Chapter 8.04
ABANDONED VEHICLES*
Sections:
8.04.010 Applicability – Definitions.
8.04.030 Removal – Responsibility.
8.04.060 Qualifications of tow truck operators.
* For statutory provisions giving counties power to remove abandoned vehicles, see RCW 46.52.117.
8.04.010 Applicability – Definitions.
The sheriff of Yakima County is authorized to declare a public nuisance any abandoned vehicle or any automobile hulk or parts therefrom on private property, without the incorporated limits of cities and towns, not including highways. Subject to a contrary determination at a public hearing, such vehicle or hulk shall be removed and impounded at the direction of the sheriff. Removal shall be executed by a tow truck operator that qualifies pursuant to Section 8.04.060.
This chapter shall not apply to:
(1) A vehicle or part thereof which is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner or where it is not otherwise visible from the street or other public or private property; or
(2) A vehicle or part thereof which is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler or vehicle dealer, fenced according to the provisions of RCW 46.80.130.
For the purposes of this chapter, a vehicle is deemed to be “abandoned” if it has been left upon the property of a person other than the registered or legal owner of said vehicle without the consent of the owner of such property for a period of twenty-four hours or longer, except that a vehicle shall not be considered abandoned if its owner or operator is unable to remove it from the place where it is located and so notifies law enforcement officials and requests assistance. An “automobile hulk” for the purposes of this chapter means the remnant or remains of an automobile, truck, or other motor vehicle which is wrecked, dismantled or inoperative and cannot be made mechanically operative without the addition of vital parts or mechanisms and the application of a substantial amount of labor to effect repairs, whether or not the owner of the hulk is one and the same person as the owner of the land upon which it is located.
(Vol. 15 p. 302 §2, 1970).
8.04.020 Removal – Notice.
Within two calendar days of the sheriff’s declaration that an abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk is a nuisance, the sheriff shall select a tow truck operator, pursuant to Section 8.04.060. Within three days thereafter, the tow truck operator shall send by certified mail return receipt requested within five days, notice of intent to remove and a notice of right to a public hearing to the last registered owner where such person’s identity can be established through a title search, and to the owner of record of the location of the abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk. These notices shall be sent to the last known addresses of said persons.
In the alternative, the sheriff or one of his deputies may send the required notices.
Minimum compliance with this requirement includes a written statement that:
(1) An abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk is on land belonging to the recipient of the notice, giving the address or legal description thereof; or was last registered to the recipient; such vehicle or hulk has been declared a public nuisance and the county intends to remove the vehicle or hulk;
(2) The recipient has a right to have a public hearing before the board of county commissioners;
(3) This hearing is not automatic but rather must be requested at the office of the county commissioners in the county courthouse;
(4) If no hearing request is received by the commissioners’ office either by letter or in person, within fifteen days from the mailing date of the notice of right thereto, the vehicle shall be removed and the costs of removal charged to the person so notified.
If a hearing request is communicated to the office of the board of county commissioners, that office shall set a hearing date and then send notification as to the time, date, and location of such hearing on the question of abatement and removal of the vehicle or part thereof as a public nuisance. Such notice shall be mailed by certified or registered mail, with a five-day return receipt requested, to the owner of the land as shown on the last equalized assessment roll and to the last registered owner of the vehicle unless the vehicle is in such condition that identification numbers are not available to determine ownership.
Form of Notice of Intent to Abate Nuisance:
NOTICE TO ABATE NUISANCE
[Date of Mailing]
County of Yakima
v.
____________________________________
[Name of Last Registered Owner]
____________________________________
[Address]
and
____________________________________
[Name of Landowner]
____________________________________
[Address]
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the keeping or storing of the abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk described as follows:
[Description of Vehicle] at [Location of Vehicle]
constitutes a nuisance in violation of the ordinances of Yakima County, and said County intends to remove and abate said nuisance.
A public hearing may be had on the issues of impoundment and liability therefor. Recipients of this notice have, as a matter or right, fifteen days from the above mailing date to request a public hearing before the County Commissioners; this hearing is not automatic and if no request is received by the Commissioners’ Office either by letter or in person, the vehicle will be removed, liability for costs of impoundment will be assessed against one or both of the above-named individuals.
