.
(m) 
The name and address of the Department, which is to be identified as the licensing agency, and the telephone number where booting complaints can be filed with the Department.
(n) 
The booting fee to be charged, which shall not exceed $45.
[Amended 9-11-2013, approved 9-12-2013]