72 Hour Parking Law

[hmai]

What is the name of your state? California
There is a parking law in LA, CA (80.73.2) that says a car cannot be parked on a street for more than 72 hours. I only know about it now because a friend left town for work for two weeks, parked it otherwise legally on the street, and returned to find it was called in as abandoned (even though it was in good shape.) She had to pay $884 plus the ticket to get it out of the pound. This concerns me especially because it means that anyone without a parking spot in their building, like me, can't leave town for more than three days. And I just happen to be lucky to know about this law. It's not listed in my drivers handbook and on the amended law (5/16/06) it says they either: have to publish the new law in a daily newspaper or for 10 days in 3 public places which include 3 bulletin board postings in City Hall. It's ridiculous to assume that the average person would see it. The law and the lack of getting the information to us is unfair and out of touch.
So, here are my questions:
1. How would I go about changing the law to suit the needs of many LA residents? (for example, rather than a written notice that it's impounded, which someone out of town can't receive, a call to the owner when it's originally called in.)
2. How can I find out why this law was put into place? (I'm not seeing anything on-line about the case.)
Thank you for your time.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by hmai

It's not listed in my drivers handbook and on the amended law (5/16/06) it says they either: have to publish the new law in a daily newspaper or for 10 days in 3 public places which include 3 bulletin board postings in City Hall. It's ridiculous to assume that the average person would see it. The law and the lack of getting the information to us is unfair and out of touch.

Local ordinances are not listed in the state's driver's handbook. And this is NOT a "new" law. The 72 hour rule is authorized by the CA Vehicle Code, and has been in effect for as long as I can remember.

1. How would I go about changing the law to suit the needs of many LA residents? (for example, rather than a written notice that it's impounded, which someone out of town can't receive, a call to the owner when it's originally called in.)

Petition your city council.

2. How can I find out why this law was put into place? (I'm not seeing anything on-line about the case.)

You can ask the City Manager's office, but chances are it goes back a few decades.

CVC 22651(k) authorizes the removal of said vehicles:

Any peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing
with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, or any
regularly employed and salaried employee, who is engaged in directing
traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations, of a city,
county, or jurisdiction of a state agency in which a vehicle is
located, may remove a vehicle located within the territorial limits
in which the officer or employee may act, under any of the following
circumstances:

(k) When any vehicle is parked or left standing upon a highway for
72 or more consecutive hours in violation of a local ordinance
authorizing removal.

The law is generally used to help keep abandoned or inoperative/junked cars off the street. The presumption may be that vehicles that are not being used with relative frequency may be a blight or a hazard in some manner.

You are not likely to change long standing state and local law, but you are certainly free to try and compel the Los Angeles City Council to change the impound policy. Do not count on it, though.

- Carl

[CdwJava]

Apparently the ordinance was amended in July of '06 ... though I doubt that the amendment changed the impound time to 72 hours, it might have. In any event, if they fulfilled the legal notification requirement, then they are well within their rights to cause the removal of the vehicle.

SEC. 80.73.2. USE OF STREET FOR STORAGE OF VEHICLES – GENERALLY – WHEN PROHIBITED.
(Amended by Ord. No. 177,569, Eff. 7/3/06.)

It shall be unlawful for any person who owns or who has possession, custody or control of any vehicle to park that vehicle or leave it standing upon any highway, street or alley for 72 or more consecutive hours.

- Carl

[CdwJava]

For others, in sumamry, the change was proposed in May of '06 because the city code was ruled by a federal court to be inconsistent with CVC 22651(k). The ordinance resulted in an effort to amend the code to reflect the language in the state Vehicle Code.

Unfortunately, I cannot find any info on the case that prompted the decision: "Lone Star Security & Video v. City of Los Angeles". So, I cannot see what was amended.

- Carl

[JB3171]

Update:

Call the Mills Law firm.

Los Angeles

Case No. 03-5346 (Original Case) - Lone Star Security & Video v. City of Los Angeles

Case No. 06-6866 (Class Action) - Virginia Manning v. City of Los Angeles

Robert W Mills
Mills Law Firm
145 Marina Boulevard
San Rafael, CA 94901
415-455-1326

[patstew]

Originally Posted by hmai

This concerns me especially because it means that anyone without a parking spot in their building, like me, can't leave town for more than three days.

Of course you can. You just need to find somewhere safe to leave your car.