[Added 11-10-1980; amended 6-26-1989]
A. The Police Department for the City is hereby empowered
to regulate and control parking in and on fire and emergency lanes
upon those parking lots, shopping areas, all City municipal park parking
areas or other areas as defined in § 46.2-1219, Code of
Virginia.
[Amended 11-13-1990]
B. There shall be no parking at any time in any area
referred to herein or as defined in the above code section, except
for Fire Department, emergency and police vehicles.
C. In the event of a violation of any of the provisions
of this section, the Police Department for the City may have the vehicle
towed at the owner's expense, and a penalty may be assessed in an
amount not less than $10 nor more than $100.
[Added 10-26-1981; amended 7-12-1982]
A. It shall be unlawful for a nonhandicapped operator
of any motor vehicle to park in a parking space reserved for the handicapped
on public property or at privately owned shopping centers and business
offices located within the City.
B. A nonhandicapped operator may use these spaces when
chauffeuring a handicapped person, provided that the vehicle is identified
as a handicapped vehicle.
C. Any vehicle parked in a handicapped parking space
shall be deemed illegally parked unless the vehicle displays a state
handicapped motor vehicle license plate or any other handicapped display
that may be allowed by the City.
D. Any police officer employed by the City shall have
full authority to issue a summons for any offense as hereinabove referred
to.
E. In the event of a violation of this section, a penalty
may be assessed in an amount not less than $10 nor more than $100.
It shall be unlawful for any person to park
a vehicle on any street for the purpose of displaying or selling merchandise,
provided that temporary stops for the purpose of making sales by persons
licensed as peddlers or persons of whom no peddler's license is required
shall not be deemed a violation, but no stop by any vehicle at one
place for a period in excess of 30 minutes shall be considered temporary,
and no vehicle shall make more than one stop in any one block within
24 hours.
No person shall wash, polish or grease a vehicle
upon a highway or sidewalk, nor shall the owner of a vehicle permit
it to be washed, polished or greased upon a highway or sidewalk.
[Amended 11-13-1990; 8-9-1999]
A. It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation or
firm to park an automobile, truck, trailer or other equipment of this
type, which is inoperative on any street or private property within
the City of Galax, Virginia, for a longer period of time than 48 hours,
unless same is in a garage or enclosed building. As used in this section,
an inoperative motor vehicle means any motor vehicle, trailer or other
equipment of this type which is not in operating condition or which
has been partially or totally disassembled by the removal of tires
and wheels, the engine or other essential parts required for the operation
of the vehicle, trailer or other equipment of this type or on which
there is displayed no valid state license plates, valid state inspection
decal and valid City decal.
B. Any vehicle described in Subsection
A above which is parked outside of a licensed garage for repairs may be parked for a period not exceeding 30 days.
C. The City Manager shall have the right to give a permit
for thirty-day parking under the terms of this section if he deems
it proper.
D. Any person, corporation or firm violating this section
shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $100. Each day this
violation continues shall be considered a separate offense.
[Amended 11-13-2017]
No vehicle shall be backed up to a sidewalk
or curb, except during the time actually engaged in loading or unloading
merchandise therefrom, and for all the time a vehicle shall remain
backed up to a sidewalk or curb over and above such time as may be
necessary for such purpose, the driver or owner of such vehicle shall
be fined an amount to be determined by the City Manager and confirmed
by resolution of City Council for each hour or part of an hour that
it shall stand so backed up. No person shall be allowed to obstruct
the streets while loading or unloading such vehicle, when required
to move out of the way, and for failure to so move such person shall
be fined an amount to be determined by the City Manager and confirmed
by resolution of City Council.
Where a loading and unloading zone has been
set apart by the City Manager in accordance with applicable provisions
of this Article, the following regulations shall apply with respect
to the use of such areas:
A. No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle for
any purpose or length of time, other than for the expeditious unloading
and delivery or pickup and loading of materials, in any place marked
as a curb loading zone during hours when the provisions applicable
to such zones are in effect. All delivery vehicles, other than regular
delivery trucks, using such loading zones shall be identified by the
owner's or company's name in letters three inches high on both sides
of the vehicle.
B. The driver of a passenger vehicle may stop temporarily
in a space marked as a curb loading zone for the purpose of, and while
actually engaged in, loading or unloading passengers or bundles when
such stopping does not interfere with any vehicle used for the transportation
of materials which is waiting to enter or is about to enter such loading
space.
Where a bus stop or taxicab stand has been set
apart in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Article,
no person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle other than a bus in
a bus stop or other than a taxicab in a taxicab stand when such stop
or stand has been officially designated and appropriately signed,
except that the driver of a passenger vehicle may temporarily stop
therein for the purpose of and while actually engaged in the expeditious
loading or unloading of passengers when such stopping does not interfere
with any bus or taxicab waiting to enter or about to enter such zone.
The City Manager shall have the power to enter into contracts with the owner or operator of garages or places for the removal or storage of vehicles referred to in §
148-75. The contracts shall provide for the payment by the City of reasonable charges for the removal and storage of such vehicles, shall require such owners or operators to deliver such vehicles to the owners thereof or their agents upon demand therefor, upon furnishing satisfactory evidence of identity and ownership or agency and that the owners or operators of such garages or places of storage will indemnify the owners of such vehicles for injury or damage thereto resulting from the negligent removal or storage thereof, and such owners or operators shall be required to provide themselves with adequate liability insurance to cover such indemnity.
Any personal property found in any unattended or abandoned motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer may be sold incident to the sale of any such vehicle as authorized in §
148-75.
No person shall stand or park a vehicle on any
private lot or lot area without the express or implied consent of
the owner thereof. Whenever signs or markings have been erected on
any lot or lot area contiguous or adjacent to a street, thoroughfare
or alley, indicating that no vehicles are permitted to stand or park
thereon, it shall be unlawful for any person to drive a vehicle across
any curb or lot line or over any driveway from a street or alley into
such lot or area for the purpose of standing or parking such vehicle
or for any person to stop, stand or park any vehicle in such lot or
lot area.
[Amended 11-13-2017; 4-23-2018; 9-12-2022]
A. Each police officer, or other City employee designated by the Chief
of Police and charged with the duty of enforcing this article, shall
place on any vehicle parked illegally under the provisions of this
article a notice to the owner or driver thereof that such vehicle
has been parked in violation of this article and instructing such
owner or driver when and where to report with reference to such violation.
The City Manager shall promulgate forms for issuing notice of such
illegal parking and for contesting such notices and may amend such
forms from time to time as he may determine.
B. Upon failure of any such owner, within the time limit provided on the forms for issuing notice of illegal parking, to pay the penalty provided on the forms, as allowed under this chapter, the City Manager shall send to such owner a law enforcement notice advising him or her of the violation and warning him or her that, in the event the penalty is not paid within five days of receipt of such notice, the City Manager or the Manager's designee shall cause a summons to be issued against the person to be charged with the offense and shall certify, in writing, such parking citation to the Clerk of the City's General District Court. Any owner who fails to comply with the terms of such notice shall be subject to the penalty provided for in §
148-24 of this chapter.
C. In any prosecution charging a violation of the parking regulations,
proof that the vehicle described in the complaint, summons or warrant
was parked in violation thereof, together with proof that the defendant
was at the time of such parking the registered owner of the vehicle,
as required by Code of Virginia, § 46.2-600 et seq., shall
constitute in evidence a prima facie presumption that such registered
owner of the vehicle was the person who parked the vehicle at the
place where, and for the time during which, such violation occurred.