ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – "The honeymoon phase... Is over." That's what the city is saying about e-scooters as they're now cracking down on the companies they say are responsible for those scooters being parked on sidewalks.  "They're beneficial to the area," said Levi, manager of Sachs Bod y Modification. Some Nob Hill businesses say these electric scooters have brought more customers to the area, so they don't mind seeing scooters on the sidewalk. "Yeah, I'll come to work, and there'll be three in front of the store. They're always in different places; they're never in the same place at the same time," said Kenny Chavez, store manager at Masks y Mas. CABQ unveils temporary downtown dog park on vacant lot slated for housing “We constantly see people like, initiating the rides and everything like that and riding up and down Central on them," said Levi.  But the city says some of those scooters aren't being parked where they should be, and that's now causing a crackdown. "We found numerous e-scooters which were parked in some unique way which included areas with like, pedestrian traffic where heavy traffic occurred; curb ramps, ADA parking spaces. There were some very unique practices that some of these scooters were parked in,” said Jeremy Keiser, Albuquerque code enforcement deputy director.   In response, the city's now impounding improperly parked scooters. In less than two weeks, code enforcement has picked up 52 scooters around Nob Hill, the University area, and downtown.  That comes with a price, as the city charges each of the three companies $100 for every scooter they pick up and an additional $200 a day for as long as they have them. "We are hoping that the fines that are being issued onto here will help incentivize these vendors to take a more proactive approach in taking care of illegally parked scooters," said Keiser. Nob Hill restaurant receives grant to upgrade its iconic Route 66 patio  As of now, Spin, Lime, and Beam haven't picked up any of their impounded scooters. The city's plan for the time being is to hold the scooters for 30 days before figuring out what's next.  "That is unknown right now since this is uncharted territory, and so this is a brand new program. So we are exploring what needs to be done with these scooters if they go unclaimed from the vendors,” said Keiser.  Albuquerque code enforcement crews are planning to continue with scooter patrols at least once a week. The city is currently in talks with each company to arrange for how each company will get their scooters.  Lime said in a statement, “This was due to an unfortunate miscommunication which we are looking to rectify. We are currently working with the City to make adjustments to our standard operating procedure to ensure a satisfactory response moving forward. This time around, that didn’t happen, but we are committed to being responsive city partners that retrieve all reported vehicles within 24 hours, as our contract states.”   ...read more read less