Nine to 10 cars were towed away and given parking violation tickets on Gayley Avenue Monday afternoon.
The affected area was between the Landfair Avenue crosswalk and Veteran Avenue, where the flashing lights of three tow trucks and two parking officials’ vehicles drew small crowds of curious UCLA students.
The half-block between the crosswalk and Veteran Avenue is currently a temporary tow away zone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays due to a sewage project that has been under construction for the past two weeks.
Parking officials claim the “temporary tow away zone” signs have been up all along Gayley since Dec. 31 of last year, but many car owners who found their vehicles impounded on Monday afternoon said they believe the signs were either ambiguous or not visible when they parallel parked their vehicles that morning.
“I’ve seen the signs up, but the ones north of the crosswalk weren’t up, and there were cars parked all along this street around 7:30 a.m.,” said Augustin Romero, a frustrated fifth-year political science student who also said he usually parks on either Gayley Avenue or Veteran Avenue with no major problems except for the occasional parking ticket. “I wouldn’t have parked there if the signs were up.”
Though there are two “temporary tow away zone” street signs placed in the construction zone that state there is to be no parking between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., the signs contradict permanent signs hanging directly beneath the temporary signs, which read, “No parking 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.”
Despite ambiguity in the signs, an official from the Los Angeles Garage Unit said parking enforcement has been forced to impound anywhere from six to 14 vehicles from the site on an average day.
“I’ve been up here five times now. It’s been going on for two weeks,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
The impounding of a car can cost a vehicle owner anywhere from $187 to $200, along with the parking violation ticket, which fines the owner an additional $50.
Phone calls to the Los Angeles Parking Violations Bureau were not returned, but according to their official Web site, all vehicles must be claimed and parking fines, towing fees and stowing fees paid within 30 days, or the owner risks his car being lien sold, meaning it will be sold by the city government.
All owners of the vehicles that have been towed should call (323) 734-3137 or (310) 478-1201.