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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 2010-1862 CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 2010- AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS, AMENDING OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES, CHAPTER 19, SECTION 19-121 ENTITLED "PARKING REQUIREMENTS," BY ESTABLISHING PARKING REQUIREMENTS WITH RIGHT-HAND WHEELS PARALLEL TO AND WITHIN EIGHTEEN INCHES OF THE RIGHT-HAND CURB EXCEPT WHERE OFFICIAL SIGNS INDICATE OTHERWISE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the City Council has discussed and considered such revisions and has determined that it is in the best interest of the City to amend the current Chapter 19, Section 19- 12, to regulate the parking requirements within the City in accordance with State law. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS: SECTION 1. The findings set forth above are incorporated into the body of this Ordinance as if fully set forth herein. SECTION 2. That Chapter 19, Section 19-12 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of The Colony, Texas, entitled "Parking requirements," is hereby amended to read as follows: "Sec. 19-12. Parking requirements. (a) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to stop, stand or park a vehicle at any place prohibited by the applicable laws of the state. (b) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to stop, stand or park any vehicle at any time upon any public street, alleyway, public place or fire lane when signs are erected or curbs painted giving notice that parking there is prohibited. (c) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park any motor vehicle upon any public street, alley, or public property of any nature in the city for the purpose of greasing, changing oil, or repairing such vehicle, except repairs necessitated by an emergency. With the exception of it being allowable to have one vehicle for sale on the street in front of a person's home if parked properly, it shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to sell or exhibit property of any nature upon any public street, alley, or public property of any nature in the city. (d) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park a motor vehicle in or upon any median strip as that term is defined herein. (e) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park a motor vehicle in front of a public or private driveway or within three feet of the curved entrance driveway without the effective consent of the owner of the property on which the driveway is located. (f) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park any commercial motor vehicle upon a public street, alley, parkway, boulevard or other way within the corporate limits of the city or upon any other public property at any time. Nothing herein shall authorize the parking of a mobile home for use in any location, public or private, except as may be authorized by the comprehensive zoning ordinance. The provisions of this section shall not apply to street construction, maintenance and repair equipment; trucks, equipment and vehicles used by public service utility companies engaged in repairing or extending public service utilities; municipal vehicles in the course of performance of city business; nor to commercial motor vehicles parked for the purpose of accepting or delivering transportable goods. It shall be a defense to this section that the vehicle had a mechanical defect, making it unsafe to proceed further, in which event it shall be lawful to stand or park the vehicle during the time necessary to make emergency repairs. (g) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park a motor vehicle on any of the streets below during the hours specified, to wit: TABLE INSET: Street Extent Hours Blair Oaks Drive On either side from Arbor Glen Road to State Highway At any time 121 Norris Drive South side from Paige Road to Branchwood Trail At any time (h) It shall be unlawful for the owner or occupant of a residence located in the single-family (SF), duplex (D) or townhome (TH) zoned districts, to stop, stand or park a motor vehicle, a recreational vehicle, and/or trailer, in the designated front yard of that residence: except in the designated front entry driveway. It shall also be unlawful for the owner or occupant of a residence located in the single-family (SF), duplex (D) or townhome (TH) zoned districts, to allow any other person to stop, stand or park a motor vehicle, a recreational vehicle, and/or trailer, in the designated front yard of that residence; except in the designated front entry driveway. (i) It shall be unlawful for any person to park, stand, stop or store any motor vehicle, other than a passenger car, light truck, motorcycle, motor-driven cycle or moped, as those terins are defined in V.T.C.A., Transportation Code § 545.201, as amended, on a private parking facility in any area of the city which has been zoned GR General Retail, SC Shopping Center or NS Neighborhood Services according to the comprehensive zoning ordinance of the city, and any motor vehicle parked in violation hereof is hereby declared to be a nuisance per se. The following shall be applicable to this subsection: (1) Any police officer of the city shall be and is hereby authorized to remove, or to require the driver or other person in charge of such motor vehicle to remove, a motor vehicle parked, stopped, standing or stored in violation of this subsection from the private parking lot to the nearest garage or other place of safety or to a garage designated or maintained by the city. The owner of a motor vehicle that is removed or stored under this subsection is liable for all reasonable towing and storage fees incurred in the removal or storage. (2) Prior to the enforcement of any part of this subsection, a sign or signs, specifying those persons who may park in the private parking facility and prohibiting all others, shall be placed so that they are readable day or night from all entrances to the said parking facility (but signs need not be illuminated). (3) If a motor vehicle has been moved and placed in a vehicle storage facility (as defined in V.T.C.A., Transportation Code § 684.001(8) as amended) without the consent of the owner, the owner is entitled to a hearing to determine whether or not probable cause existed for the removal and placement of the motor vehicle. A hearing hereunder shall be before a justice of the peace or magistrate in whose jurisdiction the vehicle storage facility is located, and the following rules apply: a. A person entitled to a hearing under this subsection must deliver a written request for the hearing to the court before the sixth day after the date the vehicle was placed in the storage facility. In computing time under this subsection, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays shall be excluded. A person who fails to deliver the request within the specified time period waives the right to the hearing. A written request hereunder shall contain the following information: 1. The name, address and telephone number of the owner of the motor vehicle; 2. The date and the location from which the motor vehicle was removed; 3. The name, address and telephone number of the person or law enforcement agency who