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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1209 - ADMIN Ordinance - City Council - 1973/02/05ORIGINAL ORDINANCE NO. 12( 9 JANUARY 29, 1973 3E AN ORDINANCE DEFINING A PUBLIC NUISANCE AND PROVIDING FOR THE ABATEMENT THEREOF BY REGULATING THE APPOINTMENT OF TOWING CONTRACTORS AND THE REMOVAL AND IMPOUNDING OF ABANDONED OR OTHER VEHICLES CONSTITUTING A PUBLIC NUISANCE, AMENDING SECTIONS 3:136.1 THROUGH 3:136.11 OF THE ST. LOUIS PARK ORDINANCE CODE THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS PARK DOES ORDAIN: Section 1. Sections 3:316.1 through 3:136.11 of the St. Louis Park Ordinance Code are amended to read as follows: Section 3:136.1. Definitions. •J (a) "Abandoned motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined in Minnesota Statutes, Section 169.01, that has remained for a period of more than 48 hours on public property illegally or lacking vital component parts, or has remained for a period of more than 48 hours on private property without consent of the person in control of such property or in an inoperable condition such that it has no substantial potential further use consistent with its usual functions unless it is kept in an enclosed garage or storage building. It shall also mean a motor vehicle voluntarily surrendered by its owner to the City or towing contractor. A classic car or pioneer car, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, Section 168.10, shall not be considered an abandoned motor vehicle within the meaning of this ordinance. (b) "Towing contractor" means a person under contract awarded by the City under section 3:316.9 of this ordinance. (c) "Vehicle constituting a public nuisance" means any vehicle, whether occupied or not, that is found stopped, standing, or parked in violation of the traffic regulation provisions of Sections 3:120 through 3:135 of the St. Louis Park Ordinance Code, or that is reported stolen, or that is found impeding firefighting, snow removal or plowing, or the orderly flow of traffic. Any such vehicle is hereby deemed and declared to be a public nuisance. • (d) "Vital component parts" means those parts of a motor vehicle that are essential to the mechanical functioning of the vehicle, including, but not limited to, the motor, drive train, and wheels. Section 3:136.2. Vehicles Constituting a Public Nuisance and Abandoned Motor Vehicles May be Taken into Custody and Impounded. The city manager, any police officer, or other duly authorized person may immediately order any abandoned motor vehicle or any vehicle constituting a public nuisance to be removed and impounded in the manner herein provided, and it shall be surrendered to the duly identified owner thereof by the towing contractor only upon payment of the fees herein provided, which are declared to be the vehicle pound fees covering the same. If the owner or operator requests that such vehicle be towed to his own or to any garage other than the towing contractor, and provided that the owner shall advance to the towing contractor a sum equal to the minimum towing charge as established by the towing contract, neither the towing contractor nor the police department shall order such vehicle to be impounded in any public pound unless the police department considers possession of such car is necessary in the prosecution of any person for violation of law. Section 3:136.3. Vehicles to be Tagged. Any vehicle ordered impounded by the police department under this ordinance shall immediately be tagged for identification by the police department, which tag shall show the disposition of the car ordered by said police department, and the reason for which impounded. The tag shall be delivered to the towing contractor with the tow sheet. Section 3:136.4. Report of Police Officer. Any police officer or other authorized person directing the impounding of any vehicle shall prepare a written report of the description of such vehicle, which report shall, among other things, include the following: make of car; license number; motor number; number of tires; tools and other separate articles of personal property; general description of the car with regard to condition, damaged parts, and such other information as may be necessary to describe adequately the vehicle and property delivered to the towing contractor. A copy of such report, signed by the officer shall be delivered to the towing contractor at the time of impounding. The towing contractor shall receipt for such report, and