_____________________________
[Name of Tow Truck Operator]
for
Yakima County Sheriff
_____________________________
(Ord. 4A-1970 (part), 1972: Vol. 15 p. 302 §3, 1970).
8.04.030 Removal – Responsibility.
If fifteen days have elapsed since the designated tow truck operator or sheriff’s deputy has duly sent the notice required in Section 8.04.020, and no hearing has been requested; or if a requested hearing has been held and the sheriff’s determination of nuisance has been affirmed, such tow truck operator shall take possession of such abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk, and remove the same to the established place of business of the tow truck operator where the same shall be stored. All persons acting under color of this chapter in effecting said impoundment shall incur no liability for trespass in abatement of said nuisance. Any vehicle or hulk so impounded and left unclaimed for a period of fifteen days shall be deemed to be in the legal custody of the sheriff and the sheriff shall effect a constructive delivery of legal custody to the tow truck operator. Within five days after receiving legal custody of such abandoned vehicle or hulk, the tow truck operator shall give notice to the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Washington State Patrol that the vehicle has been wrecked or sold at public sale.
(Ord. 4A-1970 (part), 1972: Vol. 15 p. 302 §4, 1970).
8.04.040 Removal – Cost.
(1) Primary Liability. The abandonment of any vehicle or automobile hulk shall constitute a prima facie presumption that the last owner of record is responsible for such abandonment and thus liable for any costs incurred in removing, storing and disposing of such motor vehicle or automobile hulk. A registered owner who has complied with the requirements of RCW 46.52.104 as it now exists or may hereafter be amended shall be relieved of liability under this section. The impounding tow truck operator shall have a lien upon such vehicle or hulk for services provided in the towing and storage of the same, and shall also have a claim against the last registered owner of such vehicle or hulk for services provided in the towing and storage of the same, not to exceed the sum of one hundred dollars.
(2) Secondary Liability. If the identity of the last registered owner of the vehicle or automobile hulk cannot be determined, the cost of removal shall be assessed against the owner of the land on which the vehicle is located prior to removal. Such liability for cost of removal shall be limited to not more than one hundred dollars per vehicle.
(Vol. 15 p. 302 §5, 1970).
8.04.050 Hearing – Defense.
(1) The record owner of the land on which the vehicle is located prior to removal may appear in person at the hearing or present a written statement in time for consideration at the hearing and deny responsibility for the presence of the vehicle on the land, with his reasons for such denial. If it is determined at the hearing that the vehicle was placed on the land without the consent of the landowner and that he has not subsequently acquiesced in its presence, then costs of administration or removal of the vehicle shall not be assessed against the property upon which the vehicle is located; and the county shall not otherwise attempt to collect such cost from the owner.
(2) The last registered owner of the vehicle shall be excused from liability for costs of removal whenever the State Motor Vehicle Department certifies that the registered owner has transferred the car and executed a document in compliance with RCW 46.52.104 as it now exists or may hereafter be amended.
(3) Upon the occasion of a requested hearing, the petitioner may assert that a vehicle or hulk otherwise within the category of the contemplated vehicles or hulks should not be abated as a nuisance because of his peculiar circumstances. Petitioner may further assert that under these circumstances, stated with particularity, there can be no reasonable basis for removing the vehicle or hulk because its manifest usefulness to petitioner outweighs the community benefit of concealment.
(4) In such cases the board of county commissioners shall promote the ends sought by this chapter, without destroying the usefulness of the vehicle or hulk, by inquiring into the particular facts, including the locations of the vehicle or hulk and outbuildings in relation to the adjacent public way. The commissioners shall then decide whether means exist to effect concealment from public view without removal.
(5) Even if it is determined that concealment is not practicable, the board of county commissioners shall prevent removal in appropriate cases. The determination of appropriateness shall depend upon such factors as:
(a) The extent to which removal will cause material loss and prevent use of the hulk or vehicle for the purpose for which it has been adapted;
(b) The continued use of the vehicle or hulk as a parts reservoir and the degree of actual dependency of the continued functioning of petitioner’s transportation or business upon said parts reservoir;
(c) The educative value, if any, provided by the vehicle or hulk.
