The city is on track to make the road to the wrecking yard faster for junkers.
At Monday night's meeting, city council approved the first three readings of an amendment to the highways and parking and traffic bylaws to allow staff to more efficiently dispose of abandoned and unlicensed vehicles left on city streets.
Under the current rules, if the city removes a car with an apparent value of $400, it can be taken straight to the wrecking yard.
The new rules would allow extend that limit to cars with an apparent value of up to $1,000, instead of having to pay to store the vehicle for 30 days.
Bylaw services manager Guy Gusdal said this will bring the bylaw in line with what experience has typically shown to be the case.
"That's where we're sort of drawing a new line in the sand, saying 'here's where we're going to make that determination' and hopefully reducing the cost to the city over the long term," he said.
It costs about $19 per day to keep a vehicle in storage while waiting for it to be claimed by an owner. If a car has value to it, it's typically picked up in short order and the owner is responsible for paying all the costs associated with the towing and storage. These are typically vehicles towed for parking infractions or that are in the way of snow-clearing operations.
If no one claims it, the city is on the hook for those costs. "Typically these are vehicles that a vehicle owner abandons on streets to avoid paying to have the vehicle removed and disposed of at their cost," said Gusdal's report to city council.
The bylaws are also being adjusted to shorten the amount of time a vehicle has to remain in storage before being sent to the junkyard.
Instead of a vehicle sitting unclaimed in storage for 30 days, it would only be two days before written notice is sent to the registered owner. And instead of waiting an extra 30 days after notice has been sent before getting rid of the car, that period will be shortened to 10 days.
Gusdal said the proposed changes, which should be approved by the next council meeting, are meant to target unlicensed, uninsured vehicles and that staff will err on the side of caution for machines that could be roadworthy and for owners that might be out of town.
"If the car has value, we're not taking it to the junker. The car that has value is staying in storage," he said. "We're not going to go around and take the Cadillac after 14 days and sell it right away - that's not going to happen."
The city began tracking cars sent for disposal since the middle of last year. In 2011, 22 vehicles were sent to the wrecking yard and 17 have been sent to date in 2012.
