With new rules ready, KC committee hears complaints about towing

By LYNN HORSLEY
The Kansas City Star

Jonathan De Haven can’t afford $1,000 to retrieve his car, which was towed a month ago from a private downtown parking lot.

As a result, he says, he’s lost his job and must rely on the kindness of strangers and friends to survive.

That was just one of the horror stories prompting the Kansas City Council to vote on a measure today that would crack down on towing abuses, especially as more and more people visit downtown entertainment venues.

The ordinance, endorsed Wednesday by the council’s Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee, requires clear warning signs on private lots and sets a maximum towing price below the hundreds of dollars that many people recently have been paying.

“There was a rash of predatory towing,” said Councilwoman Cindy Circo, who spearheaded the reforms. “This outlines some good business practices that help protect citizens of Kansas City and also gives them no excuses if they park in No Parking zones.”

Circo and other city officials had received many complaints from people who had to pay $350 or more in cash after their cars were hauled from private lots.

In e-mails and phone calls to reporters and city officials, the motorists have said that in many cases, warning signs about unauthorized parking were broken, hung upside down, hidden in dark corners or nonexistent.

Disgruntled patrons have shared stories of stumbling around downtown in pre-dawn hours, trying to find an ATM machine to retrieve $400 in cash to regain their cars. One woman described having to recover her car from a “dark and dingy” garage filled with junk cars in Independence, had to hand over $325 cash and was denied a receipt.

De Haven, who attended the hearing Wednesday, said in an interview that he had parked at a lot at 14th and Walnut streets to go to a temporary job on the morning of Nov. 5.

De Haven said there was no sign posted but when he returned at noon, a sign that looked like it was on wheels had been placed in front of the lot and his car was gone. He said he could not afford the $170 tow charge, and that the $30 daily storage fee since then has increased the total charge to nearly $1,000.

Tow truck owners and their attorneys turned out Wednesday to argue that they should not all be punished for the abuses of a few.

Brian Zevecke, owner of Showtime Tow Service, wondered why the council was going after tow companies instead of holding people accountable for parking where they shouldn’t.

Circo responded that the city realizes private property owners have a right to restrict parking to authorized cars, but she wants the rules to be clear, and fair, for everyone.

Among the proposed restrictions:

•Warning signs would have to be prominently displayed at all entrances to a private lot, including a pictorial symbol of a tow truck in case a driver doesn’t speak English. The tow and storage fees would also have to be displayed, along with a phone number to call for retrieval.

•Tow companies could charge a maximum tow fee of $150 and a maximum daily storage fee of $20. Tow operators said a fee of $225 to $250 would be more reasonable, but city officials disagreed.

•Tow operators would have to accept any major credit card as well as cash. Tow company owners objected, saying irate customers can cancel a credit card charge, but the city said requiring cash only was too burdensome.

•Tow facilities must be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for people to retrieve their cars.

The proposed ordinance originally required tow operators to have a tow lot within the city limits of Kansas City, but that provision was eliminated in a gesture of compromise.They said the requirement would pose a significant hardship. They also questioned whether it would be legal under federal laws.

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