Chapter 15.36 — FRANCHISE FOR POLICE-GENERATED TOWS

For purposes of this Chapter 15.36, certain words, phrases and terms used in this chapter and hereinafter defined in this Part 1 shall be deemed to have the meanings specified in this part unless it is apparent from the text that a different meaning is intended.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Police-generated tows" means tows requested by the police department in connection with official police business, and which tows may be of the following type: Police-impounded vehicles as defined in Section 15.36.030; police emergency tows as defined in Section 15.36.040; VIN tows as defined in Section 15.36.050; abandoned vehicle tows as defined in Section 15.36.060.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Police-impounded vehicle tows" means tows of vehicles impounded by the police which said vehicles are held to be used as evidence in a criminal case, and which must be stored in the manner established by Section 15.36.650.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Police emergency tows" means tows of vehicles involved in accidents, and/or stalled vehicles obstructing traffic, and/or tows of vehicles whose driver is incapacitated or physically unable to drive the vehicle, and/or tows of vehicles whose driver has been arrested and/or detained and cannot drive the vehicle.

(Ord. 20601.)

"VIN tows" means tows of vehicles necessitating special procedures to ascertain vehicle identification numbers in compliance with the requirements of California Vehicle Code Section 10751.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Abandoned vehicle tows" means tows of vehicles left standing for a period of time greater than permitted under applicable state laws or municipal ordinances, and which vehicles have been tagged and marked for removal from public streets or property or from private property in accordance with law.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Gross annual receipts" means any and all compensation received in connection with police-generated tows from towing, storage, or dolly charges or fees, which said compensation is remitted or paid by the towee whose vehicle is towed pursuant to a police-generated tow.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Grantee" means the person to whom or to which a franchise is granted by the council, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and the lawful successor or assignee thereof.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Property of grantee" means all property owned, installed or used by a grantee in the conduct of providing service to the police department for police-generated tows.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Zones" means the area in which the grantee is permitted to respond to police-generated tows pursuant to a franchise granted under the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Towee" means the person whose vehicle is towed, stored, or otherwise serviced by a grantee pursuant to a police-generated tow. As used in this chapter, "towee" may also mean the driver or operator of the vehicle, the registered owner of the vehicle, and/or the person lawfully entitled to possession of the vehicle.

(Ord. 20601.)

"Primary office facility" means a permanent office facility located at the primary storage lot of grantee, which said facility shall be open to the public Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and which said facility shall afford the public shelter during rain or bad weather, shall have sufficient space and furniture to accommodate the public, and which shall have a restroom and telephone available for public use.

(Ord. 20601.)

Part 2 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

A.

It is hereby declared and determined that the business of responding to police requests for towing or storage services, or mechanical services to render a vehicle driveable, or of assisting the police in the inspection of impounded vehicles in connection with criminal investigations, or performing other services required by the police in connection with official police business, all of which services may affect the owners, operators, and/or drivers of vehicles towed as a result of a police-generated tow in connection with official police business, is in the nature of a public service and, as such, should be regulated by the city. Also, the use of any public street or public property, or the use of the property of grantee in connection with official police business, is of great concern to the city and should be regulated by the city. It is the purpose of this chapter to provide such regulation.

B.

The city, having heretofore (by the adoption of Section 200 of Article II of its Charter) elected to take advantage of the provisions of the 1914 amendment to Section 6 of Article XI of the Constitution of the state of California, giving cities home rule as to municipal affairs, and the granting of franchises of the character hereinafter referred to being within the classification "municipal affairs," hereby declares that the following, together with the provisions of said Charter, shall constitute the exclusive procedure applicable to the granting of franchises for the conducting of police-generated tows.

C.

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 200 of Article II of its Charter, the city hereby elects to have the granting of franchises governed by this chapter, and any ordinances amendatory thereof, together with the applicable provisions of its Charter, instead of by the general laws of the state.

(Ord. 20601.)

A.

It shall be unlawful for any person to. provide any towing, storage, or related services in connection with police-generated tows unless:

A franchise therefor has first been obtained pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and unless such franchise is in full force and effect; or

A written contract or agreement therefor has first been obtained from the city, and unless such contract or agreement is in full force and effect.

(Ords. 20601, 22189.)

Whenever it deems such to be for the public good, the council, subject to other provisions of this chapter, may and is hereby empowered to grant by ordinance to any person, whether operating under an existing franchise or not, a nonexclusive franchise to operate and carry on the business of responding to police- generated tows, or requests for storage, or other ancillary services as necessary for official police business, whether said business is conducted in addition to towing or storage services requested by private individuals, or whether said business is conducted solely for the purpose of responding to police-generated towing, storage, or other vehicle-related services in connection with official police business.

(Ord. 20601.)

A.

All franchises granted to persons for the purpose of responding to police requests for towing or storage services or other ancillary services as necessary for official police business shall be nonexclusive. No provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to require restricting the number of franchises to one or any particular number, and no provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit or prevent the council from refusing to grant any franchise or franchises if and whenever it finds or believes that the grant of any such franchise or franchises is not for the public good.

B.

All franchises shall be subject to terms and conditions specified in the Charter of the City of San José, and to terms and conditions specified in this chapter. Also, in granting any franchise, the council may prescribe such other and additional terms and conditions, not in conflict with said Charter or this chapter, whether governmental or contractual in character, as in the judgment of the council are in the public interest or as the people by initiative indicate they desire to have so imposed.

(Ord. 20601.)

A.

The franchises granted pursuant to this chapter shall be of the following categories:

Franchises granted for all types of police-generated tows, whether consisting of police-impounded vehicle tows, police emergency tows, abandoned vehicle tows, or VIN tows.

Franchises granted for the conducting of VIN tows only.

Franchises granted for the conducting of police emergency tows police-impounded vehicle tows, and abandoned vehicle tows.

B.

Applicants shall specify, at the time of application, whether they are seeking a franchise of type 1, 2, or 3 above, and grantees shall be limited to the type of tows listed in the category of franchise specified in their applications. Grantees shall be required to accept the tow of any vehicle which fits within the category of franchise for which they applied.

C.

In the performance of police-generated tows, grantees of franchises of categories A1 and A3, above, shall be limited to operation in one zone only, unless said grantees meet the qualifications for a grant of franchise in each zone for which an application was made as required by Section 15.36.660 of this chapter and unless the council, in its discretion, granted franchises to conduct police-generated tows in more than one zone to said grantees; except that grantees may, on a temporary basis pursuant to an order of the chief of police, provide services in connection with police-generated tows in another zone when the franchise of the grantee or grantees for said other zone has been suspended or cancelled. Grantees of franchises for category A2, above, consisting of VIN tows only, shall not be limited to perform VIN tows within only one zone but shall provide VIN tow services for any area of the city regardless of zone.

(Ord. 20601.)