[Added 6-15-1998 by Ord. No. 30.52.98; amended 12-17-2001 by Ord. No. 40.121.01; 12-15-2003 by Ord. No.
30.82.03; 4-21-2006 by Ord. No. 05.21.06]
A.
The installation and operation of certain devices
known generally as parking meters are hereby authorized and required
on the streets, thoroughfares and public places of the City of Albany
which from time to time may be specified by the Chief of Police, or
his designee. Parking spaces are hereby authorized and established
on all such streets, thoroughfares and public places subject generally
to the powers, authorizations and conditions contained in this article.
The Chief of Police, or his designee, is authorized and empowered,
and is given the continuing direction within the limits of this article
to rearrange or otherwise change parking meters on the streets, thoroughfares
and public places designated from time to time so as best to provide
for the traffic needs of the City of Albany and for changing conditions
and adjacent installations.
B.
For the purposes of this article, the term "parking
meter" shall also refer to a device or devices known as "pay stations"
or "multi-space meters" which are centrally located and capable of
regulating multiple metered parking spaces through display of a receipt
or other proof of payment which is obtained upon payment of the applicable
parking fee.
The Chief of Police, or his designee, is hereby
authorized and directed to install, to direct the installation or
to order the installation of parking meters on portions of the streets,
thoroughfares and public places of the City of Albany. In his discretion
from time to time and as he may deem best suited for the traffic needs
of the particular portion of the streets, thoroughfares and public
places of the City, the parking meters may be of 20 minutes, one hour,
two hours, four hours or 10 hours. The Chief of Police, or his designee,
also is authorized to install parking meters with other variations
of time.
Single-space parking meters for parallel parking
shall be installed from time to time in such manner as to divide the
street and sub area into units or stalls of approximately 20 feet
in length. The meters shall be installed in such manner as to be at
the forward end of such curb parking spaces. Parking meters for other
than parallel parking shall be installed in such a manner as, in the
discretion of the Chief of Police, or his designee, is best suited
for designating the parking spaces in the particular area.
A.
Signal. Each parking meter, other than a pay station
or multi-space meter, shall be so installed or set as to display,
upon the deposit of proper United States coin or coins to properly
register the coin or coins for the period of time designated as being
proper for parking at that place, a signal indicating legal parking
for the said period of time.
B.
Expiration. Each parking meter, other than a pay station
or multi-space meter, shall also be equipped with a device which shall
continue operation from the time of the depositing of said coin or
coins to properly register the said coin or coins until the expiration
of the designated legal parking period, when it will indicate by a
proper operation and the display of a proper signal that the lawful
period for parking, as prescribed, has expired.
C.
Pay stations and multi-space meters. Each pay station
or multi-space meter, upon payment of the applicable fee, shall be
capable of generating a receipt or other proof of payment indicating
the amount of parking time purchased and the expiration thereof. Proper
display of proof of payment shall be by a means determined by the
Chief of Police or his designee and in such a manner that the expiration
time and date are readily visible from the exterior of the vehicle,
or via alternative communication methods. For motorcycles, receipts
shall be affixed where clearly visible. Pay stations or multi-space
meters shall be equipped so as to be able to accept payment through
the deposit of proper United States coin or coins (which may include
paper currency), credit or debit card or other form of payment as
determined by the Chief of Police, or his designee.
Each parking meter mechanism shall display,
in a conspicuous place, a plate or other device which shall clearly
state the hours during which that meter shall be legally in operation
and any exceptions thereto. The plate shall also clearly indicate
the type of coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment, which
must be inserted therein for the legal parking of a vehicle and the
period of time during which it shall be legally permissible to park
in that meter area upon the payment of the prescribed coin or coins,
or other form of applicable payment.
Any other section or subsections of this article
notwithstanding, the Chief of Police, or his designee, is hereby authorized
and directed to determine the duration times and the fees for the
operation of meters on any parking space.
The Chief of Police, or his designee, shall
have the duty to keep all meters installed under the provisions of
this article in a good operating condition, clean and properly painted.
Each meter shall have clearly marked upon it or its standard or supporting
post in a conspicuous place an identifying number to indicate its
location. The number shall be used for the purpose of identifying
the location of the meter zone and the vehicle therein when the vehicle
is charged with a violation of parking provisions at that place, and
the number will serve as a means of identification which the public
or the Police Department may use when reporting defective meters,
violations or other occurrences.
