[HISTORY: Adopted by The Mayor and Council of New Castle as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 225.
Zoning — See Ch. 230.
Fees — See Ch. A239.
[Adopted 3-5-1991 by Ord. No. 329]
For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
BOAT
Any vessel that may be propelled by oars, paddles, sails, power or motor, that is designed or intended to be used on any body of water.
[Amended 4-24-2001 by Ord. No. 399]
DRIVEWAY
A surface treated and hardened to accommodate vehicles in accordance with the applicable building code regulations and being that part of the passage located on private property that provides vehicular ingress and egress to a property fronting on a public street using an approved curb cut and as limited in width by § 230-28D.
[Added 4-24-2001 by Ord. No. 399]
FRONT YARD AREA
A yard extending the full width of the lot between the front street line and the residential dwelling, except for driveways.
[Added 4-24-2001 by Ord. No. 399]
MOTOR VEHICLE
Includes every vehicle which is self-propelled, except farm tractors and OHVs.
[Added 4-24-2001 by Ord. No. 399]
OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE (OHV)
A motor-driven off-road vehicle capable of cross-country travel without benefit of a road or trail, on or immediately over land, snow, ice, marsh, swampland or other natural terrain. It includes but is not limited to a multi-wheel-drive or low-pressure-tire vehicle, a motorcycle or related two-wheel vehicle, an amphibious machine, a ground-effect air-cushion vehicle or other means of transportation deriving motive power from a source other than muscle or wind. OHV does not include a farm vehicle being used for farming, a vehicle used for military, fire, emergency or law enforcement purposes, a construction or logging vehicle used in performance of its common function or a registered aircraft.
OPERATOR
Includes every person who is in actual physical control of a vehicle or OHV.
[Added 4-24-2001 by Ord. No. 399]
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation or legal entity of whatever nature.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
Includes every motor vehicle, self-propelled or capable of being towed by a passenger vehicle, bus, station wagon or pickup truck, of such size and weight as not to require any special highway movement permits from the Delaware Department of Motor Vehicles, which is primarily designed or constructed to provide temporary, movable human living quarters for recreational, camping or travel use, not the residence of the owner or occupant. It shall also include all trailers as defined in this section, and every van which is used primarily for personal pleasure and not for commercial use, regardless of the equipment or furnishings contained within such van.
RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT
A. 
Those districts established and defined by §§ 230-16 through 230-19 of Chapter 230, Zoning, of the City of New Castle.
B. 
Any roads adjacent to the districts and areas identified in Subsection A.
SERVING A PERMITTED USE
The act of providing a service or other function, during the pendency of that function only, requested by or contracted for by a person engaged in a permitted use within a residential district, as well as the permitted use in the first instance, if applicable.
TRAILER
Includes a mobile home, travel trailer, house trailer, office trailer, camping trailer or any vehicle without motive power designed to carry property or passengers wholly on its own structure and to be drawn by a motor vehicle.
TRUCK/TRACTOR
Includes every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than as a part of the weight of the vehicle and the load so drawn.
VEHICLE
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks and excepting electric trackless trolley coaches and excepting OHVs.
[Amended 8-6-1991 by Ord. No. 329A; 12-9-1997 by Ord. No. 379; 4-24-2001 by Ord. No. 399]
A. 
Parking of boats and off-highway vehicles (OHVs) in residential districts. The parking of boats, a boat trailer, or OHVs on public roadways, dedicated private roadways, front yard areas, or lawn areas of apartment buildings or complexes in residential district is prohibited.
B. 
Parking of tractors, trailers and trucks in residential districts prohibited.
(1) 
No person shall park in any residential district, as defined in Chapter 230, Zoning, of the City of New Castle, any tractor, trailer, tractor and trailer, or any combination thereof, dump truck, oil thick or any other vehicle whose length is greater than 240 inches, or whose width is over 84 inches, or whose height is over 84 inches, or whose weight exceeds 5,000 pounds, except when serving a permitted use.
(2) 
The prohibition contained in this subsection shall not be applicable to lot owners who own, lease or sublet a parcel of land comprising at least two acres, provided, in all cases, that this exemption shall be applicable only in instances where the prohibited vehicle is parked on the owner's, lessee's or sublessee's property, incidental to the use of the property as a residence.
