4/7/08-12

Council looks at proposed changes in Orem parking-enforcement codes -- A Provo-based towing company tried to change Orem parking-enforcement codes Tuesday night.

Michael Lamont, owner of University Parking Enforcement, presented a list of changes to the Orem City Council in efforts to regulate Orem's code with surrounding cities. He hoped to change code to require companies to contact dispatch within one hour of towing in order to eliminate confrontations with cars' owners, he said. When the owners "catch them in the act" of towing their cars, Lamont said it becomes a "safety issue" for him and his employees.

Orem code currently requires towed vehicles to be stored within Orem city limits, charges a gate fee unless the car is recovered within normal business hours, and requires the towing companies to notify dispatch of car removal before towing it and to provide a name and number on public signs in parking areas.

Another safety issue comes from Orem requiring an in-city impound he said. Many companies located in Provo and other nearby cities build secondary lots just to comply with the code. However, they are unlit, unmanned and often unsafe he said. These lots include one of his own.

"If this was meant as a convenience, it's not," Lamont said. "Many of the secondary lots are located west of the freeway, and there are really no clear boundaries of Orem and Provo anyway. Most people, like me, see it as the same place."

Paul Johnson, Orem city attorney, said the current parking-enforcement code was carefully crafted and debated and a new draft will be presented in May.

Council members were not eager to pick apart the code to cater to single business's wants and voted to keep the code unchanged for now.