SB 183-ABANDONED VEHICLES; PRIVATE PROPERTY  4:49:32 PM CHAIR REVAK announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 183, "An Act relating to vehicles abandoned on private property." CHAIR REVAK solicited a motion for the proposed committee substitute (CS). 4:49:38 PM SENATOR COGHILL moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for SB 183, work order 31-LS0587\M, as the working document. CHAIR REVAK objected for discussion purposes. 4:50:15 PM BETTY TANGEMAN, Staff, Senator Joshua Revak, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, on behalf of the committee, explained that version M changes the timeframe in SB 183 from 30 days to 45 days to allow private property owners the ability to deal with abandoned vehicles on their property while still giving vehicle owners adequate time to retrieve their vehicle. She said the sponsor wants to ensure that people who travel for work or family obligations receive adequate notice. People often receive monthly bills so this would give them an additional buffer to retrieve their vehicles. 4:51:00 PM CHAIR REVAK removed his objection and version M was adopted. 4:51:46 PM SENATOR JESSE KIEHL, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of SB 183, said this bill intends to shorten a long process required to dispose of abandoned vehicles. He explained that vehicles are often intentionally left on someone else's property by owners who have no intention of ever coming back for them. When vehicles are abandoned on private property, it takes seven months for the property owner to get the title to the vehicle. He described the process. First, the owner must wait six months to obtain the address of record, must send a legal notice, and then wait 30 days to allow the vehicle owner to remove it. At that point, if the owner has not taken action to remove the vehicle, the property owner can obtain the title to the vehicle and remove it at his or her expense. The committee substitute, version M, would increase the timeframe to 45 days before the legal notice is sent, which seems to be a reasonable amount of time for the vehicle owner to reclaim the vehicle. At the end of the entire process, the property owner is still stuck with the cost to dispose of the vehicle. 4:54:26 PM CHAIR REVAK asked if he could obtain the title to his in-laws' car if it was parked on his property for 31 days. SENATOR KIEHL answered that if they leave their vehicle parked in his driveway for 45 days, he will need to send his in-laws a legal notice at their address of record. Then after 30 days has lapsed, he could obtain the title to the vehicle. 4:55:10 PM SENATOR KAWASAKI asked what type of consent is required for a person to park on private property. For example, he asked if the person could leave a note saying the car broke down. He commented that the person could be attending a legislative session and be out of town for some time. SENATOR KIEHL answered that if the person obtained consent to leave the vehicle, the vehicle owner would receive the legal notice and have an opportunity to remove it. If the parties exchanged a verbal agreement, the vehicle owner would have cause to recover, but that isn't generally the case with abandoned vehicles. 4:56:44 PM SENATOR WILSON recalled that the state has an abandoned property statute. He asked why the owner couldn't just ask the state to pay to have the vehicle removed after the notice time lapsed. SENATOR KIEHL replied that is one option, but some municipalities do not use that route and it remains a burden on the property owner to remove the vehicle. He cautioned that vehicles abandoned in rights-of-ways throughout Alaska could "eat up" the fund. This bill pertains to vehicles abandoned on private property, he said. SENATOR WILSON said some people suggest that vehicles should be towed from private property to public property. He asked if the property owner could move the vehicle to a highway right-of-way. 4:58:44 PM SENATOR KIEHL replied that hypothetical solution makes a private problem a public problem. This bill is focused on property owners who want to handle abandoned vehicles in the most responsible manner. It would provide an opportunity to do so in a little over two months. 5:00:05 PM DAVID CAMPBELL, Deputy Chief, Juneau Police Department (JPD), Juneau, Alaska, explained that about 18 months ago the City and Borough of Juneau struggled with abandoned vehicles. In one year, the JPD received almost 900 calls reporting abandoned vehicles. Once reported, the case is assigned to a community service officer who works with the property owner and vehicle owner to get the vehicle moved. When that fails, and it often does, JPD recommends that property owners resolve the issue by going to the Division of Motor Vehicles to obtain title to the abandoned vehicle. The owner can then bring the abandoned vehicle to the recycle center and drop it off free of charge. It now takes six to seven months for the property owner to go through this process, which he views as too long. As a police officer, he encourages people to clean up their sites quickly because the abandoned vehicle can attract more abandoned vehicles. Often vehicles are abandoned in shopping mall lots or other businesses, which creates a significant problem for these private property owners. The Juneau Police Department supports the committee substitute for SB 183, version M, increasing the timeframe to 45 days. 5:04:12 PM CHAIR REVAK asked him to walk through the noticing procedure. DEPUTY CHIEF CAMPBELL responded that the JPD's community service officer spends a lot of time trying to identify vehicle owners using the vehicle identification number (VIN) and trying to get them to comply with the law. He stated that the recycling center will not accept a vehicle unless the owner takes it in. 5:05:47 PM SENATOR WILSON asked if the private notices posted on lots such as Safeway or Fred Meyer stores apply. DEPUTY CHIEF CAMPBELL responded that in Juneau none of the tow operators manage their own lots. Therefore, the abandoned vehicles must sit on the private property until the vehicle is retitled and towed to the recycling center. SENATOR WILSON asked if it is it feasible to move the vehicles to the public right-of-way. DEPUTY CHIEF CAMPBELL replied vehicles end up in the highway rights-of-way when homeowners tow abandoned vehicles off their property. The community service officers monitor the abandoned vehicles in Juneau, so if someone tows an abandoned vehicle to the Egan or other highway right of way, an officer will inform the property owner that he or she cannot do so. In his experience the large retailers try to do the right thing by obtaining the title and providing notice, which currently takes six to seven months to resolve, he said. 5:08:13 PM CHAIR REVAK held SB 183 in committee.