Milpitas, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

When a Milpitas police officer orders a vehicle removed for a parking violation, Milpitas Municipal Code § V-100-12.09 controls who actually tows it. Subsection 12.09-1 grounds the removal power in the California Vehicle Code, citing CVC Section 22651, and allows removal from any street, portion of a street, or from parking lots or designated areas at or adjacent to a City Park, provided warning signs are posted. Subsection 12.09-3 requires that the actual tow be performed by a tow-truck operator the officer selects from a list the Chief Police Officer maintains, not by any operator a driver or officer might otherwise call, and 12.09-4 likewise requires storage at a garage or place of storage chosen from the Chief's own designated list, picking whichever listed location sits nearest to where the vehicle was found.

Subsection 12.09-5 spells out what the Chief Police Officer weighs before adding an operator to that list: the operator's location, financial responsibility, any police or accident record of the operator or its employees, bailee and public liability insurance coverage, the reasonableness of its charges, its towing equipment, its storage structure, and the absence of dangerous towing or storage practices. Subsection 12.09-6 makes clear that designation is entirely discretionary and can be pulled at any time without notice, and that no towing company or storage yard ever acquires a vested interest or a right to future work merely by being listed.

The Chief may also, under 12.09-7, adopt regulations requiring an operator seeking designation to keep showing proof of financial and insurance responsibility, and 12.09-8 shields the City itself from liability for any act or omission under this designation program.