Despite protest from local towing companies, the Bowling Green Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of changes to the current towing ordinances for the City of Bowling Green on Tuesday.
The new ordinance changes requirements for signage, removes after-hours fees and lowers the maximum fee a towing company can charge for an impound from $175 to $125.
Fountain Square Towing Owner Slim Nash and his attorney, Alan Simpson, are pursuing legal action against the city, and they both made public comments at Tuesday’s meeting.
Simpson made a similar case as he did in the meeting on Feb. 17.
“What you’re about to do is illegal,” Simpson said. “You cannot regulate prices for services in this state.” Simpson said passing the ordinance would create dangerous situations.
“It’s going to be chaos in the parking lots,” he said. “There are going to be fights. The police are going to be out there.”
Nash said that his company was being targeted by the City of Bowling Green, despite meetings and efforts by him to operate under the law.
“The resentment towards my business was displayed by the city attorney in our very first meeting,” Nash said.
Nash served on the board of commissioners for 12 non-consecutive years between 2005 and 2020, and voiced his opposition to the city refusing to comment on the lawsuit. Nash said while he was on the board, he always made public comments about why laws were being passed, even if it went against the advice of the city attorney.
“My duty was not to the city attorney or the city manager,” Nash said. “I decided my duty was to the electorate.”
One Bowling Green resident, Heather Kessler, spoke in favor of the new ordinance. Kessler owns 4yoga studio in downtown Bowling Green, near several lots patrolled by Fountain Square.
“I’m not anti-towing,” Kessler said. “I am anti the predatory nature of the towing that I have witnessed.”
Other notes:
- Two promotions were made in the Bowling Green Police Department.
- The board voted to accept grant proposals for 11 neighborhood improvement projects.
- A bid was accepted for the building of a roundabout at Tomlinson Way and Brookshore Avenue.
- Funding was approved for four new sheltered bus stops to be bought and installed along GoBG’s route.
The full agenda for the meeting can be found here.
