Village of East Hampton, NY Article IV Volunteer Program for Handicapped Parking Enforcement

[Adopted 10-2-1991 by L.L. No. 15-1991; amended in its entirety 8-21-1998 by L.L. No. 14-1998 (Ch. 54, Art. IV, of the 1971 Code)]

§ 267-29 Program established; implementation; enforcement; penalties for offenses.

A. Title. The title of this article shall be "Volunteer Program for Handicapped Parking Enforcement."

B. Purpose. The New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law provides for the designation of handicapped parking spaces by municipalities. Penalties imposed under the Vehicle and Traffic Law for illegal parking in handicapped spaces are made subject to provisions of legislation. The purpose of this article is to impose more stringent fines for such illegal parking and to utilize revenues and programs derived from such fines to improve handicapped facilities within the Town and Village of East Hampton. To assist in the enforcement of handicapped parking regulations, this article (via § 1203-f of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law) creates a volunteer program for handicapped parking enforcement in which volunteers work in conjunction with the East Hampton Town Police Department and the East Hampton Village Police Department to assist in the enforcement of handicapped parking legislation.

C. Implementation of the program.

(1) The East Hampton Town Police Department, in conjunction with the East Hampton Village Police Department, is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to establish the volunteer program for handicapped parking (the "program"). The program shall utilize volunteers to survey East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village public roads and public parking lots with cameras for the purpose of photographing automobiles parking in violation of §§ 1203-b and 1203-c of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. The program shall utilize volunteers to survey private parking areas, driveways, streets and roadways that have been designated for such regulatory enforcement pursuant to Ch. 240, Article XI of the East Hampton Town Code.

(2) The program shall include but not be limited to the following procedures and equipment:

(a) The East Hampton Town Police Department, in conjunction with the East Hampton Village Police Department, shall develop, publish and administer a training program of not less than three hours in duration which all prospective program volunteers must complete prior to their active participation in the program.

[1] Said training program shall, at a minimum, include one hour of classroom instruction and two hours of field training.

[2] Said training program shall include detailed instruction covering proper violation identification and documentation as well as instruction in proper photographic technique.

(b) The East Hampton Town Police, in conjunction with the East Hampton Village Police Department, shall establish, administer and publish a uniform procedure which all program participants shall follow in determining whether a violation has in fact occurred.

(c) Each volunteer shall be assigned an identification number and shall be issued an identification card with the volunteer's photo, name and identification number affixed thereto.

(d) Each volunteer shall be required to wear an identification badge when engaging in program activities. Each volunteer shall be issued his or her own badge, and a list of volunteers with their corresponding identification badge numbers shall be maintained jointly by the East Hampton Town Police and East Hampton Village Police Departments.

(e) Schedules shall be developed to allow for the placement of volunteers in various areas of the Town on different days on a rotating basis so as to not leave any area of the Town unpatrolled or duplicated.

(f) All volunteers, upon determining that a violation has occurred, shall complete a detailed complaint form for each such violation, noting the location (town/village) of the violation and shall turn over all said complaint forms to the appropriate enforcement authority. These forms shall be considered complete when they include the following information/materials:

[1] At least one photo depicting the scene of the violation, said photo to be developed in accordance with Subsection C(2)(g) of this section, and depicting the vehicle in question, the vehicle's license plate number, the handicapped parking sign and blue striping designating the space as a reserved handicapped parking space.

[2] A written description of the following:

[a] The vehicle's license plate number.

[b] The vehicle's registration expiration date.

[c] The vehicle year.

[d] The make of the vehicle.

[e] The color of the vehicle.

[f] The date of the alleged violation.

[g] The time of the alleged violation.

[h] The location of the alleged violation.

[i] The assigned identification number of the reporting volunteer.

(g) Cameras and polaroid-type film shall be provided to the volunteers by the Town of East Hampton/Village of East Hampton, and all photos taken pursuant to the program shall meet the following criteria:

[1] All photos must show the vehicle in question, its license plate, the handicapped parking sign and the blue striping designating the space in question as reserved for handicapped parking.

[2] The Town Police Department shall have sole authority to process or contract for the processing of all film submitted by program volunteers which relates to violation of this section occurring within the Town of East Hampton. The same authority shall be granted the East Hampton Village Police Department in the case of violations which occur within the Village of East Hampton.

[3] All photos taken pursuant to this program shall be made available for inspection by the defendant in any proceeding to adjudicate liability for a violation brought under this article.

[4] As a required accompaniment to all photos submitted under the program, the Town Police Department or, in the case of a violation occurring in East Hampton Village, the Village police, shall provide as prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein a certificate sworn or affirmed by a technician employed by the town/village containing a description of that which is depicted in said photos. Said description is to be based upon the technician's inspection of the photos produced from film submitted by program volunteers.

[5] All volunteer photos submitted shall be used solely as evidence of a handicapped parking violation and for no other purpose.

