The Roanoke City Council, by a unanimous vote Monday, approved the proposed ordinance banning squatted vehicles on city streets.
The ban takes effect this month, Roanoke police chief Tino Brooks confirmed that his patrol officers will begin issuing citations for violators.
The ordinance states that the height of the rear fender of a vehicle cannot be any more than four inches lower than the height of the front fender. There is an escalating scale for fines for violators, so repeat offenders will pay more, up to a maximum fine of $200.
The ordinance was introduced at the previous council meeting April 15 and was widely supported in the community due to the perceived increase in safety that will result without those types of vehicles on the road.
Nay-sayers decried the ordinance as a waste of law enforcement’s time or an overreach against something that’s not seen as a pressing problem.
That debate was not present among the councilmembers, who passed the ordinance without further discussion beyond what had been said in previous meetings.
