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Chester council reviews sweeping overhaul of towing rules in first reading
Summary
At its March 10 deliberative meeting, City of Chester officials held a first reading of Bill 1 of 2025 to replace Article 5-19 with a more detailed towing ordinance; council discussed fee schedule, RFP timing and procedures but did not take a final vote.
City of Chester officials held the first reading of Bill 1 of 2025 on Monday, March 10, proposing to replace the city's existing towing ordinance (Article 5-19) with a new, more detailed code governing impoundment, towing companies and post-tow procedures.
Solicitor Ken Shuster told council the proposed ordinance expands the current four-page rulebook into roughly 20 pages and “adds a lot of additional teeth to that ordinance,” including a definitions section, minimum qualifications for towing companies, prohibited acts, recordkeeping requirements and procedures for towing vehicles from public rights-of-way and private property. He said the ordinance is intended to be in place before the city issues a request for proposals for a formal towing contract.
Shuster described the next steps as: passage through two council readings, a subsequent council resolution to establish a fee schedule, and then an RFP process to select a towing contractor. He said some towing fees are set by state statute while the city has not updated a local fee schedule in the past 14 years and that the ordinance will clarify which charges are permissible and require clear, posted fee schedules at tow yards and a handout for the person whose vehicle is towed.
Council members pressed for detail on multiple points, including whether towing rotations would be required for multiple contracted vendors; Shuster said rotation language was removed from the ordinance and that the RFP process would allow the city flexibility to select sole-source, dual vendors, or a broken-up service area as determined in procurement. The ordinance as drafted permits the city, through the fee schedule and contracting process, to decide the operational model.
Council also discussed the ordinance's definition of “abandoned vehicle,” which the draft ties to a vehicle remaining on public property for more than 48 hours. Shuster and others noted that the 48-hour threshold applies to abandoned-vehicle definitions and does not prevent immediate towing in emergency or accident situations. Council raised concerns about the interaction between certified-notice timelines and the 48-hour standard; Shuster acknowledged those process questions and said staff could adjust hours (for example, to 72) at council's discretion.
Several council members asked about the costs the city may incur as part of the notification process — one member noted a roughly $8 certified-mail fee per notice and asked how that cost would scale if multiple vehicles required certified notices. Shuster said the draft contains language to limit extraneous charges (for example, multiple “hook-up” fees) and that the ordinance and accompanying fee schedule will make clear what charges are permitted.
No final vote on the ordinance occurred at the March 10 meeting. Shuster said the item is scheduled for a second reading and that council will later consider a separate resolution setting the fee schedule followed by an RFP for towing services.
The draft ordinance also contains several technical edits flagged during the meeting; Shuster said references to towing-rotation language that remained after deletion will be removed before the next reading.
