## Meeting Overview On November 22, 2024, Hearing Examiner Sharon Rice convened a virtual appeal hearing to consider Dana McCall's challenge to the impoundment of her daughter's vehicle and the associated towing fees. The case, designated HE.24.VI.O.32, arose from an October 7, 2024 incident when six vehicles were found parked in a bicycle lane on the 600 block of Telegraph Road during active construction. What began as a routine parking enforcement call would reveal deeper questions about public notification, signage adequacy, and the fairness of enforcement during infrastructure transitions. The hearing brought together city parking technician Stephanie Mays, towing operator Chris Haston from Haston Hauling, and the McCall family — registered owner Dana McCall and vehicle operator Jennifer McCall. At stake was not just the $431.50 in towing and storage fees, but broader questions about how cities communicate changes to parking regulations, especially during construction periods when familiar landmarks disappear. The case embodied the tension between public safety imperatives and the practical realities facing residents navigating unclear street conditions. For the McCall family — college students living "paycheck to paycheck" — the surprise towing represented not just an unexpected financial burden, but missed classes and lost work hours in their struggle to locate their vehicles on that October morning. ## The Telegraph Road Bicycle Lane Incident The morning of October 7, 2024 began with a complaint to Bellingham Police dispatch reporting eight vehicles parked in the bicycle lane along Telegraph Road. When parking technician Stephanie Mays arrived at the scene around 8:58 AM, she found six vehicles actually present, all positioned in what city officials considered a clearly marked bicycle lane that had recently been repaved and restriped following construction. "Upon arriving there we only found 6 vehicles parked in the bike lane. All were issued tickets and tow trucks were called to remove them," Mays testified. Police dispatch had attempted to contact vehicle owners before enforcement arrived, hoping they would voluntarily move their cars. Two owners successfully responded, moving their vehicles before towing began. Four vehicles, including Jennifer McCall's car registered to her mother Dana, were impounded. The enforcement action occurred in what Mays described as an active construction zone where Telegraph Road had been "ground down to nothing" and completely repaved from Deemer to James Street. The road had been restriped just two or three days earlier, creating fresh bicycle lane markings that included both the standard striping and a buffer zone designed for safety on the curved section of roadway. Mays explained the safety rationale for the enforcement: "The reason why it's important not to park in the bike lane is because anybody utilizing that at this sorry anybody utilizing it will have to go around the vehicle which pushes them into the active lane of travel." The buffer zone, she noted, provided crucial separation between cyclists and vehicles traveling at 40 miles per hour. Photographs submitted by parking enforcement showed Jennifer McCall's vehicle positioned with its passenger side tires nearly touching the curb and the driver's side extending into the striped buffer area. "The whole thing's considered the bike lane from that little chevron or striped piece all the way to the curb," Mays clarified, establishing that the entire striped area constituted the protected bicycle infrastructure. The timing of the enforcement — occurring just days after fresh striping was completed — would become central to the McCall family's appeal, as they argued that adequate signage and notice had not accompanied the restoration of the bicycle lane. ## The Towing Process and Fees Chris Haston, owner of Haston Hauling, provided detailed testimony about the impound process and the fees charged to retrieve Jennifer McCall's vehicle. His company operates under Washington State Patrol contracts with official registered fees posted with the state, ensuring standardized charges across jurisdictions. "We were contacted by Bellingham Public Works at October 7th, 2024, at 8:58 A.M. to have a tow truck respond," Haston testified. The response was swift: "They went in route at 9:05 A.M., arrived on scene at 9:17 A.M., and then the vehicle was in tow at 9:26 A.M. and completed at 9:44 A.M. It's all within an hour." The total charges reflected state-regulated fees under RCW 46.55 and WAC 204.91A. The minimum one-hour charge was $342, with an additional half-day storage fee of $44.50 (half of the $89 daily rate since the vehicle was retrieved the same day), plus 9% tax, bringing the total to $431.50. "All this is regulated by the State under our Washington State Patrol contract," Haston emphasized, noting that these were not discretionary local fees but standardized charges established by state regulation. His drivers documented the vehicle's condition with photographs before and after the tow to protect both the customer and company from damage claims. The vehicle was released on October 7, 2024, at 1:38 PM to Jennifer McCall after she provided proper identification and notarized authorization from her mother, the registered owner. The quick turnaround meant the family faced only minimal storage fees, though the financial impact remained significant for college students operating on limited budgets. Haston's testimony established that the fees were properly calculated according to state regulations, leaving the appeal focused primarily on whether the initial impound was justified given the circumstances surrounding signage and notification. ## The McCall Family's Struggle for Clarity Jennifer McCall's testimony revealed the human impact of what she saw as inadequate communication about the restored bicycle lane. Having moved to the Deemer townhomes in late June 2024, she encountered a Telegraph Road already in construction, with previous markings ground away and no clear indicators of the street's intended final configuration. "Everything had been ground down