[Added 6-15-1998 by Ord. No. 30.52.98; amended 12-17-2001 by Ord. No. 40.121.01; 12-15-2003 by Ord. No. 30.82.03; 4-21-2006 by Ord. No. 05.21.06; 6-5-2006 by Ord. No. 55.52.06(MC); 4-21-2025 by L.L. No. 3-2025 (J-2024)]
A. 
The installation and operation of certain devices known generally as parking meters are hereby authorized and required on the streets, thoroughfares and public places of the City of Albany which from time to time may be specified by the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee. Parking spaces are hereby authorized and established on all such streets, thoroughfares and public places subject generally to the powers, authorizations and conditions contained in this article. The Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, is authorized and empowered, and is given the continuing direction within the limits of this article to rearrange or otherwise change parking meters on the streets, thoroughfares and public places designated from time to time so as best to provide for the traffic needs of the City of Albany and for changing conditions and adjacent installations.
B. 
For the purposes of this article, the term "parking meter" shall also refer to a device or devices known as "pay stations" or "multi-space meters" which are centrally located and capable of regulating multiple metered parking spaces through display of a receipt or other proof of payment which is obtained upon payment of the applicable parking fee.
The Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, is hereby authorized and directed to install, to direct the installation or to order the installation of parking meters on portions of the streets, thoroughfares and public places of the City of Albany. In his discretion from time to time and as he may deem best suited for the traffic needs of the particular portion of the streets, thoroughfares and public places of the City, the parking meters may be of 20 minutes, one hour, two hours, four hours or 10 hours. The Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, also is authorized to install parking meters with other variations of time.
Single-space parking meters for parallel parking shall be installed from time to time in such manner as to divide the street and sub area into units or stalls of approximately 20 feet in length. The meters shall be installed in such manner as to be at the forward end of such curb parking spaces. Parking meters for other than parallel parking shall be installed in such a manner as, in the discretion of the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, is best suited for designating the parking spaces in the particular area.
A. 
Signal. Each parking meter, other than a pay station or multi-space meter, shall be so installed or set as to display, upon the deposit of proper United States coin or coins to properly register the coin or coins for the period of time designated as being proper for parking at that place, a signal indicating legal parking for the said period of time.
B. 
Expiration. Each parking meter, other than a pay station or multi-space meter, shall also be equipped with a device which shall continue operation from the time of the depositing of said coin or coins to properly register the said coin or coins until the expiration of the designated legal parking period, when it will indicate by a proper operation and the display of a proper signal that the lawful period for parking, as prescribed, has expired.
C. 
Pay stations and multi-space meters. Each pay station or multi-space meter, upon payment of the applicable fee, shall be capable of generating a receipt or other proof of payment indicating the amount of parking time purchased and the expiration thereof. Proper display of proof of payment shall be by a means determined by the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering or their designee and in such a manner that the expiration time and date are readily visible from the exterior of the vehicle, or via alternative communication methods. For motorcycles, receipts shall be affixed where clearly visible. Pay stations or multi-space meters shall be equipped so as to be able to accept payment through the deposit of proper United States coin or coins (which may include paper currency), credit or debit card or other form of payment as determined by the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee.
Each parking meter mechanism shall display, in a conspicuous place, a plate or other device which shall clearly state the hours during which that meter shall be legally in operation and any exceptions thereto. The plate shall also clearly indicate the type of coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment, which must be inserted therein for the legal parking of a vehicle and the period of time during which it shall be legally permissible to park in that meter area upon the payment of the prescribed coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment.
Any other section or subsections of this article notwithstanding, the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, is hereby authorized and directed to determine the duration times and the fees for the operation of meters on any parking space.
The Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, shall have the duty to keep all meters installed under the provisions of this article in a good operating condition, clean and properly painted. Each meter shall have clearly marked upon it or its standard or supporting post in a conspicuous place an identifying number to indicate its location. The number shall be used for the purpose of identifying the location of the meter zone and the vehicle therein when the vehicle is charged with a violation of parking provisions at that place, and the number will serve as a means of identification which the public or the Police Department may use when reporting defective meters, violations or other occurrences.
