Int. No. 278
By Council Members McCaffrey, Dear, Duane and Eisland; also Council Member Koslowitz.
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to permit parking districts.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section one. Chapter one of title nineteen of the administrative code of the City of New York is hereby amended by the addition of a new section 19-171 to read as follows;
Section 19-171. Permit Parking Districts. a. Legislative declaration of intent. It is the intent of the council of the city of New York to assist, where feasible, residents of areas of the city who suffer adverse effects from vehicular congestion resulting from the existence of limited numbers of curbside parking spaces and the regular influx of vehicles of non-residents. The adverse conditions include, but are not limited to, hazardous traffic conditions, air pollution, excessive noise and refuse, unreasonable burdens in gaining access to residences, reduced traffic safety, reduced pedestrian safety, particularly for children and senior citizens, blocked fire lanes and fire hydrants, reduced efficiency in the movement of emergency vehicles, and general reduction in the quality of life. It is further the intent of this Council to encourage the use of existing mass transportation services by discouraging the parking by non-residents of private vehicles on city streets. To effectuate these goals, a system of permit parking districts is herein to be created.
b. Designation of Permit Parking District. 1. The council may by local law designate permit parking districts when it determines that residents of the proposed permit parking district are adversely affected by curbside parking of vehicles by non-residents and/or by parking regulations in effect which are designed to control use of curbside parking but work a hardship on area residents, after taking into consideration the following:
(a) The difficulty or inability experienced by residents of the proposed permit parking district in obtaining curbside parking reasonably proximate to their residences;
(b) The likelihood of alleviating the lack of available curbside parking for residents of the permit parking district through designation of a permit parking system pursuant to this section;
(c) The desire of the residents of the proposed permit parking district for the institution of a permit parking system and the willingness of those residents to bear the costs incidental to the issuance of parking permits and administration of a permit parking system authorized by this section;
(d) The access to the area by means of transportation other than private vehicles;
(e) The availability of off-street parking facilities; and
(f) The proportion of actual residential use to other uses in the proposed permit parking district.
2. The resident parking permit will be valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance.
(3) Where permit parking districts abut, an overlapping zone shall be created, to extend one block into each of the abutting districts, in which permits from either of the abutting districts shall be valid.
c. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
1. "Permit parking district" shall mean a contiguous or nearly contiguous area where curbside parking on public highways shall be henceforth limited to not less than one(1) hour between 6:00 A.M. and midnight from Monday through Saturday, or every day, except on legal holidays, unless a vehicle properly displays a parking permit authorized by this section and is parked on a block posted pursuant to subdivision d. of this section provided that when actual commercial and/or institutional use of property on the ground floor level of any block of a street exceeds fifty-percent, that block shall be excluded from the provisions of this section.
2. "Parking Permit" means either a resident parking permit or a temporary parking permit authorized by this section.
3. "Vehicle" means an automobile, motorcycle, or van or passenger utility vehicle intended primarily for personal use and not exceeding twenty(20) foot in length.
4. "Leased vehicle" means a vehicle owned by a leasing business which is being provided to an individual through a leasing contract. A vehicle leased from one individual to another individual is not a leased vehicle for purposes of this section.
5. "Company car" means a car, the vehicle registration of which reflects that it is owned by a corporation. A privately owned car used by an individual for company business is not a company car for purposes of this section.
d. Posting of signs. Upon designation by the council of a Permit Parking District, the Department of Transportation shall erect signs which shall be of such a character as to inform an ordinarily observant person of the restrictions, but only on those blocks of a street on which at least one resident of each of at least fifty-one (51%) percent of the dwelling units has completed a formal petition for designation of the block as a residential permit parking block.
1. Residents of any block which is designated and posted for residential permit parking may elect to remove the designation and the signs if at least one resident of each of at least fifty-one (51%) percent of the dwelling units located on that block has completed a formal petition for such removal.
2. When a block has not residents, and commercial and/or institutional use of the property on the block does not exceed fifty(50%) percent, the Department of Transportation, or its designee, can make a determination whether or not to post the block based on a consideration of parking needs in the area.
e. Issuance of Resident Parking Permits. 1. Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 1. and 2. of this subdivision, the Department of Transportation shall issue to an applicant who has submitted a permit fee of fifteen ($15.00) dollars and a completed permit application form one (1) resident parking permit for the vehicle described in the application.