shall check such report, and his signature thereon shall be considered a receipt for the vehicle and property described in said report. The original and one copy of said report, and towing contractor's receipt shall be filed in the police department. The police department shall deliver one of said copies to the director of finance. Section 3:136.5. Immediate Sale of Certain Vehicles. When a vehicle constituting a public nuisance or an abandoned motor vehicle is more than seven model years of age, is lacking vital component parts, and does not display a license plate currently valid in Minnesota or any other state or foreign country, it shall immediately be eligible for sale at public auction or sale and shall not be subject to the notification, reclamation, or title provisions of Sections 3:136.6-8. -2- Section 3:136.6. Notice. Subdivision 1. When a vehicle constituting a public nuisance or an abandoned motor vehicle does not fall within the provisions of Section 3:136.5, the towing contractor shall give notice of the taking within 24 hours. The notice shall: (a) Set forth the date and place of the taking, the year, make, model and serial number of the vehicle and the place where the vehicle is being held. (b) Inform the owner and any lienholders of the towing charges then accrued against the vehicle and shall provide a schedule of storage charges to be made by the towing contractor. (c) Inform the owner and any lienholders of their right to reclaim the vehicle under Section 3:136.7. (d) State that failure of the owner or lienholders to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within 15 days from the date of the notice shall be deemed a waiver by them of all right, title, interest in the vehicle and a consent to the sale of the vehicle at a public sale or auction pursuant to Section 3:136.3, and that the vehicle will be sold after the expiration of such 15 day period. Subdivision 2. The notice shall be sent by registered mail to the registered owner, if any, of the vehicle and to all readily identifiable lienholders of record. If it is impossible to determine with reasonable certainty the identity and address of the registered owner and all lienholders, the notice shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where the motor vehicle was abandoned. Published notices may be grouped together for convenience and economy. Section 3:136.7. Right to Reclaim. (a) The owner or any lienholder of a motor vehicle shall have a right to reclaim such vehicle from the towing contractor upon payment of all towing and storage charges resulting from taking the vehicle into custody within 15 days after the date of the notice required by Section 3:136.6. (b) Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to impair any lien of a garagekeeper under the laws of this state, or the right of a lienholder to foreclose. For the purposes of this section "garagekeeper" is an operator of a parking place or establishment, an operator of a motor vehicle storage facility, or an operator of an establishment for the servicing, repair, or maintenance of motor vehicles. -3- Section 3:136.$. Sale of Unclaimed Vehicles. (a) An abandoned motor vehicle taken into custody and not reclaimed under Section 3:136.7 shall be sold to the highest bidder at public auction or sale, following reasonable published notice thereof. The purchaser shall be given a receipt which shall be sufficient title to dispose of the vehicle. The receipt shall also entitle the purchaser to register the vehicle and receive a certificate of title, free and clear of all liens and claims of ownership. (b) Any vehicle constituting a public nuisance taken into custody and not reclaimed under Section 3:136.7 shall, in the discretion of the city manager, be sold at public auction or sale pursuant to Subdivision 1 of this section or shall summarily sell such vehicle as provided by law. (c) All vehicles taken into custody and not reclaimed shall be sold within a reasonable time, which shall not exceed the period of time in which the sum of all towing and storage charges, plus notice and publication costs, would equal the value of the vehicle. The towing contractor shall advise the city manager or his designee of the estimated market value of each vehicle when taken into custody and of the estimated date by which charges against the vehicle will equal its value. (d) From the proceeds of the sale of any vehicle constituting a public nuisance or an abandoned motor vehicle, the towing contractor shall