An amendment to the MSU’s towing policy will assure that all towing practices conform with state law.
The amendment, approved by the MSU Board of Trustees at its Dec. 8 meeting, replaces the 22-year-old ordinance with a much shorter policy that university officials hope will cause less confusion.
The change to the policy will allow MSU to tow vehicles with more than six outstanding parking tickets as well as conform to Michigan’s Uniform Traffic Code - a state law the university was not following.
Trustee Dee Cook said after the board meeting she thought it was a necessary step for the board to take.
“The university needed to clarify this,” Cook said. “I think it was something that we had to do. We had to be in compliance with the laws.”
A 1983 Michigan Supreme Court decision, Molony-Vierstra v. Michigan State University, rendered the towing ordinance invalid because it was not in “substantial conformity” with Michigan’s Uniform Traffic Code.
Municipalities must use the Uniform Traffic Code as a basis for their own ordinances, allowing a vehicle to be towed only if it is a safety hazard or blocking traffic. Despite the court’s ruling, MSU continued to use towing as a way to enforce parking regulations instead of as a safety measure.
Last summer, Jeremy O’Hara, an MSU graduate whose vehicle was towed, had the $55 fee refunded by the university after a judge decided the current towing ordinance was just as invalid then as it was in 1983.
In addition to the policy change, the Board of Trustees and the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety also are hoping to tow fewer cars by informing people of the new policy.
MSU police Chief Bruce Benson said the department will include a flier with issued parking tickets that explains the towing policy to warn those who are nearing six or more outstanding parking tickets.
University officials also will include a flier explaining the towing policy when the reminders for outstanding tickets are sent.
“I think they’re both good ideas and this will help clear everything up a little,” Benson said. “I think most of the people in the community know the towing policies, but the concern was about someone who has unpaid parking tickets coming out one day, and their car is gone.”
While university officials still contend the previous campus towing practices were within the law, they understand a change was needed.
MSU President M. Peter McPherson said the new ordinance will be easier to understand, and he doesn’t want to see parking on campus become even more difficult.
“We believe there is authority for all the towing that we’ve done over the years but this adoption today confirms the authority,” McPherson said at the meeting. “We believe this ordinance will help clear up the confusion, to an extent.”
“I think most people would say you need to be able to tow for some reasons.”
