[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Sharon
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted as Art. 10, § 31, of the Town Bylaws]
A.
Any person or body that has lawful control of a public or private
enclosed property used as off-street parking areas for businesses,
shopping malls, theaters, auditoriums, sporting or recreational facilities,
cultural centers, residential dwellings, or for any other place where
the public has a right of access as invitees or licensees, is required
to reserve parking spaces in said off-street parking areas for any
vehicle owned and operated by a disabled veteran or handicapped person
whose vehicle bears the distinguishing license plate authorized by
MGL c. 90, § 2, or for any vehicle transporting a handicapped
person and displaying the special identification plate authorized
by MGL c. 90, § 2, or for any vehicle bearing the official
identification of handicapped person issued by any other state, or
any Canadian Province.
B.
The number of handicapped spaces required in each off-street parking
area shall be determined according to the requirements found in 521
CMR 23.
C.
Parking spaces designated as reserved under the above provisions
shall be identified by the use of above-grade signs with white lettering
against a blue background and shall bear the words "Handicapped Parking;
Special Plate Required. Unauthorized Vehicles May be Removed at Owner's
Expense"; shall be as near as possible to a building entrance or walkway;
shall be adjacent to curb ramps or other unobstructed methods permitting
sidewalk access to a handicapped person; and shall be at least eight
feet wide, not including the cross-hatched access aisle as defined
by the Architectural Access Board established in MGL c. 22, § 13A.
The cross-hatched access aisle abutting a handicapped parking space
shall be considered part of the handicapped parking space to which
it abuts to provide individuals who use wheelchairs or other mobility
aids with sufficient space to enter and exit their vehicles. No person
shall park in the cross-hatched access aisle.
A penalty for failure to reserve such parking spaces in said
off-street parking areas as provided above will be imposed in the
amount of $300 per offense.
No vehicle shall be removed from any parking spaces designated
as reserved under the above provisions unless the person who has lawful
control of such property has notified the Sharon Chief of Police or
his/her designee. Such notification shall be made before any such
vehicle shall be removed, and shall be in writing unless otherwise
specified by the Chief of Police and shall include the address from
which the vehicle is to be removed, the address to which the vehicle
is to be removed, the registration number of the vehicle, the name
of the person in lawful control of the property from which such vehicle
is being removed and the name of the person or company or other business
entity removing the vehicle. Vehicles so removed shall be stored in
a convenient location. Neither the Town nor the Chief of Police shall
be liable for any damages incurred during the removal or storage of
any such vehicle removed under this bylaw.
No person shall leave an unauthorized vehicle within parking
spaces designated for use by disabled veterans or handicapped persons
as authorized above or in such manner as to obstruct a curb ramp designed
for use by handicapped persons as a means of egress to a street or
public way.
A.
The Select Board, pursuant to the authority contained in MGL c. 40,
§ 22A, shall further regulate the parking of vehicles on
ways within the control of the Town by restricting certain areas thereon
for the parking of any vehicle owned and driven by a disabled veteran
or handicapped person whose vehicle bears the distinctive number plates
authorized by MGL c. 90, § 2, or for any vehicle transporting
a handicapped person and displaying the special parking identification
plate authorized by said MGL c. 90, § 2, or for any vehicle
bearing the official identification of a handicapped person issued
by any other state, or any Canadian Province, or by prohibiting the
parking or standing of any vehicles in such a manner as to obstruct
any curb ramp designed for use by handicapped persons. Parking spaces
designated as reserved under the provisions of this section shall
be identified by the use of above-grade blue signs with white lettering
against a blue background and shall bear the words "Handicapped Parking:
Special Plate Required Unauthorized Vehicles May Be Removed at Owner's
Expense"; shall be as near as possible to a building entrance or walkway;
shall be adjacent to curb ramps or other unobstructed methods permitting
sidewalk access to a handicapped person; and shall be at least eight
feet wide, not including the cross-hatched access aisle as defined
by the Architectural Access Board established in MGL c. 22, § 13A.
The cross-hatched access aisle abutting a handicapped parking space
shall be considered part of the handicapped parking space to which
it abuts to provide individuals who use wheelchairs or other mobility
aids with sufficient space to enter and exit their vehicles. No person
shall park in the cross-hatched access aisle. The cost of acquisition,
installation and maintenance and operation of any signs or other regulatory
devices used to designate such restricted areas shall be considered
as a necessary expense for the regulation of parking and shall be
paid from appropriations authorized by this bylaw.
B.
No person or owner of any vehicle shall park or leave a vehicle in
a space on a public way designated as above authorized as a "Handicapped
Parking Space" unless the vehicle bears the distinctive number plates,
or displays the special parking identification plate authorized by
MGL c. 90, § 2, or bears the official identification of
handicapped persons issued by any other state, or any Canadian Province.
The penalty for violation of the foregoing §§ 248-4 and/or 248-5 shall be $50 for each offense. Each day shall be a separate offense; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting the removal, in accordance with the provisions of MGL c. 266, § 120D, of any vehicle which is in violation of this bylaw, and provided, further, that nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting the enforcement of any of the foregoing sections pursuant to Chapter 1, Article I, § 1-2, of the General Bylaws and the provisions of MGL c. 40, § 21D.
[Adopted as Art. 10, § 32, of the Town Bylaws]
It shall be unlawful to obstruct or block a private way with
a vehicle or any other means so as to prevent access by fire apparatus,
fire equipment, ambulance service or police cruisers to any multiple-family
building, stores, shopping centers, schools and places of public assembly.
It shall be unlawful to obstruct or park a vehicle in any public
safety lane, such public safety lanes to be designated by the Chief
of the Fire Department and the Chief of Police and posted as such.
Said public safety lanes shall be a distance of 12 feet from the curbing
of a sidewalk in a shopping center, apartment complexes and similar
locations. Where no sidewalk with curbing exists, the distance and
locations shall be established by the Chief of the Fire Department
and the Chief of the Police Department.
Any object or vehicle obstructing or blocking any public safety
lane or private way may be removed or towed by the Town under the
direction of a police officer at the expense of the owner and without
liability on the part of either the Town or its Chief of Police or
his designee; provided that in the case of the removal of a vehicle,
such removal shall take place only after there has been compliance
with the provisions of MGL c. 266, § 120D, as the same may
hereafter be amended.
The owner of record of any building affected by these sections shall provide and install signs and road markings as provided in § 248-8 of this article. Said signs shall be no less than 12 inches by 18 inches and shall read "Public Safety Lane - No Parking-Tow Zone."
Any person violating any of the provisions of this bylaw shall
be punished by a fine, established under the provisions of MGL c.
90, § 20A 1/2, $50 if paid to the Town's Parking Clerk
within 21 days, $55 if paid thereafter but before the Parking Clerk
reports to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles as provided in MGL c. 90,
§ 20A 1/2, and $75 if paid thereafter.
