Pursuant to the Connecticut General Statutes, Revision of 1958, as amended,
and the Charter of the Town of Wallingford, as amended, the following chapter
is hereby enacted to establish fire zones within the Town of Wallingford.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
FIRE ZONE
A designated unobstructed passageway sufficient to permit free passage
of fire and other emergency equipment from a public highway to all areas or
portions of any private or public property as hereinafter set forth.
Whenever the Fire Marshal shall determine that the reasonable safety
of persons occupying or using any premises, public or private, other than
a private residential dwelling consisting of four or less separate apartment
units, requires the establishment of a fire zone for the orderly access to
said premises of fire and other emergency equipment, he shall recommend to
the Director of Public Safety that said Director establish such fire zone.
Prior to making such recommendation, said Fire Marshal or Deputy Fire Marshal
shall discuss the area of the proposed fire zone with the owner or owners
or agents of said premises. No fire zone shall be recommended or established
by said Director of Public Safety for any building which immediately abuts
a public highway unless the owner of said building consents, in writing, to
the establishment of said zone. For the purposes of this chapter, a building
will be considered to immediately abut a public highway if it is no more than
15 feet from the town street line.
Whenever the Director of Public Safety establishes a fire zone as recommended
by the Fire Marshal, said Director shall cause a copy of said order to be
delivered to the owner or owners or agents thereof of any private land on
which such fire zone is established. Said Director of Public Safety shall
also file one copy of the order with the Town Clerk and one copy with the
Traffic Division of the Police Department.
Any person aggrieved by said order may appeal therefrom to the Court
of Common Pleas for the County of New Haven within 30 days from the date of
delivery of such notice.
Within 30 days of the establishment of a fire zone, the Traffic Division
of the Police Department shall cause to be erected or installed adequate signs
and/or markings or other devices to delineate said fire zone. Such signs and/or
markings or other devices installed on privately owned premises, as ordered
by the Director of Public Safety, shall be at the cost of the owner. All such
signs or markings shall read, FIRE ZONE NO PARKING — VIOLATORS
WILL BE TOWED. Should the owner or owners or agents thereof of any private
land fail to comply with the order of the Director of Public Safety, the Fire
Marshal or the Deputy Fire Marshal may have the Traffic Division erect said
signs and establish said markings, and the cost of said signs and the installation
thereof shall be billed to the owner or owners or agents thereof and collected
in the same manner as municipal taxes, provided that the Traffic Division
causes a notice of lien to be filed on the land records within 60 days after
the erection or installation of said signs or markings.
No person shall park or permit to stand a motor vehicle in a fire zone
which has been established in accordance with this chapter, except when actually
picking up or discharging passengers. Any person violating this section shall,
upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $100. The registered owner
of a motor vehicle shall be presumed to be the operator of such vehicle.
Any motor vehicle found standing in a fire zone which has been established
in accordance with this chapter may be towed, upon the direction of a police
officer, to any public or private parking facility, and all expense of such
towing and any subsequent storage shall be borne by the registered owner of
such vehicle.
[Amended 2-28-1989 by Ord. No. 371]
Whenever a vehicle is found standing in violation of §
115-7, a police officer shall serve upon the owner or operator of such vehicle, or place upon such vehicle, a notice directing the owner or operator thereof to appear at the Police Department prior to a time specified in said notice. If any person receiving said notice shall appear as directed and shall pay an amount as specified in said notice, not exceeding $15, such payment shall bar a prosecution for violation of §
115-7.