[Adopted 4-7-1980 by L.L. No. 1-1980]
B.
CURBLINE
HOLIDAYS
OFFICIAL TIME STANDARD
PUBLIC PARKING LOT
The following words and phrases, which are not defined by Article I of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of New York, shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section for the purposes of this Part 1:
The prolongation of the lateral line of a curb or, in the
absence of a curb, the lateral boundary line of the roadway.
New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day,
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day shall be considered holidays.
Whenever certain hours are named herein or on traffic control
devices, they shall mean the time standard which is current in this
state.
A plot or parcel of land or building owned and/or leased
by this Town, not including highways, upon or within which the parking
of vehicles is regulated by signs and/or parking meters.
The Town Board shall cause to be installed and
maintained traffic control devices when and as required under the
provisions of this Part 1 to make effective the provisions of this
Part 1 and may cause to be installed and maintained such additional
traffic control devices as it may determine necessary to regulate,
control or guide traffic under the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the
State of New York subject to the provisions therein.
The provisions of this Part 1 shall apply except
when it is necessary to stop a vehicle to avoid conflict with other
traffic or in compliance with directions of a police officer or an
official traffic control device.
Parking of vehicles is hereby prohibited on
all streets within this Town between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. from
November 15 to April 1. Violators of this section shall have automobiles
towed away at the owner's expense.
No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle
in the following places:
A.
On a sidewalk.
B.
On a crosswalk.
C.
At an intersection, except on a roadway side opposite
the street which intersects but does not cross on a roadway.
D.
Alongside or opposite any street excavation or obstruction
when stopping, standing or parking would obstruct traffic.
E.
Within a highway when all lanes are normally available for moving traffic. Stopping, standing or parking a motor vehicle for cause of lack of fuel shall constitute a violation under this subsection of this Part 1.
F.
In front of a public or private driveway.
G.
Within 50 feet of the nearest railroad crossing.
H.
In a parking space provided for the handicapped pursuant
to § 1203-b of the Vehicles and Traffic Law.
[Added 10-19-1981 by L.L. No. 8-1981]
No person shall park a vehicle on any roadway
for the purpose of displaying such vehicle for sale, washing, greasing,
storing or repairing such vehicle except persons necessitated by emergency.
Any such vehicle parked for a period of time in excess of 24 consecutive
hours shall be deemed parked for the principal purpose of storing
the vehicle.
No person shall park or stand a vehicle on any
roadway unless it is properly registered and has current number plates
properly issued to the vehicle and properly displayed thereon.
No person shall park any trailer or semitrailer
on any street, except while loading or unloading it, unless such trailer
or semitrailer is hitched to a vehicle capable of towing it.
No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle
within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or in a loading zone. No person shall
stop, stand or park in a fire lane which has been posted as such,
whether or not said lane is on public or private property.
No person shall park within a space set off
by signs or markers forbidding parking in such space on any street
or public place within the Town or park upon any alley or in front
of any private driveway or entrance to private premises within the
Town.
It shall be the duties of the Town Constables
or any authorized peace officer to enforce the provisions of this
Part 1 and any amendments thereto.
Town Constables or other peace officers and
the Town Highway Superintendent are hereby authorized to remove a
vehicle from a street or highway to the nearest garage or other place
of safety or to a garage or area designated or maintained by the Town
of Wheatfield under the circumstances hereinafter enumerated:
A.
When any vehicle is left unattended upon any bridge,
viaduct or causeway or in any tube underpass or tunnel where such
vehicle constitutes an obstruction to traffic.
B.
When a vehicle upon a highway is so disabled as to
constitute an obstruction to traffic and the person or persons in
charge of the vehicle are, by reason of physical injury, incapacitated
to such an extent as to be unable to provide for its custody or removal.
C.
When any vehicle is left unattended upon a street
and is so parked illegally as to constitute a definite hazard or obstruction
to the normal movement of traffic.
D.
Any vehicle that is left illegally parked upon any
Town street and is so parked as to interfere with the proper removal
of snow.
E.
Any vehicle that is parked or abandoned on any public
highway within the Town of Wheatfield during a snowstorm, flood, fire
or other public emergency which affects that portion of the public
highway upon which said vehicle is parked or abandoned.
F.
Any vehicle that is parked or abandoned in a fire
lane, posted as such, whether or not said vehicle is on public or
private property.
After the removal, as above set forth, the officer
may store such vehicle in a suitable place at the expense of the owner.
Such owner or person in charge of the vehicle may redeem the same
upon payment to the Town Clerk of the Town of Wheatfield the amount
of all expenses actually and necessarily incurred in effecting such
removal including the charge for towing and any storage charge incurred.
These charges shall be paid before the vehicle is returned to the
owner.
