In most cases, Texas requires a 48-hour waiting period before nonconsent towing can happen, according to Arlington spokeswoman Susan Schrock, but the 48-hour mandate does not apply to citations.
City leaders say residents have complained about not being able to access their property easily because of nuisance parking in neighborhoods near stadiums. And short-term rental party houses aren’t helping things.
Charlie Parker — councilman for District 1, which includes neighborhoods around the entertainment district — told the Dallas Observer that council members aren’t trying to be overly restrictive.
“There are other proposed ordinance amendments that apply to only certain listed vehicles, which are generally larger vehicles such as commercial motor vehicles and motor homes,” Schrock says.
"Officers would make reasonable attempts to locate the owner of an illegally parked vehicle by knocking on doors and asking them to move before taking enforcement action." — Arlington spokeswoman Susan Schrock
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The reduction in the maximum amount of on-street parking time from 72 hours to 24 hours applies to any vehicle. The new rule is partly inspired by Airbnb spots and other short-term rentals popping up around the entertainment district. During a council session last year, Parker called short-term rentals in Arlington “uncontrolled and unfettered.”
The proposed revisions, along with the establishment of no-parking zones in the entertainment district, would help officers address “ongoing, citywide, on-street parking issues,” a police department representative told council members.
At-large council members Victoria Farrar-Myers and Michael Glaspie did not respond to emails about how the 24-hour parking time limit might affect the elderly, disabled or unemployed people or those who are hospitalized and unable to move their vehicle every 24 hours. Farrar-Myers and Glaspie serve on the municipal policy committee with Lana Wolff and Roxanne Thalman.
If the proposed revisions pass, “officers would make reasonable attempts to locate the owner of an illegally parked vehicle by knocking on doors and asking them to move the vehicle before taking enforcement action,” Schrock says. “Illegally parking on an entertainment district street with a no-parking sign, however, could result in an immediate nonconsent tow.”
A second reading of the proposed amendments is set for Feb. 13.
