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Crescent City’s police chief and attorney are researching ways to keep out-of-the-area tow companies from dumping inoperable recreational vehicles and trailers on city streets.

Just before councilors approved a resolution on Monday prohibiting parking along a portion of B Street that stretches into the bay, Police Chief Richard Griffin said his officers are dealing with one vehicle currently, working to get it moved as soon as possible.

“I’m not very happy with the tow company out of Oregon that got paid to dump it there,” he told councilors. “We tried to stop it. Legally we weren’t able to do anything about it.”

Griffin said this has occurred twice that he knows of. One involved an unhitched trailer that was towed to Beachfront Park and dumped. Under the Crescent City Municipal Code, the trailer shouldn’t have been parked on the street, Griffin said.

On Thursday, Griffin told the Wild Rivers Outpost that the RV has since been moved from where it was on B Street near Battery Street. Someone paid a tow company to tow the vehicle from Curry County and told them to drop it off in Crescent City.

A public works employee confronted the tow truck operator as he was dropping the vehicle off, Griffin said, and were told "I don't care, I'm getting paid to tow it."

"Someone was living in it and then that starts our timeframe for when we can legally tow it," Griffin said. "And then I get complaints."

Under the city municipal code, once an oversized vehicle is parked on city streets, the party has eight hours to move it. People are also prohibited from parking a vehicle on the street or in an alley for more than 72 hours, according to the municipal code.

“We’re trying to give the person time to move it, which has already passed,” Griffin said. “Now we’re just working with what’s available to get that towed. It will be towed if they don’t move it.”

The unhitched trailer came from Humboldt County and was towed to Beachfront Park about a year ago with people living in it.

"That was when a guy ran around Beachfront Park with a machete and fought us. I got a cut on my leg," Griffin said, adding that the subject also tried to fight one of their K9 dogs.

Griffin said he’s working with City Attorney Martha Rice and has spoken with the California Highway Patrol and other police chiefs to see if there’s an ordinance Crescent City could use as a model.

As for parking on the stretch of B Street just before the cul-de-sac that serves as a parking area for the pier, Griffin said RVs parking on the side of the road have become a problem as have regular vehicles.

The police chief pointed out that there’s barely enough room for his patrol truck to fit on the road if people are parking on both sides of it. They destroy the foliage on the sides of the road and pose a hazard for pedestrians and bicyclists. Vehicles parked on B Street also block access for emergency vehicles that respond during jetty rescues, Griffin said.

“There would still be parking at the end where the pier is at — the turnaround — and up by the wastewater treatment plant,” Griffin said. “The problem is right now we have RVs and we have regular vehicles that park sometimes off the road, sometimes on the road, sometimes half on the road, sometimes three-quarters on the road and sometimes on both sides of the road.”

County resident Dan Schmidt said he was concerned about the elimination of viable parking spaces at a popular attraction. The cul-de-sac area doesn’t provide enough parking, he said.

Prohibiting parking on Howe Drive and B Street would “get rid of the RV problem,” Schmidt said, but the city would have to come up with alternative parking spaces.

“The alternative may be to inform parking motorists that they have to park completely off the pavement, they’re only allowed [to park] during certain hours and for only a certain period of time, whether it’s one hour, two hours or whatever,” Schmidt said. “I’m just concerned that the loss of parking and where that will shift those cars.”

Four city councilors approved the proposed parking prohibition on B Street. Councilor Kelly Schellong was absent.

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