THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120785
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Car owners who don't fix or stash the automobiles they've been tinkering with for weeks or years may find an unexpected addition to their rear windshield: a neon orange tag marked ``POLICE TOW.''
Chesapeake Police have launched an aggressive search to tag and remove abandoned vehicles.
The city has tagged 1,200 vehicles for violations since Chief of Police Ian M. Shipley initiated the effort on Aug. 1, Lt. Allen Pierce said. Expired state tags, city decals or inspection stickers, missing parts, or a flat tire are all criteria for tagging vehicles.
Once identified, cars parked on streets will be towed after 48 hours unless their owners repair or remove them. Police will also tow cars found in yards and driveways after 15 days if owners can't find a garage or privacy fence to hide them from view.
To get their cars back, owners will have to pay a towing fee between $15 and $17.50, in addition to $6 for every day the city stores the car in its lot. Unretrieved cars will be sold at auction, Pierce said.
In a memo to City Manager James Rein announcing the effort, Shipley promised a district-by-district approach that will comb through the entire city. South Norfolk was the first target of the sweep.
``The reason why we started in South Norfolk was a direct result of citizens' complaints in the area,'' Pierce said. He added that members of one South Norfolk civic league addressed their grievances to Sheriff John R. Newhart at a recent meeting.
``Some of them have complained about the health hazard,'' Pierce said. If cars are neglected too long, Pierce said, they can attract snakes, rats and other rodents to the area.
But neighborhood appearance is just as important, he said. ``If you have someone living next to you with a rusty run-down vehicle, well, it just doesn't look good.''
The city code prohibits keeping inoperable cars or trailers on private or public property unless owners hide the vehicles from view.
Usually, the Police Department handles inspections violations on an individual basis: one full-time officer and a part-time employee respond to the complaints. Now, five or six patrol officers, assisted by as many auxiliary officers, have been conducting sweeps from 8 a.m. to 4p.m.
Chesapeake is not alone: Norfolk has cracked down with a similar clear-a-wreck ordinance. Since January, when the city added a volunteer corps to boost enforcement of the law, nearly 1,400 cars have been tagged.
In Chesapeake's Georgetown community, unsuspecting residents watched from their brick homes as a police car cruised slowly around cul-de-sacs and peered into driveways along Featherbed and Lamp Post drives.
``This one's a little obvious,'' officer Patrick McAleenan said, walking toward a corroding maroon Camaro whose front end was tilted up on two metal tire ramps. ``We don't have to work at NASA to figure this one out.''
On Tuesday, McAleenan and officer Ward Rhoades tagged more than 50 cars.
Once police complete the sweep in the Indian River area, they will stop long enough to get rid of the cars towed in from the first round of tagging. Towing has already begun for cars left on city streets beyond the 48-hour limit.
Pierce said police have not decided which section of the city will be targeted next, or when.
``We have to work out how long it will take us to follow up on the ones we tagged,'' Pierce said.
With more than 1,200 vehicles tagged so far, city officials are concerned that its 75-space lot in Greenbrier won't hold all the incoming cars. Pierce said the city is planning to use a second, larger lot, also near the City Garage. MEMO: Staff Writer Esther Diskin contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: CHESAPEAKE TOWING RULES
What can happen to your vehicle:
Towed after 48 hours if parked on street
Towed after 15 days if left in your driveway or yard
$15 to $17.50 in towing fines and $6 for each day in city lot
What can get you in trouble:
Expired inspection stickers
Invalid license plates
Expired state or city decals
Missing parts, such as an engine or the transmission
Flat tires or no tires
Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Chesapeake police officers Patrick McAleenan and Ward Rhoades tag a
car with no city license.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT
by CNB