Car Towed from Posted Parking Lot

[spoken428]

My question involves a traffic citation from the state of: Pennsylvania

We had a house fire and had to move our truck away from the front of the house (street parking) so we parked in the fireman's club social hall lot behind our home. We did not ask first (thought they would understand) and we mow their grass for them so we did not think it would be an issue. When we woke up this morning, we noticed the car was towed. The lot is signed with this:



With that said, we being here over 30 years and mowing for them, we would of at least appreciated a knock on the door before removing our car. Under Pennsylvania law Title 67 §212.115 regulates signage required for private lots.

§ 212.115. Posting of private parking lots.

(a) General. Posting of private property, including parking lots, giving notice to the public of parking restrictions as required by 75 Pa.C.S. § § 3353(b)(2) and 3354(d)(3) (relating to prohibition in specified places; and additional parking regulations) must be in accordance with this section.

(b) Public notice signs.

(1) The legend on public notice signs at private parking lots must indicate the restrictions which apply. In addition to a primary restriction such as those contained in subparagraph (i), the sign may contain one or more supplemental restrictions or messages of the type included in subparagraph (ii).

(i) Primary restrictions include messages such as private parking, parking by permit only, authorized parking only, private parking for (
) apartment and parking only for patrons of ( ).

(ii) Secondary restrictions or messages may include applicable hours of the day, applicable days of the week, applicable charges and warnings that unauthorized vehicles may be towed.

(iii) The name and telephone number of the owner or other person in control or possession of the property should also be included on the legend.

(2) Public notice signs should be erected at each entrance to the private parking lot and positioned so as to face traffic entering the lot. If there are no designated entrances—such as when a lot has one or more sides continuously open to a roadway—one or more signs should be erected so as to be readily visible to an ordinarily observant driver. Minimum message size shall be as follows:

(i) A primary restriction as defined in paragraph (1)(i) must have a minimum letter height of 3 inches. Signs erected at a distance of more than 75 feet from an entrance point must have letter height which is at least one additional inch in high for each 25-foot interval in the distance. The stroke width of the legend must be a minimum of 1/8 of the required height of the legend.

(ii) A secondary restriction as defined in paragraph (1)(ii) must have minimum dimensions equal to one-half of the minimum dimensions required for the primary restriction, except the letter height must be at least 2 inches.

(3) Signs which have application during hours of darkness must have a retroreflectorized sign message or background and be positioned so as to be illuminated by the headlight beams of entering vehicles, or the sign may be illuminated during applicable hours of darkness so as to be readily visible to an ordinarily observant driver.

(4) Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3353(b), the prosecution of an owner or towing a vehicle from a private parking lot is prohibited unless restrictions are posted in accordance with this subsection.

The sign fails to meet the requirements of this section as follows:

(1) The sign does not contain the name & telephone number of the operator of the property
(2) The sign is not facing the entrance of the lot
(3) The sign does not conform to the the minimum letter height of 3 inches

(4) The sign is not illuminated by the headlight beams of entering vehicles

So therefore, wouldn't the towing be prohibited? Do you think we would be able to recover any of the costs for towing & storage?

Thanks!

[That Guy]

I think you've missed one small detail that may end up being the determining factor here:

§ 212.115. Posting of private parking lots.

(a) General. Posting of private property, including parking lots, giving notice to the public of parking restrictions as required by 75 Pa.C.S. § § 3353(b)(2) and 3354(d)(3) (relating to prohibition in specified places; and additional parking regulations) must be in accordance with this section.

From 75 Pa.C.S. § § 3353(b)(2)

(b) Unattended vehicle on private property.--

(1) No person shall park or leave unattended a vehicle on private property without the consent of the owner or other person in control or possession of the property except in the case of emergency or disablement of the vehicle, in which case the operator shall arrange for the removal of the vehicle as soon as possible.

(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to private parking lots unless such lots are posted to notify the public of any parking restrictions and the operator of the vehicle violates such posted restrictions. For the purposes of this section "private parking lot" means a parking lot open to the public or used for parking without charge; or a parking lot used for parking with charge. The department shall define by regulation what constitutes adequate posting for public notice.

From subsection (b)(2) of section 3353 above For the purposes of this section "private parking lot" means a parking lot open to the public or used for parking without charge; or a parking lot used for parking with charge. And from your description and the wording on the sign, this does not appear to be a private parking lot that is open to the public or used for parking with nor without a charge. Instead, it is a private parking lot that is open to the use for and by members of a certain club while they are at the club.

Even if you go back to subsection (b)(1) it specifically states that you "shall not" park there without the consent of the property owner or person in control without consent with the exception of having a disabled vehicle. I realized you've mowed for them for 30 years but does that require them to recognize your vehicle (or all of your vehicles)? I don't know!


Additionally, I've noticed that the statute you posted, and though it has a few "shalls", is filled with "should's"... Well:

SHALL is used in laws, regulations, or directives to express what is mandatory <it shall be unlawful to carry firearms>

Whereas:

SHOULD: is used to express what is probable or expected <with an early start, they should be here by noon>, or to express what is preferred or recommended but not what is legally required.

And that too might have a huge impact on any claim you might have.

As is always the case under these circumstances, your primary concern should be directed at getting your vehicle out of storage (obviously you'd have to pay for the towing and storage fees to do so) which would limit the total amount due; after that, you could then pursue a legal claim if you feel you're entitled to one.

Good luck!