Lakeville, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Under Lakeville City Code § 6-1-4, the Lakeville chief of police is authorized and empowered to have removed any vehicle parked on a street or alley in violation of the city's parking-space marking rule (§ 6-1-1-2), the general parking restrictions and winter ban (§ 6-1-1-3), the fire-apparatus clearance rule (§ 6-1-2), or the keys-in-ignition rule (§ 6-1-3), or any vehicle stalled on the roadway. The towing itself is not performed by the city directly; the ordinance directs that the vehicle be placed in a garage or outdoor storage area operated by any person engaged in the general garage or filling station business, meaning the city relies on a private towing business to carry out the tow.

That business, or the city clerk on the city's behalf, may charge the vehicle owner for the reasonable costs of towing and storage, and the vehicle cannot be recovered until those costs are paid in full. The chief of police can also direct city employees to remove a vehicle and may impose a separate charge payable to the city clerk before release. If the charges go unpaid and the vehicle is never reclaimed, the ordinance deems a possessory lien to attach in the amount owed, and that lien may be foreclosed in the manner state law provides, meaning the towing business or city can ultimately sell the vehicle to satisfy the debt.

The ordinance traces its authority to Minnesota Statutes section 169.33, cited in the code's own footnote to this section, the state law letting cities remove vehicles that obstruct traffic.