City of Lexington, VA Parking in the Central Business District

§ 394-81 General provisions.

[Amended by Ord. No. 92-9; 10-21-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-07; 2-16-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-02; 5-2-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-04; 12-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-08; 3-16-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-04]

The provisions of Article V of this chapter, insofar as the same are applicable, are incorporated into this article by reference.

The streets of the Central Business District, as defined elsewhere in this Code, and all publicly controlled and/or owned spaces, including, but not limited to, parking lots and on-street and off-street parking, shall be marked appropriately into spaces and otherwise regulated for public parking and loading zones as set forth in the following sections.

All persons delivering goods or articles to merchants on a two-way street and only on the side of the street allowing parking shall place the vehicle used in transporting the same parallel to the sidewalk in front of the place of business to which the goods are to be delivered and the vehicle shall not be more than six inches from the curb where parking allows. On one-way streets, persons delivering goods may park parallel to otherwise lawfully parked vehicles in such a manner as to allow traffic flow on the street. The driver must be available to move to allow the exit of any vehicle blocked thereby and shall be unloaded without delay, up to 15 minutes, and thereafter immediately be driven away.

All spaces on the streets in the Central Business District, which district shall be indicated by appropriate signs, shall be two-hour parking. Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., unless otherwise marked or signed for another time limit or use as determined by the City Manager. In the event of extraordinary circumstances which affect the traffic on any street or streets in the Central Business District, the City Manager may reduce the two-hour time limit for periods of time sufficient to address such extraordinary circumstances. Parking for additional lengths of time for certain spaces may be authorized by the City Manager through a permit parking program adopted by City Council. Parking within the municipal parking lots shall be posted with signs located within such parking lot or at lot entrances in accordance with this Code section.

All spaces in the public parking lots in the Central Business District shall be signed for a maximum of three hours unless signed differently by the City Manager pursuant to a permit parking program adopted by the City Council or valid contracts authorized by the City Council. Exceptions shall be for the Court House parking deck, which shall have unlimited parking, except during the hours of 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. Permission to park in the deck during those hours may be granted by the City Manager to government vehicles, students with valid Davidson Park W&L parking stickers and overnight guests of downtown lodging establishments whose vehicles are properly identified. Parking in the Roy Smith parking lot shall be limited to a maximum of 12 hours.

§ 394-82 Time limit.

[Amended by Ord. No. 91-16; Ord. No. 92-9; 10-21-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-07; 12-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-08; 3-16-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-04]

The following restrictions apply only Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.:

Spaces properly designated as loading zones shall be occupied only by vehicles used for commercial purposes while loading or unloading wares, merchandise, equipment, supplies and similar articles for the commercial benefit of the businesses of this City. No such vehicle may occupy a loading zone for a continuous period in excess of 15 minutes and only while being loaded or unloaded, without special written permission from the Chief of Police or his designated agent.

Spaces properly designated as "ten-minute parking" shall be used by vehicles for dropoff, delivery and pickup. No such vehicle may occupy a ten-minute parking space for a continuous period in excess of 10 minutes. Any vehicle remaining parked continuously in the same lawful parking space for a period in excess of 10 minutes between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. shall be in violation of this article. Between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. "ten-minute parking" (not "ten-minute parking at all times") spaces are unrestricted with the express exception of the "ten-minute at all times" spaces which are restricted to 10 minutes at all times. Nothing contained herein shall in any way conflict with Article XI (handicapped parking) of this chapter.

Spaces properly designated as "three-hour parking" shall be used by vehicles for general parking. No vehicle may occupy such a three-hour parking space for a continuous period in excess of three hours. Any vehicle remaining parked continuously in the same lawful parking space for a period in excess of three hours between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. shall be in violation of this article.

Spaces properly designated as "two-hour parking" shall be used by vehicles for general parking. No vehicle may occupy such a two-hour parking space for a continuous period in excess or two hours. Any vehicle remaining parked continuously in the same lawful parking space for a period in excess of two hours between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. shall be in violation of this article. However, parking in the two-hour parking spaces for a period up to 12 hours may be permitted by permit and by permit only. The administration of the permits shall be the responsibility of the City Manager or his designee.

