'Nowhere To Park': Parking Woes Bring Tows

WAUKESHA, WI — Parking woes at a number of Waukesha apartment complexes is leaving residents without a place to park, and a local towing company says it's just doing their job to help residents get their spots back.

Some residents, however, not used to having their cars towed for being parked on the grass or without permits, are reportedly learning the hard way that parking enforcement is in effect.

Waukesha police were dispatched to an apartment complex on the 2800 block of N. University Drive just before 11 p.m. Saturday evening on a report that apartment residents had a disagreement with a local towing company.

Although the situation was called into police as a fight, police talked with the tow truck driver, of J&J Towing, who stated that he was leaving the lot with a vehicle, and that the situation actually involved people who were upset the vehicle was being towed because it was illegally parked on the grass.

Waukesha police were called out to the Monterrey apartment complex earlier that evening after a resident observed the driver of a silver Chevrolet Equinox shining lights into the back of parked vehicles.

Acccording to police reports, police made contact withe driver and learned that an employee of J&J Towing was using a light to look into car windows to determine whether the vehicles had the appropriate parking passes for the lot.

Working With Police

Scott, owner of J&J Towing, said that his company has been working with authorities to refine their towing guidelines after an earlier policy that involved towing vehicles with expired plates caused some confusion among apartment residents.

When talking with police Saturday night, J&J workers stated they were no longer towing vehicles for having expired plates, and are limiting their efforts to vehicles that lack parking passes.

Some Residents Relieved

Scott Bailey, of J&J Towing stated that his company will often get requests from residents to have cars towed because they're illegally parked or not properly permitted.

In a voicemail shared with Waukesha Patch, one resident voiced her concern about parking shortages at her complex and how to go about helping her. "I'm a resident from Monterey Apartments and there is nowhere to park in any of the lots over in visitor parking, and ther's like four cars just in my lot that don't belong at all and don't have parking passes. I guess I would hope that you guys can come tow him because homestly I have nowhere to park. If you need anything else, call me back."

In an interview with Patch, Bailey said, "Regardless, you can't be parking on the grass or on the sidewalks. Our one purpose is simply to help the complexes enforce the rules and take the load off their shoulders."

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