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Home My WebLink AboutO-2006-2949 H REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM Agenda Date Requested December 11, 2006 Requested By: CIty Attorney Appropriation Source of Funds: Department: City ^ttgme~"~ Offi~e Account Number: Report: Resolution: Ordinance: x Amount Budgeted: Amount Requested: Exhibits: Proposed Ordinance Budgeted Item: YES NO Exhibits: Copy of Statllt~ SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION This item was reviewed with City Council at the November 6th Workshop. Council requested this item be placed on a future agenda. In the process of issuing citations to motor vehicle operators for parking violations, it is frequently the case that the vehicle itself is unattended and it is thereby impossible for the officer to locate the offender and personally issue the vehicle operator a citation to appear in court. In these situations the current practice of the City is to issue citations to "owner/operator" and to leave a copy of the citation attached to the vehicle. While this policy is legal it can complicate efforts at prosecuting parking violators, particularly when a case is contested in court and the State must proffer evidence that a particular person, whether it be the registered owner or not, was actually culpable. Section 545.308 of the Texas Transportation Code addresses this potential problem by providing that the governing body of a local authority can by ordinance or other order establish that in prosecutions of parking offenses there is a legal presumption that the registered owner of the illegally parked vehicle was the operator of the vehicle when the offense was committed. This is a relative new statute, added by the Legislature in September of2001, and as worded should help make prosecution of parking violations more effective - and efficient - by shifting to ticketed parking offenders the burden of overcoming the presumption that the registered owner was the actual violator. Proposed for your consideration is an ordinance amending Chapter 70, "Traffic and Vehicles", of the Code of Ordinances to add a section creating the presumption that the registered owner of a vehicle was the operator at the time of the offense, in the case of parking violations under the Subchapter G of the Transportation Code, as prescribed by Section 545.308 of the Transportation Code. Action Required bv Council: Recommendation is to approve ordinance amending Chapter 70 of the Code of Ordinances establishing presumption as to operator of illegally parked vehicles. }'r~/Ot; D~e ORDINANCE NO. 2006-Jlq~1 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE AMENDING CHAPTER 70, nTRAFFIC AND VEHICLEsn, ARTICLE V, nSTOPPING, STANDING AND PARKINGn, OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE, BY ADDING NEW SECTION 70-182, ESTABLISHING LEGAL PRESUMPTION AS TO OPERATOR OF PARKED VEHICLES IN PROSECUTION OF PARKING OFFENSES, AND AMENDING SECTIONS 70-182--70-210, nRESERVEDn, PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION OF THE CAPTION HEREOF, FINDING COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE HEREOF. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE: Section 1. Chapter 70, "Traffic and Vehicles", Article V, "stopping, Standing and Parking", is hereby amended by adding new Section 70-182, which shall hereafter read as follows, to-wit: "Sec. 70-182. Presumed operator of parked vehicles. In a prosecution for an offense prohibited under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545, Subchapter G, and relating to the stopping, standing and parking of unattended motor vehicles, it is presumed that the registered owner of the vehicle is the person who stopped, stood, or parked the vehicle at the time and place the offense occurred. State law reference authority of city to create presumption as to operator of parked car established by State law, V.T.C.A., Transportation Code ~545.308." Section 2. Chapter 70, "Traffic and Vehicles", Article V, "Stopping, Standing and Parking", "Sec. 70-182--70-210. Reserved.", is hereby amended and shall hereafter read as follows, to-wit: "Sec. 70-183--70-210. Reserved." Section 3. The City Council officially finds, determines, recites, and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of this meeting of the City Council was posted at a place convenient to the public at the City Hall of the City for the time required by law preceding this meeting, as required by the Open Meetings Law, Chapter 551, Texas Government Code; and that this meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during which this ordinance and the subject matter thereof has been discussed, considered and formally acted upon. The City Council further ratifies, approves and confirms such written notice and the contents and posting thereof. Section 4. This Ordinance shall be effective fourteen (14) days after its passage and approval. The City Secretary shall give notice to the passage of the ordinance by causing the caption to be published in the official newspaper of the City of La Porte at least twice within ten (10) days after the passage of the ordinance. PASSED AND APPROVED, this 1/ t.Ut day of 1':er..RJVl bet , 2006. By: CI~~d~ Alton E. Porter Mayor ATTEST: &mviwUJ~ ar a A. Gillett City Secretary APPROVED: 4/AU4 7: ,~~ claK ~ Askins r Assistant City Attorney 2 Sec. 545.307 TEXAS CRIMINAL AND TRAFFIC LAW 858 Stats. 