2. Except as provided in paragraph 4. of this subdivision, no resident parking permit shall be issued for a vehicle unless its owner and principal operator resides within the permit parking district for which the resident parking permit is sought and the vehicle displays valid New York license plates and is registered to the home address of the applicant; and
3. Except as provided in paragraph 4. of this subdivision, no resident parking permit shall be issued for a vehicle when the applicant is not the owner and principal operator of that vehicle.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 2. and 3. of this subdivision may be waived when an applicant establishes to the satisfaction of the Department of Transportation that the or she is a resident of the permit parking district for which a permit is sought, that the or she is the principal operator of the vehicle for which a permit is sought, and that the vehicle is either a leased vehicle or a company car supplied to the applicant by his or her employer for general use.
f. Renewal of Resident Parking Permits. 1. Upon submission by the holder of a resident parking permit of a renewal fee of ten($10.00) dollars and a completed renewal application on or before the expiration date of the holder's resident parking permit, the Department of Transportation shall issue a anew resident parking permit to the applicant. The commissioner shall not renew th resident parking permit of any applicant with three or more outstanding parking summonses.
2. The expiration date of resident parking permits shall be one (1) year from the date of issuance.
g. transfer of Resident Parking Permits. 1. Upon submission by the holder of a resident parking permit of a transfer fee of ten ($10.00) dollars and a permit transfer application, the Department of Transportation shall issue a new resident parking permit to the applicant for transfer to a qualifying vehicle.
2. The transfer of a resident parking permit shall not affect its expiration date.
h. Issuance of Temporary Parking permits. 1. Upon application of a resident of a permit parking district and submission of a fee of five ($5.00) dollars, the Department of Transportation shall issue to the applicant a temporary parking permit valid for a period not exceeding fifteen (15) days for use by a bona fide guest of the applicant or by a person doing business with the applicant.
2. No more than one (1) temporary parking permit shall be issued to any one household at any one time.
i. Use of Resident Parking Permits and Temporary Parking Permits. 1. All resident parking permits and temporary parking permits shall be displayed in or on vehicles in the manner prescribed by the Police Department.
2. A parking permit shall not guarantee or reserve a parking space within a permit parking district. A parking permit shall not authorize the stopping, standing, or parking of any vehicle in such places and during such times as the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles is prohibited or set aside for specific types of vehicles. A parking permit shall not excuse the observance of any traffic regulation other than maximum parking time limits of one (1) hour or more and the necessity for depositing fees in parking meters and then only on blocks which have been posted pursuant to subdivision d of this section.
3. Whenever the holder of a parking permit, or the vehicle for which the permit was issued, no longer fulfills one or more of the applicable provisions of this section, the holder surrender the parking permit in the manner prescribed by the Department of Transportation.
4. Until its expiration, surrender, or revocation, a parking permit shall remain valid for such time as the holder continues to reside within the same permit parking district.
5. A parking permit shall be valid only in the permit parking district for which it is issued except in the case of overlapping districts as set forth in paragraph 2. of subdivision b. of this section.
6. For the purposes of this section, the person to whom a parking permit is issued shall be deemed its holder and shall be responsible for the use or misuse of any parking permit issued to him or her.
j. Exemption for the Physically Disabled. The provisions of this section shall in no way supersede the provisions of section 2903 of the City Charter relating to parking by physically disabled persons.
k. Rules and Regulations
l. The Departments of Transportation and Police shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to their respective obligations to implement and enforce the provisions of this section.
2. When promulgating rules and regulations, the Departments shall make every reasonable effort to devise methods to preserve the integrity of permit parking system.
1. Penalty. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be subject to revocation of his or her permit and, upon conviction, be fined one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each violation together with the costs of prosecution, and, in default thereof, shall be subject to imprisonment for a period not exceeding ten (10) days.
§2. This local law shall take effect 90 days after it shall have been enacted into law.
Int. No. 175
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