Gainesville city commissioners took the first steps Thursday to address growing complaints from residents about roam towing.

It has been a controversial subject for years in Gainesville and the commission has explored what it can legally do to address the issue. Although the city's ordinance has been updated in recent years, commissioners say roam towing companies occasionally find loopholes in the rule, causing new concerns.

The city’s general policy committee, made up of city commissioners, voiced their frustration with roam towing Thursday, some saying they would like to ban roam towing altogether or ban the use of “spotters” — hired hands who monitor parking lots watching for parking violators.

“I have a problem with roam towing,” Commissioner Harvey Budd said. “I don’t have a problem with call-in towing ... Roam towing in this community has become toxic, a very bad word. It’s offensive to the people who come into this town. It has become negative to this community.”

Budd said commissioners have a moral obligation to address the issue, which he said gives Gainesville “a black eye.”

Gainesville Police Department’s towing administrator, Mike Barnes, gave the board statistics on local towing activity.

He said the city receives complaints for just 1 percent of the hundreds of tows each month by the roam tow companies — Superior Towing and Ultimate Towing.

From March 2016 through February 2017, Barnes said the city received 78 complaints. Of those complaints, four tows were deemed illegal. Barnes said three different drivers and one company were given warnings for those infractions and vehicle owners received refunds.

Barnes also noted that no vehicles have been towed from the Sun Center — one of the most-towed lots in the city — since March.

Before that, he said, an average of eight cars were towed from the Sun Center each day, with 16 the most towed in a single day.

The cost to retrieve a towed vehicle is also an issue.

Tow company fees are $100 for the first 24 hours, according to city ordinance, but fees are unregulated after that.

After a day, Barnes said Ultimate Towing tacks on nearly $160 in fees, plus another $50 per day for a “storage fee.” Barnes recommended commissioners look to place a cap on the amount of fees the companies can tack on.

Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos said he would support outlawing “spotters.”

Hayes-Santos said he would also like to ban towing from establishments that serve alcohol from 9 p.m. until noon the next day. The change could prevent people from driving drunk, he said, and would allow people to return the next day for their vehicle.

“Right now, all you’re worried about is your car being towed, I’d rather them go take an Uber, leave their car there and come back the next morning when they’re not drunk,” he said.

Mayor Lauren Poe said it's a difficult issue to resolve, which is why the topic resurfaces every few years.

Also Thursday, the committee briefly discussed the possibility of amending the city's open-container ordinance.

Hayes-Santos said he would like to allow alcoholic beverages in open containers in the downtown area and also lift the open-container ban on Gator football game days in some locations.

Police Chief Tony Jones said he will come back to the group with a draft of a new policy after gathering input on the pros and cons from business owners, University of Florida and Santa Fe College officials.

Contact reporter Andrew Caplan at andrew.caplan@gvillesun.com or on Twitter @AACaplan.