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Northglenn reports surge in towed and abandoned vehicles; city clarifies notice practice
Summary
City manager and police explained a large year-over-year increase in towed and abandoned vehicles and clarified that the city has moved to tow vehicles that have been expired or abandoned for a year or more without prior sticker notice.
City Manager Geier provided council with updated enforcement statistics and an explanation of towing procedures after council members raised constituent complaints about abandoned vehicles and parking violations.
"On parking tickets year to date through April 15, there have been 421 parking tickets issued," City Manager Geier told council, adding that that figure was a 1% increase over the same period last year. Geier said vehicles towed this year through April 15 totaled 901 — a 225% increase from 277 last year — and that 389 of those were labeled abandoned, a roughly 1,600% increase from 23 the previous year.
Deputy Chief Darlene explained the department's operational practice for towing and notice. Historically the city issued a notice providing 72 hours for compliance; the city had a policy of not towing vehicles until they were six months expired but due to the volume of long-expired vehicles the department extended that threshold to one year. "So the only vehicles we're really towing without notice is a vehicle that's over a year or vehicles that show signs of abandonment," Darlene said. Darlene added that officers and code-enforcement staff will provide notice when they have immediate access to an owner during investigation and that the one-year threshold was a procedural decision rather than a formal ordinance requirement.
Council member Kondo asked whether the city had provided adequate notification to vehicle owners about where to retrieve towed vehicles; the deputy chief said officers and code staff will provide that information during investigations and that the department uses the notice and citation process where appropriate.
City staff characterized the increase as largely operational and driven by resident complaints reported via the CRM system and ward meetings. The council did not take formal action; staff said efforts will continue.
Council and staff credited code enforcement for helping address the backlog and said they will continue to provide the council with data as enforcement continues.