The coins, or other applicable form of payment,
required to be deposited in parking meters are hereby levied as fees
to provide for the proper regulation and control of traffic upon the
streets, thoroughfares and in the public places of the City and to
cover the cost of the purchase, installation, inspection, maintenance,
collection and control and operation of parking meters, including
the establishment and maintenance of parking spaces.
It shall be the duty of the Police Department of the City of Albany to enforce the parking provisions of this article applicable to vehicles stopped or parked in a space adjacent to a parking meter in active operation. Such violation shall be recorded, and a notice thereof shall be left upon the vehicle in the form and manner applying to parking violations as set forth in Article IX of this chapter.
At any location on the streets, thoroughfares
and public places of this City where a parking meter is in active
operation it shall be lawful, upon payment of the designated coin
or coins, or other form of applicable payment, for that particular
location, to park a vehicle for the full period designated as the
maximum period for legal parking. The vehicle may be parked for the
unexpired time, if any, showing on the parking meter from a previous
insertion of a coin or coins without the additional payment of any
coin or coins for said unexpired term. The provisions of this section
imposing a time limit on parking shall not relieve any person from
the duty to observe other and more restrictive provisions prohibiting
or limiting stopping, standing or parking of vehicles in specified
places or at specified times.
It shall be illegal for any driver to park a
vehicle in an area specified for parallel parking, in a space adjacent
to a single-space parking meter in active operation, other than with
the front wheel of the vehicle approximately centered upon the standard
or post supporting the parking meter.
A.
Restrictions. It shall be unlawful for any person
to permit a vehicle to park or remain in any space adjacent to a parking
meter in active operation on one of the streets, thoroughfares or
public places of this City, except as otherwise specifically provided
in this article, without inserting the proper coin or coins, or other
form of applicable payment, in the parking meter provided therefor.
No vehicle shall be permitted to stand in the space adjacent to any
parking meter during the time when parking or stopping is otherwise
prohibited at such location by message on the meter mechanism, sign
posting or covering of the meter with an official marked cover, which
shall indicate that parking is prohibited.
B.
Tampering with meter; slugs. It shall be unlawful
for any person to deposit or cause to be deposited in a parking meter
any slug, device or substitute for the proper United States coin or
coins, or other form of applicable payment. It shall also be unlawful
for any person to deface, injure, tamper with, steal from, open or
willfully break into, to destroy, to remove or to impair the usefulness
of any parking meter installed under the provisions of this article,
except that this provision shall not apply to persons duly designated
by the Chief of Police, or his designee, for the purpose of collecting
United States currency placed into said parking meters, or to persons
authorized by the Chief of Police, or his designee, for regulating,
repairing or maintaining such meters. Any person violating the provisions
of this subsection shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500
or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months, or to both such fine
and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
Parking shall be legal and permissible, upon
the insertion of the designated coin or coins, or other applicable
form of payment, at the locations designated on the streets, thoroughfares
and public places in the City, for the period of time respectively
indicated on such meters in metered parking spaces. The provisions
of this article shall not be enforced on Saturdays or Sundays; or
on New Year's Day, January 1; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the third
Monday in January; President's Day, the third Monday in February;
Memorial Day, the fourth Monday in May; Independence Day, July 4;
Labor Day, the first Monday in September; Columbus Day (observed),
the second Monday in October; Election Day, the first Tuesday in November;
Veteran's Day (observed), the second Monday in November; Thanksgiving
Day, the fourth Thursday in November; and Christmas Day, December
25. Metered spaces may be used without charge or without depositing
a coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment, in the meters
at times when parking is not regulated and when the prohibition against
parking is not in force.
It shall be lawful for a passenger vehicle to
stop in a vacant space adjacent to a parking meter in active operation
in order to take on or discharge passengers or passengers' baggage
transported on the same vehicle without the payment of a coin or coins,
or other applicable form of payment, provided that such stopping is
restricted to these purposes and is performed expeditiously. Commercial
vehicles which are actually engaged in the expeditious pickup or delivery
of merchandise may stop in such metered space without the necessity
for inserting a coin or coins, or other applicable form of payment,
in the meter. Any prolonged absence of the driver of such commercial
vehicle from the immediate vicinity of the vehicle shall be deemed
to be evidence that the vehicle is not engaged in expeditious pickup
or delivery of merchandise and shall constitute a violation of the
provisions of this section.
[Amended 6-5-2006 by Ord. No. 55.52.06(MC)]
Any person violating the provisions of this article shall be subject to a fine or fines as set forth in § 359-87.