(h) The program shall also include a procedure by which, depending upon the location of the violation, the East Hampton Town Police Department or the East Hampton Village Police Department may be requested and empowered to undertake the following tasks:

[1] Prepare the necessary deposition for signature by the volunteer who actually witnessed the violation.

[2] Administer the necessary oath for verification.

[3] Prepare the necessary information for presentation to the East Hampton Justice Court.

[4] Forward all pertinent documents to said Justice Court.

[5] Arrange to send by first class mail, return receipt requested, to each person alleged to be liable, a cover letter explaining the program and an appearance ticket/information which shall reference the law allegedly violated and which shall contain the name and address of the person alleged to be liable, the registration number of the vehicle involved, the location where the alleged violation occurred, the date and time of said violation and the identification number of the volunteer who recorded the violation.

[6] Said notice of violation/appearance ticket shall also contain information advising the person charged of the manner, time and place in/at which he/she may contest the violation alleged in the notice and shall advise the person(s) charged that failure to contest the violation in the proper manner and within the proper time shall be deemed an admission of liability and that a default judgment may be entered against thereon.

(3) Program volunteers shall also canvass the town for the purpose of determining if any person, firm or corporation owning a shopping center or facility with at least five separate retail stores and at least 20 off-street parking spaces provided for use by the shopping public has failed to provide spaces only for the handicapped and to clearly mark the spaces for use by the handicapped in accordance with § 1203-c of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Alleged violations shall be referred to the East Hampton Town Attorney's office or the East Hampton Village Attorney's office.

(4) The East Hampton Town Attorney's office and the East Hampton Village Attorney's office, in conjunction and consultation with the East Hampton Town Police Department and/or the East Hampton Village Police Department, is hereby authorized and empowered to promulgate and issue such rules and regulations as are deemed necessary and sufficient to implement this program.

D. Enforcement. This article shall be enforced by those public officials charged with the duty of enforcing the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.

E. Notice. In order to provide adequate notice of the pertinent governing code section and penalties imposed by the program, and as a condition of the implementation of the program, the East Hampton town police and the East Hampton Village police, in conjunction with the East Hampton Town Highway Department and the East Hampton Village Highway Department, shall ensure that all handicapped parking signage shall be upgraded to include signage listing both the code section(s) imposing the fines contained herein and the dollar amount(s) of those fines.

F. Application of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law to the program.

(1) The New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law sets forth the requirements that must be met if a vehicle is to park legally in any area designated as a place of handicapped parking. Said vehicle must display one of the following:

(a) A special municipal parking permit issued to handicapped drivers (as defined in § 1203-a of the Vehicle and Traffic Law and distributed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to local governing bodies to be issued to handicapped persons who reside in such localities).

(b) A special motor vehicle registration and one set of disabled person vehicle identification plates (as defined in § 404-a of the Vehicle and Traffic Law and distributed by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to handicapped persons and to noncommercial vans used to transport handicapped persons).

(2) In establishing penalties for illegal parking in handicapped spaces, the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law distinguishes among vehicles parking in off-street parking spaces provided by a shopping center or facility with at least five separate retail stores and 20 off-street parking spaces (see § 1203-c of the Vehicle and Traffic Law); vehicles stopped, standing or parking on public streets in designated handicapped parking spaces (see § 1203-b of the Vehicle and Traffic Law); and vehicles stopped, standing or parked on certain private streets, roadways, driveways and/or parking lots that are subject to regulation following enactment of local legislation (see § 1660-a of the Vehicle and Traffic Law and Chapter 240, Article XI, of the East Hampton Town Code).

(a) Off-street handicapped parking spaces. Section 1203-c of the Vehicle and Traffic Law sets forth the fines that can be imposed against a person convicted of illegally parking in a handicapped parking space. Said § 1203-c further provides that a town may, by local law, impose a larger maximum fine.

(b) Handicapped parking spaces on public streets and on certain private areas designated by local law. Section 1800 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law provides the amount of fines and the length of imprisonment that can be imposed against a person convicted of illegally parking in a handicapped parking space. Said § 1800 further provides that a town may prescribe additional fines by local law.

G. Program fines. Any person who parks in a space clearly marked for use by the handicapped without a special municipal parking permit or whose vehicle lacks a special motor vehicle registration and one set of disabled person vehicle identification plates and whose vehicle is not being used for the transportation of a handicapped person shall be subject to a program fine of $250 for the first offense and $350 for any subsequent offense committed within 18 months within the same municipality.

H. Disposition of fines. The proceeds of the program fines collected pursuant to this article shall be placed in a reserve fund as provided for in Article 2 of the New York State General Municipal Law and shall be used for the sole purpose(s) of enhancing handicapped facilities and programs in the Town and Village of East Hampton and, additionally, to reimburse both the town and Village for training, maintenance and administrative costs related to implementation of this program.