Amid tow lot issues, residents in Louisville neighborhood find humor in long-abandoned car

By Gladys Bautista

Click here for updates on this story

    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — It’s not uncommon to see abandoned cars throughout the metro.

Issues with LMPD’s current impound lot revolve around its size and the lack of capacity to take all of the city’s towed cars.

Now, in the Schnitzelburg neighborhood, residents are making light of what they call an eye-sore for their neighborhood — an abandoned car that neighbors say has been at the intersection of Barret Avenue and Eastern Parkway for months.

“It’s an eyesore plus it’s a traffic hazard,” resident Byron Felker said. “It bottlenecks this intersection. People coming through.”

Over the weekend, Felker said he noticed something new on the car, which already has graffiti and an expired parking citation on it — a sticker that says “Street Art, complements from the Office of the Mayor.”

“Whoever stuck that banner on there is genius, it’s a good irony,” Felker said. “I think it was this past Sunday. It hasn’t been on there long. And it’s custom-made, so somebody had to spend some money to go do that, so they’re upset about it.”

District Councilwoman Cassie Chambers Armstrong said she has been getting calls from frustrated residents about that specific car for months.

“My office has heard about this car multiple times,” Armstrong said. “We have reported this car multiple times.”

Armstrong said she had a meeting with the LMPD 5th Division major about the vehicle on Tuesday to get something done to no avail.

“They tell us that the reason this is becoming an issue is because the impound lot is completely full,” Armstrong said.

City leaders have been working to find a new, bigger location for the LMPD impound lot for months. About $2 million has been appropriated for the purchase of land, but the mayor’s office, who Armstrong said is supposed to head the move, hasn’t used the money.

Those who work at the lot told WLKY Wednesday the lot is supposed to hold 1,700 cars but is currently holding over 2,900 while those that don’t make it are left abandoned on Metro streets.

“A lot of these vehicles that people see on the street – that can cause real safety issues, real blindside visibility issues — are at the bottom of the ladder in terms of priority for getting moved,” Armstrong said. “And when they’re already out of space, there is nowhere for them to go. That means they end up sitting in these neighborhoods and causing problems for neighbors for longer than anyone wishes that they did. If it is not on a highway needing to be processed for evidence or actively blocking traffic, right now we’re just told that there is nothing that LMPD can do. There’s nowhere to take it. They’re out of room.”

Metro Council President David James said no council member is immune to the calls about abandoned cars throughout the city.

“I receive calls about abandoned cars every day,” James said. “Council members are extremely frustrated throughout the entire city about this because their constituents are calling about these junked and abandoned vehicles.”

In a comment to WLKY, the mayor’s office said in a statement: “The administration continues to work with Metro Facilities and LMPD on finding a solution to getting abandoned vehicles off of the street.”

James also explained the city is looking to sign a contract to allow some of the vehicles to be auctioned off to hopefully make more space.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.