LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cars abandoned in downtown Louisville, messages written on windshields demanding them be towed, and tires stolen: it's a growing problem, paired with a tow lot that's too full to fit them.
The city says it's working to fix the issue, but WHAS 11 learned the problems extend beyond just space.
"We need to find a better way to be able to move cars," said Metro Councilman Bill Hollander, who's also on the Public Works Committee.
"They can really be a hazard," Hollander said.
Councilman Hollander and other Louisville leaders have acknowledged the lot is overcrowded, by some estimates as many as 1,000 vehicles over capacity.
"It's completely full, so there's really no place to put the abandoned cars that are on the street," Hollander said.
The latest effort for a fix is an ordinance proposing an amnesty period, where pick-up fees would be waived. Hollander said this might move a few cars out of the lot.
Another effort is bi-monthly auctions, like this one ending Sunday night, just to free up room.
However Pleasure Ridge Park's Don Chaney isn't looking to bid. Chaney showed the police report from August, after his Buick was stolen at a nearby Aldi.
The city's written notice, saying it had been found and sent to the tow lot, wasn't mailed out until November based on the date on the letter.
"I asked them when they got the car. They said sometime middle of October. Why didn't they call me? I would have went and got it that day," Chaney said.
By the time Chaney got the letter, he said fees had accumulated.
"I figured over $1,000," Chaney said. "We're on a fixed income, can't afford it."
Councilman Hollander says the city needs a new, bigger lot.
"We've funded a potential new impound lot, but we really haven't found a location," he said.
In the meantime, abandoned cars, and in some cases the requests printed on them, remain unresolved.
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