The Morrow City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed an ordinance regulating booting companies within city limits. Now, the booting companies will need a permit from the police department and must undergo a background check to operate in Morrow. Also, the companies can only charge up to $50 to have boots removed and are required to give residents a receipt after removing boots.
The council has considered the law since June, after numerous complaints from residents trying to get to the Social Security building on Merchant Way, which has limited parking availability. When people began parking at another nearby business, the business operators called tow trucks to remove the cars, becoming profitable for towing companies. Residents would often see a row of tow trucks lined up. The business operators then went from calling towing companies to calling a booting company, which makes sense: the state regulates towing companies to mandate signage and to prevent them from inflating their rates, but booting companies are not regulated. The city considered banning booting completely, but feared that prohibiting booting would bring the line of tow trucks back. Towing, which includes storing cars at an impound lot, costs much more than booting.
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