HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCE 04-21ORDINANCE NO.04-21
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 10 OF THE ESTES PARK MUNICIPAL CODE
ON VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC
WHEREAS,the Board of Trustees of the Town of Estes Park,Colorado has
determined that it is in the best interest of the Town to amend certain sections of the Estes
Park Municipal Code.
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF
THE TOWN OF ESTES PARK,COLORADO AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1:Sections 10.20.030,10.20.040,10.20.050,and 10.20.060 are hereby
added to the Estes Park Municipal Code,to read as follows:
10.20.030 -Multiple Overdue Parking Citation List
(a)As frequently as practicable,the Parking and Transit Manager or designee
(“Manager”)shall prepare and update a list consisting of vehicles involved in
three or more overdue parking citations.An overdue parking citation is a
citation for a parking violation that has not been paid within 15 days of the
issuance of the citation.This list shall be known as the multiple overdue list.
(b)The Manager shall give notice by first class mail to the registered owner of each
vehicle on the multiple overdue list (a “multiple overdue notice”),stating that
the vehicle is on the multiple overdue list and:
(1)The date and the nature of each citation overdue and the amount due
on each;
(2)The total amount currently due;
(3)A specific deadline for response,no less than ten days after the date of
mailing;
(4)That the owner shall,by said deadline,respond to the notice.Response
shall be by paying the total amount due or by arranging with the Manager
for contesting the charges,fees and amounts due as described in
section 10.20.060;
(5)That if the vehicle owner fails to respond within the prescribed time
period,the listed vehicle will be subject to immediate immobilization or
impoundment.
(6)That an immobilization or impoundment fee,if any is applicable,may be
imposed upon the vehicle immobilized or impounded to cover
administrative costs;
(7)That if the vehicle is impounded,the owner will also be required to pay
the costs of towing and storage.
(c)This notice is sufficient if mailed to the address provided by a government
vehicle registration office.If the Manager is unable,after exercising due
diligence,to discover any mailing address,then notice is sufficient if it is
published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town,posted on
the vehicle,personally served on the vehicle owner or driver,or provided by
any other means that provides due process.
(d)If the date for response to the multiple overdue notice specified above passes
without payment of the fines and fees,and without proper request to contest
the inclusion of the vehicle on the multiple overdue list as described in section
10.20.060,such vehicle may be immobilized.
(e)If the owner or an agent of the owner pays the fines and fees,including any
administrative costs and any towing and storage charges assessed,the
Manager shall remove such vehicle from the multiple overdue list and release
it from immobilization or impoundment.If any parking citation not included on
the multiple overdue list for the vehicle becomes overdue before the owner or
agent pays the assessed amounts,such subsequent citations shall also be paid
before the vehicle is removed from the multiple overdue list or released from
immobilization or impoundment.
(f)This section does not apply to bicycles.
10.20.040 -Immobilization
(a)At the discretion of the Manager,any vehicle on the multiple overdue list may
be immobilized by means of an immobilization device,including but not limited
to a device known as a Barnacle which obscures the windshield of the vehicle.
(b)The person installing the immobilization device shall attach to such vehicle a
notice advising the owner that such vehicle has been immobilized by the Town
for failure to pay or contest multiple overdue parking citations,that release of
the device may be obtained by paying the fines and fees due,that unless such
payments are made,the vehicle will be impounded,and that it is unlawful for
any person to remove or attempt to remove the device,to damage the device
or to move the vehicle with the device attached.The notice or the device itself
shall instruct the owner as to how to properly pay all amounts due,remove the
device thereupon,and return the device,as applicable.
(c)The Town or its agents or contractors may assess a fee to cover the
administrative costs of the immobilization.
(d)It is unlawful for any person to:
(1)remove or attempt to remove the device,except after full payment and
pursuant to instructions in the notice or on the device;
(2)damage the device;
(3)fail to return the device as instructed upon its removal;or
(4)move the vehicle with the device attached,except to impound the
vehicle as directed by the Town.
(e)No parking restriction otherwise applicable to the vehicle applies while the
vehicle is immobilized under the provisions of this section.
10.20.050 -Impoundment
The Manager may request the Police Department direct the prompt towing
and impoundment of any vehicle immobilized under this chapter that is subject to
impoundment under applicable law.Such vehicles shall include,but not be limited
to,those which have been left unattended on public property,including any portion
of a highway right-of-way,within the limits of the town,for a period of forty-eight
hours or longer.Such vehicles may be towed,impounded and disposed of in
accordance with the provisions of state law.Neither the Town nor its employees
or agents shall be liable for any damage to such vehicle occasioned by such
removal.
10.20.060 -Heating to contest immobilization or impoundment
(a)The owner of a vehicle subject to immobilization,and subsequent
impoundment,under the provisions of this chapter,shall be entitled to contest
the vehicle’s inclusion on the multiple overdue list at an administrative hearing.
The owner must request such a hearing in the form and manner described in
the multiple overdue notice.
(b)If the owner requests a hearing,the Manager or the Manager’s designee,or,
should the Manager so decide,the Municipal Judge,shall act as the hearing
officer,and shall conduct the hearing in a manner that comports with due
process.
(c)At the hearing,the hearing officer shall determine whether the vehicle was
properly placed on the multiple overdue list and subject to immobilization and
impoundment,as applicable.The owner may dispute any of the underlying
parking citations that have not reached judgment or default judgment in a court
of competent jurisdiction.The owner may dispute that notice of any of the
underlying parking citations was properly given.
(d)This hearing is available to an owner prior to or subsequent to immobilization
or impoundment.The hearing officer need not re-adjudicate any issue resolved
at a previous hearing involving the vehicle,or which could have been resolved
at such a hearing that previously occurred,but shall make determinations as to
any new issues which have arisen under this chapter.
(e)If the hearing officer finds that the vehicle was properly included on the multiple
overdue list,all applicable fees shall apply against the owner in order to release
the vehicle from immobilization or impoundment,and the vehicle shall remain
subject to immobilization and impoundment.If the hearing officer does not so
find,the hearing officer shall order the vehicle released immediately to the
person entitled to possession and the Town shall bear the costs of
immobilization and impoundment;provided that fines and fees may still apply
for the underlying parking violations,and any unpaid violations may yet give
rise to the vehicle’s future inclusion on the multiple overdue list.
Section 2:Section 10.06.020 of the Estes Park Municipal Code is hereby
amended by the addition of underlined material and the deletion of stricken material as
follows:
10.06.20 -Restriction on parking in paid parking areas.
(a)No person may park a vehicle in any parking space designated by the Town as
a paid parking space without first paying the required fees for the amount of
time the vehicle will be parked.Payment of fees must be made in the manner
designated by the Manager.
(b)Vehicles displaying valid Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)placards or
Disabled Veterans (DV)license plates are exempt from paying fees for parking
in paid parking spaces designated under this section.
(c)Motorcycles parking in marked motorcycle parking spaces are exempt from
fees for paid parking.Motorcycles parking in any other paid parking space are
required to pay the fees designated under this chapter.
Section 3:This Ordinance shall take effect and be enforced thirty (30)days after
its adoption and publication.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Trustees of the Town of Estes Park,
Colorado this Z3 day of IJcu?CV ,2021.
TOWN OF ESTES PARK,COLORADO
By:
Mayor
ATTEST:L -
T Clerk
I hereby certify that the above Ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the
Board of Trustees on the 2S day of 1JcuC1—,2021 and published in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Estes Park,Colorado,on the .çj day
of ,2021,all as required by the Statutes of the State of Colorado.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Town Attorney