03/12/2020 01:00 PM House TRANSPORTATION

          HB 273-ABANDONED VEHICLES; PRIVATE PROPERTY                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:43:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR STUTES announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE BILL  NO. 273,  "An Act relating  to vehicles  abandoned on                                                               
private property."                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:44:33 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
JOE GREENOUGH, Staff, Representative  Louise Stutes, Alaska State                                                               
Legislature,  presented  HB  273   on  behalf  of  Representative                                                               
Stutes, prime sponsor.   He related that  abandoned vehicles were                                                               
a statewide problem, and under  current statute it took more than                                                               
six months for property  owners to be able to remove  them.   The                                                               
time  property   owners  needed  to  wait   to  remove  abandoned                                                               
vehicles, under  HB 273, would be  reduced from six months  to 45                                                               
days,  Mr. Greenough  imparted.   The vehicle  owner would  still                                                               
have 30 days  to respond, he added.  If  the property owner chose                                                               
to have the  vehicle towed, then the towing company  would have a                                                               
lien against the vehicle for towing fees and storage.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:47:41 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took a brief at-ease at 1:47 p.m.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
1:47:55 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STORY referenced a  letter in the committee packet                                                               
from  the  Juneau  Economic  Development  Council  in  which  the                                                               
council  expressed  concerns   about  public  safety,  especially                                                               
regarding abandoned vehicles.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
1:48:50 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
The committee took an at-ease from 1:49 p.m. to 1:59 p.m.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:59:38 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
DAVID  SCOTT  CAMPBELL, Deputy  Chief  of  Police, Juneau  Police                                                               
Department,  told the  committee  that  Juneau Police  Department                                                               
(JPD) had almost  900 reports of abandoned vehicles  in one year.                                                               
When a  report is received, the  case is assigned to  a Community                                                               
Service Officer (CSO), he informed  the committee, who then works                                                               
to have  the vehicle  removed before  impounding it  or involving                                                               
the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV).   If the CSO's efforts were                                                               
exhausted and  the vehicle is  on private property,  the property                                                               
owner must then go through  the process of obtaining ownership of                                                               
the  vehicle  with  the  DMV  so  the  vehicle  can  be  properly                                                               
disposed.   In  Juneau, vehicles  are disposed  at the  recycling                                                               
center  at  no  charge  to  the  owner;  however,  the  owner  is                                                               
responsible for the cost of towing.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR. CAMPBELL  shared the  "broken windows"  theory, in  which any                                                               
visible sign  of "anti-social  activity" tends  to breed  more of                                                               
this type  of activity.   This  is seen  in Juneau  when multiple                                                               
abandoned  cars  end up  in  "big  box  store" parking  lots,  he                                                               
explained.   He addressed  the question of  why a  store wouldn't                                                               
deal with an  abandoned vehicle found in its parking  lot.  Since                                                               
the store wouldn't be able  to take over the vehicle's ownership,                                                               
it would  have to pay  the $12  per day throughout  the six-month                                                               
process.  Finally,  he said that private  property owners usually                                                               
just  pushed the  vehicle  onto the  street  because the  vehicle                                                               
would then become  the responsibility of the City  and Borough of                                                               
Juneau (CBJ).   Mr. Campbell said that he  supported reducing the                                                               
time  frame so  that abandoned  vehicles may  be dealt  with more                                                               
expediently.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:05:23 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  CLAMAN  said  he supported  shortening  the  time                                                               
frame but  asked why  it was 45  days.  He  also asked  whether a                                                               
vehicle  [abandoned] in  a "prime"  parking spot  at a  box store                                                               
would at least be pushed to the side of the parking lot.                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
MR. CAMPBELL  answered that older  junk vehicles tend to  be left                                                               
at the  periphery of a parking  lot.  He pointed  out that owners                                                               
tend to  properly dispose of  their vehicles because there  is no                                                               
cost to do  so at the recycling center,  while those [abandoning]                                                               
vehicles tend to be people  with whom the vehicle has transferred                                                               
hands several  times and perhaps  they have taken parts  from the                                                               
vehicle and then  decide to dump it.  Another  issue, he said, is                                                               
if JPD  towed a vehicle  and it  was damaged during  the process,                                                               
the repairs would  then become JPD's responsibility.   This would                                                               
also apply  to stores moving  vehicles around lots,  he surmised.                                                               
He agreed that  45 days seemed too  long but may be  in place for                                                               
people  who were  out of  town.   He admitted  that this  was not                                                               
usually the case and by the  time the owner was found the vehicle                                                               
was worth next to nothing.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
2:09:47 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  CLAMAN  confirmed   property  owners  who  pushed                                                               
abandoned vehicles  onto the street without  having contacted JPD                                                               
beforehand would alleviate the property owner of responsibility.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
2:11:24 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GILLIS  questioned  why   HB  273  had  not  been                                                               
proposed  earlier,  because  abandoned vehicles  were  a  serious                                                               
problem.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:11:49 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR STUTES asked what percentage  of abandoned vehicles' owners                                                               
were found.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:11:58 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
MR. CAMPBELL replied that in  2017-2018, out of 890 complaints of                                                               
abandoned  vehicles  on public  and  private  property, 190  were                                                               
impounded and  700 complaints were resolved  without the vehicles                                                               
having to be impounded.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
2:12:53 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR STUTES announced that HB 273 would be held over.