Sec. 4-54. Authority to remove vehicles.
A. The Aviation Director may cause to be removed from any area of an airport any vehicle that appears to be disabled, abandoned, parked, or unattended in violation of airport rules, or that is parked without authorization in a reserved parking space, or that otherwise interferes with airport operations, to another place designated by the Aviation Director.
B. An operator of a vehicle who parks, abandons, leaves unattended or otherwise leaves a disabled vehicle in violation of airport rules is deemed to consent to the removal of the vehicle by the Aviation Director. The operator and the registered owner of the vehicle are jointly and severally liable for the cost to remove the vehicle as provided in subsection A of this section.
C. Unattended vehicles left adjacent to or near the curb areas of the air terminals in violation of posted signs constitute an airport hazard and are prohibited. Unattended vehicles left adjacent to or near the curb areas of the air terminals in violation of posted signs are deemed to be a security threat to public health, safety, and welfare and are declared to be a public nuisance. In addition to any other civil sanction or penalty or to any criminal fine provided by this Code, the Aviation Director may immediately abate the public nuisance by, among other actions, relocating these vehicles to any area designated by the Aviation Director. The Aviation Director may designate specific Aviation Department personnel who are authorized to act on the Aviation Director’s behalf to abate the public nuisance.
D. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, or any other provision of the City Code, the following procedures apply to the removal, relocation, and recovery of all vehicles that violate statutes, ordinances, and posted signs regulating the stopping, standing or parking of vehicles in areas adjacent to or near the air terminals’ curbside areas at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
1. The registered owner or other person entitled to possession of a vehicle impounded pursuant to this section may:
a. Recover possession of the vehicle by paying to the tow contractor in custody of the vehicle all towing and storage fees accrued.
b. Recover possession of the vehicle by posting with the tow contractor a bond in cash or alternate form approved by the Aviation Director in the amount of all accrued towing and storage fees. Within 30 days of the posting of the bond, a hearing before a hearing officer appointed by the Aviation Director will be conducted at the airport at a time and place designated by the Aviation Director to determine the propriety of the tow. If the hearing officer determines that there were sufficient factual and legal grounds for the tow, the bond or other undertaking shall be forfeited as payment for towing and storage fees. If the hearing officer determines that there were insufficient grounds for the tow, the bond or other undertaking shall be exonerated and the City shall be responsible for the tow charges.
c. If the owner or other person entitled to possession of a vehicle cannot obtain immediate release of the vehicle, he or she may demand on a form provided by the Aviation Department an immediate hearing as to whether there were sufficient factual or legal grounds for impounding the vehicle. The hearing may take place before a hearing officer appointed by the Aviation Director. To be entitled to a hearing under this subsection, a written demand must be filed in the manner specified by the Aviation Director by the earlier of (i) five days after petitioner learned that the vehicle was impounded or was missing, or (ii) 14 days after the City sent notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the vehicle’s registered owner at the address provided to the Arizona Department of Transportation that the vehicle was impounded. The hearing must be held within 48 hours after the City receives the written demand. If the hearing officer determines that there was insufficient factual or legal grounds for the tow, then the tow contractor shall release the vehicle without payment of towing and storage fees, and the City shall be responsible to pay the towing and storage fees.
d. The payment of towing and storage fees or the release of the vehicle on a finding of insufficient factual or legal grounds does not release the owner or operator of the vehicle from any other civil sanction or penalty or any criminal fine imposed for a violation of this Code, including subsection C of this section, or a violation of State law regulating stopped, standing or parked vehicles.
2. The Aviation Director shall establish and maintain a procedure by which a person may demand and receive, at the airport, a post-tow hearing in accordance with this subsection. The Aviation Director shall designate sufficient Aviation Department personnel to act as hearing officers, and a hearing must be available within 48 hours of the demand for one if the towing and storage fees have not been paid, or no bond or other undertaking is posted, and the vehicle is not released. The sole issue to be determined is whether sufficient factual and legal grounds existed to order the relocation. Members of the Police Department and Aviation Department personnel directly involved in ordering vehicle relocations may not be designated as hearing officers.
3. The Aviation Director shall establish, by invitation for bids or otherwise, the maximum relocation charges to be assessed, commensurate with recovery of the actual costs incurred in relocating vehicles, and storage charges commensurate with garage parking fees established at the airport. The Aviation Director may promulgate such rules and regulations deemed convenient to provide for the release of impounded vehicles, the setting of hearings, and the posting, exoneration, forfeiture and disposition of bonds in accordance with this section’s requirements. (Ord. No. G-4116, § 2, 1998; Ord. No. G-4138, § 1, 1998; Ord. No. G-6631, 2019)