The coins, or other applicable form of payment, required to be deposited in parking meters are hereby levied as fees to provide for the proper regulation and control of traffic upon the streets, thoroughfares and in the public places of the City and to cover the cost of the purchase, installation, inspection, maintenance, collection and control and operation of parking meters, including the establishment and maintenance of parking spaces.
It shall be the duty of the Police Department of the City of Albany to enforce the parking provisions of this article applicable to vehicles stopped or parked in a space adjacent to a parking meter in active operation. Such violation shall be recorded, and a notice thereof shall be left upon the vehicle in the form and manner applying to parking violations as set forth in Article IX of this chapter.
At any location on the streets, thoroughfares and public places of this City where a parking meter is in active operation it shall be lawful, upon payment of the designated coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment, for that particular location, to park a vehicle for the full period designated as the maximum period for legal parking. The vehicle may be parked for the unexpired time, if any, showing on the parking meter from a previous insertion of a coin or coins without the additional payment of any coin or coins for said unexpired term. The provisions of this section imposing a time limit on parking shall not relieve any person from the duty to observe other and more restrictive provisions prohibiting or limiting stopping, standing or parking of vehicles in specified places or at specified times.
It shall be illegal for any driver to park a vehicle in an area specified for parallel parking, in a space adjacent to a single-space parking meter in active operation, other than with the front wheel of the vehicle approximately centered upon the standard or post supporting the parking meter.
A. 
Restrictions. It shall be unlawful for any person to permit a vehicle to park or remain in any space adjacent to a parking meter in active operation on one of the streets, thoroughfares or public places of this City, except as otherwise specifically provided in this article, without inserting the proper coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment, in the parking meter provided therefor. No vehicle shall be permitted to stand in the space adjacent to any parking meter during the time when parking or stopping is otherwise prohibited at such location by message on the meter mechanism, sign posting or covering of the meter with an official marked cover, which shall indicate that parking is prohibited.
B. 
Tampering with meter; slugs. It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit or cause to be deposited in a parking meter any slug, device or substitute for the proper United States coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment. It shall also be unlawful for any person to deface, injure, tamper with, steal from, open or willfully break into, to destroy, to remove or to impair the usefulness of any parking meter installed under the provisions of this article, except that this provision shall not apply to persons duly designated by the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, for the purpose of collecting United States currency placed into said parking meters, or to persons authorized by the Commissioner of the Department of Engineering, or their designee, for regulating, repairing or maintaining such meters. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500 or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months, or to both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
[Amended 12-1-2025 by Ord. No. 20.91.25]
Parking shall be legal and permissible, upon the insertion of the designated coin or coins, or other applicable form of payment, at the locations designated on the streets, thoroughfares and public places in the City, for the period of time respectively indicated on such meters in metered parking spaces. The provisions of this article shall not be enforced on Saturdays or Sundays; or on New Year's Day, January 1; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the third Monday in January; President's Day, the third Monday in February; Memorial Day, the fourth Monday in May; Independence Day, July 4; Labor Day, the first Monday in September; Frances Xavier Cabrini Day and Indigenous Peoples Day (observed), the second Monday in October; Election Day, the first Tuesday in November; Veteran's Day (observed), the second Monday in November; Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November; and Christmas Day, December 25. Metered spaces may be used without charge or without depositing a coin or coins, or other form of applicable payment, in the meters at times when parking is not regulated and when the prohibition against parking is not in force.
It shall be lawful for a passenger vehicle to stop in a vacant space adjacent to a parking meter in active operation in order to take on or discharge passengers or passengers' baggage transported on the same vehicle without the payment of a coin or coins, or other applicable form of payment, provided that such stopping is restricted to these purposes and is performed expeditiously. Commercial vehicles which are actually engaged in the expeditious pickup or delivery of merchandise may stop in such metered space without the necessity for inserting a coin or coins, or other applicable form of payment, in the meter. Any prolonged absence of the driver of such commercial vehicle from the immediate vicinity of the vehicle shall be deemed to be evidence that the vehicle is not engaged in expeditious pickup or delivery of merchandise and shall constitute a violation of the provisions of this section.