Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council  ›  Do you know about Assembly Bill 516?

The STNC voted 6-8-19 in a Special Board meeting called by the President.  13 voted in favor,  none opposed that
STNC supports Council File #19-0002-S50 OPPOSING AB-516 which
removes the authority of law enforcement or public employees from towing
vehicles not in compliance with current CA registration laws, having accumulated
over 5 parking citations, or ignoring the 72-hour parking restriction. This will have
a severe and negative impact to Sunland-Tujunga. Driving is a privilege.
Citations are issued when the vehicle owner/driver ignores the law. Registrations
and license fees are paid to ensure our roads and streets are safe as well as the
vehicles traveling on them. Though it’s a valid point that people without financial
reserves can ill afford the tow and impound fees, the answer is not to legislate that
no one will be subject to the parking & car registration laws. This is incredible
legislative overreach, not taking into account the unique city and community
conditions existing across the state, particularly in the City of Los Angeles. For
LA, the ramifications of AB-516 are: 1. Parking of RV’s and other vehicles used
as primary housing will not need to move and street cleaning of the trash and
human waste that has collected around those areas will not be possible. 2. Vans
used as advertising will proliferate, as they will be allowed free parking and not
need to be operational. This will expand an existing business model to the
detriment of our communities. 3. It’ll be impossible to tell what vehicles are
abandoned. No one will need to pay towing to a salvage-yard as they can be
abandoned on the street. Auto salvage-yards will expand their business onto our
streets. We support the LAPD by not supporting AB-516. It removes the ability of
law enforcement to deal effectively with issues of quality of life, public safety,
nuisance, blight and other unintended consequences.

The following was also submitted as an attachment:

For the following reasons, please work proactively to prohibit passage of Assembly Bill 516 or, at the very least, prevent its applying to the City and County of Los Angeles. Although well intended, it afflicts unforeseen negative consequences on law-abiding residents, the homeless, and every governmental treasury. It is too vast and sweeping. Smaller measures will work.
 
AB-516, which recently passed the California Assembly will prevent—statewide—law enforcement officers (LEOs) from using tows and impounds to police (a.) scofflaw parking violators, (b.) overnight vehicle sleeping and (c.) DMV registration dodgers.
 
AB-516 "deletes" (the bill's exact word) every LEO's ability to impound or "boot" any vehicle for the three most common reasons used against nuisance vehicles:
  1. Parked more than 72 hours in same location
  2. Registration outdated more than 6 months
  3. More than five parking violations
 
Today these three laws help LEOs prevent crime by using them to impound vehicles of serious criminals, thus impeding their reach and mobility. Overnight sleepers are often towed under one of these laws. LEOs have many ways to tow vehicles, but LAPD officers tell us the above three laws underlie 85% to 99% of their tows of nuisance vehicles.
 
If AB-516 becomes law, scofflaw people and businesses will exploit their new freedom from consequence to park for weeks in neighborhoods where they will clog roadways, bike lanes and alleys, and delay emergency vehicles. They can ignore mounting citations for serious parking violations like blocking driveways, bus and school zones, double-parking, etc. California's tactic of levying these fines against income tax is powerless because such scofflaws don't file a 540.
 
If AB-516 passes:
- Every California municipality's parking violation revenue will plummet, as there will be no consequences for ignoring fines
- DMV registration revenues will drop. (Why register if LEOs can't tow or boot you?)
- Loss of payroll, property and sales tax revenues as yet more upper- and middle-income earners flee California
- Trouble-free vehicle sleeping discourages transients from seeking housing and drug programs
- Highly impacted residential parking difficulties will worsen further
- Outbreaks of Downtown's highly contagious rat- and flea-borne diseases in residential neighborhoods (e.g., typhus, typhoid, skin-devouring MRSA)
- Crime will rise as career criminals retain vehicles that can't be towed
- Residential crime will rise as transients explore communities where they now park
- Residents will be intimidated from walking their communities due to overnight sleepers
- Vigilantism may rise when LEOs can't safeguard every neighborhood
- Greater influx of homeless seeking California's permissive laws
- Widespread drops in property values
- Political backlash at the voting booth

Above drafted by Board Member Jon von Gunten, Neighborhood Watch Representative.

STNC Board President Liliana Sanchez, VP Lydia Grant, VP Nina Royal, Region 4 Rep Carol Hutchinson spoke at the City Council meeting held on Tuesday, June 11.