Source: https://ecode360.com/9956774
Timestamp: 2020-08-03 09:56:00
Document Index: 478444991

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138', '§ 138']

Township of Middle Smithfield, PA Parking
§ 138-1 Stopping, standing and parking outside business and residence districts.
§ 138-2 Prohibitions in specified places.
§ 138-3 Parking on private property.
§ 138-4 Additional parking regulations.
§ 138-5 Parking of commercial equipment.
§ 138-6 Fire lanes.
§ 138-7 Snow removal.
§ 138-8 Penalties.
§ 138-9 Removal of vehicle by or at direction of police or Township officer.
Chapter 138 Parking
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Middle Smithfield 5-10-2005 by Ord. No. 138; amended in its entirety 8-25-2016 by Ord. No. 208. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
General rule. Outside a business or residence district, no person shall stop, park or stand any vehicle, whether attended or unattended, upon the public road when it is practicable to stop, park or stand the vehicle off the roadway. In the event it is temporarily necessary to stop, park, or stand the vehicle on the public road or any part of the public road, an unobstructed width of the highway opposite the vehicle shall be left for the free passage of other vehicles and the vehicle shall be visible from a distance of 500 feet in each direction upon the road.
Exception for disabled vehicles. This section and § 138-2 (relating to prohibitions in specified places) and § 138-3 (relating to additional parking regulations) do not apply to the driver of any vehicle which is disabled in such a manner and to such an extent that it is impossible to avoid stopping and temporarily leaving the vehicle in that position.
Stopping, standing, or parking a vehicle is expressly prohibited under the following circumstances:
On the roadway side of any stopped vehicle stopped or parked at the edge or curb of the public road.
On any sidewalks.
On public or private property which is expressly reserved for handicapped persons or disabled veterans where said property has been posted in accordance with the regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
Within 30 feet of any flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign or traffic control signal located at the side of a road.
Within 20 feet of the driveway entrance to any fire station or, when properly posted, on the side of a public road opposite the entrance of any fire station within 75 feet of the entrance.
No person shall park or leave unattended a vehicle on private property without the consent of the owner or other person in control of possession of the property except in the case of an emergency or disablement of the vehicle, in which case the operator shall arrange for the removal of the vehicle as soon as possible.
The provisions of Subsection A of this section shall not apply to private parking lots, unless such lots are posted to notify the public of any parking restrictions, in which case the operator of a vehicle should not violate said posted restrictions. For the purpose of this section, "private parking lot" means a parking lot open to the public and used for parking with or without charge.
Every vehicle which is standing or parked on a two-way public road shall be positioned parallel to either the curb or the edge of the road and in all cases in the direction of authorized traffic movement. The vehicle shall be parked such that the right-hand wheels are within 12 inches of the right-hand curb. Or, in the absence of a curb, the vehicle shall be parked such that the left-hand wheels are not closer than 12 inches from the edge of the road.
Every vehicle which is standing or parked on a one-way public road shall be positioned parallel to the curb or edge of the road in the direction of authorized traffic movement. Said vehicle shall be parked so that its wheels are within 12 inches from the curb or, in the absence of a curb, within 12 inches from the shoulder of the road.
No commercial equipment, including, but not limited to, trucks, tandems (in excess of one-ton capacity), tractor-trailers, tractors or other commercial construction or cargo moving vehicles or equipment shall be parked upon any public road or within the public road right-of-way within the Township of Middle Smithfield at any time.
Exceptions. The following are exceptions to the restrictions set forth in Subsection A of this section.
Vehicles being used for the purpose of road construction shall be permitted to park, stand or stop on any highway or street within the Township of Middle Smithfield when construction is in progress upon said highway or street.
Authority of Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors of Middle Smithfield shall have the authority to designate and mark such fire lanes as may be reasonable and necessary on private property devoted to public use. The Board of Supervisors shall adopt a resolution approving these areas so designated as "fire lanes" within the Township. Such fire lanes shall be those areas immediately adjacent to a building or buildings for a distance of 18 feet from said building or buildings or 18 feet from the curb adjacent to said building or buildings on property such as shopping centers, bowling alleys, theaters, hospitals, churches and similar locations as may be deemed necessary by the Board of Supervisors to insure proper ingress and egress of Fire Department and emergency vehicles for the protection of persons and property. Parking in such fire lanes shall be prohibited and such fire lanes shall be posted "No Parking - Fire Lane." Any currently designated "fire lanes" shall remain in place until such time as the Board of Supervisors shall cancel the designation by resolution.
