Department of Public Works
Division of Parking Services
Transition from Brentwood Impoundment Lost
April 2001

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FACT SHEET
Transition from Brentwood Impoundment Lot

• Beginning Monday, April 9, 2001, booted vehicles that remain unclaimed on the street will be towed to the Blue Plains Storage and Auction Facility rather than to the city’s customary Impoundment Lot.
• The Department of Public Works (DPW) must relocate the impoundment lot and a salt storage dome from its current Brentwood Road, NE location by April 23, 2001, to make room for a new economic development project. The Solid Waste Management facility on an adjoining lot must be moved by May 15.
• There are no impounded (booted) cars left on the Brentwood lot.
• A new site for a vehicle impoundment facility has not yet been named. The DC Office of Property Management, which handles the city’s site selection needs and negotiations, is considering appropriate locations for the impoundment lot. A site will be announced after landowner negotiations and community discussions are complete.
• The Blue Plains Storage and Auction Facility, at 5001 Shepard Parkway, SW, will serve as an interim holding area until the District chooses a new site for booted and towed vehicles.
• The Blue Plains facility does not meet the city’s requirements for a permanent impoundment lot and is not being considered for that use. The city will not be expanding Blue Plains.
• Ticketing and towing of illegally parked vehicles, abandoned and junk vehicles will continue throughout the transition period.
• To maintain efficient traffic-flow, illegally parked vehicles (blocking entryways, parked in "No Parking – Rush Hour" zones, etc.) may be relocated to a legal parking space in the vicinity. Motorists must call (202) 727-5000 for the location of their vehicles.
• DPW estimates that the number of cars being towed to Blue Plains during the transition will number fewer than an additional 10 per day, primarily because most booted vehicles are released within 24 hours, often before towing occurs. Operationally, this decision represents only a slight variation from current standard procedure.

Summary of Key Municipal Regulations Re Booting and Towing

• A vehicle is legally boot-eligible – and subject to towing within 72 hours - if it has 2 or more unpaid parking tickets on record. The common practice among the booting crews is to boot only those vehicles that have 3 or more, 30-day-old, unpaid tickets
• The District has 3 booting crews that patrol high-density parking areas daily. Using mobile digital terminals, these crews can "run the plates" of any parked vehicle for outstanding tickets even if the vehicle is parked legally at the time. A fourth truck is engaged, primarily, in removing boots after fines have been satisfied.
• If the owner of a ticketed, but non-booted, vehicle returns while the vehicle is being hooked up to a towing crane, the car will be released and no towing fee will be charged. The citation itself must be paid through normal adjudication channels.
• A booted vehicle cannot be released to the owner until all outstanding parking tickets, boot fees and any other fines have been paid. Fines are paid at the Division of Motor Vehicles Adjudication office at 65 K St., NE. Boots are normally removed less than two hours after fines have been paid.