If you've ever come out of a south Charlotte shopping center to find your car gone, city leaders are working on it. The Charlotte City Council's Safety Committee met Monday, Nov. 2, to discuss changes to the city's towing ordinance aimed at predatory towing, according to WBTV, WCNC and WSOC. The committee did not vote on anything.

What's being considered

  • Authorization around the clock: Towing companies would need written sign-off from the property owner before every tow. Today that's only required between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., WBTV reported.
  • No towing occupied cars: A ban on towing vehicles with people inside, per WCNC.
  • Bigger fines for repeat offenders: The current civil penalty for violating the ordinance is $100, which a CMPD attorney said some operators treat as a cost of doing business, according to WBTV.
  • Clearer signs and a hotline: Signs would have to show exact towing and drop fees and list a hotline for complaints, which would help identify repeat violators, WSOC and WBTV reported.
  • A possible permit system: CMPD attorney Jessica Battle floated a city permit or decal system for tow operators that could be revoked after violations. WCNC reported it would depend on staffing, funding and an office to run it, and WBTV found no North Carolina city that currently runs such a program.

What the city can't do

Charlotte can't set its own cap on towing or storage fees. A 2014 North Carolina Supreme Court ruling, King v. Town of Chapel Hill, limits cities' power to cap towing fees, WBTV reported. City staff said Charlotte could ask local legislators to seek a change to state law next year, according to WSOC.

According to CMPD data presented at the meeting, more than 107 cars are towed per day in Charlotte, WBTV reported. The committee first took up the issue in October (see WBTV's Oct. 5 report) and plans more discussion before deciding whether to send changes to the full council.

For more local news, see our neighborhood guides and our story on Charlotte's youth curfew pilot.

Sources: WBTV, WCNC, WSOC, WBTV (Oct. 5)