Disappointed Roxborough resident

This Sunday morning my car was towed from the Citizens Bank parking lot on the corner of Ridge and Lyceum Avenue.  The bank was closed; however, my husband and I have a number of accounts in Citizens Bank so we are a customer.  I needed money so I parked in the lot, went to the ATM to make a withdrawal (I still have the receipt), stopped at another store, and within about 20 minutes my car was gone.  I thought it was stolen, called 911, then realized the possibility it was towed, quickly called the towing service who confirmed they had my car, then I had to call off the local police.  While waiting in the parking lot for a ride to Steve’s Towing on Umbria Street, I met others with similar experiences, including a business owner in that retail development whose car had also been towed from the same lot in the past.  Oh, and by the way, I had to use the same Citizens Bank ATM to make a $200 withdrawal so I could pay Steve’s Towing fee to get my car back; I have the withdrawal receipt for that, too. 

I don’t know the legal definition of unauthorized parking.  What I do know is now I’m forced to figure out how to respond.  Should I close my accounts at Citizen Bank now?  Should I tell my 24 year old daughter and her friends to stop buying their coffee from that Starbucks?  Should I stop buying my paint from that Sherwin Williams store?  Should I stop using the UPS store that I thought was so conveniently located?  Should I tell my 24 year old son and his friends to not buy any food from Primos now?  Apparently there are many others who were treated similarly to me.  Were they visiting the neighborhood, maybe newly married couples or with young children who were considering moving to the neighborhood?  I hope not.  Everything is connected.  I doubt the Roxborough community really wants to send this kind of message.  I understand everyone needs to make a living, including the business owners in that retail development, the realtor, and those who work for Steve’s Towing.  But come on.  This seems like a predatory business practice to me, and I’m greatly disappointed and saddened to discover this is now happening in Roxborough.

I’m writing to appeal to the manager of that Citizens Bank office, to the business owners in that retail development, to the Roxborough Civic Association, and to any others who have any connection with the property realtor to respectfully tell them they must establish a more reasonable, responsible business agreement with Steve’s Towing.  Otherwise, I suspect the businesses along that strip will dry up eventually which would be very unfortunate for those business owners, their families, and employees.  And then we’ll have empty storefronts, and those of us who live in Roxborough wouldn’t want that to happen, especially long-timers like me who would like to stay in Roxborough rather than follow the many other former residents who moved to Montgomery County neighborhoods like Lafayette Hills.