Falls Church opens review of private-property towing rules; council weighs 'second-signature' change

City staff presented a multi-point review of private-property towing regulations and new authorities granted by recent state legislation, and the council directed the city’s Towing Advisory Board to study recommended changes and return with formal recommendations.

City staff framed the discussion as focused on tows from private lots — shopping centers, commercial properties and multi-family developments — rather than police-initiated tows. “This is generally shopping centers, commercial establishments that are trying to maintain their parking spaces for the businesses that are in those commercial locations,” a staff presenter said.

Staff summarized the city’s current rules: private-property owners may have vehicles towed to a licensed garage within three miles of the city limits; the tow operator must document the vehicle with a dated photograph and call the police dispatch before removing the vehicle; a drop fee is limited to $25 if the vehicle remains hooked but still on site; storage fees after the first 24 hours are capped at $40; and standard tow fees are presently capped at $135 plus a $25 off-hours surcharge. Staff also said the city currently requires double-sided signage at lot entrances but does not mandate painted pavement markings.

Recent changes at the state level give localities optional new tools. Staff listed the most relevant new authorities: a 48-hour written-notice requirement before towing vehicles on multifamily property for expired registration or inspection (staff said that provision is now part of state code); the ability to require a property-owner or their designee to provide real-time written authorization for each private-property tow (the so-called “second signature”); a requirement for photographic or video evidence at time of tow; more prescriptive receipt and complaint-contact requirements; permissive authority to implement a permitting system for tow operators; the option to increase maximum tow fees to $150 and raise the overnight/holiday surcharge; and a limited fuel surcharge that had been authorized earlier.

Councilmembers and staff debated trade-offs. Supporters of a second-signature requirement said it could reduce “predatory towing” by putting property owners back into the authorization loop. Opponents — including business and tow-operator concerns noted by staff — warned that requiring a property representative to be physically present or to wait on site could increase confrontations and create practical burdens for merchants and small shops. Councilmembers suggested a both-and approach: explore second-signature authority while pursuing immediate, lower-friction measures such as clearer pavement markings, better signage, permitting, complaint-handling reforms, and technology options (for example, apps or real-time authorization workflows) to reduce disputes.

Staff and police also described operational details: tow companies must notify police dispatch and provide license and VIN checks, dispatch logs the tow to avoid false stolen-vehicle reports, and tow operators are required to accept credit-card payments. Police staff said they receive relatively few formal complaints per month but emphasized that many customer grievances arise from quick tows in busy commercial lots such as the CVS and restaurants in the Northside area.

Council direction and next steps: the council asked the Towing Advisory Board, now being reconstituted with assigned members, to evaluate the entire set of options — including the second-signature requirement, permitting, signage standards, and complaint intake — and to gather input from the business community, the EDA and the Chamber of Commerce. Staff said drafting ordinance language would follow the advisory board’s recommendations; the process could take several months.