Frequent towing and confusing parking signs leave rock club fans fuming

If you have gone to see a show at indie club Walter’s, located within blocks of Downtown Houston, you have no doubt worried about your car being where you left it once the amps quieted and the bands were loading out. That’s not just because the area isn’t illuminated very well at night though. Fans say that confusing signs have led to their cars and trucks being towed at the request of a neighboring tenant just steps away from the venue’s front door. less If you have gone to see a show at indie club Walter’s, located within blocks of Downtown Houston, you have no doubt worried about your car being where you left it once the amps quieted and the bands were ... more Photo: Walter's Downtown Photo: Walter's Downtown Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Frequent towing and confusing parking signs leave rock club fans fuming 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

If you have gone to see a show at indie club Walter’s, located within blocks of Downtown Houston, you have no doubt worried about your car being where you left it once the amps quieted and the bands were loading out.

That’s not just because the area isn’t illuminated very well at night though.

Fans say that confusing signs have led to their cars and trucks being towed at the request of a neighboring tenant just steps away from the venue’s front door.

On Tuesday night more than a handful of Houston music fans learned the hard way that when it comes to parking around that venue, located just off Naylor Street, your chances of being towed away are pretty good if you don’t pay careful attention to signs.

An estimated two dozen cars were towed from the area on Tuesday night, according to a Walter’s patron whose car was one of the ones spirited away. The cars were taken to Zone One Auto Storage off Lyons Avenue, which is a well-known spot for Houstonians who’ve been unlucky enough to be towed in the Montrose, Midtown, and Downtown Houston areas. To get your vehicle from the lot there is a $225 fee, making for an expensive lesson is sign comprehension.

Houstonians packed into the venue to see touring garage acts King Tuff and Ex Hex, plus locals Young Mammals. Little did fans know as they were sweating to the music that their vehicles were en route to a nearby impound lot.

The venue notes on its website that parallel parking is available on Naylor and Vine streets. There is also additional paid parking in a metered lot under I-10 nearby.

Irene Mata, property manager with Vine Street Studios, which is an office building and art space just off Vine, says that her company has contracted Fast Tow Wrecker to tow cars from their private parking lot. She says her building has some 130 spaces available for those with Vine Street stickers and tags, adding that everybody in that private area provides them with liability insurance as well.

Mata says that her company was routinely dealing with empty beer bottles and other refuse on the ground Thursdays through Sundays, when Walter’s was usually hosting rock shows. This didn't sit well with management.

“It wouldn’t have been a problem but every morning, before they weren’t towing, we would see bottles everywhere,” said Mata on Thursday afternoon. “The towing minimized a lot of that.”

She says that Vine Street has been towing from the area since 2008, adding that they have installed 10 signs warning of towing.

Dating back to the early 20th century, the Vine Street building once housed a wholesale grocery distribution operation. It’s now a 82,500-square-foot art space. It’s also listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.

In early 2012 Walter’s moved to its current spot around the corner from Vine Street from its longtime location on Washington Avenue.

The founding owner of the club, Pam Robinson died last fall at the age of 55 after a cancer fight. Her son Zack Palmer took over the reins in late November.

“People seem to ignore the no parking signs,” Palmer says. “It’s frustrating because I don’t want people towed, because I want people to have a good experience at our shows.”

He mentions the metered parking under I-10 which is a block or so away. He says that the venue has reached out to other parking areas nearby to sublet them for the evening but hasn’t had any luck so far.

“I can’t fix people’s bad habits,” he says. “I try my best to point people in the right direction when I can.”

Texas towing regulations state that proper signage must be posted at every single entrance to a private lot. These red and white signs should include the international towing symbol along with the type of enforcement, towing or booting.

The sign needs to say who is allowed to use the restricted lot, when towing is enforced, and clearly state that towing is indeed possible. A phone number to contact the towing service should be included.

Signs must be attached to a pole or a wall in each space or placed around the entire lot and be easily visible.

The maximum tow charge allowed by state law is $250.

As both new and seasoned Houstonians know all too well in the Bayou City, sometimes parking is an ordeal all its own.