177 vehicles towed during city Spring Clean-Up, but educating public is foremost goal

The city of Spokane launched a Spring Clean-Up last month in an effort to clear out a backlog of complaints dealing with illegally parked vehicles and junk cars around the city and, so far, hundreds of those complaints have been resolved.

“There were quite a few complaints that were in the queue,” said Communications Manager of Neighborhood and Business Services Kirsten Davis. “We wanted to make sure we could get up to speed on these and get them resolved.”

In total, 75% of the backlog was cleared between Feb. 26 and March 5. There were 1,552 interactions that resulted in 177 vehicles being tagged as abandoned and 18 vehicles tagged as junk vehicles. Sixty-seven warnings were issued, most for continuous parking, which is defined as being parked on the street for more than 72 consecutive hours. Two of those warnings were for recreational vehicles parked for longer than 24 hours in a residential zone.

Davis said 410 of the complaints turned out to be for something that was not in violation of the rules.

“That tells us that people making the complaints don’t know the rules,” she said. “On top of that, people violate the rules, but don’t know they’re violating the rules.”

Another 405 vehicles corrected the violation before a warning could be issued.

Davis said the primary goal of the emphasis was to teach people what is and isn’t allowed, not to tow vehicles.

“Really, what we’re looking for is to educate the public,” she said. “It’s easier on everyone. We always want to resolve the issue. We’ll work with them if we can.”

Most people are surprised to learn they can’t park in the street continuously for more than 72 hours. It’s a rule that can be violated easily if people live in a neighborhood without a driveway or garage to park their car in, or if they leave town on vacation and leave their car in the street. Enforcement officers are aware of those issues and take them into consideration, she said.

“It depends on the neighborhood and the street,” she said. “It’s a balance.”

Typically, once a complaint is received an enforcement officer will visit and issue a warning. The vehicle owner has 24 hours to fix the problem, but Davis said officers aren’t always able to return immediately after the 24 hours is up. If the problem still remains when the officer does return, a citation can be issued. After that the car can be towed.

The only exception to the process is a vehicle with tabs that are more than 45 days out of date. Those cars can be towed immediately, Davis said, though enforcement officers will often leave a warning even though it’s not required.

“That is the preferred approach,” she said.

So far 55 cars have been towed during the Spring Clean-Up, Davis said. “Every case is different, but a lot of time they’re vehicles that have been abandoned,” she said.

Davis said it’s important to note enforcement officers aren’t patrolling the city looking for parking violations.

“We have to have a complaint in order to do anything,” she said.

The city hired a couple of seasonal temporary workers and reallocated existing staff to focus on the Spring Clean-Up emphasis, Davis said. The city typically receives between 30 and 50 parking related complaints a day.

“We’ve been able to get through a significant chunk of those that were in the system, so we can keep up with the ones that come in,” she said.

Davis said the city is pleased with the success of the Spring Clean-Up.

“We weren’t sure how it was going to go,” she said.