If you are planning a trip to the beaches at Alligator Point in the near future you had better find a legal place to park or you might have to pick up your vehicle from the impound lot

 If you are planning a trip to the beaches at Alligator Point in the near future you had better find a legal place to park or you might have to pick up your vehicle from the impound lot.

Franklin County Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to allow tow trucks to remove illegally parked vehicles at Alligator Point without getting law enforcement involved.

Towing will begin as soon as the county gets the proper “no parking” signs in place – likely by this weekend.

Franklin County sheriff AJ Smith asked the county to allow the wreckers to roam in order to free up local deputies to do other work.

Sheriff Smith said that last weekend his deputies wrote 27 parking tickets and had 13 cars towed at Alligator Point all for parking violations.

He called that a waste of sheriff's department resources.

And they expect this weekend to be even busier because of the Memorial Day holiday.

There is very limited parking at the Alligator Point beach access areas so people tend to park in the right of ways, or even on private property.

The sheriff said he has done everything he can to alert people to not park illegally, but every year the problem comes back, especially at the beginning of the tourist season.

The county is currently creating the “no parking” signs that will include contact information for local towing companies so people know who to contact when their vehicles are removed.

The county also plans to strengthen its existing parking ordinance for Alligator Point to make the fines for illegal parking even higher.

The current fine is 25 dollars for a first offense.

A second offense is a 2^nd degree misdemeanor.

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