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ORDINANCE AMENDMENT OF THE NEW HAVEN BOARD OF ALDERS TO THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN CODE OF ORDINANCES, ARTICLE V, SECTION 29-118 “MUNICIPAL TOWERS LIST"
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WHEREAS, Article V, Section 29-118 of the Code of General Ordinances establishes the Municipal Towers List; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance was last updated in 2006 and in the past 20 years there have been significant changes to the business landscape in New Haven; and
WHEREAS, an active and responsive list with adequate storage for daily and storm operations is necessary to best serve the residents of New Haven and ensure efficient use of city staff time; and
WHEREAS, to broaden the availability of efficient daily response, the criteria needs to reflect the current landscape of eligible towers within New Haven by increasing the number of those eligible and decreasing the required minimum storage capacity; and
WHEREAS, to increase the availability of tow capacity and storage for our winter operations a second list of eligible operators is recommended to include eligible tow operators within 5 miles of a New Haven border; and
WHEREAS, Sec. 29-115 allows the Board of Police Commissioners to adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations consistent with this ordinance which shall be updated upon ratification of the Ordinance Amendments and shall reflect regulations to restrict the use of the Mass Tow Operations List and operators outside of New Haven such that the distance to retrieve a vehicle would not exceed the current expectations; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED by the New Haven Board of Alders that Article V (Tow Trucks), Sec. 29-118 (Municipal Towers List) of the Code of Ordinances of the City of New Haven is hereby amended as follows:
Sec. 29-118. - Municipal towers list.
(a) The chief of police or their designee shall prepare annually and maintain two lists of companies for tows in New Haven operations. The first shall be called the "Municipal Towers List," and shall consist of licensed towers in the city not to exceed fifteen (15) in number who may perform municipal towing services for daily operations. The second list shall be called the “Mass Tow Operations List,” and shall consist of licensed towers within five (5) miles of New Haven which meet all other criteria of the “Municipal Towers List” and shall be utilized only for mass towing operations which exceed the capacity of the “Municipal Towers List”. The chief of police at the time of annual review shall consider all applications for inclusion.
(b) Each licensed tower included in the “Municipal Towers List” must meet the following minimum standards:
(1) The chief of police or their designee shall verify that each applicant for inclusion has met the licensing requirements of this article.
(2) The tower shall have sufficient operational capacity to accept and respond to all calls for municipal towing services, including, but not limited to, accidents, abandoned vehicles, parking violations, street cleaning, snow removal, parking bans, and removal of vehicles illegally on private property.
(3) The tower shall be operational, with an on-premises employee twenty-four (24) hours per day.
(4) The tower shall have a minimum of three (3) radio equipped tow trucks on duty.
(5) The tower shall have storage space available with a minimum of fifty (50) spaces within the city.
(6) The tower shall have the capacity to tow vehicles with locked transmissions and steering columns and vehicles stripped of their wheels.
(7) The tower shall agree to distribute upon request to all payers of a tow fee, an informational sheet provided by the city.
(8) The tower shall not be or become delinquent in the payment of any tax, assessment, or fee due to the city. The property from which the tower operates shall not be or become delinquent in the payment of any tax, assessment, or fee due to the city.
(9) Pursuant to the 2026 supplement to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-282g, as amended from time to time, the individual owner of the tower shall provide proof of their completion of traffic incident management training as provided by the Connecticut Department of Transportation not later than July 1, 2027 or prior to beginning participation in the Municipal Towers List, whichever is later. Furthermore, the tower shall provide proof of completion of traffic incident management training as provided by the Connecticut Department of Transportation for any employees who engage in towing or transporting motor vehicles not later than July 1, 2027 or within one year after the date such employees are hired or begins to engage in the towing or transporting of motor vehicles, whichever is later.
(c) The chief of police may, for cause, suspend or remove any licensed tower from the municipal towers list, who is in violation of applicable rules and regulations, or any provision of this article. Suspension or removal shall take effect after due notice in writing to the tower, and a hearing before the chief of police to be held, if requested by the tower, not less than three (3) days after the date of such notice. Any denial of an application for inclusion upon such list may be appealed in the manner provided in Sec. 29-116 of the Code.
(d) The chief of police or their designee shall rotate or assign municipal towing services among the towers of the municipal towers list on a reasonably fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory basis consistent with the capacity and location of each tower, the needs of the city and the protection of the public in accordance with regulations established by the board of police commissioners
(e) The chief of police or their designee shall at all times keep and maintain exact records of each municipal towing service rendered, including the date and nature thereof, in accordance with this article.
(f) The city shall by regulation establish a program in which the towing company shall be required to give a complaint form to each person whose vehicle has been towed. Such complaint form shall include a statement on the condition of the vehicle, a ranking of services provided and a space for comment.
(g) Pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat § 14-66a as amended from time to time, licensed towers shall accept cash, debit cards, and credit cards (including but not limited to MasterCard and Visa) as forms of payment when offered to the tower for payment of fees pursuant to this article. Such acceptance shall be subject to standard verification and authorization procedures involved in the use of such credit cards, but no additional processing fee for payment by credit card is permitted. Licensed towers shall also maintain sufficient cash at the office of such licensed tower service to provide change to an owner or authorized person of a motor vehicle at the time of payment. Compliance with this section shall be a prerequisite for retention or inclusion on the municipal towers list.
(Ord. of 12-6-71; Ord. of 12-14-81; Ord. of 4-15-85; Ord. of 10-17-88; Ord. of 2-18-92; Ord. of 12-11-00; Ord. No. 1432, § 5, 12-18-06)