COLORADO SPRINGS— People who live in Colorado Springs say they want to get rid of abandoned cars parked across the city.
The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has received 14,500 complaints about abandoned and unregistered cars since 2022. During a recent push, CSPD wrote 175 citations in one week.
"It's an eyesore," said Glen Vroman, who is concerned about abandoned vehicles.
He says it's worse when you see the car every day when coming to work.
"I want to get rid of it. Got to do something about it," said Vroman.
He says he reported it to the city's code enforcement when a different car was parked in the exact location two years ago.
"You get frustrated with it," said Vroman.
News5 received several emails and online comments from viewers, saying abandoned cars are an eyesore.
One viewer sent News5 an email saying she's frustrated over abandoned cars parked north of Palmer Park. Hikers at the park say it's not the most ideal view.
"Cars that are broken down... bad conditions... it seems like they were abandoned for a while," said Mike Powell.
That's why the City of Colorado Springs is proposing an amendment to the current law to speed up and simplify the impounding process. The city says the current city code only allows a ticket for an unregistered vehicle.
New changes would lay out the violations in the illegal parking section of the code. They would also give parking enforcement more authority to impound vehicles parked without up-to-date licensed plates.
It says parking a vehicle in the same place for 72 hours or 24 hours in a business area is illegal. Under the new code, cars would need to be moved at least 100 feet so that they wouldn't be considered parked in the same location.
People News5 spoke with say they welcome these changes.
"When it's abandoned like that... (they) come once a week throwing more garbage in it. Get rid of it," said Vroman.
The city council will vote on the changes to the law on March 25.
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