§ 30-474. Requirements for providing nonconsent tow services at request of property owners.

Nonconsent towers duly licensed under this article may recover, tow or remove a vehicle or provide storage in connection therewith upon the instruction of a property owner, or his authorized agent, on whose property the vehicle is abandoned or parked without authorization, provided that the following requirements are satisfied:

(a)

Notice shall be prominently posted on the property from which the vehicle is proposed to be removed and shall fulfill the following requirements:

(1)

Notice, in the form of a sign structure, shall be prominently placed at each driveway access or curb cut allowing vehicle access to the property, within five (5) feet from the public right-of-way line. If there are no curbs or access barriers, signs shall be posted not less than one (1) sign each twenty-five (25) feet of lot frontage. The sign structure shall be permanently installed with the bottom of the sign not less than four (4) feet above ground level and the top of the sign not more than ten (10) feet above ground level, and shall be continuously maintained on the property for not fewer than twenty-four (24) hours before the towing or removal of vehicles.

(2)

The notice shall clearly display:

a.

In not less than two (2) inches high, light-reflective letters on a contrasting background, that unauthorized vehicles will be towed away at the owner's expense; and

b.

In not less than four (4) inches high, light-reflective letters on a contrasting background the words "tow-away zone"; and

c.

In not less than two (2) inches high, light-reflective letters on a contrasting background, the days of the week and hours of the day during which vehicles will be towed away at the owner's expense where the property owner selectively causes the towing of vehicles, depending on the day of the week and hour of the day the vehicle is parked; and

d.

In not less than two (2) inches high, light-reflective letters on a contrasting background, the name and telephone number of the person performing the towing service, if there exists a written contract between the property owner and that person for the towing of vehicles; and

e.

In not less than one (1) inch high, light-reflective letters on a contrasting background, the address of the storage site.

(3)

The posting of notice requirements of this section shall not be required where:

a.

The property on which a vehicle is parked is property appurtenant to and obviously a part of a single-family type residence; or

b.

Notice is personally given to the owner or operator of the vehicle that the property on which the vehicle is or will be parked is reserved or otherwise not available for unauthorized vehicles and is subject to being removed at the owner's expense; or

c.

The property on which a vehicle is parked is owned by a governmental entity and the towing is performed by a towing vehicle owned by the governmental entity in compliance with laws authorizing removal of the vehicle.

(b)

The property owner or his authorized agent shall provide express instruction to recover, tow or remove the vehicle and shall date and sign such instruction in the presence of the natural person recovering, towing or removing the vehicle. Neither the property owner nor his authorized agent shall be an officer, employee or agent of the person requested to recover, tow or remove the vehicle. No such instruction shall be considered to have been given by the mere posting of the notice as required by the preceding parts of this section. No such instruction shall be considered to have been given by virtue of the mere terms of any contract or agreement between a person providing towing services and a property owner. No such instruction shall be considered to have been given where the instruction occurs in advance of the actual unauthorized parking of the vehicle. No such instruction shall be considered to have been given where the instruction is general in nature and unrelated to specific, individual and identifiable vehicles which are already parked without authorization.

(c)

The person recovering, towing or removing a vehicle at the request of a property owner or his authorized agent shall, within thirty (30) minutes of the completion of the vehicle recovery, tow or removal, notify the Miami-Dade Police Department of the nature of the service rendered, the storage site of the vehicle, the time the service was rendered, and the make, model, color, vehicle identification number and license plate number of the vehicle.

(d)

Persons who provide services pursuant to this section shall not recover, tow or remove a vehicle or provide storage in connection therewith if the vehicle owner or other person legally authorized to control the vehicle arrives at the scene prior to recovery, towing or removal, except where:

(1)

The registered owner or other legally authorized person in control of the vehicle refuses or is unable to remove the vehicle; or

(2)

A complete mechanical connection exists between the vehicle and the towing or removal apparatus and the registered owner or other person in control of the vehicle refuses to pay a reasonable service fee of not more than half of the posted rate for such towing services as required by this article.

(e)

Except as otherwise provided for in Section 715.07 Florida Statutes, as amended from time to time, persons who provide services pursuant to this section shall not store or impound a towed vehicle at a distance which exceeds a ten-mile radius of the location from which the vehicle was recovered, towed or removed unless no towing business providing services under this section is located within a ten-mile radius, in which case a towed or removed vehicle must be stored at a site within twenty (20) miles of the point of removal.

(f)

Persons who provide services pursuant to this section shall maintain one (1) or more storage sites, each of which shall be open for the purpose of retrieval of vehicles by owners or owners' authorized agents on any day that the person providing the service is open for towing purposes, from at least 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and, when closed, shall have posted prominently on the exterior of the place of business a notice indicating a telephone number where the operator of the site can be reached at all times. Upon receipt of a telephoned request to open a site to retrieve a vehicle, the operator of the site shall return to the site within one (1) hour. Persons who provide services pursuant to this section shall release the vehicle to the owner or authorized agent within one-half (½) hour after request is made in person.

(Ord. No. 89-67, § 1, 7-11-89; Ord. No. 90-29, § 1, 4-3-90; Ord. No. 93-130, § 1, 11-16-93; Ord. No. 03-176, § 1, 7-22-03)