receive the cost of towing, preserving and storing the vehicle. The City shall reimburse itself for all notice and publication costs incurred pursuant to this ordinance. Any remainder from the proceeds of a sale shall be held for the owner of the vehicle or entitled lienholder for 90 days and then shall be deposited in the General Fund of the City treasury. Section 3:136.9. Designation of City Towing Contractor; Requirements. (a) Bids for Towing Contractors. The city manager shall advertise for bids by persons, firms, or corporations desiring to act as towing contractor for vehicles impounded under this ordinance and the City Council may by motion or resolution accept the bid of one or more licensed bidders as official towing contractors of the City. (b) Contracts. Contracts shall be entered into in writing for a period not exceeding four years which shall set forth the fees to be paid and the services to be rendered by such contractors. -4- • Section 3:136.10. Prohibited Activity. A towing contractor shall not solicit, directly or indirectly, the impounding or towing of cars under this chapter. Section 3:136.11. Penalty. Any person who abandons a motor vehicle on any public or private property, without the consent of the person in control of such property, or who violates the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Section 2. Repeal. Ordinance No. 968 is hereby repealed. Section 3. Penalty. Any person violating the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300.00 or by imprisonment for not to exceed 90 days, or both. Section 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect fifteen days after its publication. Adopted by the City Council February Attest: City Clerk , 1973. Reviewe• for=•'inistration: Appxoved as to form and legality: -5- • 0 SUN NEWSPAPERS AFFIDAVIT OF PUBLICATION ST. LOUISPARK SUN 6601 W. 78th St. State of Minnesota ss. County of Hennepin Bloomington, Minnesota J R RITCHAY, being duly sworn, on oath says he is and during all times here stated has been the vice president and printer of the newspaper known as The St Louis Park Sun and has full knowledge of the facts herein stated as follows (1) Said newspaper is printed in the English language in newspaper format and in column and sheet form equivalent in printed space to at least 900 square inches (2) Said newspaper is a weekly and is distributed at least once each week (3) Said newspaper has 50% of its news columns devoted to news of local interest to the community which it purports to serve and does not wholly duplicate any other 4117 lication and is not made up entirely of patents, plate matter and advertisements (4) Said spaper is circulated in and near the municipality which it purports to serve, has at least copies regularly delivered to paying subscnbers, has an average of at least 75% of its total circulation currently paid or no more than three months in arrears and has entry as second-class in its local post -office (5) Said newspaper purports to serve the City of St Louis Park the County of Hennepin and it has its known office of issue in the City of Bloomington in ,atter id county, established and open durmg its regular business hours for the gathering of news, sale of advertisements and sale of subscriptions and maintained by the managing officer or persons in its employ and subject to his direction and control during all such regular business hours and devoted exclusively during such regular business hours to the business of the news- paper and business related thereto (6) Said newspaper files a copy of each issue immediately with the State Historical Society (7) Said newspaper has complied with all the foregoing conditions for at least two years preceding the day or dates of publication mentioned below (8) Said newspaper has filed with the Secretary of State of Minnesota prior to January 1. 