Spaces properly designated as "one-hour parking" shall be used by vehicles for general parking. No vehicle may occupy such one-hour parking space for a continuous period in excess of one hour. Any vehicle remaining parked continuously in the same lawful parking space for a period in excess of one hour shall be in violation of this article.

Spaces properly designated as "twelve-hour parking" shall be used by vehicles for general parking. No vehicle may occupy such a twelve-hour parking space for a continuous period in excess of 12 hours. Any vehicle remaining parked continuously in the same lawful parking space for a period in excess of 12 hours shall be in violation of this article.

Spaces properly designated as "reserved" shall be unavailable for use by anyone other than such person or persons as may be designated from time to time by Council or the City Manager. Such spaces shall be unavailable during weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Any vehicle, except that authorized by the duly designated person or persons, parking in such reserved parking space during the aforesaid hours shall be in violation of this article.

§ 394-83 Erasing or removing timing mark, code or device.

[Added 12-5-1985; amended 10-21-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-07; 12-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-08; 3-16-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-04]

The owner and/or any person who parks a motor vehicle in a marked parking space in this zone shall be deemed thereby, as a condition of such parking, to have consented to the placement, without causing damage to such vehicle, of a mark or other code, device or virtual marking or digital marking on or of the vehicle by the police officers charged with the duty of enforcing this article for the purpose of determining the elapsed time a vehicle has been parked in the same parking space. Any person obliterating, erasing or removing such mark, code or device shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1, § 1-6 of this Code. Further, any owner and/or person who moves a motor vehicle that has been so marked must move said vehicle a sufficient distance to remove or wear said mark such that it is readily apparent. Police officers may be using GPS coordinates to identify the location of vehicles in specific parking spaces and may use the coordinate information to determine if a vehicle has been continuously parked in a particular spot.

§ 394-84 Exceptions.

[Amended 8-21-1986; by Ord. No. 92-9; 12-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-08; 3-16-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-04]

The provisions of this article and of Article VI of this chapter, insofar as the same are applicable to overtime parking, shall not apply between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. depending on the parking space (such as twelve-hour spaces; some permits are limited to 12 hours) and shall not apply on Saturdays, Sundays, New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

The officer shall attach to such vehicle a citation, being notice to the operator and owner thereof that such vehicle is over-parked in violation of a provision of this article, such citation to carry instructions of when and where to report with reference to the violation. The owner of the vehicle will be subject to the penalty provided in § 394-87.

Attachment of citation required by this section is not a license to remain over-parked indefinitely in violation of this article, except that any vehicle to which such citation is attached will be lawfully parked at that same parking space for a period in excess of the time stated or otherwise set forth on the signage pertaining to such space and noted on such citation but thereafter shall be subject to additional citations and penalties as set forth in this chapter.

The above provisions of this section shall not apply to the owners and operators of vehicles unlawfully parked in loading zones. Violation of the restrictions applicable to loading zones shall be subject to the penalty provided in § 394-65, and any vehicle unlawfully parked in a loading zone may be towed away at the expense of the owner of such vehicle.

§ 394-85 Enforcement procedure.

[Amended 10-21-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-07; 12-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-08]

Police officers charged with the duty of enforcing this article shall describe as precisely as possible the location of the space at which any vehicle is overparked, the license number of such vehicle, and the date and hour the violation is detected, the same to materially coincide with the attachment of the required notice, and report the same to the Police Department and make proper complaint of the violation.

The officer shall attach to such vehicle the citation which is notice to the operator and owner thereof that such vehicle is overparked in violation of a provision of this article. Such citation shall carry instructions of when and where to report with reference to the violation. The owner of the vehicle will be subject to the penalty provided in § 394-87.

Attachment of the citation required by this section is not a license to remain overparked indefinitely in violation of this article, except that any vehicle to which such citation is attached will be lawfully parked at that same parking space for a period in excess of the time stated or otherwise set forth on the signage pertaining to such space and noted on such citation but thereafter shall be subject to additional citations and penalties as set forth in this chapter.