Storage-facility operator asks Park City to draft ordinance allowing towing of delinquent or abandoned vehicles

Wendy Winkle, owner of Store in a Week, asked the Park City Council during public forum on May 13 to direct the city attorney to draft a clear ordinance permitting storage-facility operators to have vehicles towed when they are delinquent or abandoned.

“I’m here to ask that the city attorney be asked to draft a clear city ordinance that permits towing of a vehicle from a storage facility when it's delinquent or abandoned,” Wendy Winkle said. She said the Park City Police Department chief supports the change and that Kansas law (K.S.A. 66-1330) authorizes similar rules for self-storage in other jurisdictions.

Winkle said the current process requires facility staff to navigate state paperwork and, in some cases, to pursue lienholder sales, which creates administrative burden. “It gets awkward… it becomes our responsibility as the facility to sell the vehicle. I don't wanna be selling things. I would rather just contact a towing company,” she said.

Council members asked clarifying questions about frequency. Winkle said a few vehicles have been left from time to time over the last several years and that clearer local authority would let the facility address recurring abandoned-vehicle problems more quickly than waiting multiple months for state processes to conclude.

Council President asked Doug (city attorney) whether he could prepare ordinance language; Doug said he was “more than willing” to do so. The exchange did not include a formal motion or vote; the record shows a staff commitment to prepare draft ordinance language for council consideration but no formal ordinance was introduced at this meeting.

If the council later introduces an ordinance, any new local rules would need to conform to state statute and be adopted formally by ordinance.