Ogden’s change in towing regulations led to one company’s exit
Airbags are visible through a busted front windshield of a car Monday, May 1, at the impound lot of Love Towing in Ogden. Most of what fills the space behind owner Michael Love’s business are abandoned vehicles. “I end up with a lot of junk cars,” Love said.
Almost any day of the week, parking is now at a premium on Historic 25th Street. This April 28, 2017 photo shows the line up of cars along the lower block between Lincoln and Wall Avenues.
This April 28 photo shows a sign at one of the entrances to the Ogden City Plaza adjacent to Lindquist Field, warning drivers to park elsewhere if they're not patronizing one of the Plaza's businesses. Slickrock Towing no longer services Ogden due to changes in its towing ordinance last summer.
This April 28 photo shows one of several signs posted in the Ogden City Plaza parking lot warning people not to park there if they're in downtown Ogden for a Lindquist Field game or some other event.
OGDEN — Last June, the Ogden City Council passed an ordinance reining in so-called “ambush” towing. And anecdotally, complaints about those quick, surprise tows have tapered off.
Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell said he typically fields complaints when people feel the non-consensual tow was unjustified.
“It’s a big issue, but I haven’t heard a lot of the outcry over predatory towing,” Caldwell said. “So that’s been positive.”
Many of the complaints stemmed from minor league baseball fans who improperly parked while attending games at Lindquist Field. According to the Raptors website, the team’s first home game is June 21.
“We’ll see what happens then,” Caldwell said.
Last summer’s changes in regulations had been years in the making, fueled by complaints from Ogden visitors who haplessly parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. Towing, impound and other fees quickly accumulated to deliver a powerful punch to their pocketbooks, leaving a sour taste about returning to Ogden anytime soon.
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CATHY MCKITRICK/Standard-Examiner
This April 28 photo shows signs warning drivers not to park in restricted areas such as the residential area in the downtown Junction. Love Towing has operated in Ogden for about seven years.
Those new rules require clear and uniform signage, digital documentation of parking violations that caused the tow, waiting periods before vehicles can be towed, quick notice to the police department when vehicles get towed, and streamlining the vehicle-retrieval process for those who suddenly find themselves without wheels and facing significant fees.
RELATED: Ogden City Council gives hearty approval to new towing regulations
During last June’s City Council session addressing towing regulations, Cottonwood Heights resident Jay Brown shared his company’s experience at a business on 36th Street in Ogden. Brown blamed Salt Lake City-based Slickrock Towing for acting in an “unscrupulous” manner after towing one of his commercial vehicles within nine minutes of occupying what his driver thought was an appropriate parking spot.
Last fall, a few months after the changes took effect, Slickrock pulled its business out of Ogden.
Slickrock sales manager Todd Petersen said the changes made it too expensive to maintain an impound lot with trucks and employees in Ogden — “because we didn’t have enough volume anymore.” Prior to the changes, business had flourished.
“We were pretty busy up there offering services to property owners who needed it,” Petersen said, noting that some are now frustrated because they feel they can no longer defend their properties.
Michael Love, of Ogden-based Love Towing, spoke in favor of the ordinance last June. And now Slickrock’s old accounts have flowed his way. While the ordinance meant he had to invest in more signs, Love believes it also leveled the playing field.
“It didn’t make it worse on us. It made it so other towing companies had to adhere to the same regulations,” Love said.
In addition to towing improperly parked cars, Love said his company also gets calls to haul away abandoned vehicles, repossessions and DUI-related impounds.
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
What’s left of a rusted truck sits in the impound lot at Love Towing Monday, May 1, in Ogden. Most of what fills the space behind owner Michael Love’s business are abandoned vehicles. “I end up with a lot of junk cars,” Love said.
And according to Love, he’s not making money hand over fist. A recent call to pick up an abandoned car near 27th Street and Washington Boulevard led him to a hulk with no motor or tires.
“So we tag it for 24 hours, and hopefully it’s not there when we come back. But you know it’s going to be. I end up with a lot of junk cars,” Love said. “At the salvage yard, they pay by weight — about $120 per ton right now. So sometimes it’s not even worth doing.”
Occasionally a classy vehicle comes his way, but its stay tends to be brief.
“I recently picked up a 2017 Toyota 4-Runner,” Love said, explaining that its owner had been arrested on a DUI and arranged to retrieve it the next day. “We try to be nice, because I want them to call me again when something happens.”
Online reviews for Love’s business run the gamut from “Mike went out of his way to make sure I got my car back as quickly as I could in order to get my kids home to bed” to “The place is a damn legal chop shop where they use predatory towing methods and tack on so many fees that if you don’t get on it that second he will chop shop your car.”
But Love, who has been in the business for seven years, said that wide swing of response comes with the territory — “I’m a normal guy doing a crappy job.”
Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck.