C. 
Parking of trailers and other recreational vehicles in residential districts.
[Amended 10-29-2015 by Ord. No. 503]
(1) 
No person shall park any trailer on any public roadway, dedicated private roadway, front yard areas, or lawn areas of apartment buildings or complexes in a residential district for more than 24 consecutive hours. The exemption provided for in § 172-2C(3) below shall be inapplicable to trailers. In addition, no person shall park any other recreational vehicle whose length is greater than 240 inches, or whose width is over 84 inches, or whose weight exceeds 5,000 pounds, on any public roadway, dedicated private roadway, front yard areas, or lawn areas of apartment buildings or complexes in a residential district.
(2) 
Parking of a recreational vehicle on a public or private roadway in a residential district shall be permitted on a temporary basis, not to exceed seven days, by any person visiting a lot owner, lessee or sublessee. A visitor wishing to avail himself/herself of this privilege must comply with the following requirements:
(a) 
Parking on the roadway during the seven-day period shall be limited to the portion of the roadway fronting on the lot which is the subject of the visit.
(b) 
The visitor or his/her designee shall obtain a temporary permit form from the City Clerk, which permit shall designate the vehicle to be parked, to whom the permit is issued and the date upon which the permit is to expire. The temporary permit must be displayed on the rear-view mirror of the recreational vehicle during the period of time it is parked on the roadway.
(c) 
A fee as set by resolution of the City Council from time to time exists to defray the costs of administering this permit procedure. The fee shall be due and payable to the City Clerk upon the filing of the application.
(d) 
Failure to display the temporary permit shall be deemed to be a violation of this article, punishable as provided in § 172-4.
(3) 
Exemptions.
(a) 
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, all owners of recreational vehicles currently parking recreational vehicles on public and private roadways, who do not have private property on which to park the recreational vehicle, may continue to park the recreational vehicle on the roadway, subject to the conditions that: (i) this exemption shall not apply to trailers; and (ii) this exemption shall expire on the earlier of the two following occurrences, the intent of this provision being to assure that exemption rights are nontransferable with respect to the vehicle and the place of residence:
[1] 
The recreational vehicle is sold by the owner who qualified for the exemption.
[2] 
The recreational vehicle owner has moved from the property which served as his or her residence on the date that this provision was adopted.
D. 
Parking of vehicles. No person shall park a vehicle, except when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer, in any of the following places:
(1) 
In the front yard area of a dwelling in a residential district.
(2) 
All lawn areas of apartment buildings or complexes.
The City Police Department shall have the primary responsibility for enforcing violations of this article on the public roadways in residential districts. The Housing Officer shall have the primary responsibility for enforcing violations of this article on private property in residential districts. This delegation of primary responsibility to the Police Department and Housing Officer shall have no effect on the authority of any other police agency pursuant 9 Del. C., Chapter 19, or 11 Del. C., Chapter 83, Subchapter 1.
For each violation of this article, any person, operator, lessee or owner of any vehicle, recreational vehicle, tractor, trailer, bus, dump truck, oil truck, boat or any other vehicle, or any owner, lessee or occupier of a building or premises in or on which any such violation exists, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $25 and not more than $100 for the first offense; and not less than $50 and not more than $200 for each subsequent offense. Each day a violation of this article continues shall constitute and be deemed a separate offense.
A summons in appropriate form may be attached to an unattended vehicle found in violation of this article by any police officer of the Police Department.
There is hereby created a rebuttable presumption that the person in whose name a vehicle, recreational vehicle, tractor, trailer, bus, dump truck, oil truck, boat or any other vehicle is registered as the owner shall be prima facie responsible for any violation of this article if such vehicle is unattended when the violation is discovered.
[Adopted 1-16-1996 by Ord. No. 370]
A person shall be deemed disabled for the purposes of this article if the person has one or more of the disabilities set forth in 21 Del. C. § 2134(a)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6), and has been issued a special, handicapped person's registration plate pursuant to 21 Del. C. § 2134 or a disabled person's parking permit pursuant to 21 Del. C. § 2135.
A. 
