TO: Mayor and Council September 8th, 1972

FROM: LL.D. Pollock, City Administrator () Ud Ml
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Re: Vehicle Impounding SEP 11 1972

Council asked for some information on handling of impounded vehicles.
Abandoned vehicles are not a great problem, however we do run into three or four.
of these vehicles a month, most of them being in the abandoned vehicle category.

We are faced with two situations with vehicles - the first class of
vehicles would be those impounded for some violation of our Traffic Regulation
“By-law; for example, if it was necessary to impound a vehicle legally parked but
which was impeding snow clearing or some other street cleaning operation. These
vehicles must be kept thirty days after the registered owner is notified and we
are responsible for the care and custody of the vehicle. This type of impounding
would only take place if we were unable to contact the owner to have the vehicle
“removed; however, we should be prepared for such action, particularly at snow-
clearing time and at the present time we do not have any suitable impounding loca-
“tion where cars can be safely stored.

The other class of vehicles are the abandoned type, and this constitutes

the bulk of our removals. Abandoning a vehicle is an offnce under the Highways

Scenic Improvement Act. The owner is entitled to fourteen days' notice and if not

claimed, the vehicle may be disposed of and the revenue remains with the City.

The problem with the majority of the vehicles that we have to impound is that they

have been stripped of all identification and it is impossible to find out who the

owner is. Our By-law Enforcement Officer contacts the owner where this is possible
and the owner can make arrangements with one of the local junk dealers to have the
vehicle removed for a fee. If a vehicle is impounded under these conditions and

the owner is subsequently located, he pays all costs of hauling and storage and he

can be charged with an offence (abandoning the vehicle). The problem that we

ees cont'd. Page - 2 -

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