[Added 7-12-2004 by Ord. No. 4-2004]
The following words, when used in this article, shall have the meanings as set forth in this section:
BOROUGH
Vandergrift Borough, County of Westmoreland, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
COMMERCIAL UNIT
Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling or structure which is utilized for conducting any business, occupation, profession or service, either public or private, whether for profit or otherwise.
COUNCIL
The Borough Council of the Borough of Vandergrift, County of Westmoreland, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
OPERABLE
Currently capable of being used for original intended purpose.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation or other legal entity, including singular and plural, male and female.
PREMISES
Any parcel of land situated in Vandergrift Borough, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, having a separate Tax Map parcel number for county assessment purposes.
RESIDENCE
A location where the primary purposes is for maintaining a household and not for conducting a business and which contains one or more dwelling units.
VEHICLE
Every device upon which or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway and which is ordinarily required to be currently registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, except any device which is used exclusively upon rails or tracks.
A. 
Application procedure.
(1) 
Residents of the Borough of Vandergrift, County of Westmoreland and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who desire a handicapped parking place shall be directed to the Vandergrift Borough Police Department to obtain a persons with disabilities parking place application. [Pursuant to § 3354(d)(2) of the Motor Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, local authorities may install as close as possible to the place of residence signage indicating that the place is reserved for that handicapped person or severely disabled veteran.] The application shall contain, at a minimum, the following:
(a) 
Name of person with disability;
(b) 
Address;
(c) 
Phone number;
(d) 
Location of proposed sign;
(e) 
Medical condition(s) which necessitates a parking space;
(f) 
Certification by a Pennsylvania-licensed physician (certifying the disability);
(g) 
The distance the applicant can walk [by the licensed physician referenced in Subsection A(1)(f) above] or a certification by the Chief of Police that the applicant meets criteria as contained in 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1338 of the Motor Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
(h) 
Certification indicating that the applicant possess a valid Pennsylvania driver's license (except in blind cases) or, in the case of a dependent individual without a valid driver's license, a statement from a Pennsylvania-licensed physician certifying that the individual in question cannot be left unattended for a period of not more than 15 minutes to allow a caretaker or other responsible adult who is a licensed operator to legally park a vehicle and return to the care of said individual;
(i) 
The applicant must certify that the location of the nearest off-street parking facility exceeds the distance that the applicant can walk, as required by physician's certification, in § 470-68A(1)(g).
[Amended 2-4-2019 by Ord. No. 2-2019]
(2) 
The completed application shall be returned to the Chief of Police, with all necessary portions of the application complete, with a check in the appropriate amount, subject to the following schedule:
(a) 
Initial application for a nonmetered parking space: $150.
(b) 
Initial application for a metered parking space: $150.
(c) 
Council may from time to time amend the above fees by resolution.
(3) 
The Chief of Police shall, within 10 days, conduct an investigation and forward the results of the investigation and a recommendation to either grant or deny the request to the Borough Council.
(4) 
The Borough Council, at its next regularly scheduled monthly meeting, after receiving the report from the Chief of Police and his recommendation, shall either grant or deny the request. In consideration of the request, Council may take into account any exceptional circumstances which may exist in the instant case.
(5) 
If the application is approved, the application shall be forwarded to the office of the Borough Secretary and, upon receipt, the Borough Secretary shall issue a numbered permit to be affixed to the car and direct that a sign be erected at the designated space.
(6) 
Applications not approved shall be returned to the applicant without prejudice for reapplication.
(7) 
A list of approved handicapped parking places will be maintained by the Vandergrift Borough Police Department. This list shall be updated annually, immediately after the annual renewal period, and a copy of the list provided to the Borough Secretary.
(8) 
All handicapped parking places are subject to the ordinances of the Borough of Vandergrift dealing with street sweeping, snow removal and emergency procedures.
(9) 
In the event that an application is reviewed and, following an investigation, it is determined that the application is denied, the application fee shall be refunded to the applicant in full along with a notification that the application has been denied and the basis for the denial.
(10) 
Handicapped parking spaces on public streets within the Borough of Vandergrift shall not exceed 15% of the available lawful parking spaces on any public street parking block within the Borough of Vandergrift; provided, however, that if the number of handicapped parking spaces results in a number of handicapped spaces which is greater than a base number, the number of handicapped spaces will be rounded to the next base number. The Council of the Borough of Vandergrift shall amend the application to provide for the fifteen-percent requirement on the instructions for the application which shall be presented to the applicant at the time of application. The Council of the Borough of Vandergrift reserves the right to amend the percentage of parking spaces for handicapped residents by resolution from time to time hereafter based upon the determination of need by the Council of the Borough of Vandergrift.
[Added 2-4-2019 by Ord. No. 2-2019]
B. 
Renewal procedures.
(1) 
All handicapped parking privileges are subject to renewal each year at the designated renewal time, by way of the persons with disabilities parking place yearly renewal application, regardless of the date when the handicapped parking privileges were granted initially;
(2) 
The renewal period for handicapped parking privileges shall be between March 1 and March 31 of each year; renewal applications shall be filed with the Vandergrift Borough Police Department;
(3) 
All residents currently granted restricted handicapped parking signs at the time of the adoption of this article shall apply to the Vandergrift Borough Police Department within 60 days of the effective date of this article for renewal of their handicapped status. Failure to do so will result in removal of the sign.
(4) 
Renewal costs.
(a) 
For nonmetered parking space: $75.
(b) 
For metered parking space: $120
(c) 
Borough Council may, from time to time, amend the above fees by resolution.
C. 
Penalties. An individual who submits a false application to the Chief of Police shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined $600 and costs or imprisonment of not more than 90 days, or both. Each false application submitted to the Chief of Police shall constitute a separate offense. The Borough of Vandergrift reserves the right to revoke any handicapped parking privilege based on founded complaints of abuse. Confirmed abuse of the handicapped parking privilege will result in a removal of the handicapped parking space. The determination of the Chief of Police as to whether a complaint is founded shall be final.