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Mount Pleasant council discusses stricter enforcement for abandoned vehicles and occupied trailers
Summary
Council members and staff debated enforcement options for vehicles and trailers parked on city rights-of-way, citing a 72-hour parking ordinance and past court challenges to nuisance tickets. Staff recommended notices, sticker/tagging, and 'fix-it' tickets while council weighed liens and impoundment.
Mount Pleasant City Council members and staff spent significant time discussing enforcement of vehicles and trailers parked on city rights-of-way and options for addressing occupied trailers.
The Chair said the police department is already posting notices on vehicles and that the city could give owners “a couple weeks to remove all of this” and then impound vehicles if they do not move. Committee members and a Staff member noted that the city’s ordinance requires vehicles to move every 72 hours and that unlicensed cars cannot remain on city streets.
A Committee member recalled a past enforcement effort in which many nuisance tickets were mailed at once and said a judge later dismissed those tickets for lack of adequate notice. The Staff member said he had since spoken with Judge McGiff about nuisance systems and suggested that an approach emphasizing opportunity to correct violations—such as a “fix-it” ticket that is dismissed if the problem is fixed—has been effective.
Councilors discussed operational options: posting a notice on a vehicle’s window, mailing the same notice to the registered owner’s address, placing a sticker/tag, using fix-it tickets, and, where appropriate, taking property liens or attaching cleanup costs to property tax bills. The Staff member warned that collection after cleanup can be difficult but confirmed the city can place a lien to recover costs.
The group also raised that the city lacks a clear ordinance addressing long-term occupancy of trailers. The Staff member said the current code allows trailers for short-term use (up to 29 days) but that living in trailers for extended periods raises compliance issues; at least one matter involving a trailer was already in litigation. No formal motion or vote was recorded in the provided transcript.
Council members asked staff to follow up by confirming code citations and by using notice-based enforcement as a first step while the city refines ordinance language about occupied trailers. The discussion ended with officials agreeing to pursue notices and to return with any recommended ordinance changes or enforcement procedures.
