The City of Pittston finds that certain residential areas in
the City of Pittston are subjected to commuter vehicle parking, therefore
depriving the residents of those areas of spaces in which to park
their own vehicles; those residential streets are also subjected to
a high degree of commuter traffic which substantially reduces the
quality of the ambient air level; and the establishment of a parking
permit program for certain affected areas should facilitate efficient
movement of traffic by providing for parking preference during certain
hours of the day and days of the week. Therefore, the City of Pittston
considers it to be in the interest of the people of the City of Pittston
to provide for the establishment of a residential permit parking program
to insure primary access to available parking spaces by neighborhood
residents and also to provide a cleaner ambient air level.
For the purpose of this article, words and terms listed in this
section, as follows, shall have the following meanings:
A motor vehicle parked in a residential area by a person
not a resident of that residential area.
A person who owns or leases real estate within the residential
area of which he is not a resident, but who owns or manages a business
enterprise or professional office maintained at that address; for
the purpose of this article, a proprietor shall be entitled to one
parking permit for that business or professional office address.
A person who owns or leases real property within the residential
area and who maintains either a voting residence or bona fide occupancy,
or both, at that address; a resident shall be entitled to one parking
permit for that household, regardless of how many vehicles or drivers
are registered to that household address.
A contiguous area containing public highways or parts of
public highways primarily abutted by residential property or residential
and nonbusiness property (such as schools, parks, places of worship,
hospitals and nursing homes).
A.
The residential areas designated in § 455-40 of this article are those deemed impacted and hence eligible for residential parking on the basis of the following criteria:
(1)
During any period between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday
through Saturday, excluding legal holidays, the number of vehicles
parked (or standing), legally or illegally, on the streets in the
area is equal to 70% or more of the legal, on-street parking capacity
of the area. For the purpose of this criterion, a legal parking space
shall be 20 linear feet.
(2)
During the same period as specified in Subsection A(1), directly above, 10% or more of the vehicles parked (or standing) on the streets in the area are not registered in the name of a person residing in the area. For the purpose of this criterion, the latest available information from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Licensing of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation regarding registration of motor vehicles shall be used.
B.
In determining that a specific area identified as impacted and eligible
for residential permit parking is designated as a residential permit
parking area, the following factors are taken into consideration:
(1)
The local metropolitan needs with respect to clear air and environment;
(2)
The possibility of a reduction in total vehicle miles driven in the
City of Pittston;
(3)
The likelihood of alleviating traffic congestion, illegal parking
and related health and safety hazards;
(4)
The proximity of public transportation to the residential area;
(5)
The desire and need of the residents for residential permit parking
and their willingness to bear the administrative costs in connection
with it; and
(6)
The need for parking in excess of the residential permit parking
program in proximity to establishments located in the residential
permit parking area and used by the general public for religious,
health or educational purposes.
A.
The following are designated as residential parking areas:
|
Area
|
Bounded By and Not Including
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Kennedy Street (entire length) (west side of street only)
|
Spring Street and Charles Street
|
B.
Signs shall be erected along the streets in each residential permit
parking area, indicating the days, hours and locations and conditions
under which parking shall be by permit only.
Application for a residential parking permit shall be made to
the Chief of Police by the person desiring the permit, who shall be
only the owner or the driver of the motor vehicle who resides on or
is a proprietor of property immediately adjacent to a street or other
location within a residential parking permit area. Each application
shall contain the following information: the name of the owner or
the driver, as the case may be, of the motor vehicle; the address
of the resident or the proprietor, as the case may be; the make, model
and registration number of the motor vehicle; and the driver number
as taken from the applicant's current driver's license. At the discretion
of the Chief of Police, the applicant shall be required, at the time
of making application, to present his driver's license and the vehicle
registration card.
Upon receipt of the application and determination by him that
the information upon the application shows that the applicant is entitled
to a residential parking permit, the Chief of Police shall issue to
the applicant a residential parking permit, which shall be valid for
the remainder of the calendar year. The permit shall display the serial
and registration numbers of the motor vehicle, the residential parking
area number, and the expiration date. The permit shall be renewable
annually before the expiration date, upon making application for renewal.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person
to display other than the current and valid permit while standing
or parking in a residential permit parking area at the time when those
permits are to be displayed.
Temporary parking permits may be issued by the Chief of Police
to bona fide visitors of residents of a designated residential permit
parking area, and exemption parking permits may be issued, without
payment of a fee, to handicapped persons.
A.
Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, the
holder of a residential parking permit shall be permitted to stand
or park a motor vehicle operated by him in any designated residential
parking area during those times when parking of motor vehicles is
permitted in that area. While a vehicle for which a residential parking
permit has been issued is so parked, that permit shall be displayed
so as to be clearly visible through the windshield of the vehicle.
A residential parking permit shall not guarantee or reserve to the
holder a parking space within a designated residential permit parking
area.
B.
A residential parking permit shall not authorize its holder to stand
or park a motor vehicle in any place where or at any time when stopping,
standing or parking of motor vehicles is prohibited or set aside for
other specified types of vehicles, nor shall the permit exempt its
holder from the observance of any traffic or parking regulation other
than a residential permit parking regulation or restriction.
C.
No person other than the permit holder whose name appears on the
permit shall use a residential parking permit or display it on a vehicle
operated; any such use or display by a person other than the permit
holder shall constitute a violation of this article by the permit
holder and by the person who so used or displayed the parking permit.
D.
It shall constitute a violation of this article for any person falsely
to represent himself as eligible for a residential parking permit
or to furnish false information in an application to the Chief of
Police in order to obtain a residential parking permit.
The Chief of Police shall have authority to revoke the residential
parking permit of any permit holder found to be in violation of any
provision of this article. Upon written notification to him of the
revocation, the permit holder shall surrender the permit to the Chief
of Police. Failure to do so, when so requested, shall constitute a
violation of this article, provided that any person receiving such
a notice may, within 10 days after the date of the notice, appeal
to Pittston City Council for a hearing on the revocation, and the
decision of the Pittston City Council shall be final.
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall,
upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $25 and
costs; provided, however, that it shall be the duty of the police
officers and of parking enforcement personnel of the City of Pittston
to report to the appropriate official all violations of any provision
of this article, indicating, in each case, the section violated, the
license number of the vehicle involved in the violation, the location
where the violation took place, and any other facts that might be
necessary in order to secure a clear understanding of the circumstances
attending the violation. The police officer or other person making
the report shall also attach to or place upon every such vehicle a
notice stating that the vehicle was parked in violation of this article.
The notice shall contain instructions to the owner or driver of the
vehicle that if he will report to the office of the Chief of Police
and pay the sum of $25 within 72 hours after the time of the notice,
or if he will place the sum of $25, enclosed within the envelope provided,
in any of the special fine boxes installed at various locations within
the City of Pittston, that act will save the violator from prosecution
and from payment of the fine and costs prescribed in the first sentence
of this section.