2003 78th Leg. Sess. Ch. 1034, effective September 1, 2003. Sec. 545.307. Overnight Parking of Commercial Motor Vehicle In Residen- tial Subdivision. (a) In this section: (1) "Commercial motor vehicle" means: (A) a commercial motor vehicle, as defined by Section 522.003, and includes a vehicle meeting that definition regardless of whether the vehicle is used for a commercial purpose; or (B) a road tractor, truck tractor, pole trailer, or semitrailer, as those terms are defined by Section 541.201. (2) "Residential subdivision" means a subdi- vision in a county with a population greater than 220,000: (A) for which a plat is recorded in the county real property records; and (B) in which the majority of lots are sub- ject to deed restrictions limiting the lots to residential use. (b) After 10 p.m. and before 6 a.m., a person may not park a commercial motor vehicle or leave the vehicle parked on a street of a residential subdivision for which signs are posted as pro- vided by Subsection (c) unless the commercial motor vehicle: (1) is transporting persons or property to or from the residential subdivision or performing work in the subdivision; and (2) remains parked in the subdivision only for the period necessary to complete the trans- portation or work. (c) The residents of a residential subdivision may petition a county or municipality in which the subdivision is located for the posting of signs prohibiting the overnight parking of a commer- cial motor vehicle in the subdivision. The petition must be signed by at least 25 percent of the owners or tenants of residences in the subdivi- sion. Not more than one person for each residence may sign the petition, and each person signing must be at least 18 years of age. Promptly after the filing of a petition meeting the requirements of this subsection and subject to Subsection Cd), the county or municipality receiving the petition shall post the signs. The signs must: (1) be posted at each entrance of the subdi- vision through which a commercial motor vehi- cle may enter the subdivision or within the subdivision if there is not defined entrance to the subdivision; and (2) state, in letters at least two inches in height, that overnight parlring of a motor vehicle is prohibited in the subdivision. (d) A county or municipality receiving a peti- tion under Subsection (c) may condition the poste ing of the signs on payment by the residents of the residential subdivision of the cost of providing the signs. (e) A person commits an offense if the person parks a commercial motor vehicle in violation of Subsection (b). Cf) This section does not limit the power of a municipality to regulate the parking of commer- cial motor vehicles. (g) For the purposes ofthis section, contiguous subdivisions that are developed by the same entity or a successor to that entity and that are given the same public name or a variation of the same public name are considered one subdivision. Separation of one of the subdivisions from an- other by a road, stream, greenbelt, or similar barrier does not make the subdivisions noncon- tiguous. Leg.H. Stats. 1997 75th Leg. Sess. Ch. 173, effective September 1, 1997; Stats. 1999 76th Leg. Sess. Ch. 731, effective September 1, 1999, Ch. 1419, effective June 18, 1999. Sec. 545.308. Presumption. The governing body of a local authority, by ordinance, order, or other official action, may provide that in a prosecution for an offense under this subchapter involving the stopping, standing, or parking of an unattended motor vehicle it is presumed that the registered owner of the vehicl is the person who stopped, stood, or parked th vehicle at the time and place the offense occurred Leg.H. Stats. 2001 77th Leg. Sess. Ch. 1080 effective September 1, 2001. SUBCHAPXllR H SPEED RESTRICTIONS Sec. 545.351. Maximum Speed Re- quirement. (a) An operator may not drive at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances then existing. (b) An operator: (1) may not drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the con-