It is great seeing Metro Council members addressing the environmental justice issues around moving the impound facility. The issue in this instance is a question of NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard. No neighborhood will want a poorly managed eyesore. Two of the factors that come to play in this question include:
….. Metro must not discount retrofitting an existing parking garage as home for the new impound facility. Metro currently claims a garage would be too cramped for the conventional tow truck. A parking garage housed impound facility would use it’s own low profile tractor/skid, not conventional tow trucks. The conventional tow trucks might deliver and drop off the towed vehicle, but facility’s low profile tractor/skid would move it within the facility.
…. The city must deal with reducing the size of an impound lot by reducing the need for impounding so many vehicles. This can be done by calming and reducing urban traffic. Jackie Green is meeting with Metro employees on 21 December exploring quick and inexpensive measures that will result in urban traffic reduction. The accompanying reduction in impound needs will make finding a new home for a smaller impound facility much easier.
Allen Ryan, supervisor of the Metro Louisville Police impound lot, walks among the 2,100 cars currently at the site. The capacity of the lot is 1,800 cars. Dec. 11, 2017. (Photo: By Pat McDonogh, The CJ)
