City of Lowell, MA Article VIII Parking in Snow Emergencies

§ 266-103 Parking prohibited.

A. Whenever the City Manager or his designee declares an emergency exists in the City in regard to plowing or snow removal by the giving of at least six hours' notice, it shall be unlawful for the owner, operator or person in charge of any vehicle, other than one acting in an emergency, to park such vehicle or permit or suffer the same to be parked on any public street in this City for the duration of the emergency.

B. Any violation of this section shall be punishable as provided in MGL c. 90, § 20A.

§ 266-104 Removal authorized; charges.

A. Any vehicle found parked in violation of § 266-103, except those exempted by Chapter 322 of the Acts of 1961,[1] may, under the direction of any police officer, be removed to a convenient place, and the owner of such vehicle so removed or towed away shall be liable to pay the cost of such removal and storage, if any, as provided in Chapter 150, Fees.

[Amended 12-23-2008]

[1] Editor's Note: See MGL c. 40, § 22D.

B. The charges referred to in this section shall be payable to the contractor hereinafter mentioned before the owner of such vehicle shall be entitled to remove the same from the place of storage.

§ 266-105 Contracts for towing and storage.

The Superintendent of Police shall award contracts for the towing and storage of vehicles removed and stored under this article by competitive bids, advertisements for which shall be inserted once in a newspaper published in the City at least seven days prior to the opening of bids. Such advertisements shall provide that the City reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Such contract shall provide that there shall be no obligation on the part of the City for the payment of towing or storage charges but that the contractor must resort for payment to the owners of vehicles removed from the public streets and stored as provided herein.

§ 266-106 Liability of contractor.

The contractor shall be liable to the owner for any damage caused to a vehicle arising out of negligence in the course of removal and storage pursuant to this article.

§ 266-107 Records of vehicles removed.

The Police Department shall keep a record of all vehicles towed or removed under the provisions of this article. Such record shall be retained for one year and shall contain the following information:

A. The registration of the vehicle.

B. The location from which it was towed and time and date of the tow order.

C. The location to which it was moved.

D. The fee charged for towing.

E. Name of towing contractor, if any.

F. Name and rank of officer who authorized towing.