- The Gainesville City Commission passed a final vote to end roam towing and immobilizations starting Jan. 1, 2027, with a new fixed-fee schedule.
- Property owners must request towing or immobilization instead of companies towing vehicles without permission as done previously.
- The commission chose a blanket ban on roam towing following data showing 667 immobilizations and 126 unauthorized tows in March 2025.
Gainesville’s towing landscape will shift in 2027 with the elimination of roam towing and immobilizations, plus a fixed-fee schedule, after the Gainesville City Commission passed a final vote on the changes on Thursday.
Starting on Jan. 1, a business, apartment complex or residential property owner will need to call or email a towing company to remove or immobilize illegally parked vehicles. Currently, towing companies can drive around to businesses where they are under contract and tow vehicles they find parked without permission.
The City Commission said the elimination of roam towing comes after years of complaints alleging malpractice and changes that left Gainesville without a maximum fee that could be charged for immobilizations.
Mayor Harvey Ward called the process a long and heavy lift.
“We’re not done. Certainly, there will be things to work out through this, but I’m hopeful that we can start to repair our city’s reputation as it pertains to roam towing,” Ward said.
The City Commission began discussing the change in early 2025 but waited until the fall semester started to get more input. In April, the commission directed staff to begin drafting an ordinance to make the change.
The City Commission will receive towing updates during the Gainesville Police Department’s quarterly presentations and will review the ordinance in January 2028.
The commission debated whether to simply curb roam towing and immobilizations by setting hours or areas for the practice. But decided on the stricter path of a blanket ban.
From March 1 through March 19, two local companies immobilized 667 vehicles. From March 1 through March 27, companies towed 126 vehicles through trespass towing—without the consent of the vehicle owner.
That data drove the commission to include immobilizations and set limits on how much could be charged to a driver whose vehicle is placed in a boot or other device.
In Gainesville, four towing companies are licensed to roam tow and have around 550-600 contracts that they manage.
Kevin Whitesides is with Superior Towing. During public comment, he said he wasn’t trying to change the commission’s mind on roam towing but had issues with some of the minor points.
He said the new ordinance prohibits the towing of a vehicle if there’s a live animal inside. He said it seems odd to reward a driver for leaving an animal in a car and creates a loophole with no details on what type of animal.
Whitesides also said the ordinance’s provision barring companies from placing callers on hold, even briefly, seems unreasonable. He added that the one-hour response time for booted vehicles may be possible in some cases but is not always feasible, especially on UF football game days.
Commissioner Casey Willits said there might be small issues to fix in the future, but he didn’t think the commission could further delay passing the ordinance and setting a maximum charge for immobilizations and towing.