Private Towing Regulation

At a glance

Based on auto-generated captions; names and details may be misheard.

What: possible city regulation of private-property towing, separate from the city's own towing contract.
Where it stands: at the 2026-11-02 work session staff proposed requesting an Iowa Attorney General opinion on which proposed rules fit state law (abandoned-vehicle preemption in Iowa Code 321.89 versus home-rule limits in 364.1). No formal decision was made.
Next: council members were asked to tell the city manager by the end of the week which listed items to keep or drop; staff hoped to have something by the end of the month.

Licensing of tow operators, with annual inspection and enforcement by the city clerk or police.
Cameras, credit/debit card payment with fees limited to industry norms, and a cap on drop fees.
Vehicle retrieval available 365 days a year, or no storage charge when retrieval is not possible.
Reinspection of a lot after repeated tows (another city uses more than six tows in 30 days) and possibly more signage.
Some members wanted to draft an ordinance directly; others preferred the Attorney General opinion, noted as persuasive but not controlling.

2026-11-02 - 2026-11-02 - City Council Work Session: towing ordinance discussion; comments from council due by the end of the week.