Whenever an officer removes a vehicle from a
street as authorized in this Part 1 and the officer knows or is able
to ascertain from the registration records in the vehicle the name
and address of the owner thereof, such officer shall immediately give
or cause to be given notice, in writing, to such owner of the fact
of such removal and the reasons therefor and of the place to which
such vehicle has been removed. In the event that any such vehicle
is stored in a public garage, a copy of such notice shall be given
to the proprietor of such garage. If the identity of the owner is
not readily attainable, the officer shall refer the matter to the
Town Clerk, who shall check with the police authorities to determine
the name and address of the owner and, upon obtaining such, shall
serve by registered mail a notice stating the above-enumerated information.
A copy of the letter shall be sent by regular mail to the garage owner.
No person without the consent of the Town Board
shall interfere with or move any sign placed within the Town by Town
authorities for the regulation of traffic or for indicating any point
or points along any street or public thoroughfare within the Town
where parking may or may not be made. In case it shall become necessary
to remove or change in any manner or interfere with any sign placed
or used for the purpose aforesaid, the person desiring to so alter,
change or interfere with the sign shall apply to the Town Board for
consent to do so, and if the Town Board shall deem it advisable to
grant such permit, it may do so upon such conditions as shall be reasonable
and advisable.
Any Town Constable, peace officer or any person authorized by the Town Board to act under this Part 1 shall have full power to act pursuant to any provision of this chapter of the Town or the appropriate sections of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of New York regarding parking violations.
The parking ticket issued pursuant to § 185-27 shall consist of any appearance ticket to be served on the driver or owner on information, in duplicate, filed in conformance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law of the State of New York.
A.
All persons receiving a notice or having a notice attached to his or her vehicle, as provided in § 185-27, shall, within the time specified in the notice, answer at the Town Hall the charges set forth in such notice by paying the amount prescribed on the notice and admitting the violation charged, in writing, and waiving a hearing in court or by depositing cash bail equal to double the prescribed amount stated on the notice for his or her appearance in court at a time to be determined by the Court Clerk. The acceptance of the prescribed amount stated in the notice, together with the admission and waiver set forth, shall be deemed complete satisfaction for the violation, and the Town Police or Town Court Clerk shall issue a receipt which so states.
B.
Persons desiring a hearing on the alleged violation
shall promptly return the notice of violation with a request for a
hearing and indicate their name, address, phone number and where they
may be reached to schedule a hearing. The Town Court Clerk shall thereafter
notify the alleged violator of the trial date.
In the event that a violator of this Part 1
does not appear within 72 hours to answer a notice, the Town Court
Clerk shall report the facts thereof to the Town Judge, who shall
issue to the owner of the motor vehicle, to which such notice was
attached, an appearance ticket directing the violator to appear in
court.
This Part 1 shall not be construed to prevent
the delivery or pickup of merchandise or other property along the
highways from which such vehicles and combinations are otherwise excluded.
The Town Court Clerk shall keep records of all violations of this chapter and this Part 1 in the regular course of business. The compilation and physical presence of the records may be at other than the offices of the Town Court Clerk or the Town Hall.
The fact that a motor vehicle which is illegally
parked is registered in the name of a person shall be considered prima
facie evidence that such person was in control of the motor vehicle
at the time of such parking.
Wherever this Part 1 shall refer to another section or article which has subsequently been amended, repealed and replaced by a new section or article, then, in that event, the new section shall be the one referred to in the place of the section it replaces.
Immediately after passage of this Part 1, the Town Superintendent of Highways shall apply to the New York State Department of Transportation for approval to regulate traffic on state highways as provided herein. The Town Police shall not enforce this Part 1 in respect to violations occurring on state highways until such time as approval to do so is received from the State of New York pursuant to §§ 1683 and 1684 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of New York.
A.
Every person convicted of a traffic infraction for
a violation of any provision of this Part 1 which is not a violation
of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of New York, for a first
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100
or by imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both such fine and
imprisonment; for a second such violation within 18 months thereafter,
such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200 or by
imprisonment for not more than 45 days, or both such fine and imprisonment;
upon a third or subsequent conviction within 18 months after the first
conviction, such person shall be punished by a fine of not more than
$300 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both such fine
and imprisonment.
[Amended 10-19-1981 by L.L. No. 8-1991; 8-3-1992[1]]
The Town Board, in conjunction with the Town
Court, shall provide suitable serially numbered appearance tickets,
at the Town's expense, for service upon violators of this Part 1.
When any Town Constable or peace officer or other person authorized to act pursuant to this Part 1 observes a violation of any provisions of this chapter or the appropriate sections of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of New York regarding parking violations, said Town Constable or peace officer or other authorized person shall issue an appearance ticket, as issued pursuant to § 185-26, to the driver of said vehicle, if present, or by attaching said appearance ticket conspicuously to the motor vehicle if the driver is not present. The person issuing said appearance ticket shall properly complete the ticket form and file a copy with the Town Court Clerk.