and not paved yet, so there were no indicators that this space was a bike lane, except for far down the street there was very, very faded paint without an arrow pointing to show that the bike lane would continue into that area," Jennifer testified. The construction process had eliminated all previous bicycle lane signage and markings, leaving residents to interpret the intended use of the space. Adding to the confusion, both the construction crews and Landmark Property Management, which manages the Deemer townhomes, believed the area was available for parking. "Landmark actually had sent us a text saying that they thought it was legal parking as well, because people have been parking there for 4 months previously before this situation happened," Jennifer explained. The family had established a pattern of parking in the area over several months without any enforcement action. "We have been parking there for so long without anything happening, no towing, no ticketing, not even not even a complaint or any word of some kind, that it was a bike lane," Jennifer noted. This established practice, combined with explicit guidance from their property management company, reinforced their belief that parking was permitted. The morning of October 7 brought particular stress as neither Dana nor her husband received any phone call from dispatch, despite Stephanie Mays' testimony that police had attempted contact. "We woke up thinking that our cars had been stolen for a solid 30 minutes," Jennifer recalled. "We actually had to call about 5 different places and couldn't get a hold of public works just trying to find out where our cars even were." The financial and academic impact proved severe for the college students. Jennifer missed her first laboratory session at Western Washington University — "my first ever lab at Western Washington University that I wasn't allowed to miss" — resulting in lost points. Her boyfriend missed a full work shift, creating additional financial hardship for young adults already "living paycheck to paycheck." Construction signage had only specified no parking during specific dates and times for paving and striping work, which Jennifer interpreted as permission to park at other times. "The construction had only said no parking from this date this time to this date, this time indicating that we could park there. We thought we could park there any other times." ## Post-Incident Improvements and Ongoing Concerns Jennifer McCall's testimony highlighted improvements made after the October 7 enforcement action, suggesting the city recognized the inadequacy of previous signage. "I do have photo evidence actually, of the many cars being parked there over the last couple of weeks, and the lack of indicators that anything was on the street, that it was still a bike lane," she testified. Within days of the incident, new signage appeared: "Now I see that we do have a bike lane sign just put outside of our building, as far as I believe, a couple of days ago." The city had also improved street markings: "I know now they have painted a little arrow, stating that the bike lane goes forward from where I listed that it was down the street previously." Jennifer acknowledged the improvements while maintaining her position about the original inadequacy: "I do appreciate that, because that's very clear for people now. But" — the implication being that such clarity was missing during the months leading up to the enforcement action. Her observations of ongoing parking patterns raised questions about consistent enforcement. She noted that "every single Sunday for the last month people have been parking in these bike lanes without any towing or any ticketing," particularly cars that appeared to be overflow parking for the neighboring Gurdwara (Sikh temple). While she clarified she wasn't alleging discriminatory treatment, the observation highlighted the apparent inconsistency in enforcement timing. Dana McCall, bringing her municipal work experience to bear, supported her daughter's position while acknowledging the complexity: "I just personally feel like, if they're continuing to have issues with people parking here then maybe another bike icon painted on the ground a sign, 'Don't park here' because it I can attest to the fact that she was really scared. She didn't know where my car went." ## Parking Enforcement's Systematic Response Stephanie Mays provided detailed context for the city's enforcement approach, explaining that parking enforcement operates as a complaint-driven department outside Bellingham's downtown and Fairhaven commercial cores. "For us to be up on telegraph, we would have had to have received a complaint," she testified, establishing that this was not routine patrol activity but a response to specific citizen concerns. The department's limited schedule — Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM — explained why weekend parking violations like those Jennifer observed at the neighboring temple would go unaddressed. "We do not work on the weekends, especially Sunday anything outside of those hours. Police are supposed to handle" such enforcement. Mays addressed the signage concerns by emphasizing that proper striping should serve as sufficient legal notice: "Once the markings went in, it's very clear that that's not on street parking. Your vehicle doesn't fit in between the we call it a fog line, and that striped section it's overlapping both of those." From the city's technical perspective, the bicycle lane width of approximately three feet from the curb, combined with the striping pattern, provided adequate indication of the space's intended use. The enforcement officer acknowledged the construction complications while maintaining that safety requirements supersede convenience: "I understand there wasn't markings on the road. I get that. But once the markings went in, it's very clear that that's not on street parking." She emphasized that the Telegraph Road bicycle lane was not new infrastructure but restored bicycle infrastructure that had temporarily been removed during construction. Addressing the apparent lack of prior