SEQUIM — Problems with abandoned vehicles have prompted officials to start a review of city parking laws, since current regulations leave large gaps in the city’s ability to deal with parking problems.
A Police Department report details the issue — there are abandoned vehicles parked on streets throughout the city, and some have been parked for months. In most cases, they belong to people who have moved out of the area.
However, the city currently has no authority to move a legally parked vehicle, even if it’s an eyesore, has obviously been left behind for good and is taking up space that could be used by city residents.
Police efforts to track down owners generally fail, and even if they find the owner, there’s no way to make someone move a legally parked car.
Tougher ordinance posed
The report proposes a city ordinance that would make abandoning a vehicle illegal and allow the city to impound and dispose of abandoned cars.
Council members also want to comb through city ordinances to make sure all rules regarding parking are in order, and to see if updates are needed.
Discussion on the issue “has been going on for a long time,” City Manager Bill Elliott said, although it was put on a back burner until the new police chief arrived.
Police can already deal with junked cars, defined in state law as vehicles that are at least three years old, extensively damaged, inoperable and valuable only as scrap metal.
Those criteria don’t apply to many vehicles that are simply abandoned, however.