(6) The burden of proof of such mitigating circumstances shall be upon the petitioner to demonstrate that abatement would be confiscatory or otherwise unreasonable.
(Vol. 15 p. 302 §6, 1970).
8.04.060 Qualifications of tow truck operators.
The sheriff may appoint any tow truck operator engaged in removing and storing motor vehicles within the county as his agent for the purpose of disposing of abandoned vehicles and automobile hulks. Each such appointment shall be contingent upon the submission of an application to the sheriff and the making of subsequent reports in such form and frequency as may be required by the sheriff, and upon the posting of a surety bond in the amount of three thousand dollars to compensate the owner of any vehicle that has been unlawfully sold as a result of any negligence or misconduct of the tow truck operator.
Any appointment may be canceled by the sheriff upon evidence that the appointed tow truck operator is not complying with all laws, rules and regulations relative to the handling and disposition of abandoned vehicles and automobile hulks. Where more than one tow truck operator qualifies under this section the sheriff shall distribute the impoundments discovered by his agency as nearly upon a rotation schedule as is practicable. Where the discovery of the necessity for impoundment of a particular vehicle or hulk originates with an appointed tow truck operator the fact of the impoundment shall not be considered in the rotation schedule.
(Vol. 15 p. 302 §7, 1970).
8.04.070 Disposition.
If, after the expiration of thirty days from the mailing of the first notice to the registered owner and landowner, the vehicle or automobile hulk remains unclaimed and has not been listed as a stolen or recovered vehicle, then the tow truck operator having custody of such vehicle or hulk shall conduct a sale of the same at public auction after having first published a notice of the date, place and time of such auction in a newspaper of general circulation in the county not less than three days before the date of such auction. The notice of sale to the registered owner of the vehicle shall be sent by the tow truck operator to the last known address of the owner appearing on the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles, and such notice shall be sent to the registered owner by first class mail with return receipt requested. Such notice shall contain a description of the vehicle or hulk including its license number and/or motor number if obtainable, and shall state the amount due the tow truck operator for services in the towing and storage of the same and the time and place of public sale, if the amount remains unpaid; provided, that if the vehicle is of a model year ten or more years prior to the calendar year in which such vehicle is stored, the vehicle or hulk may be disposed of without notice of sale, and in such case, the tow truck operator shall secure an appropriate bill of sale from the Director of Motor Vehicles. Thereafter, the tow truck operator may dispose of the vehicle as he may determine.
The proceeds of disposition and sale of the vehicle or hulk, regardless of its age, shall first be applied in satisfaction of the tow truck operator’s lien. The tow truck operator shall have a lien not to exceed one hundred dollars upon such vehicle or hulk for services provided in the towing and storage of the same; and shall have a claim against the last registered owner for such costs. Should the identification numbers be so obliterated as to prevent a title search, or if for any other reason the last registered owner is not identifiable, the claim for reimbursement shall extend to the owner of record of the real estate upon which the car was found. These claims are subject to the defenses set out in Section 8.04.050, and in no event shall exceed one hundred dollars. If neither claim for personal liability is voluntarily paid the tow truck operator shall satisfy his lien out of the proceeds of the sale of the abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk.
The abandoned vehicle or automobile hulk shall be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. The proceeds of such sale, after deducting the towing and storage charges due the tow truck operator, including the cost of sale, which shall be computed as in a public auction sale of personal property by the sheriff, shall be certified one- half to the county treasurer to be credited to the county current expense fund and one-half to the State Treasurer to be credited to the Highway Safety Fund. If the amount bid at the auction is insufficient to compensate the tow truck operator for his towing and storage charges and the cost of sale, such tow truck operator shall be entitled to assert a claim for any deficiency, not to exceed one hundred dollars less the amount bid at the auction, against the last registered owner of such vehicle or automobile hulk or the landowner, as provided in Section 8.04.040. A registered owner who has complied with RCW 46.52.104 as it now exists or may hereafter be amended in the transfer of ownership of the vehicle or hulk shall be relieved of liability under this section.
(Vol. 15 p. 302 §8, 1970).