Towing regulations on hold

That's quite an unintended consequence! 

Is the towing gouging law actually intertwined with the cell-phone ban injunction? My brain is squirming under the weight of surreal civics...Can I now tow anyone's car who has a cellphone  and bill whatever I want? If I tow a car without using my cell phone as part of the operation can I let the free market fill my bank account? If I use a large cellphone to block the tires of an illegally parked vehicle, am I now resonsible for the towing fee that the company charged two months ago?

I can get towed any time I need (broken down) in Chapel Hill for a maximum of $65. So the idea that the towing companies need $100 plus for guaranteed volume work is ludicrous. Hopefully, when the town addresses this again the towing companies' portrayal of themselves as struggling small business men will balanced by the qouging stories. 

I just asked Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos for a clarification of what the CHPD could enforce right now. When Judge Orlando Hudson placed a temporary injunction on the February ordinance, he also blocked enforcement of all towing regulations in Chapel Hill, going back to January 14, 2002 (my first Council meeting, and I recall nothing about that).  Laura, it's clear from the Town Attorney that your son's experience in the amount of fee is not at all unique. CHPD is keeping a record of complaints, and the police attorney is trying to develop a way to charge the towing companies with a criminal offense. I've known Tom Stark at least as long as anyone in Chapel Hill. He's immediate past chair of the Durham Co. Republican Party (lost re-election) and tends to sue Chapel Hill a lot on behalf of businesses behaving badly.  The cell phone ordinance was simply the first hook he could find to block the towing ordinance. He would have found something else sooner or later. Ed Harrison