(A) Every commercial towing company who tows unauthorized or trespassing vehicles from private property located with the Village of Lakemoor shall comply with the following provisions:
(1) Any towing service that tows or removes vehicles and proposes to require the owner, operator, or person in control of the vehicle to pay the costs of towing and storage prior to redemption of the vehicle must file and keep on record with the local law enforcement agency a complete copy of the current rates to be charged for such services, and post at the storage site an identical rate schedule and any written contracts with property owners, lessors, or persons in control of property which authorize them to remove vehicles as provided in this section;
(2) No person shall engage in the removal of vehicles from private property as described in this section without filing a notice of intent in each community where he intends to do such removal, and such notice shall be filed at least seven days before commencing such towing;
(3) No removal of a vehicle from private property shall be done except upon express written instructions of the owners or persons in charge of the private property upon which the vehicle is said to be trespassing;
(4) Any towed vehicle shall be released to its owner or custodian within one half hour after requested, if such request is made during business hours;
(5) Companies shall also provide insurance coverage for areas where vehicles towed under the provisions of this chapter will be impounded or otherwise stored, and shall adequately cover loss by fire, theft or other risks;
(6) Any towed or removed vehicle must be stored at the site of the towing service's place of business. The site must be open during business hours, and for the purpose of redemption of vehicles, during the time that the person or firm towing such vehicle is open for towing purposes;
(7) The towing service shall within 30 minutes of completion of such towing or removal, notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of such towing or removal, and the make, model, color and license plate number of the vehicle, and shall obtain and record the name of the person at the law enforcement agency to whom such information was reported;
(8) If the registered owner or legally authorized person entitled to possession of the vehicle shall arrive at the scene prior to actual removal or towing of the vehicle, the vehicle shall be disconnected from the tow truck and that person shall be allowed to remove the vehicle without interference, upon the payment of a reasonable service fee of not more than one half the posted rate of the towing service as provided in division (A)(6) of this section, for which a receipt shall be given;
(9) The rebate or payment of money or any other valuable consideration from the towing service or its owners, managers or employees to the owners or operators of the premises from which the vehicles are towed or removed, for the privilege of removing or towing those vehicles, is prohibited.
(B) Any person, firm, corporation partnership or other person in control of real property within the Village of Lakemoor who utilizes the services of a commercial towing operation to remove unauthorized vehicles from such real property, shall:
(1) Prominently place notice at the perimeter of the parking lot, in a position where the notice is visible to the occupants of vehicles entering the lot, in compliance with the following:
(a) The notice must indicate clearly, in not less than two inch high light-reflective letters on a contrasting background, that unauthorized vehicles will be towed away at the owner's expense.
(b) The notice must also provide the name and current telephone number of the towing service towing or removing the vehicle.
(c) The sign structure containing the required notices must be permanently installed with the bottom of the sign not less than four feet above ground level, and must be continuously maintained on the property for not less than 24 hours prior to the towing or removing of any vehicle.
(C) Any person, agent, corporation, employee or officer who violates this section or who carries out towing operations in violation of this section, shall be fined not less than $200 for the first offense and $500 for any subsequent offense of this section. Nothing herein shall prevent the enforcement or excuse compliance with state statute and nothing herein shall prevent an officer of the village from writing any such violations under either local ordinance or state statute. Any subsequent violations of this section and/or applicable provisions of the state statute may be written as a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 and jail time not exceeding six months.
(Ord. 15-O-47, passed 12-17-2015; Ord. 19-O-19, passed 9-3-2019)