No person shall park a vehicle in a parking space on public property in the City of New Castle which has been set aside and identified for use only by persons with physical disabilities, unless:
(1) 
The vehicle registration plate has displayed thereon the word "handicapped" as provided in 21 Del. C. § 2134; or
(2) 
The vehicle registration plate from a state other than Delaware has displayed thereon "handicapped" or a similar designation as set forth under the applicable law where the vehicle is registered; or
(3) 
The vehicle clearly displays that a person using the vehicle has been issued a disabled person's parking permit pursuant to 21 Del. C. § 2135.
B. 
In accordance with 21 Del. C. § 2134(f) and § 2135(f), persons for whom special motor vehicle registration plates for the handicapped or disabled persons' parking permits have been issued pursuant to the applicable law where the vehicle is registered, when such permits are displayed properly, may park for unlimited periods of time in parking zones restricted as to the length of time permitted, and shall not be required to pay any parking meter fees; provided, however, that such persons shall not park:
(1) 
In zones where stopping, standing or parking are prohibited to all vehicles;
(2) 
In zones which are reserved for special types of vehicles; or
(3) 
Where parking is prohibited during heavy traffic periods in morning, afternoon or evening rush hours, or where parking clearly would present a traffic hazard.
C. 
Any person violating this section shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, no parking space on public property shall be set aside, identified or otherwise reserved for use by a handicapped or disabled City resident who has available for his/her use a driveway, parking pad or other type of off-street parking space or private garage, on the premises of his/her residence or within 200 feet of his/her residence that provides at least the same proximity for such resident to his/her residence as the proposed parking space on public property would provide. Failure of an applicant to disclose the foregoing information to the City Administrator shall constitute grounds for disapproval or nonrenewal of reserved parking space on public property. This provision also applies to all renewal applications.
The Street Department, at the direction of the City Administrator, shall paint blue curbs and blue handicapped symbols identifying parking spaces set aside and reserved for use only by the handicapped on public property. At the direction of the City Administrator, the Street Department shall paint over or otherwise remove such blue curbs and symbols.
Upon discovery of a vehicle other than a vehicle of the handicapped or disabled in a designated handicapped parking/tow-away zone under the jurisdiction and control of the City Police Department, the police may, if the determination has been made that the circumstances require such, cause such vehicle to be removed to a private storage area maintained for the safe storage of vehicles. Any costs of removal and storage shall be borne by the owner of such vehicle, unless the vehicle is leased; then such costs shall be borne by the lessee of the vehicle.
No person shall park a motor vehicle in a parking space on public property in the City which has been set aside and identified for use only by those who have physical disabilities, unless such vehicle displays in the windshield a disabled persons' parking permit as issued by the State Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to 21 Del. C. § 2135, or displays a state handicapped person's registration plate pursuant to 21 Del. C. § 2134. Any person violating this section shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100.
The City Administrator, upon receipt of a completed application submitted by or on behalf of a qualified handicapped or disabled person, shall issue a permit for the handicapped parking space specified in § 172-9 based upon information contained in the application and as required by the City Administrator. Each permit shall be valid for a maximum period of three years and may be renewed for additional periods of three years each, provided that the permit holder remains eligible pursuant to the terms of this article.
The permit holder shall annually file with the City an affidavit averring that the permit holder continues to reside at the address indicated on the permit application and such other averments as are deemed necessary by the City Administrator to administer the issuance of permits for handicapped parking spaces. The form of such affidavit shall be provided by mail to each permit holder by the City Administrator and shall be returned within 30 days by the permit holder. If a permit holder fails to file such affidavit, his/her permit shall become void and the reserved parking space repainted to eliminate any indication that it is reserved for the handicapped.
The permit holder, his/her primary care giver or his/her legal representative shall notify the City of any change in circumstance which would affect the permit holder's eligibility for a permit for a handicapped parking space. Such changes include but are not limited to a change in the permit holder's residence, the death of the permit holder or a change in the permit holder's physical condition.
It shall be unlawful for the applicant for a permit for a handicapped parking space or any person submitting an application on behalf of an applicant to make a false statement in order to obtain such a permit. Any person who makes a false statement in order to obtain such a permit shall be fined not less than $100, but not more than $500, and will be required to forfeit any permit so obtained.