[Added 4-11-2006 by Ord. No. 422]
A. 
The purpose of this article is to protect the health, safety and welfare of municipal residents by regulating the towing of vehicles from private property. To the extent that legal authority to tow or hold a vehicle without the consent of its owner exists, that authority shall be derived from other statutes or the common law. This article restricts the exercise of any such legal authority but does not authorize the towing of any vehicle.
B. 
This article applies to the towing of a vehicle from private property without the consent of the owner of the vehicle. It does not apply to towing initiated by the vehicle owner or by towing approved or requested by a police officer, fire fighter or other person in an official capacity in the course of removing impediments to traffic, in the course of criminal investigation or removal of abandoned vehicles.
This article shall apply to commercial and industrial properties and residential properties with more than three dwelling units.
Any posted restrictions in any vehicle parking area on or for a residential multifamily, commercial or industrial property shall be part of an approved site plan pursuant to Chapter 135 of the Hampstead Town Code. Where a property has been developed under the site plan process, the posting of parking restrictions shall require approval of a site plan amendment. Where a property has been developed without a site plan, the property owner must make application for parking restrictions to the Hampstead Planning and Zoning Commission in such a form and manner as determined by the Commission.
Any parking area where restrictions are posted must meet all requirements of the Hampstead Town Code pertaining to off-street parking.
A vehicle with a valid handicapped registration plate or valid disabled person's parking permit conspicuously displayed shall not be towed from private property without the consent of the vehicle owner unless the tow is expressly authorized by a police officer or member of the department of fire and rescue services.
The Town Council may establish by resolution a requirement that all trespass towing firms operating within the Town limits be registered with the Town. The Town Council may also by resolution establish fair rates for trespass towing, incomplete tows, vehicle storage and other activities related to the removal of vehicles from private property as deemed necessary to safeguard public health, safety and welfare.
A. 
Any violation of this article shall be a municipal infraction subject to a fine of $1,000. Each violation and each day that a violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense subject to cumulative fines and other penalties.
B. 
The remedies provided for in this section are cumulative and not exclusive and shall be in addition to any other remedies provided by the law.