authorized the removal; and 4. The name, address and telephone number of the vehicle storage facility where the motor vehicle was placed. b. A hearing under this subsection shall be held before the fourth working day after the date the request for the hearing was received by the court. The court shall notify the motor vehicle's owner and the police chief of the city of the date, time and place of the hearing. The court may charge a filing fee of $10.00 for a hearing under this subsection and may award costs to the prevailing party. The sole issue in a hearing under this subsection is whether or not probable cause existed for the removal and placement of the motor vehicle. The court shall make written findings and conclusions of law regarding the issue in the hearing. C. If the court determines that probable cause existed for the removal and placement of the motor vehicle, the owner of the motor vehicle shall pay the costs of removing and storing the vehicle. If the court does not determine that probable cause existed for the removal and placement of the motor vehicle, the city shall pay the costs of removing and storing the vehicle. If the motor vehicle's owner paid removal or storage costs before the hearing, the city shall fully reimburse the owner. (4) The provisions of this subsection 19-12(i) shall not apply to a motor vehicle owned by or under the control of the owner or manager, or their duly authorized representative, of a private parking facility; or to a motor vehicle delivering goods or merchandise to a business located adjacent to the private parking facility. (j) It shall be unlawful and a violation to park any vehicle, except a United States Postal vehicle, within ten feet of a United States Postal box, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday, except on national holidays, where signs are erected or curbs painted giving notice that parking there is prohibited. (k) Except where official signs or markings indicate otherwise, every motor vehicle stopped or parked upon a two-way roadway shall be so stopped or parked with the right-hand wheels parallel to, and within eighteen inches (18") of the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway. (1) Private parking areas. (1) Definitions. In this paragraph (1): Parking facility means private property used, in whole or in part, for restricted or paid vehicle parking. The term includes: a. A restricted space on a portion of an otherwise unrestricted parking facility; and b. A commercial parking lot, a parking garage, and a parking area serving or adjacent to a business, church, school, home, apartment complex, property governed by a property owners' association, or government-owned property leased to a private person, including: 1. A portion of the right-of-way of a public roadway that is leased by a governmental entity to the parking facility owner; and 2. The area between the facility's property line abutting a public road and the center line of the roadway's drainageway or the curb or edge of the roadway, whichever is farther from the facility's property line. Parking facility owner means: a. An owner or operator of a parking facility, including a lessee, employee or agent of an owner or operator; b. A property owners' association having control under a dedicatory instrument over assigned or unassigned parking areas; or c. A property owner having an exclusive right under a dedicatory instrument to use a parking space. Unauthorized vehicle means a vehicle parked, stored, or located on a parking facility without the consent of the parking facility owner. Vehicle means any device in, on, or by which a person or property may be transported on a public roadway. The term includes an operable or inoperable automobile, truck, motorcycle, recreational vehicles, or trailer, but does not include a device moved by human power or used exclusively on a stationary rail or track. (2) Parking, stopping and standing of unauthorized vehicles; notice; penalty. a. A person commits an offense if he parks, stores, locates, or places an unauthorized vehicle. A vehicle is deemed to be an unauthorized vehicle if the vehicle remains parked, stored, located, or placed in a parking facility in excess of the time prescribed in the notice required by V.T.C.A., Transportation Code ch. 684, as amended. The said time period set forth in V.T.C.A., Transportation Code ch. 684, are as follows: 1. Twenty-four hours, in the event that the parking facility owner posts a sign in accordance with V.T.C.A., Transportation Code ch. 684; or 2. Fourteen days after the date of the postmark on the notice sent by certified mail in accordance with V.T.C.A., Transportation Code § 684.012(b); or i 3. Immediately following the receipt by the owner or operator of the unauthorized vehicle of actual notice from the parking facility owner that the vehicle will be towed if it is not removed from an unauthorized space. b. The prohibition contained in subsection (i) shall not apply until such time that a parking facility owner has given notice that unauthorized vehicles are not permitted in the parking facility. Such notice shall be given in accordance with V.T.C.A., Transportation Code ch. 684, as amended, and includes: 1. The posting of a sign in accordance with V.T.C.A., Transportation Code ch. 684; or 2. Placing a conspicuous written notice on the unauthorized vehicle's front windshield (or, if no front windshield to a conspicuous part of the vehicles) and sending notice by certified mail in accordance with V.T.C.A., Transportation Code § 684.012(b); or 3. Giving of actual notice to the owner or operator of the unauthorized vehicle by the parking facility owner that the vehicle will be towed if it is not removed from an unauthorized space. C. A violation of this subsection (1) is punishable by a fine of not less than $200.00 or more than $500.00. A separate violation shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues." SECTION 3. If any section, article paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase or word in this ordinance, or application thereto any persons or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional by a Court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance; and the City Council hereby declares it would have passed such remaining portions of this Ordinance despite such invalidity, which remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 4. That all provisions of the Ordinances of the City of The Colony, Texas, in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance be, and the same are hereby amended, repealed, and all other provisions of the Ordinances of the City not in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 5. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction in the municipal court of the City of The Colony, Texas, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed the sum of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each offense. Every day a violation occurs shall constitute a separate offense. i SECTION 6. This Ordinance shall become effective from and after its date of passage in accordance with law. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS, THIS - clay of az , 2010. f. Joe McCourry, Mayor ATTEST: Christie Wilson, City Secretary APPROVED AS TO FORM: Jeff Moore;,City Attorney