CHICAGO (CBS) — There’s a new boot ban in Chicago’s 1st Ward. After Ald. Daniel La Spata got tired of complaints about private companies booting cars, he and the City Council approved an ordinance to stop it. The trouble is, the city botched the beginning of the ban.
Check out the mess CBS 2 Morning Insider Tim McNicholas tries to unravel.
Baby Jules isn’t the only little one keeping Karyl Allanic busy.
She parked in a lot in Wicker Park last week and hurried up to her friend’s nearby condo to pick up a toy for her Jules.
Allanic said she was in such a rush she didn’t see the warning signs about parking enforcement for non-customers.
When she came back, her car had been booted.
“I’m a labor and delivery nurse at UIC, and I was on my way to my shift,” Allanic said. “This is the last thing i need on my plate.”
She paid the $170 fee to Innovative Parking Solutions and got the boot off.
When she got home, she read that private companies are banned from booting cars here in the 1st Ward, so she called up La Spata’s office.
“We’ve received a number of unfortunate emails about that,” La Spata said.
La Spata said the private booting ban in the 1st Ward went into effect on May 26, after a month-long grace period.
“It’s frustrating, because we would hope that they would of course obey what the law is,” La Spata said.
So we called the company. Their owner would not agree to an on-camera interview, but he said over the phone the new law is not effect until late June.
“June 25th is the last day, actually. I got the email from the commissioner,” Innovative Parking Solutions co-owner Mike Denigris said.
So we asked the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. They said the law did kick in May 26th, but they mistakenly sent out an email to the booting companies saying June 26.
“This miscommunication has been rectified with the companies,” according to the city, and from now on companies can be fined for booting cars in the 1st ward.
So what does that mean for Allanic and the others who were already booted in June?
The city said they’ll “look into this matter to determine the proper path forward.”
“I will try to fight this as hard as I can,” Allanic said.
In case you’re wondering, the 1t Ward is hardly alone in banning private companies from booting cars. About 20 of the 50 Chicago wards outlaw the practice.