Broken down, untagged car parked on a city street? Move it or risk tow next week
If you own a car, truck, trailer or other junk vehicle that’s sitting untagged, broken down or in storage on a city street, you need to move it — or risk having it towed.
Next week on May 7 and 8, Wichita police officers will be slapping green tow stickers on inoperable and other nuisance vehicles as part of its third annual “Blight Tow Project,” which is aimed at reducing neighborhood unsightliness.
If you end up with a tow sticker on your vehicle, you have 48 hours to move it.
If you don’t, the city will impound it, starting on May 9 — and you’ll be responsible for costs which can rack up to hundreds of dollars in a matter of days.
“It’s pretty obvious when a car hasn’t been moved,” Wichita police Sgt. Steve Yarberry said, noting that City Ordinance 11.97.010 (b) (1) gives the Wichita Police Department and other city employees the authority to tow or impound vehicles left continuously on a city street for 48 hours or longer.
“When you have one car (on a city street), it multiples to two, three. And before you know it, you have a neighborhood full of junk cars (and) ... you don’t have any parking on the street,” Yarberry said.
Officers will be out searching for problem vehicles those two days — and each is being asked to find at least one that needs towed, Yarberry said.
In 2017 — the first year of the annual enforcement project — officers marked around 200 vehicles with the green stickers.
But residents can report nuisance vehicles cluttering their streets, too.
You can do that by visiting or calling your nearest Wichita police substation from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays:
- Patrol East, 350 S. Edgemoor, 316-350-3420
- Patrol North, 3015 E. 21st St., 316-350-3400
- Patrol South, 211 E. Pawnee, 316-350-3440
- Patrol West, 661 N. Elder, 316-350-3460
Yarberry said police “make every effort” to reach the owners of problem vehicles before they’re impounded.
If one of yours gets towed, you can look for it on http://online.wichita.gov/findmycar or by calling Wichita police.
“It’s very effective,” Yarberry said.
This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 11:35 AM.
