The city of Birmingham wants drivers, currently subject to what some call predatory towing downtown, to have more warning before their vehicles are taken away without notice.

At a hearing Wednesday night Birmingham’s Office of the City Attorney shared details from the first draft of an updated towing ordinance in collaboration with the Birmingham Department of Transportation (BDOT) to a crowd of interested citizens, many of whom had personal experience with towing horror stories.

The draft calls for 15-minute grace periods before a car can be towed after parking, additional warnings on parking apps to check that entered information is correct, and the release of towed vehicles to owners who have proof they paid for parking, said Julie Bernard of the city attorney’s office.

The public hearing follows roughly a decade of public complaints about towing incidents, many involving the towing company Parking Enforcement Systems (PES). Drivers who have dealt with the company accuse the company of preying on drivers in the downtown lots they contract with. Despite the number of complaints against PES, city officials said that the public hearing would not be about addressing issues with any individual businesses but would instead be focusing on the ordinance.

“This is an attempt to balance,” Bernard said. “Because a private property owner, if something trespasses onto their property, they have the authority, the right under common law, to remove something that trespasses on their property.