enforcement during the months of construction, Mays explained the complaint-driven nature of the work: "We've ticketed and removed cars several times off of this section of road for being parked in the bike lane, both before and after the construction. So it's it's not something that this is this bike lane is not brand new." Regarding the attempted phone contact, Mays clarified the limitations of her department's access to vehicle owner information: "I don't know what police have on file and what they don't have on file. They just told me they reached out. We don't have the ability to see that information on our end." ## Questions of Fair Notice and Reasonable Expectations The appeal highlighted fundamental questions about municipal responsibility to provide clear notice when infrastructure changes affect established parking patterns. Hearing Examiner Rice probed these issues during her questioning, asking Mays to consider the residents' perspective: "Miss Mays, you can see putting yourself in the shoes of these drivers without a sign there, and with the management company providing them the information that they can legally park there. How this comes as an awfully big surprise is, what's the parking enforcement's response to that cluster of circumstances." Mays maintained the city's position while acknowledging the challenging circumstances: "Regardless of where the bike lane is located or what vehicles in it. It's going to end up getting removed at that point." She emphasized that safety considerations must take precedence over convenience or confusion about parking availability. The case revealed systemic communication gaps during infrastructure transitions. The property management company's advice to residents about parking availability, the construction company's temporary no-parking signs that implied permission at other times, and the months-long absence of any enforcement action all contributed to reasonable expectations that parking was permitted. Jennifer McCall's documentation of ongoing parking by other residents after the incident, combined with the city's subsequent installation of additional signage and painted arrows, suggested recognition that the original markings were insufficient to communicate the parking prohibition clearly. The timing element proved crucial — enforcement occurred just days after fresh striping, during a period when residents had developed parking patterns based on months of practice in an unmarked construction zone. This temporal compression between infrastructure completion and enforcement action raised questions about reasonable grace periods for community adjustment to restored traffic patterns. ## The Decision Framework and Broader Implications Hearing Examiner Rice structured the proceeding to address both elements of the appeal: the validity of the impound itself and the reasonableness of the towing and storage fees. Her questioning revealed attention to the competing values at stake — public safety through clear bicycle lanes versus fair notice and reasonable expectations for property owners. The hearing demonstrated the complexity of urban infrastructure management during construction periods. Cities must balance completion of safety improvements with clear communication to affected residents. The case highlighted how temporary conditions can create lasting expectations that prove difficult to modify through enforcement alone. For the McCall family, the appeal represented more than financial recovery — it embodied a broader claim about municipal fairness and the importance of adequate notice before enforcement actions that carry significant consequences. Their experience of searching for "stolen" vehicles, missing academic and work obligations, and paying substantial fees illustrated the human cost of communication failures in city operations. The towing operator's adherence to state-regulated fees left little room for discretionary adjustment, placing the burden of resolving fairness concerns on the underlying validity of the impound decision. This structure meant that any relief would require finding the initial enforcement action unjustified, rather than reducing properly calculated fees for an otherwise valid impound. ## Closing and What's Ahead The hearing concluded with Hearing Examiner Rice taking all testimony and five exhibits under advisement, with a decision deadline of December 10, 2024. The exhibits included the original appeal request, parking enforcement documentation with photographs, hearing scheduling confirmation, and towing operator records, along with Jennifer McCall's promised photographs showing ongoing parking patterns and signage inadequacies. The case positioned Hearing Examiner Rice to address fundamental questions about municipal notice obligations during infrastructure transitions. Her decision would potentially establish precedent for similar situations where construction periods disrupt established parking patterns and create confusion about restored traffic regulations. For Bellingham, the case highlighted the importance of comprehensive communication strategies that go beyond technical compliance with striping standards to include proactive community notification about significant changes to neighborhood infrastructure. The post-incident installation of additional signage suggested recognition of these communication needs. The broader implications extend beyond this specific incident to questions of environmental justice and equitable enforcement. Young adults living paycheck to paycheck face different consequences from unexpected towing fees than more affluent residents, raising questions about how cities can maintain necessary enforcement while minimizing disparate impacts on vulnerable populations. As the hearing concluded, all parties had presented their perspectives on a case that encapsulated the ongoing tension between municipal efficiency and community fairness — a tension that plays out daily in cities navigating the complex balance between public safety, clear communication, and reasonable expectations for residents adapting to changing urban infrastructure.