As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
PHYSICAL HANDICAP
A physical impairment which confines a person to a wheelchair,
causes a person to walk with difficulty or insecurity, affects the
sight or hearing to the extent that a person functioning in public
areas is insecure or exposed to danger, causes faulty coordination
or reduces mobility, flexibility, coordination and perception to the
extent that facilities are needed for the safety of that person.
PUBLIC BUILDING
Any building, structure, facility or complex used by which
the general public is invited, including but not limited to theaters,
concert halls, auditoriums, museums, schools, libraries, recreational
facilities, office buildings, public transportation terminals and
stations, factories, businesses, shopping centers, hotels or motels
and public eating places, whether privately or publicly owned, except
that this term shall not include private family residences, warehouse
storage areas and all buildings conducting hazardous occupancies that
involve highly combustible, highly flammable or explosive material.
The owners of all public buildings which provide
parking spaces adjacent to or used in conjunction with public buildings
shall, within 180 days of notice thereof, provide for parking spaces
in accordance with the guidelines herein set forth and in a location
and manner as determined by the Traffic Safety Division. Any parking
facility with less than 16 existing spaces, also any banking facility
providing a drive-through service, shall be exempt from the provisions
of this article.
Parking spaces for the physically handicapped
shall be constructed according to the following guidelines:
A. A minimum of 1% of the total number of parking spaces
in the parking facility shall be used for handicapped parking, but
these shall be not less than two parking spaces in each such facility.
B. The location of the physically handicapped spaces
shall be in an area of the parking facility which is most accessible
and approximate to the building or buildings which the facility serves.
The determination of said location shall be made by the Traffic Safety
Division in conjunction and consultation with the owner. In shopping
centers and other multistore facilities, the handicapped spaces shall
be as near to the flagship store as possible and/or at such other
locations as may be agreeable between the Traffic Safety Division
and the owner.
C. Each space or group of spaces shall be identified
with a clearly visible sign displaying the international symbol.
D. Each space shall be 12 feet wide to allow room for
persons in wheelchairs or on braces or crutches to get in or out of
either side of the automobile on a level, paved surface suitable for
wheeling and walking.
E. Where possible, such spaces shall be located so that
persons in wheelchairs or using braces or crutches are not compelled
to wheel or walk behind parked cars.
F. Where applicable, curb ramps shall be provided to
permit handicapped people access from parking lot to sidewalk.
No person shall park a vehicle in any parking
space designated and marked as being set aside for the physically
handicapped in any parking facility unless said vehicle is operated
by or occupied by a physically handicapped person and shall have affixed
thereto an identification certification or marker issued by the New
Jersey Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Parking in a handicapped
space without aforesaid vehicle identification shall create a rebuttable
presumption that use of the space was not for the physically handicapped.
[Amended 6-11-1981 by Ord. No. 25-81; 9-27-1990 by Ord. No.
44-90]
Any person who violates any provision of this
article shall be subject to the maximum penalties allowed by law,
regardless of whether those penalties are as designated in N.J.S.A.
39:4-197 or in the general penalty provisions of N.J.S.A. 39:4-203.