Park N’ Ride parking lot becomes ‘Dump N’ Ride’ lot for abandoned vehicles in downtown Girdwood
Board of Supervisors handcuffed by legal restraints, cannot tag and tow vehicles
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
The municipal Park N’ Ride lot in downtown Girdwood was completed last summer, but what was suppose to be a convenient spot for commuters to park their vehicles and share a ride to Anchorage has become a dumping ground for abandoned vehicles.
And the big problem is that locally the Girdwood Board of Supervisors does not have the legal authority to tow them, and the city’s towing program does not go beyond McHugh Creek in south Anchorage.
Nick Danger has been handed the duty of Roads Manager by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors.
Danger said that at one point this past January there were as many as nine cars in the parking lot that were either abandoned or using the lot as their personal storage area. So he slapped bright orange stickers on them warning that their vehicles would be towed if not removed.
Mike Walters, A Right of Way Enforcement officer for the city, saw the stickers and reported it to Gerald Pineau, Senior Administrator for the city’s Office of Maintenance and Operations. Walters spoke with Danger and informed him that only sworn officers per the municipal charter can tag and tow vehicles.
Danger had been in contact with assembly person Jennifer Johnston, who represents south Anchorage and Girdwood, and she said she’d look into the matter. In the meantime, she told Danger to go ahead with the towing.
But Danger did not want to be in a position where he would be breaking the law, so he did not tow the vehicles. Instead, he worked for months to find the owners and eventually got most of them to move the cars.
Five cars were moved, leaving three unclaimed vehicles and a trailer, which presently remain there.
“That’s not their junk yard,” said Danger. “You don’t have a right to just leave your car in Girdwood; it’s a Park N’ Ride not a Dump N’ Ride.”
Abandoned vehicles are nothing new to Girdwood; several were found in the area this summer where nine holes were added to a Frisbee golf course on Karolius Drive. After brush was cleared for the course, the abandoned vehicles were discovered.
Chris Birch is the other assembly person representing Girdwood. He was contacted by the Times to comment on the issue. After the phone call, he looked into the matter.
Johnston was also contacted by the Times. She said she was looking into the matter and talking with the city’s legal department to get a memorandum to allow the Girdwood Board of Supervisors to have legal authority to tow vehicles.
This past February, the Deputy Municipal Attorney, Rhonda Fehlen Westover, responded to Johnston’s initial inquiries for a possible fix and advised her that the only fix may be changing the Charter, which would require a ballot initiative, but it was too late to get it onto the April 2009 ballot.
“I don’t have the patience to wait for a ballot initiative,” said Birch. “We need to empower the folks who have a responsibility to tow these cars out of there. I don’t think it has to be anymore complicated than that. We need to figure out what makes the lawyers happy.”
On Tuesday, Aug. 4, the City Manager’s office contacted the Times and said a closed meeting was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7 to try to come up with a legal solution to the matter. The City Manager, George Zakalis, and other representatives, including one from the Anchorage Police Department, are going to attend the meeting.
As it stands now, the Anchorage Police Department does not tow vehicles beyond McHugh Creek. The state troopers also will not tow a vehicle unless it is hindering or endangering traffic.
“If it’s a car where we can’t find the owner, then basically, we’ll tag the vehicle, but if it’s not a traffic hazard or public safety hazard then we’re not going to have it towed,” said Sgt. Bryan Barlow of the state Troopers’ Girdwood Post. “In the past it’s cost thousands of dollars to have vehicles towed in places like the Kenai, and it’s just not economically feasible.”
Locally, though, money is not a problem. Danger said the Girdwood Board of Supervisors has about $1,000 budgeted to tow automobiles. It costs about $125 to tow a vehicle to Anchorage, he said.
So now it comes down to city officials to take action and find a legal fix before the winter season sets in and more abandoned vehicles appear, causing problems for snow removal and taking up valuable parking spaces for the nearby businesses and commuters.
Ken Smith/Turnagain Times
Three vehicles and a trailer have been abandoned in the municipal Park N' Ride lot in downtown Girdwood for several months. The Girdwood Board of Supervisors cannot tow them legally and the city does not offer a towing program beyond McHugh Creek. City officials are meeting to resolve the problem. |
