Each site to which vehicles are towed shall comply with the following requirements, and no wrecker operator may take a vehicle to a storage lot which does not meet these standards.
(1) No towing company shall tow a vehicle from private property under orders of one not the owner of the vehicle to a storage lot which is outside the geographic limits of the City of Cookeville. All permittees shall immediately upon connecting the towing vehicle to a vehicle to be towed from private property under orders of one not the owner of such vehicle, tow the vehicle directly to a storage lot owned or operated by such permittee located within the geographic limits of the City of Cookeville. Such towed vehicle shall not be dropped or left at any other lot or on any other property without the consent of the owner for any period of time. No towed vehicle shall be stored on a public street.
(2) A storage site shall be fenced or enclosed on all sides in a manner consistent with the administrative regulations described in the Cookeville Zoning Code.
(3) The operator shall exercise reasonable care to keep towed vehicles and their contents secure at all times.
(4) Personal property in vehicles must be released in accordance with state law.
(5) Whenever a storage lot is closed or has a gate locked, a conspicuous sign must be posted at the entrance of the storage lot which provides instructions and a local telephone number for obtaining release of a vehicle when the lot is not open. The local telephone number posted shall be answered twenty-four (24) hours a day and someone must be available at the storage lot to release vehicles within a reasonable time after inquiry is made.
(6) Any person operating an on-call wrecker service and maintaining a storage lot shall maintain personnel with authority to accept payment and to release any impounded vehicle available seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours a day. If such actions occur outside the normal business hours outlined in § 15-810, personnel must be available within a maximum one (1) hour period to release or provide access to a vehicle upon the request of the owner.
(7) There shall be posted at the entrance to the impound lot nearest the impound lot office a sign, at least twenty-four (24) inches by twenty-four (24) inches, painted or printed white with red lettering the towing charge, the storage rate per day, that no storage fee may be charged if the vehicle has been held less than two (2) hours and that these conditions are required by ordinance of the City of Cookeville Government. In addition, such sign shall list the two (2) forms of payment accepted and state that no additional fee may be charged for noncash payment. (Ord. #O17-10-19, Dec. 2017)