ST. ANN, Mo. – Dozens of residents woke up Friday not to only snow but also to their cars gone. The City of St. Ann towed vehicles parked on the street to make room for snowplows.

St. Ann’s ordinance requires citizens to move their cars from the street when it snows—or be towed.

The police department reports towing dozens of cars overnight. One woman, who does not want to be identified, owns one that had just broken down.

“The mobile mechanic can’t come because of the snow, so we’re kind of stuck on that, and then at one o’clock in the morning we were awoken rudely by the police department telling us we had ten minutes to move the vehicles, or they would be towed,” she said.

A nearby resident’s work trailer was also towed. The people who live there confirmed that it must have been towed, but said they didn’t realize it was gone until we knocked on their door.

St. Ann Police Lt. Blake Carrigan told us, “Unfortunately we did have to tow about 35 cars last night.”

The lieutenant said it’s been St. Ann’s ordinance for nearly 50 years—and that you can get a $10 permit if you’re handicapped or your car’s broken down.

“That was our last resort. We don’t want to tow anyone’s car, but we do need to make the roadway safe. We do need to make them passable for emergency services,” Carrigan added.

FOX 2 was there Thursday night when St. Ann police knocked on doors with cars parked in front on the street.

One officer said through a door, “Is there anyway somebody can move that vehicle and try to move it in the driveway?”

St. Ann resident Meghan Byers said she didn’t know about the ordinance until we told her, but she likes the idea.

“We were actually just talking about it; it made the roads more narrow so when we were trying to come through, my husband with his truck, it’s actually more dangerous for the person that parked out there because then you’re just going to pay more money—unless towing than it is, which you know, is probably going to be more, but either way it’s dangerous for everyone,” she said.

We did find cars parked on the streets Friday afternoon. Lt. Carrigan said they sometimes pop up after the towing, but they’re still in violation. They could still be towed unless the owner obtained a permit, he added.