1966 and each January 1 thereafter an affidavit m the form prescribed by the Secretary of State and signed by the publisher of said newspaper and sworn to before a notary public stating that the newspaper is a legal newspaper. He further states on oath that the printers Ordinance No. 1209 hereto attached as a part hereof was cut from the columns of said newspaper, and was printed and published therein in the' English language, once each week, for 01:1 successive weeks; that it was first so published on Thure they 8 day of February , 19 73 and was thereafter printed and published on every • to and including the day of - , 19— and that the following is a printed copy of the lower case alphabet from A to Z, both inclusive, and is hereby acknowledged as being ;.e size and kind of type used in the composition and publication of said notice, to -wit abcdefghi jklmnopgrstuvwxyz abcdelahiikimnopgrstuvw=vz Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8 (Notari Seal) M Vest, Notary Public, Hennepin County, Minn My Commission Expires April 18th, 1979 day of February 19. I d (Official Publication) JANUARY 28, 1973 ORDINANCE NO 1209 8E AN ORDINANCE DEFINING A PUBLIC NUISANCE AND PROVIDING FOR THE ABATEMENT THEREOF BY REGULATING THE APPOINTMENT OF TOWING CONTRACTORS AND THE REMOVAL AND IMPOUNDING OF ABANDONED OR OTHER VEHICLES AMECONSTNDING ASPUB ICC S UIS 7CE THROUGH 3.13111 OF THE ST LOUIS PARK ORDINANCE CODE , THE CITY OF ST LOUIS PARK DOES ORDAIN Section 1 316 1 h 3 131111 of theSions SttLouis2Park Ordinance Code are amended to read as follows Section 3 1311 Definitions (a t Abandoned motor vehicle ' means a motor vehicle as defined in Minnesota Statues, Section 189 01 that has remained for a pe- riod of more than 48 hours on pub- lic property illegally or lacking vital component parts or has re- mained for a period of more than 18 hours on private property with- out consent of the person in control of such property or in an inopera- ble condition such that it has no substantial potential further use consistent with its usual functions unless it is kept in an enclosed ga- rage or storage building It shall also mean a motor vehicle volun- tarily surrendered by its owner to the City or towing contractor A classic car or pioneer car, as de- fined in Minnesota Statutes, Sec- tion 168 10, shall not be considered an abandoned motor vehicle within the meaning of this ordinance (bi ' Towing contractor" means a person under contract awarded by the City under section 3 318 9 of this'ordlnance (c) , Vehicle constituting a public nuisance ' means any vehicle whether occupied or not, that is found stopped, standing,or parked in violation of (he,trafic regula- tion provisions of , Sections 3 120 Ordinanceth�h 3 ) 35 of Code, oraSt t thatis irepoport ed stolen or that Is found impeding firefighting snow removal or traffficgAny such vehicle isflow of hereby deemed and declared to be a public nuisance (d) "Vital component parts' means those parte of a motor vehicle that are essential to the mechanical functioning of the vehicle includ- ing but 1101 limited to, the motor, drive train, and wheels Section �et ha Public Nuisance hVehicles Vehicles May be Takeo Into Custody and Impounded The city manager, any police officer or other duly authorized person may immediately order any abandoned motor vehicle or any Vehicle constituting a public nuisance to be removed and im- pounded In the manner herein provided, — and It shall be surrendered to the duly i identified owner thereof by the towing contractor only upon payment of the fees ' herein provided, which are declared to be the vehicle pound fees coveringsame If the owner or operator requests that such vehicle be towed to his own or to any garage other than the towing contractor, and provided that the owner shall 'ad- ' vance to the to the minim�imh towingng charor 18 sum as established bythe tow caatge a- Ing contrast, dice , Stier the towig contractor nor tike pOi e department shall order such vebiete (b'6e iQ°m�p�o�urdpa In an pound ualetb te �P"collce arisr sen necessary in tbe r pporos�t-t h td, of any person for viollaation of law 11 Section 3 138 3 Vehicles-tbf4be Ts eed Any vehicle orderedtbImpounded nonce shoal imllee mmmediately ent be� a nidi- r for Identlficaton by the policed arment, which tag shall show the disposition ;ATM ,car ordered by said police departrpienti t and the reason for which impou-'- tag shall be delivered to the to tractor with the tow sheet cerUfica of all lie ship (b) Any ve ewisance n ot recl 3 1387 the city auction or n on 1 of madly sol ed by law let A11 vehi and not within a shall not AO, to %blab storage publication value of contractor manager or Umated ma cle when to the eatima es against value (d) From the any vehicle nuisance or vehicle th shall revel preserving The City aha all notice a Incurred pu nance Any proceeds of a the owner of llenholder f shall be Fund of the C Section 3 1319 Towing Contra (a) Bids for T city manager bids by per tions desiring tractor for v under this o Council may tion accept licensed bidde contractors of Ib) Contracts, entered into in not esceedln shall set forth and the aery such contr Section 3 