Asked the City Manager to work with the appropriate departments to conduct street cleaning without towing starting with the 2023 season

O-3

Calendar Item # 1

Cambridge is required by law to conduct regular street cleaning in order to remove leaf litter and meet our stormwater phosphorus quality requirements; and

Other cities have been able to achieve satisfactory results during street cleaning without regularly towing vehicles each month as part of the process; and

Fees associated with getting towed for street cleaning include a $100 initial towing fee, a $30 ticket issued by the Traffic & Parking Department, an accumulating surcharge of $35 for each day that the vehicle is not picked up, and a $25 letter in the mail if the vehicle is not picked up within 48 hours, all in addition to potentially having to use rideshare to get to the tow yard itself; and

The burden of retrieving a towed vehicle and paying these fees disproportionately impacts lower income residents, and the daily accumulating surcharge requires people to immediately come up with the money or face an ever-increasing fine; and

Tow trucks emit polluting particulates that have adverse public health consequences and their idling and operation on street cleaning days contributes emissions to our city’s air and detracts from efforts to reduce emission pollution; and

More thought should be given to less punitive measures that would allow for an effective cleaning of the streets without a towing process that can be devastating, including (but not limited to) escalating ticketing fees and continuing to tow vehicles that repeatedly fail to comply; and

It may take time to see satisfactory and consistent results after changes are made; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the appropriate departments to conduct street cleaning without towing starting with the 2023 season, and to employ other methods that would continue to incentivize compliance including (but not limited to) an escalating ticketing schedule; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back to the City Council no later than December 31, 2022 on the feasibility of eliminating regular towing as part of the street cleaning process.

History: 12/05/22

City Council

CHARTER RIGHT

Next: 12/19/22