[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Brookfield 10-12-1976.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Board of Selectmen is hereby designated as the Traffic Authority
for the Town of Brookfield. Said Traffic Authority and/or the Fire Marshal
of the Town of Brookfield are authorized to designate fire lanes and fire
zones pursuant to the provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes and the
Fire Safety Code of the State of Connecticut. Whenever such a fire zone or
fire lane is so designated, the Traffic Authority and/or Fire Marshal shall
cause to be erected or installed adequate signs, markings and other devices
to delineate such fire zones and fire lanes. Such signs and markings shall
be installed, if the premises are privately owned, at the expense of the owner
and shall be erected by the owner within 30 days after receipt of written
notice from the Fire Marshal or Traffic Authority directing the installation
of such signs and markings. Such signs and markings shall conform to federal
and state requirements for uniform traffic control devices.
No person shall park or permit to stand a motor vehicle in a fire lane
or fire zone.
A.
Whenever any vehicle is found parked or standing in a
fire zone or fire lane, it may be removed by or under the direction of a State
Trooper, Brookfield Constable or Brookfield police officer, by means of towing
or otherwise, to a public or private parking facility located within the Town
of Brookfield. Such removal of any vehicle shall be deemed the abatement of
a nuisance and shall be at the risk of the owner or person entitled to the
possession of such vehicle. Any vehicle so removed shall be impounded and
shall continue to be impounded until the fees and charges provided in this
chapter shall be paid by the owner or person entitled to possession thereof.
B.
The State Trooper, Constable or police officer directing
the impounding of any such vehicle shall make a prompt report to the Chief
of Police and shall cause notice of the impoundment to be sent to the owner
of record of such vehicle within 48 hours from the time of such removal, indicating
the place to which such vehicle has been removed and the reason for its removal
and impounding.
A.
No person shall be permitted to remove from a public
or private parking facility any vehicle impounded under the provisions of
this chapter unless such person reports to the office of the Chief of Police
and:
(1)
Furnishes satisfactory evidence of his identity and ownership
of the vehicle or agency on behalf of the owner or other right to immediate
possession.
(2)
Pays a violation fee of $50 for the parking violation
to the Town of Brookfield.
[Amended 2-5-1996]
(3)
Exhibits a receipt and authorization from the Chief of
Police or his designated representative indicating that the violation fee
has been paid and pays for the storage of the vehicle and the costs of towing
or removing the vehicle, which storage and towing charges shall be retained
by the person or firm who did the towing.
B.
The removing, towing and storage charges provided in
this chapter shall be a lien upon such impounded vehicle, and the payment
thereof shall not release or relieve the owner or his agent from prosecution
for any violation of law which may have been involved from the circumstances
which resulted in the impounding of such vehicle.
C.
When any impounded vehicle is returned to its owner or
any person on behalf of the owner, such person or owner shall sign a receipt
for the vehicle.
[Amended 2-5-1996]
In the event that a vehicle is parked or found standing in a designated
fire zone or fire lane but has not been removed by towing, the owner or driver
shall pay a violation fee of $50 to the Town of Brookfield for such illegal
parking or standing.
In any prosecution or proceeding hereunder, there shall be a prima facie
presumption that the owner of such vehicle was the person who parked such
vehicle at the place where such violation occurred.
Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter and fails to
pay all fines, fees and charges resulting from said violation within seven
days from the date of the violation shall be prosecuted and shall be fined
not more than $100 or be imprisoned not more than 30 days, or both, and shall
be subject to the provisions of Section 14-111 of the Connecticut General
Statutes, as amended.