13810. A towing contras recUy or IndirecU towing of cars unde Section 3 13811 who abandons a m Ic or private props sent of the person in erty, or who violate ordinance shall be g or Section 2 Repeal Is hereby repealed Section 3. Penalty Ing the provisions of be guilty of a misd viction thereof shall of not more than meat for not toes Section 4. nance shall take eft its publication S Adopt by the Cit Attest 8 EARL E HANSON City Clerk Approved as to form 8/ Reviewed for admin CHRIS CHERCHES ity Manager (Feb 8, 1 Section 3.1314 Report a8 Polled Offi- cer Any police officer or other authorized vehicle shall prn reeparre a wrhe itten reporting of the description of such vehicle, which reporLahatl, manna ^th'"-uinee. _ the following make of car, license num- "' , her, motor number`, number of tires, tools and other separate articles of,per- smial property, geoengl Iestrriptlon df the car with regard tb mnditlon, damaged parts, and such other information as may be necessary to describe adequately the vehiclecontractor Aproperty delivered to the tow- ingcapy of such report, signed by the officer shall be delivered to the towing contractor at the time of im- pounding The towing contractor shall receipt for such report, and shall check such report4 and his signature thereon shall be cle and>d�red a receipt for the vehl- ty described In said ?red 1 The' orIgIRal and one copy of said repot, , and towing contractor's receipt shall be filed In the police department The police department. , deliver one of said cetr- ?Mato the ;; finance I , See h y . ,Immed late Sale of Rides. When a vehicle consti- t to a •Ile nuisance or an abandoned I motor( vehicle Is niore than seven model years of age, Is lacking vital component parts, and does not display a license plate currently valid In Minnesota or any otter , state or foreign country, It shall Mimedi- 1 ately be eligible for sale at public auction or sale and shall not be subject to the noti- fication, reclamation, or title provisions of Sections 3 138,148 Section 7:176,6 Notice Subdivision 1 When a vehicle consti- tuting a public nuisance or an abandoned motor vehicle does not fall within the provisions of Section 3 196 6, the towing contractor shall give notice of the taking within 24 hours The notice shall (a 1 Set forth the date and place of the taking. the year, make, model and serial number of the vehicle and the place where the vehicle Is being held Ibl Inform the owner and any lien - holders of the towing charges then accrued against the vehicle and shall provide a schedule of storage charges to be made by the towing contractor lc) Inform the owner and any lien - holders of their right to reclaim the vehicle under Section 3 196.7 id State that failure of the owner or Uenbolders to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within 15 days from the date of the notice shall be deemed s waiver by them of aU right, title, Interest in the vehicle and a consent to the sale of the vehicle at a public sale or auc- tion pursuant to Section 3 196 6, and that the vehicle will be sold after the expiration of such 15 day period Sebdivlsce 2. The notice shall be sent by regletered mall to the registered own- er, wo-er, U any, of the vehicle and to all readily Identifiable beholders of record If It Is Impossible to determine with reasonable certainty Ibe Identity and address of the registered owner and all Uenholders, the nonce shall be published once In a news- paper of general circulation In the area where the motor vehicle was abandoned Published notices may be grouped togeth- er for convenience and economy • Seettoa 1:176.7. Right to Reclaim is) The owner or any Uenholder of a motor vehicle dull have a right to reclaim such vehicle from the tow - Ing contractor upon payment of aU towing and storage charges result - Ing from taking the vehicle Into custody within 15 days after the date of the notice required by Sec- tion eoton 3 136 6 lbl Nothing In this ordinance shall be construed to Impair any lien of a g r ge �the runder the laws of this right of a lienhold- er to foreclose For the purposes of this section "garagekeeper ' Is an operator of a parking place or es- fe othing can take the place o ofessional eye examination. re of your eyes, make an a least every other year with Rx -Quality eyewear as used processed for finest vision, mfOrt and styled for today' • • IT'S SMART TO RE Service Centers, the Twin Cities • File No Affidavit of Publication ST. LOUISPARK Su N St. Louis Park, Minnesota In The Matter Of • • • •