[Adopted 5-10-1977]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Ordinance Providing for the Removal of Abandoned or Illegally
Parked Vehicles and Removal of Parked Vehicles Constituting an Obstruction
to Traffic in the Area of a Public Emergency."
When any vehicle is parked or abandoned on any
City street in the City of Norwich, New York, 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,
or when any vehicle is found unattended on any highway in the City
of Norwich, New York, where stopping, standing, or parking is prohibited,
said vehicle may be removed by or under the direction of any police
officer of the City of Norwich, or by the Superintendent of the Department
of Public Works, to any place or garage designated by the Chief of
Police.
A.
After removal of any vehicle as provided in this article,
the Police Department 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 Police Department in the amount
of all reasonable expenses actually and necessarily incurred in effecting
such removal, including such impoundment fees as shall be set by the
Common Council from time to time.
B.
However, if the owner or operator of the vehicle can
show that he or she was legally parked and could neither have known
of nor have been made aware of the public emergency which resulted
in having his vehicle removed, the owner or operator shall not be
charged for the cost of removal and storage, provided said vehicle
is redeemed promptly upon notification of removal. Failure to redeem
vehicle promptly shall subject the owner or operator to the storage
charges, if any, at the impoundment rate as set by the Common Council.
The City of Norwich Police Department shall
have the duty to ascertain, to the extent possible, the owner of the
vehicle or a person having charge of same, and to notify him of the
removal and disposition of such vehicle and the amount which will
be required to redeem same. If unclaimed, it will be disposed of pursuant
to § 1224 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of
New York.
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this article shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a violation and
shall be liable, upon conviction, to a fine of not more than $250
or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
