04/23/1984 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Arnold Ewing, 1355 Oak Street, Executive Vice-President of Northwest Timber Association, stated that he had five paid parking spaces for his staff. He said it was common to find illegally parked vehicles in these spaces several times a day. He stated that he has left notes on the cars but with little or no results. He stated that he has allowed some people to use the spaces who have asked permission, but he added that the students from the nearby beauty parlor continually used his spaces rather than parking in their own lot two blocks away. Mr. Ewing stated that people apparently do not want to use the numerous two-hour parking spaces which are available in the area. He stated that he has called the Eugene Police Department to report an illegally parked vehicle, only to be asked to identify the make, model, and year of the car. He said the Police Department was not very receptive of these calls. In regard to the proposed citation and requiring the towing operator to wait 15 minutes, Mr. Ewing stated that this would not solve his problem because the vehicle would still be illegally parked. He felt more concern was being given to the owner of the illegally parked vehicle than the property owner or manager, stating that the ordinance proposed fining the property or business owner $500 for an improp- erly worded sign. He said that the responsibility should be placed on the vehicle owner. He added that he has had signs destroyed, costing him more money. He said he has also been threatened by one vehicle owner because he left a note on the illegally parked car. He stressed that the City Council should establish tougher standards, stating that towing was the only method available to him to remove the illegally parked vehicle. He said that these vehicle owners should be fined in addition to paying any towing fees. Mr. Ewing said he would assume the responsibility for any vehicles towed, stating that the blame should not be placed on the towing operator. He stressed that more responsi- bility should be placed on the vehicle owner to look for parking signs. In regard to hookup charges, he compared the hookup with a police officer writing a ticket, stating that any attachment was adequate to designate a tow. While he felt sorry for those individuals without the money to pay towing fees, he said those individuals needed to assume responsibility for their actions. He did not believe that the towing operator should be required to carry change, stating that it was the responsibility of the vehicle owner. He recognized the efforts and the problems of the City Council, but he stressed that responsibility should be placed on the violator rather than the towing company. Neil Shields, 527 Fillmore Street, Operations Manager for Emerald Towing Company, stated that he and some of the other drivers of his company have been verbally and physically assaulted by the owners of illegally parked vehicles. It has been necessary for him to have police respond to several incidents when his drivers have been injured. He recognized the necessity of the City Council to resolve the towing situation. Mr. Shields stated that he would rather impound vehicles in Springfield because he felt that the Springfield Police Department supported the property owner and the towing operator. He said he could not depend on the Eugene Police Department to give high priority to calls from towing operators. He said he did not like to impound cars or to deal with cars in which babies or dogs were left, but he said that some solution was necessary. He said he was not satisfied with the situation or the job and that he would change jobs if he could. While he felt that the proposed ordinance contained MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 23, 1984 Page 4