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

80 of the Redlands City Code, titled Police Rotational Tow Regulations, sits within Title 5, Business Taxes, Licenses and Regulations, and governs how tow truck operators may work vehicle collisions and impounds that the Redlands Police Department directs. 010 states that any person or entity that wants to participate in the city's rotational tow program must enter into a tow service agreement with the city, and it caps participation at one agreement per operator: no person, firm, entity, partnership, business or corporation may hold more than one tow service agreement in connection with the rotational program.

020 gives the city broad regulatory authority over participants: it may make reasonable orders respecting the character, extent, quality and standards of service for tow truck operators and storage garage operating procedures, fix rates of operation, and establish emergency standby lists of tow companies for the police department to draw on. 030 protects a driver's own choice of towing company: a vehicle owner involved in a traffic collision keeps the right to call the tow service of their choice, and a rotational-program tow operator on scene may not infringe that right, provided removal of the vehicle can still be made without undue delay.

040 places custody responsibility on the participating operator: upon signing California Highway Patrol Form 180, the report of impounded vehicle, the operator assumes full responsibility for the vehicle and its contents for each impounded car. The chapter dates to Ordinance 2353, section 1, adopted in 1997, and has not been substantively amended since.