Aldermen debate booting vehicles on private lots
Private booters roaming free in more than half of Chicago’s 50 wards were banned from the 1st Ward on Wednesday by the local alderman, who demanded a citywide appeals process to rein in a process of booting on private property that “feels predatory.”
Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) demanded citywide standards for private booting as aldermen debated the pros and cons of allowing local merchants to contract with private companies to patrol lots and prevent motorists from parking in spaces reserved for their customers.
La Spata said he understands the “need for enforcement of private property rights related to parking spots.”
What concerns him is “the lack of a formal appeals process” for motorists booted on or towed from private parking and the barrage of complaints from motorists demanding that he intervene.
“If the city wishes this private booting practice to continue as an alternative to towing, it would be beneficial to consider an equal, citywide licensing process for all wards and a citywide appeals process that would be uniform and allow residents a chance to have their complaints assessed in an equal, formalized manner,” the alderman said.
La Spata said he asked the License Committee to do what it did Wednesday — make his ward the 18th to ban private booting — only after a booting company operating in his ward refused to give motorists a verbal warning.
Ald. James Cappleman (46th) couldn’t agree more about the need for citywide standards.
“Rather than fix the problem, you fix the system that causes the problem so that each ward doesn’t have to repeat the same thing,” Cappleman said.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th) agreed “some type of appeals process” is needed for motorists whose vehicles are disabled on private lots.
But Taliaferro also argued private booting has been a crimefighter in his West Side ward.
“I had a location that had prostitution in the parking lots, drug sales, gang activity. … There were shootings in the parking lot. And when we brought in the private booting company, that turned around 100%,” said Taliaferro, a former Chicago police officer.
“We’ve not had one call for service in that location because of drug sales and prostitution that was happening there.”
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) urged his colleagues not to judge private booting based on one-sided complaints.
“We’re not getting complaints from people who are frustrated that they couldn’t get a parking spot. And we’re not necessarily getting complaints from the businesses,” Hopkins said.