* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Henry
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Request for State Action - Immediate Towing of Unregistered Vehicles
FOR the purpose of calling on the Baltimore City delegation to the 2014 Maryland General Assembly to secure passage of a bill removing the 48-hour grace period for unregistered vehicles on public property from State law so that Baltimore can take immediate and effective action to rid our streets of these illegal vehicles.
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Recitals
In Baltimore, as is true throughout Maryland, it is illegal for an unregistered vehicle to be stored on public streets. However, current State law that requires an unregistered vehicle to be on City streets for 48 hours before it can be towed makes this prohibition difficult to enforce in practice.
The 48-hour grace period required by State law significantly undermines efforts to keep these vehicles off the streets by effectively requiring enforcement personnel to respond twice to the same violation before action can be taken. Not only is this a burden on already stretched thin City resources when a complaint is filed, it also makes enforcement sweeps all but impossible because unregistered vehicles discovered on the streets cannot be towed on the spot. Even worse, in Baltimore’s built-up urban environment, a vehicle owner can effectively thwart enforcement of the prohibition on unregistered vehicles...
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