PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Hundreds of cars illegally parked during Tuesday’s significant snowstorm were towed at the owner’s expense, 12 News has learned.
Josh Estrella, a spokesperson for Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, tells 12 News 301 vehicles were towed while the city’s parking ban was in effect. The parking ban was in effect from midnight to 5 p.m. Tuesday so the city could facilitate snow removal.
Estrella explained that the city does not make money off the parking ban violations, nor does it pay the more than 20 towing companies it has contracts with. He said residents whose cars were towed have to pay the towing company, not the city, to get their cars back.
This was the first time a parking ban was in effect in the capital city in nearly two years.
“This is not a tool I have deployed often,” said Smiley, who took office last January and noted that this was the first parking ban he has issued. “We know the challenge [a parking ban] presents, but this is significant enough that we will not be able to adequately plow the city without a parking ban in place.”