Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward said he wants to clear up a misconception he’s been hearing that the city is seeking to ban towing altogether.
Ward said what the city voted on was an April 19 motion from Casey Willits directing staff to explore options to amend the city’s towing ordinance, including the potential banning of immobilization and roam towing. Commissioner Ed Book later made a motion directing staff to set immobilization fees at a maximum of $65, inclusive.
Anticipating a majority vote in late May, Ward said the effort is focused on consumer protection after he believes the community has developed a reputation as a place where bad things can happen to people who park in the wrong spot.
“I am inclined to change roam towing to an after-hours sort of process so that not every apartment company has to keep everyone on site to call in towing in the middle of the night,” Ward said. “But, it sounds to me from our previous discussion on the dais, that there are commissioners who want to end roam towing altogether because again we keep hearing horror stories from folks of how it’s implemented in our community.”
Ward added that he wants the city’s four towing companies to thrive and succeed and is not trying to harm their businesses, while still protecting businesses that are entitled to their parking spaces and finding better ways to discipline drivers who park improperly.
“I want us to find ways for people to be penalized for using a space you weren’t supposed to use but not be deeply punished for it and not feel like you don’t ever want to come to the city of Gainesville for another football game or concert or whatever it is that brought you here because you had a bad experience of being parked in the wrong place,” Ward said.
Gainesville Police Department Maj. Jaime Kurnick and former tow administrator Monica Jordan presented updated towing and immobilization data and analytics to the dais April 19 to help better understand residents’ ongoing conflicts with towing companies.
An analysis of eight years of towing and immobilization data for the month of March from 2019 to the present found the highest number of tows occurred in 2021, with 951, while the lowest occurred in 2026, with 126.
However, from March 1 to March 19, 2026, Kurnick said 667 vehicles were immobilized. Currently, 593 properties contract with four towing companies, and only two of those companies — including Superior Towing — offer both immobilization and towing services.
During the presentation, Kurnick said the ordinance’s language is outdated and outlined three definitions of towing: call-in, roam and trespass.
Call-in towing, which is initiated on a case-by-case basis, occurs when a type of trespass towing is conducted at the specific request of a property owner.
Roam towing requires prior authorization through a contract and agreement and is conducted without a specific request at the time to monitor and enforce parking.
Trespass towing includes both call-in and roam towing and is defined as the removal of a vehicle from private property without the consent of the vehicle owner or an authorized person. While both are forms of trespass towing, they are not interchangeable and differ in how authorization is given.
Kurnick and Jordan said that while towing may be categorized as call-in or roam, immobilization is not defined in the ordinance as a form of towing enforcement.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville mayor clarifies towing vote amid public concerns
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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