The city of Battle Ground is pushing its enforcement of illegal parking and vehicle abandonment, asking for community help in getting violating vehicles moved off the street.
The city announced Aug. 28 that it would be addressing an apparent increase in the violations, providing information on the process in city code that could lead to a vehicle being towed.
Battle Ground Municipal Code defines an abandoned vehicle as one left in the public right-of-way or any public parking lot controlled by the city for a period of 72 hours or more. The announcement summarized that any vehicle left parked on a public street for three days or more was subject to impound and the owner would have to pay a fine.
Upon discovery of an abandoned vehicle, Battle Ground police will attempt to notify the owner for voluntary compliance to move their vehicle. The officer will place a warning tag on the vehicle, notifying that it must be moved within 24 hours. If a vehicle is registered to a neighboring residence the officer will attempt personal contact, knocking on the door and leaving a door hanger notification. In some cases a vehicle is registered to someone out of the area or doesn’t have a license plate, though the announcement noted that officers will still try and contact the owner before towing.
Should the 24-hour warning period pass and the officer unable to contact the vehicle owner, they will call for it to be towed and impounded, the city announcement stated.
The city asked residents familiar with vehicles in their neighborhood to report ones they expect to be abandoned through the city’s online Citizen Action Request form at cityofbg.org/471/Citizen-Action-Request.
The city notes that some vehicle types such as parked semi-trailers, large trucks and recreational vehicles were subject to different parking regulations.
“The City believes that voluntary compliance is always the best approach,” the city announcement stated. “Officers are conducting increased enforcement with a focus on voluntary compliance but are also applying fines and impounding vehicles to address non-compliance.”
— The Reflector