Areas posted. Whenever the Board of Supervisors of Middle Smithfield Township shall determine that parking of motor vehicles upon any public or private street, lane, alley or private parking lot is liable to interfere with the operation of the Fire or Police Departments or hamper egress of occupants from buildings in case of fire or emergency, parking in such areas shall be prohibited and said areas shall be posted "No Parking - Fire Lane."
Private property. On private property that is devoted to public use there shall be maintained one or more unobstructed lanes to provide for the ingress and egress of Fire Department and emergency vehicles, equipment and personnel, said lanes to be a minimum of 18 feet in width each, and laid out for convenient access from the public thoroughfares and water supplied to the building or buildings. The marking of said lanes shall be performed and maintained by, and at the expense of, the property owner or occupier.
Unlawful acts. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to barricade, stop a vehicle, park or otherwise block any of the passage, entrance or exit ways to, in, about or out of any public building or any place occupied for public use or accommodation, whether upon public or private property, so as to interfere with or obstruct the free and unimpeded passage of persons and fire and emergency equipment around the said building, nor shall any person park a motor vehicle or trailer in disregard of any sign erected pursuant to the provisions hereof.
Building defined. For the purpose hereof, the term "building" shall mean the exterior surface of the vertical wall of the structure, excluding any marquee, portico, mansard roof or similar appendages.
Notice of violation. Notice of violation hereof shall be effectuated by the placing of a parking ticket upon the vehicle parked or stopped in the fire lane in question.
The provisions hereafter set forth in this section shall apply to snow and ice clearing in the Township:
In order to facilitate the movement of traffic and to combat the hazards of snow and/or ice on the Township's public roads, the Township's Director of Public Works or the Chair of the Board of Supervisors in the Director's absence or incapacity may declare, in their sole discretion, a snow emergency. Information on the existence of a snow emergency may be given by the Director of Public Works or the Chair of the Board of Supervisors through radio, television, newspaper or other available media. Information on the termination or modification of the snow emergency may be given by use of this same media. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a snow emergency shall be deemed automatically in effect where there has been a snowfall of four inches or greater in the Township, until such time as the Township roads have been cleared of snow.
Whenever a snow emergency has been declared by the Township or is deemed in effect, it shall be unlawful to park a vehicle on any public road and right of way, in the Township.
It shall be unlawful to throw, shovel or otherwise move, pile or dump snow or ice removed from sidewalks, driveways or other areas onto any public road.
The fines for violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be as follows:
Parking outside of marked spaces
For handicapped persons only (posted)
For handicapped persons only (not posted)
Blocking flow of traffic
Double parking at road edge
Within any intersection or crosswalk
Outside 12 inches from road's edge
No commercial equipment on public road
Snow deposited onto Township roads
Any person violating the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a summary offense, and upon conviction thereof before a district justice shall be fined up to the maximum fine plus costs of prosecution. In default of the payment of any fine, such person shall be liable for imprisonment of not more than 10 days in the Monroe County prison.
Reduced penalty. In any case where a police officer or other authorized Township official shall first give notice of the offense by handing to the offending operator or affixing securely to the motor vehicle illegally parked hereunder a ticket on which he has noted the time and place of the offense, the nature of the offense, and the license registration of the vehicle, and bearing the statement that no prosecution shall be instituted for 72 hours thereafter, and if during the said seventy-two-hour period, the offending operator shall voluntarily appear at the Township office, 147 Municipal Drive, East Stroudsburg, PA 18302, or as elsewhere designated, and shall voluntarily enter a plea of guilty, and pay the appropriate fine payable to Middle Smithfield Township, then no further prosecution for said offense shall thereafter be brought. In the alternative, said offender may forward to the Township office by regular mail the appropriate fine and no prosecution for the offense shall be thereafter brought so long as the envelope is postmarked within 72 hours of the violation.
In addition to the penalties herein provided, whenever any police officer, or Township code enforcement officer (or other authorized Township official) finds an attended vehicle in violation of any provisions of this chapter, the officer may move the vehicle, or cause the vehicle to be moved, or require the driver or other person in charge of the vehicle to move the vehicle, to a position off the roadway where the vehicle will not interfere unduly with the normal movement of traffic or constitute a safety hazard.
In addition to the penalties herein provided, whenever any police officer or Township code enforcement officer (or other authorized Township official) finds an unattended vehicle in violation of any provisions of this chapter, the officer may remove or cause to be removed to the place of business of the operator of a wrecker or to a nearby garage or other place of safety selected by the officer; that said owner of said vehicle, if known, together with the address, shall be notified in writing of the fact of said removal, and the place of deposit of said vehicle; that said vehicle may be reclaimed and surrendered upon payment of towing and storing charges.